Rafer is doing a decent job. I haven't seen any reason to take him out and put anyone else *on our roster* in his place. James...he's just perfect coming in off the bench. Francis and Brooks: Why? Noreason to YET. Rafer pushes the tempo well, holds it up when it needs to be. He's no defensive juggernaut, but he has incredibly quick hands, and plays decently enough. EVERYONE gets beat off the dribble, even Shane does. I think many people's general hate for Rafer is just blinding them to making blanket statements. He's no allstar, there's no denying that. But he's not a severe liability out there on the floor just yet. His pros still outweigh his cons so far. Until it swings the other way, don't expect someone to beat him out for the starting job. You may not like it, but it's something you'll have to accept for now, especially while the team is winning. We'll see how the team does over the next two games.
Untrue. Rafer averaged as many shot attempts as he has for his career in similar minutes. Even on a per minute basis. Check facts before you post.
I hope Stevie isn't going to be treated like Bonzi 2006. Not sure how coach expects him to get into shape if he can't get any playing time. Mike James is great for this team and Stevie should split minutes with Head and Rafer and go from there.
and chanting "Play Steve" will only aggravate things because it's putting more pressure on Steve and he tends to react negatively.
Home Court Advantage = Having a home crowd help motivate or inspire the home team to perform. How does the chant in any way help the Home Team. What benefits for the team are achieved by the chant. Pros - Steve (player on the bench) knows fans still support him Cons - Adelman gets publically second guessed by fans. - Adelman has to deal with Steve's now inflated notion he deserves to play - Rafer, James feeling that the fans don't appreciate their hard work. (This is human nature. If you chant for someone to come in someone has to come out.) If I am missing some other Pros let me know.
Francis showed up out of shape, and just expecting to be handed PT. We are a playoff caliber team, that isn't going to fly. If he earns a spot, he'll get in the rotation. I don't see what else there is to it. Rafer earned his spot, get behind him and the TEAM.
i agree, i always been a steve francis fan and he deserves to play. Hes a way better player than Alston and its also more entertainign seeing him dunk and cross people and getting fans to say OHHHHHHHHHH than seeing alston brick unnecessary 3's.
if you recall... JVG would constantly back rafer's fg attempts by noting "an open shot is a good shot".. and by the way, he only had similar minutes (34.0 + per game) one other time in his carrer, and it was with a terrible, last place Toronto team... and when he played 31.5/game in miami, his fg attempts per game was 9.3. Therefore, it is obvious that JVG's offense had rafer in a role that he has played only one other time in his career, and it was with a last place team (so you have to expect that he is going to take alot of shots). His other years, are similar to his role this year; in which, he was used properly (limited minutes, limited fg attempts). What I am saying, is that if rafer is on a playoff caliber team and he is used properly, he isnt all that bad. Its only when he is on a good team and he is asked to do more than what is on his resume, that is where he looks awful (hint.. his years under JVG).
Why does Francis "deserve" to play??? He got outplayed in the preseason, and he is out of shape. So your saying that you would rather see steve crossing people over and dribbling out the shot clock, than the rockets win? Steve was a horrible acquisition for this roster.
If we had been trailing in the 4th then I would not have joined in on the chants. We were not going to lose the game, he could have just played the last 2 minutes and we would have been fine. Although I would much rather see Mike James play almost the whole game at point, I would still have liked to see Francis in, considering it was his first home game back. Sure the chants don't help the team overall, but we were winning and not likely we would lose, big deal. I hate Rafer, if he is in I will chant for anyone to come in, I will chant for Snyder or Novak! I just wanted to see Francis play. I was always a fan of his and still am.
no, you are.. i told you so.... the bottom line holds that fans who think steve doesnt deserve to play, are right... and fans that want him to play are wrong. obviously he doesnt deserve to play, because HE ISNT PLAYING. RA is the 'decider', and his history holds him to be a players coach, but a fair coach as well. and in all fairness to stevie francis, he got outplayed by players that wanted a rotation spot more than he did. so have fun on the bench stevie, the smart fans know you deserve to be there.
you think francis would appreciate playing garbage time (the last 2 minutes)?? do you think he would hustle, or even try?? why would you want to see that? in fact, i think francis would be insulted if he was put in a decided game.
