Luther Head

Luther Head
Player information
birthday	26th November 1982 (age 37)
place of birth	Chicago , Illinois , United States
size	191 cm
position	Point Guard / Shooting Guard
college	Illinois
NBA draft	2005 , 24th pick, Houston Rockets
Clubs as active
2005–2009 Houston Rockets 2009 Miami Heat 2009–2010 Indiana Pacers 2010–2011 Sacramento Kings 000 0

Luther Dale Head (born November 26, 1982 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American basketball player. The 1.91 meter tall guard was active in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2005 to 2011 .

High school

Head attended the Manley Academy in Chicago , where he already scored over 20 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds per game as a junior . These accomplishments resulted in multiple awards within Chicago and the Blue Division MVP title in the Chicago Public League. Luther Head and his coach Bo Delaney led the Manley Academy to a 12-0 victory record against division partners and to win the conference in the Blue West Division. Manley ended the season with 26: 7 wins, but then lost to the runner-up in Illinois - Chicago Westinghouse - in the quarterfinals. During the season, Head scored 10 triple-doubles and broke the city record for assists in one game with 25 assists. He also performed well in the playoffs. He scored 26 points and 15 assists against Marshall in the first playoff round and achieved a triple-double in round 2 against Steinmetz.

As a senior, Head scored 22 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals in the rough and physically tough Red West division of the Chicago Public League. Head was voted into the All-State First Team by several sports magazines and became an All-Star. He played mainly as a point guard . In order to improve his skills in other areas, he was also used more often as a shooting guard . Luther Head also finished sixth in the Illinois Mr. Basketball election . Some college scouts saw his senior year in high school as a disappointment because some of his stats were down a little compared to his junior year. Even so, the University of Illinois made him an offer to play with her. Head became the first player since 1994 in the Chicago Public League who was allowed to play at the University of Illinois as a basketball player.

college

Freshman

As a freshman at the University of Illinois , Luther Head got little playing time, as coach Bill Self with Brian Cook, Frankie Williams and Sergio McClain had talented veterans available. When the season was already advanced, his playing time increased. He started a total of 13 games, including 11 of the last 12. He scored 4.5 points in 16.6 minutes per game and hit 51% of his throws. In his first season, Head attracted attention mainly with a safe throw and a very good defense. With a total of 34 steals , he was the second best ball thief on the team. He showed the potential to become one of the team's offensive weapons with 19 points in the first round of the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship tournament against San Diego State University , where he hit eight of his eleven throws, including three threesomes . His season high of six assists against the University of Kansas proved that he can compete against the best college teams in the United States.

Sophomore

A pelvic injury forced Head to slow down and missed 7 games. However, he started eight times in his sophomore season and was on the field for a little more than 20 minutes per game. The commitment of the two point guards Dee Brown and Deron Williams prevented Head from starting from the point guard position. He was now mainly used as a shooting guard or even as a small forward . As his injury healed, Luther Head improved noticeably. In the last 10 games he hit 58.5% of his throws from the field and 48% of his triple attempts in the last 11 games. With 7.9 points, Head was the team's fourth-best scorer. Over the season he hit 42.4% of his triple attempts and 51.9% of his field throws. With this he proved that he is a competent scorer if given enough minutes. In addition, Head scored nine times in double digits, including five times during the Big Ten Play. In the Big Ten Tournament victory over Indiana, he scored his season best of 16 points for Illinois . In this game he hit 2 three-point throws and a total of 5 of his 6 throws. In Illinois' three Big Tournament wins, Head achieved a points average of 9.6 and hit 69.2% of his throwing attempts.

Junior

Luther Head's junior year saw many changes. So the head coach left Illinois and took over the Kansas Jayhawks , while the Southern Illinois head coach Bruce Weber was now Head's new coach. Weber made Head a starter, which resulted in a significant increase in playing time. Head was the team's fourth-best scorer with 11.0 points. He scored over 8 points in 20 of 29 games and scored 14 times in double digits. In the quarterfinals against the Indiana Hoosiers , he set a new career record with 29 points. He hit 4 three-point throws and a total of 9 of his 14 attempts. In the game against Purdue, which was Illinois' next opponent, he scored 19 points and distributed 8 assists . In the process, he also made a game-winning rebound that ultimately ensured victory: He adjusted teammate Roger Powell for the lay-up. However, this was blocked and Head caught the rebound and made the 2 points. Against the Iowa Hawkeyes Head reached a double-double with 16 points and a career best of 10 rebounds . Throughout the NCAA Tournament, Head averaged 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds when Illinois won. If Head was in the starting five , Illinois had a record of 21-3 wins.

Senior

Head started all games in the season and led his team with 15.9 points (fifth in the league) in the scoring. With good passers Dee Brown and Deron Williams at his side, Head scored 622 points throughout the year. He is fifth in the ranking for the most points in one year of all universities. Head was the scoring leader in 16 games and scored double digits in 36 of 39 games, 12 times more than 20 points. Head also led the Big Ten with 116 threesomes (3.0 per game), setting a new record for Illinois. He hit 41% of his triple attempts and 46.3% of his field throws. He was also the best free throw shooter in the Illinois team with 78.8% and fifth best ball thief and passer in the Big Ten with 1.7 steals and 3.8 assists per game. His season best of 26 points he achieved twice - once against Wisconsin and once against Northwestern . He also scored against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and the Louisville Cardinals 6 threes, which is also a personal best. Against Iowa he set a new career best with 6 steals, while he achieved his for assists (9) three times: against Oakland, the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Valparaiso Crusaders .

Illinois set the NCAA Division I record with 37 wins in 39 games and the team was number one on the table for most of the season. Luther Head set 4 new records for Illinois: games in the NCAA Tournament (14), points over career (162), hits from the field over career (59) and threesome hit over career (32). The team reached the finals for the first time, but lost there against the North Carolina Tar Heels . Head missed a decisive three-point throw in the defeat and sealed Illinois' position as the second best team in the NCAA.

All in all, his senior year was Heads best for the University of Illinois. He had several successes to record:

• Consensus Second-Team All-American
• Associated Press Second-Team All-American
• USBWA Second-Team All-American
• NABC Second-Team All-American
• College Insider.com All-American
• Sports Illustrated.com Honorable Mention All-American
• First-team all-big ten selection from the coaches and the media
• Big Ten All-Tournament Team Selection
• NCAA Chicago Regional All-Tournament Team honoree
• NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team
• Wooden Award finalist
• Oscar Robertson (USBWA) Player of the Year finalist
• Adolph Rupp Award finalist
• Midseason Naismith Award candidate
• USBWA All-District
• NABC First-Team All-District

Luther Head studied sports management and would only need an internship after his career to get his bachelor's degree.

NBA

Draft

Luther Head played for the Houston Rockets from 2005 to 2009

After his strong senior year for Illinois, Head was automatically considered an option in the NBA Draft he signed up for. Most analysts initially predicted that he would be elected in the middle of the second round because he does not have a permanent position and was in college point guard and shooting guard. The talent scouts liked his litter but had concerns about the small height for a shooting guard (around 2 meters is ideal) and the character. But since Head also had many advantages, the teams wanted to take a closer look at him. So it happened that he was invited to a lot of workouts. This proved that he is able to play effectively as a point guard and improved many scouting reports - so he has now been rated as the first round pick.

On the day of the draft, the Houston Rockets voted him 24th in the first round. A few days later the contract was signed and for the coming season Head played as a backup for the aging David Wesley.

Career

In its 2005/06 debut season , Head played 80 of the 82 games and started 20 times. He achieved statistics of 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 28.9 minutes. Head was elected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team .

Luther Head warming up before an away game against the Denver Nuggets

In his sophomore season for Houston , Luther Head achieved an average of 10.9. He also hit 44.1% of his threesomes, distributed 2.4 assists and got 3.2 rebounds. With 27.6 minutes he still received a relatively large amount of playing time. He proved he is a valuable reserve player, especially when Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were out injured. He was able to hit at least a three-point in 37 consecutive games and established himself as a good three-shooter in the NBA.

In his fourth and fifth seasons for the Rockets, his playing time fell significantly with the signing of Rafer Alston and with it all other statistics, so that Head only played a minor role. On February 28, 2009, Head was released from the Rockets. However, on March 3, he signed with the Miami Heat , who still have use as a guard backup for him. Shortly after signing, Head broke his hand, which meant the end of the season for 2008/2009.

Top performances

• 30 points against the Golden State Warriors , April 4, 2007
• 10 transformed throws (twice)
• 7 threesomes hit against the Golden State Warriors, April 4, 2007
• 7 free throws hit against the Memphis Grizzlies , February 29, 2008
• 10 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns , November 23, 2005
• 11 assists against the San Antonio Spurs , December 22, 2006
• 4 steals (three times)
• 2 blocks (three times)
• 48 minutes played against the Los Angeles Lakers , December 15, 2006

Web links

• Luther Head - player profile on NBA.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ http://www.nba.com/draft2005/board.html
3. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2433329
4. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=bucher_ric&page=07allquasars
5. ↑ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6286398.html
6. ↑ http://www.nba.com/heat/news/HEAT_signed_Luther_Head-303530-36.html
7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.