Just some off-season speculation here, but I can't help but wonder what happened to Piatowski (especially as this board continues to focus on signing a big time 3 point specialist)? Was he just slow to recover from his injury? Was his defense so bad JVG would not play him? Was he never that good to begin with? Is he simply washed up?
I'm thinking his first injury had an effect that lasted all year. Much as Kelvin Cato and Mo Taylor had "off years" after an injury. I think sometimes it just takes a while to come all the way back. I am perfectly willing to give him a clean slate this year and see what happens. I am expecting Pike to be a contributor this year.
Well he was in and out of the rotation which probably makes it tough for a player to gain any consistency...
No the trade didn't go through. The Rockets pulled out because of the T-Mac deal. Getting a PG in return. I think that it is what they said.
I thought it had a lot to do with his defense? In the few games I saw him play in, he missed wide open layups as well as many wide open 3s. He was brought in to do one thing: score 3s. If he can't do that, might as well ride the pine (I'm willing to let it slide due to his injury though; for the good of the Rox, I'm hoping he'll round back to his 40%+ 3pt shooting badboy self).
The good think about shooters is that they always come out of a slump. May take a while but they do. Pike is a natural shooter and will be for a long time. Shooters will always be able to shoot. Pike should be able to hit the open shot again this year.
Man, I hope so. He was a guy I really wanted us to pick up, so we could spread the defense a bit and watch him drain open perimeter shots, ala the Bull, except with more midrange game. Not someone who'd get a bunch of minutes, but a great situational guy. Talk about a disappointment! If he gets his shot back, it's going to help us a lot. I hope he gets it together... he really seemed lost out there most of the time. Frankly, he doesn't seem like a JVG kinda guy. Playing for Rudy, yes, but I wouldn't be shocked if we moved him as part of a deal. It's just that his season didn't help in that department at all. We'd have to hope another GM thought last season was an aberration as well.
I think it was the injury: 1. Pike had never been injured before. He doesn't even tape his ankles - I think the sprain was severe and he took a lot of time to recover. 2. Because he's a jump shooter, I think the ankle sprain affected his shot a lot more than he let on. 3. Because his jump shot was misfiring, he didn't bring a whole lot of other skills which JVG looks for - if he's still here in the fall, I think he'll be fine at the 8th or 9th or zonebuster spot.
I think it was : 1) the injury (as above) 2) new team & system. It's not urprising that he struggled to find his role on the Rockets after being in LA for so long. Hopefully, a summer off & another year in the system will help him turn it around. I, for one, think he can do it & help this team out, a la Air Bull.
If you don't play D, you don't play much for JVG. And he was poor. Add to that the fact that the ankle injury hurt his shot and, he was odd man out. He's a career high % 3 point gunner so there should be a place for him if he can regain his touch again. Let's see what this season brings. I'm not quite ready to give up on him. D R
I didn't expect much from him, in my opinion this guy's career is on the downfall. I hope he does well because he seems like the type of player that can come in for offensive purposes. But i think this is Boki's spot now and it's up to Pike to try to steal some minutes.
I remember some game he came in because we were short handed and he got a steal and a breakaway - he went up soft and blew the layup. JVG had this look of complete disgust that morphed to open hatred as Pike paniced and quickly committed a foul. He never played again.
Looking at his stats he usually takes over 200 3's, this year he only took 122. If he got enough shots I bet his shooting pct would be closer to his career avg (40%). I think with how bad our O was last year he should have been given more of an oppurtunity.
the guy is one of the best shooters in the league or was til last year. unfortunately he's not a great defender as it seems as if he doesn't have much lateral quickness. i hope he plays this year cause he's a heck of a shooter and i feel that our team defense can make up for any holes in our individual d.
I think this guy had something to do with it: This one's responsible for Adrian Griffin never getting into the rotation:
Why won't anyone admit the truth? When Steve Francis is your PG, you better be able to create your own shot. Pike wasn't, and he suffered. Now with BOTH our superstars good at passib\ng out of double teams to the open man, and most probably we'll have a PG who's main job is to distribute efficiently, look for Pike to improve. That and the fact that no shooter just loses it. Blowing layups and breakaways are not a big deal to me. All he has to do is hit the 3 and play bearable defense.
