Gerald Green = no basketball IQ, defensive liability and if you think Tracy is not aggressive enough you ain't seen nothing yet. All these other dudes like Stephen Jackson, Kobe, Tracy, J.R. Smith are not and have not ever been as lost as Gerald Green bottom line.
After Novak hit a season defining last second game winner you wouldnt want him taking a shot? Novak not that good at threes? Besides being 2nd in the league in 3pt % if he would have qualified, didn't you see his shooting exhibition in the last minutes of game 6 versus Utah? No he's not that good a player but not that a 3 point shooter isnt a way to describe Novak. Nor is "Luther is money all around" a way to describe Head anymore.
Gerald's got potential to be a descent player on this league but it will take a little higher skill person for him to fit well on this league. It's worth a try!
That's funny - I DID check the stats 3pt % Head: 35.1 Alston 35.1 Green: 38.5 (that's his combined % for all of last season) Luther Head's 3pt shooting is a myth - he was great with the synthetic ball (or whatever that ball was they were using for a large part of last season) and has been Alston standard apart from that. (which isn't awful - just average from 3pt land) And don't tell me he shot badly "just because Ming was out last season" Pre-all star break: 35.6 Post-all star break: 34.4 Yes - he DID get worse late in the season (which he does every year...) - but 35.6 isn't exactly a bullseye 3pt shooter. And to the guy who said Novak isn't a great 3 pt shooter 47.9% on 2 attempts per contest!! Sure - he won't create his own shot - but IF we need a 3 to win, and we can get this guy the ball in the clear to shoot, then I'd be happiest seeing him shoot.
I meant to say that Battier was our second best 3pt shooter last season in the above post!! The stat checking shows that Luther isn't...
He's averaged 16ppg as a starter (in 52 contests as a starter). So if he can learn the fundamentals of basketball, you'd think he's a borderline star! I dunno if he can learn the fundamentals, but if I'm the Rockets, I'm bringing him in to summer league + training camp and keeping him around for as long as possible before having to trim the roster to 15. Especially considering he offers a lot of the things we were missing... There is simply NO reason not to put him on a 2 year non-guaranteed minimum deal. If he picks up anything at all then it's worth putting him on the roster ahead of Woods imo!
It's nice to look at percentages, but you have to look at it further. First off, last season, Head took a lot less 3's then he did the season before with a healthy Yao. His 3 point attempts and minutes were slashed in half between the past two seasons. We can't say how it really corrolates because Yao missed half the year too this season. You can point to pre All-Star numbers, but we can safely say that under a new coach, in a new system, the whole Rockets team struggled out the gate for a long while. Before the 22 game winning streak, before we really started to get things rolling, the Rockets were in danger of not even making the playoffs. You can contribute Head's 3pt shot success, because of the ball, but, let's be real. When Rafer takes a 3 point shot, any shot period, we all hold our breath. Any sane Rockets fan would feel a lot more comfortable with Head taking a wide open 3 than Rafer. Again, Luther choked down the stretch the past two years into the playoffs, but that doesn't negate that fact that he's still one of the Rockets best options behind the arc with a healthy Yao. The problem with Luther, again, is when he's asked to run PG duties. With a healthy Yao, and a healthy/and hopefully improved backcourt, Luther can go back to do what he did last year. Knock down the 3 ball because Yao is getting doubled teamed in the post.
As for Gerald Green, a lot of people are buying into the hype because of his 'athleticism,' the comparsions to 'T-Mac' and for the fact that he's from Houston. No team in the league right now think he's worthwhile. The guys who get paid to do this don't care that he's floating out there in the FA pool. They don't care if he drowns. If he had any flashes of living up to the potential, Morey would have kept him, instead of keeping Mike Harris. Think about it.
I don't see how a tweener like harris who has done nothing in the nba is holding a roster spot before green. At least green has avg 10ppg in the nba while harris is another small player with limited skill and upside. Don't know who's call it was, but oh well
100% incorrect, teams tried to sign him late last year but he decided NOT to sign and to stay in Houston and work on his game for the upcomming year with John Lucas. Also, Houston did NOT want to release him, but when Landry got hurt and we had just signed Justin Williams we needed another PF that knew the offense and Mike Harris was available so they had to release someone and Green was the only expiring contract available....so they let him go. Morey even said they would have liked to keep him but Landry's injury forced their hand. I think the Rockets will probably try to sign him cheaply.....and develop him.....that would be my guess. DD
Yes, it does. If you hit the 3 more consistently than others and at a higher rate, that makes you the best 3 point shooter. You have to be kidding me. You're saying that if we're down by three with seconds on the clock, you would rather have Tracy (who is 34% from beyond the arc) take the shot, rather than Novak (who is 43%)? I am aware of the fact that Novak's only been in the league two seasons, but you don't shoot like that by accident. This guy can shoot. Okay, so you can create your own shot, fantastic. However, that means nothing if you can't hit the 3 consistently... and Luther has shown that he can't do that. Oh, and what girls are you referring to?
I kinda know what ur saying, but what did green have 2 do with harris? I remember after the trade, they brought in bobby jones on a 10 day to play some big guards. Then after the jackson trade a landry went down they dropped green to sign harris. Hayes and scola were getting the minutes at the 4 and the rox had no one over 6'2 as a backup. Yao goes down, so why not develop green? Since we were already looking to next yr, why not get a guy some minutes behind shane and tracy? Like I've always said, just pick a lane and stay in it. After yao went down, they all but said they were looking to next yr. So when evaluating players, are u telling me harris is better now or will be than green?
When Landry went down, they needed a backup PF who could play right away......they were still winning....so they picked up Harris. I am certain that if they could have they would have released Williams but he was still at the beginning of his 10 day. I would have prefered they release Francis but he has some value as an expiring deal this year. DD
LOL - you're the one who said look at the stats Uhhhh huuuh That's why I included the PRE-all star numbers (when Yao was fit) with the POST-all star numbers. I can understand the turnovers increasing with a new offense, but why can players suddenly not make a stand still 3-pointer?? If you want to look at it month by month, it's an even worse story for Luther - he had 2 real good shooting months where he shot 40%, and 2 where he shot in the 20 %s. Compare that with Rafer Alston, who shot 27% in the first month of the season, and from then was between 35.3 and 38.8 for the next 5 months. Post All-star Rafer was 38.2% from downtown. So Luther had 1 REALLY good shooting season, and 2 other mediocre seasons (where he has been worse than Rafer.) It doesn't matter how 'comfortable' Rockets fans feel - how often do the 2 guys put the ball in the hoop? Rafer is far more reliable, far less streaky. So how come Luther was so good in the first parts of last year? The synthetic ball. Before it came along he was a 36% 3pt shooter. When it was in he was a 44% 3pt shooter. Once it was gone he was a 35% 3pt shooter. But a ball can't make a difference?!?! Of course it can - if you've ever shot around with different basketballs you'll know that the feel of some is much better than others. Leather balls and Synthetics shoot MUCH differently - Luther CLEARLY liked the synth more. There's ZERO evidence to suggest that he's anything but an average shooter with a leather ball. Shooting the synthetic ball? Oh wait, that things gone. Newsflash, Yao Ming played 55 games this season. In those games Luther Head (with a leather ball) shot just a touch better than Rafer. In conclusion: Green is a better outside shooter than the 1 season wonder Luther (who needs to be traded someplace before everyone else realises he can't shoot!) Totally agree with DaD re: the reasons for the cut. And I know the Rockets aren't allowed to guarantee Green they'd re-sign him for this season, but from the sounds of the articles, they said as much as they possibly could!!
DD- That's cool, but its not like harris was playing. What position is novak. Again we're probably talking about the same ideas, but its kinda confusing. I do remember the justin williams signing for big man, but willims is a swing guy. He can play both pretty much. Back to the point though is, after the snyder trade to get green, then the 10 day by jones. Nex was the jax trade, then yao goes down like a day later and landry after that right. If I'm not correcti know you'll let me know, but why was jones even signed when u just traded for green? Why after landry went down and williams was on the 10day, green was released to sign harris? After the jax trade and yao went down, they were in 2009 mode. Why? There was no reason to give up the only player on ur roster that could spell ur best player, tracy. I hope they get green back to develop him, but it would have been nice to insert a athelete like that in against a korver or brewer during the playoffs. Oh Well.
No doubt, I don't understand it either, I would have just waited to sign Harris, but he did come in and play rather well, right away, and I think we were still streaking. I also think the Rockets had a wink wink deal to bring Mike Harris back at some point, I mean, the guy signed in China after getting cut here, that to me says a lot.... I expect the Rockets to resign Green in the offseason to a minimum contract, and then see what happens. DD
If there's ever a guy who either has a shoe contract or is going to get one it's Mike Harris. Heck since he played in China and won the dunk contest over there he already has a fan following.
