# [merged] Should Head start the game?



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

> Getting a Head count
> Rockets rookie Luther Head got his first start Saturday, replacing point guard Rafer Alston in the starting lineup. That did not mean, however, that the Rockets were ready to consider Head a point guard.
> 
> "I don't want to label him, because I don't know what he is," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I like that he has an innate sense of confidence in his own ability. He's one of the few young players that knows his place — quiet, dignified — goes about his job in a professional manner. What does that turn out to be as far as a player? I'm not sure yet."
> ...





> Trying to find his shot
> Rockets shooting guard David Wesley continued to struggle to find his outside shot, making one of seven shots in San Antonio on Saturday. He also was 1-of-7 in the first preseason game before getting the night off in the second.


I'm pretty sure we've been reading that about Wesley for a while now. Remember when he was on fire last January? Well he's basically been in a year long slump since then. Add that to the fact that Luther can't run the team but is effective knocking down outside shots and playing defense and you have a new starting 2 guard. Atleast by January, as it's going to be very tough for JVG to bench one of his "heady" veteran guards. I love Wesley's defense but he just seems like an offensive liability right now. It is embarassing when he tries to finish on the fast break and he can't knock down shots unless he is absolutely feeling it, which happens for one-month every year. Alston running the team with Head at the 2 guard doesn't seem like too bad of an idea to me. If we have a slow 6'1 guard defending SG's right now, it's not going to be a big dropoff to have a 6'3 rookie guard them.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3399100


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

McGrady's are 1, and a 2, and a 3, and a 4..... 

And once again you've completely left DA out of the equation MRC. DA isn't that bad! I love Luther but I'd rather him come off the bench for some energy to start off, no matter how good he is.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

I think Wesley's year-long slump may actually be a myth. From looking at his month-by-month 3-pt%, he appears pretty consistent, though he did have that one amazing stretch. He was 37% from beyond the arc in January, 52% in February, 41% in March, and 38% in April. 

It's true that he can't really do much else in terms of scoring than knock down open shots, but that itself is pretty valuable, and aside from very good defense, he also brings hustle, good passing and a seemingly good attitude (I obviously don't have much to go by, but I feel he was really good for chemistry. He's one of those guys who looks like he's offering encouragement on court and who leaps to help people up). Luther Head may also have all those things, but I wouldn't be too sure after just three preaseason games (especially after he played very ordinarily in the one game in which he started).


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## McGrady (May 17, 2005)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

Uhh... why does MRC hate DA?


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

The reason I think Wesley goes through those slumps is because hes old and gets tired easly. He'll be more useful if he came off the bench.


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## tone wone (Jan 30, 2003)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*



Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> I'm pretty sure we've been reading that about Wesley for a while now. Remember when he was on fire last January? Well he's basically been in a year long slump since then. Add that to the fact that Luther can't run the team but is effective knocking down outside shots and playing defense and you have a new starting 2 guard. Atleast by January, as it's going to be very tough for JVG to bench one of his "heady" veteran guards. I love Wesley's defense but he just seems like an offensive liability right now. It is embarassing when he tries to finish on the fast break and he can't knock down shots unless he is absolutely feeling it, which happens for one-month every year. Alston running the team with Head at the 2 guard doesn't seem like too bad of an idea to me. If we have a slow 6'1 guard defending SG's right now, it's not going to be a big dropoff to have a 6'3 rookie guard them.
> 
> 
> http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3399100


 Derek Anderson?

of thats right...he doesn't exists

nevermind


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

Why would Luther get the start over Derek Anderson? No way JVG makes that move. 

Wesley is struggling because of his knee surgery. He basically has to learn how to shoot again since his elevation is different. But he may find his rhythm and take off from there.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

Why would Derek Anderson get the start over Wesley, though? Doesn't play defense, is stagnant on offense and commits way too many TO's. I might be overestimating Wesley's slump as Hakeem pointed out, but I think if Head is knocking down shots consistently and making better decisions on the court by January, we could use him as a starter. We've seen JVG try plenty of new things with this Rockets team, disregarding his conservative philosophy, so I'm not ready to count this out just yet.


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## Minstrel (Dec 31, 2002)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

I think it's an exaggeration to say DA doesn't play defense. He does play defense and isn't terrible. He's just not a major asset defensively.


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## arcangle (Oct 14, 2005)

*Re: Comments on Head and Wesley*

Wesley should start over DA when the season starts.
He defend better than DA though his shooting is slugging due to the surgery.
His shooting will be back.

But JVG should limit his playing time to around 20-25 minutes.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

*Should Head start the game?*

Rockets have a good chance to win the conference in the regular season. Wesley and DA look really old. How about Head to start the game.

Rockets starters would be youngest in the West.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*



Ballscientist said:


> Rockets have a good chance to win the conference in the regular season. Wesley and DA look really old. How about Head to start the game.
> 
> Rockets starters would be youngest in the West.


Sorry BS but gonna combine your thread with an older one, pretty much the same topic, and I gave my views on the subject already.


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## Rocket Man (Jun 10, 2005)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

Alston should start at the 1, that is why we got him - so we could have a(true) point guard. Wesley's shooting right now is horrible but his defense is still sound. While we really don't need that much point production to go along with the other starters I don't want other teams to be able to use their player matching up against our 2 to be able to provide double teams on Yao and T-Mac. I DA can come in and knock down some shots that would work. If matched up with slower guards Jon Barry might work. Don't laugh now but I could see Moochie getting time the way he has been shooting in preseason(If only he was not such a defensive liability.) Head can come in in spots to disrupt quicker guards but I do not believe that Gundy will start him. When putting the starters together we should also be thinking about what guards we are going to have coming off the bench to provide some scoring punch. I think Van Gundy is going to take his time in installing the guard rotation - especially at the 2 and just use who is hot and who matches up best.


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## hitokiri315 (Apr 30, 2004)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

no way JVG starts a rookie over a proven veteran starter. Head will go through the woes of being a rookie you don't want that to be with signifigant minutes. Only change i would like to see is stro starting ahead of howard everything else is good.


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## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

well, it's not that wesley or DA are that good or anything, but head seems better as a spark off the bench ala ben gordon. i still think wesley will get his shot back, everybody goes in slumps. heck mcgrady had them last year too.

as for DA.. i'm not a big fan of his at this point at all. he's not the same player he used to be, he used to be a good shooter and was pretty athletic, and had enough ball handling and passing skills to play 1-2. ever since he lost his shot however he has been completely useless, not the mention he's become a TO machine. basically all that used to be his strength is now gone. i guess you can blame his injuries, but injuries or not, he's not the same player. one thing that hasn't changed is that he's still a horrible defender.


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## Meatwad (Feb 18, 2005)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

after wesley's defensive display in the playoffs i don't see him as this great defensive player that we can't do without. the drop off between him and anderson defensively won't even be noticeable. actually it might more noticeable in anderson's favor since he's much taller and longer and his versatility could be a plus.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*



Meatwad said:


> after wesley's defensive display in the playoffs i don't see him as this great defensive player that we can't do without. the drop off between him and anderson defensively won't even be noticeable. *actually it might more noticeable in anderson's favor since he's much taller and longer and his versatility could be a plus*.


Trenton Hassell is only 6-5 but has the ability to shut down much bigger 2's because of his quick lateral movement and intensity on the ball. DA just doesn't have the speed or agility anymore to be effective guarding 2's for a long period of time. Steve Nash is one of the biggest PG's in the game but can't play a lick of defense.


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## Meatwad (Feb 18, 2005)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

trenton hassell is 6-5 (like you said) with long arms and he's a perimeter defender. i think t-mac is the tallest player he has to guard. there is usually a 4-5" difference between wesley and the 2 he's guarding. i don't see the relevance.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

Wesley went 1-10. He is so far 22% from the field and 7% from beyond the arc in the preseason.


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## thekid (Apr 3, 2003)

*Re: Should Head start the game?*

Nash really isn't all that big. He looks about 6'1 really even though he's listed at 6'3


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## 23 (Apr 23, 2005)

Wesley needs to go. I dont care about a percentage. Remember his 18% down the stretch of last season?

The man still can't shoot. I dont think its worth the patience


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Was that Derek Anderson turning the ball over in a crucial moment of the game? I don't just have vendetta's against players because I don't like who they are. I just don't think he brings anything to court that Jon Barry doesn't, and his decision making is SO poor. Head may be a rookie, but he was almost a national champion and brings alot of things Anderson and Wesley don't to the court.


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## Brian34Cook (Mar 26, 2003)

I gotta question.. I dont know or havent read anything but why did Luther get only 4 minutes? 

Anyways, I would say not yet.. eventually maybe.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

Brian34Cook said:


> I gotta question.. I dont know or havent read anything but why did Luther get only 4 minutes?
> 
> Anyways, I would say not yet.. eventually maybe.


Gumby's been playing with diff. guard rotations all pre-season. Wesley sat out an entire game, Jon Barry sat out an entire game... so no biggie that Head only got 4 mins, it was probably just an experiment by Gumby, not because Head did anything bad.


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## Meatwad (Feb 18, 2005)

come on man. almost a national champion? college accolades mean something now? derek anderson wasn't almost a national champion, he WAS a national champion at kentucky in '96


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Meatwad said:


> come on man. almost a national champion? college accolades mean something now? derek anderson wasn't almost a national champion, he WAS a national champion at kentucky in '96


Derek Anderson has lost alot since he left San Antonio. It seems with the loss of his athleticism he has also lost his desire to win. He doesn't seem hungry anymore. Luther has alot to prove, is very healthy and has shown he has the game to succeed in the NBA. It's not like Wesley and Anderson are making the smart decisions Head wouldn't when he's on the court. I prefer Wesley to Anderson, but since he is such a streaky player why not bring him off the bench?


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