Do We Wish We Kept Von Wafer?

the wierd mohawk alone says no.

He’s another scorer who plays no D. In Houston that’s great— they play great D and need some punch with TMac out. In Portland, we have enough low D scorers.

We got rid of Von Wafer for the right reasons. According to one of the radio shows, 95.5/1080 I can’t remember (and hopefully someone can back me up on this)— VVon Wafer was a slacker, didn’t seem interested in improving his game, and didn’t put in the effort the Blazers wanted. They also said that after he arrived in Houston, Von Wafer was the same way there for awhile. He changed while he was there after much poking and prodding.

It’s always easy to think things would have been better in retrospect.

Also, Von Wafer is a blckhole when it comes to passing the ball. We don’t need any of that.

as Everett put it… Rudy > Wafer. Plus last year he couldnt even get off our bench. In his first game, I remember him logging a lot of minutes but most of his shot attempts were created by others. He said in an interview this year that he worked on his game harder than ever this past off season and is finally reaping the benefits. Hard work and confidence can be all it takes to put a player over the hump. Judging from his answer to that question, it appears as if he didn’t work hard before, so there would be no way to know if he would change his work ethic had he remained a Blazer. I’m surprised at his improved ability to create off his own dribble this year, something we never saw last year in his limited minutes.

I wish he was stuck on the end of our bench so he wouldn’t be scoring on us.

He did a interview before game 4 and he had nothing but nice things to say about the Blazers and how they gave him a chance. He said he might not have been signed by Houston if Portland had not given him a shot and it is fun to play against his former team and no ill will was there.

when the bad guys are stand-up

Wafer is “wafer thin”, in other words his game is one dimensional. I think he gives a false sense of security for Houston frankly because he can come in and give them some offense when he’s wide open or when the defense is pre-occupied elsewhere. However we have seen his production diminish as the series has worn on because of the Blazer’s better all-around defense which has contained Wafer much better.

and his backup could start for almost any team in the NBA, your SG wish list sure as heck doesn’t include the likes of V.W Baracus. The only thing he’s good for is the pitying of an occasional fool.

He’s a scorer. He proved that here too. So I wouldn’t mind him at the end of the bench. I can’t remember, but we just waived him right? It’s not like we got anything for him? Remind me.

This is hillarious.

NO, NO, a thosand times NO.

Wafer was not re-upped by the Blazers because of his terrible work ethic, especially on defense.

Adleman pulled Wafer because he’s a defensive liability in game 2, even though he scored 21 points.

No Cookie Monster for Hail.

Get this weak stuff out of here.

Wafer indeed.

Maybe a Nilla.

he makes bad decisions, takes rash shots..

look, Rudy is obviously better, but you can’t deny that the guy is a baller. He just catches the ball and b-lines to the basket at a million miles an hour. Imagine if LMA or Frye had his confidence level?

Wafer is obviously a flawed player, but you want him on your team. If I were a Rockets fan, he’d definitely drive me crazy. But his sheer confidence and energy makes him a keeper in my book.

That’s the first reason they traded for him, to get a player who might be able to help the team. With more steady playing time, it could be expected that he would improve. Like, say, Jack is playing good for the Pacers and Ike Diogu benefitted from getting some time in Sacramento. When Channing leaves us and regularly puts up 10+ and 5 and our end-of-bench guys don’t, some people will also want Channing back who don’t want to play him now.

Who really wanted to re-sign Wafer last summer? When would he have played? Over whom? Yes the difference between Wafer and Rudy (who I think is the player that took his spot) is not gigantic this year, but there is a notable difference in all-around contribution. And they come at a similar cost.

Wafer is playing well in the series. I didn’t follow any teams not named the Trail Blazers this year so I don’t know how he was doing earlier on. It says something positive about a player’s ability and competitiveness when he is able to contribute in a series against a team that cut him. Lots of players want to stick it to their old team but can’t get it done.

All that being said, I guess we didn’t have room for a guy who, for whatever reason, apparently wasn’t interested in being a team guy, playing defense, etc, in Portland. Maybe he’s grown up since then. Young men do go through changes. I wish him good luck in the future, but I certainly hope he chokes in the next two games of our series.

My wife, on the other hand, is hard-core. She HATES the Rockets, even Brooks, for whom she used to cheer wildly when he was a duck. For her, there are no gray lines, except in my hair. Needless to say, her appreciation for Wafer is inversely proportionate to his success against our team.

Mark Jackson kept referring to him with disdain as a “homerun hitter” and that Lowry needed to “run his team” and keep the ball out of the homerun hitters hands. Ouch!

I would have to agree. He is a chucker, plain and simple. Chucker’s can win you a game here and there, but overall they hurt you.