Luther is our best 3 point shooter and I would never give him up unless Steve shows drastic improvement in his quickness and explosiveness. Right now he tries stuff that he used to be able to do well simply because of his raw athleticism, but he can't pull that stuff off anymore and the result is an unpolished and unreliable player.
Steve will play D.........sometimes If Steve can properly grasp the offense (or be on par with Luther) he would be a huge upgrade because of his overall skill set. I need Tuesady to come for my own mental health.
Sorry to disappoint you but I am not hyping up Francis at all. There are many better options around the league better sutied than him to take Head's minutes. However, my points are based on our current roster. I don't think Head is a rotation-caliber player on most teams in the league. If you don't agree, present your argument with some maturity. This is a forum created for fans, or anybody for that matter, to discuss topics about the Houston Rockets. There is no need to resort to childish insults because you disagree with another member's opinions. I am willing to hear your arguments.
Exactly my thoughts. Everyone who says Stevie would be a defensive upgrade over head needs to get their eyes checked, and maybe a CAT scan while they are at it. Did I not see Kyle Lowry have a career game with Stevie guarding him? Francis blows at defense and always has, unless JVG was there telling him play D or not play at all. With JVG gone, francis probably thinks he doesnt need to play defense at all.
Luther gets my props big time. Consider this, after his rookie year, in 2007 we brought in 4 new guards: Bonzi Wells, V-Span, John Lucas, Kirk Snyder and everyone thought he wouldn't make it (remembr the "Do you still like Head" thread?). Everyone was more excited about the newcomers: Bonzi was a legit star, V-Span was the hero at the Worlds, JL was the summer league hore, and Snyder was starting for Byron Scott in N.O. Yet Luther beat them all. Now this year we bring in three more celebrated guard: a three-time All-Star in Steve, Mike James, and another summer leaugue hero in Aaron Brooks. Yet Head against comes up smelling roses... Way to go!
I do like Luther but he can't improve the fact that he's a shooting guard in a small point guard's body. The opponent coaches know this and they make the best of it. In the playoffs, Luther's weakness will be completely exposed. Not to mention his horrible performance in the last playoffs. Steve.....I'm not even going to bother with Steve. You know what's wrong with Steve.
There's no rational discussion here. Luther Head has valuable skills in the NBA as it is, and he's nothing but upside. If nothing else, there are no available options to replace his long range game (which is one of the best in the league, in case you forgot). If Head were taking minutes from a better player for the sake of his development, I could understand your point. However, he's clearly the best fit for this team, and there's really no question that he would be a key young talent on almost any roster, save the most deep and complete ones. Really, man... the Rockets' backcourt is as deep and talented as they come, and Luther is still looking to play a key role in it. If you see that as a negative, I feel sorry for you.
You went on in your long post to basicly say that Luther Head is just a rotation player on this team based on the lack of depth and that most teams in the NBA would not even give him solid rotation minutes. The current roster situation basicly proves your post wrong. We have a roster full of guards and Luther is in the rotation over Snyder and SF. Rick does not have any favorites on this team. The coach is just trying to put the best players on the floor. You did a good job at pointing out LH weaknesses and you went on to say that he has done nothing to improve his game. So now what has SF done in the past couple years except become the recipient of a fat buyout and get fat? He knew that there were other guards on this team that were going to work their tail off to make the team and get minutes and he chose to take it easy and come in to camp out of shape. It makes no sense for you to make a post saying how bad LH is when SF is at this point worse.
it's ironic that this is one of your points while you try to pump up Francis, the posterboy for players who didn't improve a damn thing over the course of his career. What skill has improved over the past 8 years? I personally can't think of a single one. If anything, his shooting has just progressively gotten worse. Luther went from a good 3-point shooter during his rookie year to one of the league's absolute best last year. You say he shouldn't be a rotation player on any decent team, and yet he was among the league leaders in most 4th quarter three's hit. Off the bench. He helped us win tons of games. As you pointed out, he has defensive issues, yet Francis would as well in the same role. Luther also seems to have improved his ball-handling and finishing at the basket, so at least he is headed in the right direction.
We don't need a SG who can create his shot. Adelman wants a SG that can move without the ball and spot up shoot, and that's EXACTLY luther's game.
I will say, Luther has shown pretty significant improvements in his handles in the preseason. I was surprised to see him doing some of the things he did off the dribble.
yea i was really impressed seeing head's handles improve. i bet he was working on them every day after the season ended.
Actually, Bobby Jackson's role off the bench was to create offense while most of the starters were resting as much as it was to move without the ball and hit open shots. He usually provided a spark off the bench during his time on the court. That is what Adelman looked for out of him. The same goes for Ginobili, Stackhouse and most other effective 6th men. When the starters are not in the game, there are often times when the offense breaks down and the reserves need to be able to find ways to score. Head can not do that at all. He is too one-dimensional and lacks the variety of skills that Francis can bring to the table under normal circumstances. I agree that Francis should pay the price right now for coming into camp out of shape with the wrong attitude but if he can get it together, he deserves time over Head. I am not saying Francis is the ideal guy to take bench minutes from Luther, either. They both have weaknesses. However, I see a much better chance of Francis overcoming his weakness by being able to figure out how to play within the system than Head developing the ability to create shots when the offense breaks down. While Francis (if and when he gets it all together) may not be as effective as other top reserves around the league, he has the potential, in my opinion, to play a more productive role off the bench than Luther. In fact, even though it will never happen and is just as bad of an idea, Luther makes more sense as a starter than playing off the bench. He plays best when our top players surround him and he doesn't have to do as much. Good reserves should be able to take advantage of the other team's reserves and this includes being able to create shots when things break down. At this point, Bonzi will be our main guy off the bench. I see Francis (if he has the patience to wait it out and learn the system) and James as the next best options over Head. I think Snyder is even more useful than Head since he brings more, overall, to the table (defense, rebounding, size, athleticism, getting to the rim). Unfortunately, Snyder has also looked lost in the few minutes he has played during the pre-season. I imagine Luther would look pretty bad, too, if he was playing scrap minutes at the end of pre-season games where both teams tend to start heisting up shots.
is anyone kinda feeling some deja vu here? Steve seems to in a situation just like Stromile Swift two years ago and Bonzi one year ago. They were the type of guys that u really didn't want to give up on considering that they had very high expectations when they signed, but u knew that ultimately they couldn't contribute on that year's team. I really really really hope Steve does not end up like that.
Luther does not need the ball in his hands to be successful, Steve does. As soon as Steve learns how to play off the ball, he will be in there. DD
