The one guy the Rockets CANNOT afford to lose to injury is

to me this says more about the lack of PG depth on the team, however i predict this thread to turn into a debate about rafer's talent level.

 

QFT
I hope Brooks will make big strided this year , especially shooting.
If he still can't shoot next year we gonna need to trade for another pg.

Out of Francis , I don't expect nothing.

Head should play some pg with Barry and T-Mac on the floor if Rafer gets an injury.

 

Now that Rafer won't have to score 15-16 points a night for this team to be successful I think he is going to win some people over for what he CAN do well.

and I agree that the team cannot afford for him to be injured although with the new talent it won't be as frightening without him as it was last season. Ron can play some of Tracy's minutes so Tmac could play some PG. Barry can play a little PG also. Brooks can also benefit from having great passers on the floor so that all he has to do is get the ball across half court and let the court vision of Tmac, Barry and even Ron (I hope) make sure the offense runs smoothly.

 

Rafer doesn't need to be an outstanding talent. He jsut eds to play good defense and run the offense well. If Raja Rondo can do it, I'm sure Alston can. And he did very well last year. Fan just don't notice that stuff. They focus on shooting percentages and averages etc.

 

I completely agree...in fact I think we could've won against the Jazz last year if Rafer had been healthy the whole series.

Point guard is going to remain a conern all season. While I didn't like Bobby Jackson - I felt more comfortable handing the reigns over to him than to Brooks. I'm hoping Brooks comes out and shows he can be a playmaker this year, but in my opinion it almost looks like he's always looking to score for himself rather than get others involved - which is not something we need. I'd love to see Steve come out with something in the tank, but I think he's more likely to be trade bait at the trading deadline and I'm unconvinced about Barry at the point.

Morey has already done a lot this offseason - maybe after they resign Landry and Deke there will be some money left to go after a back up point guard. I'm not looking to replace Rafer (like I know many on this board are), just looking for someone we can trust with the ball when he needs a break and if he gets injured.

 

If we want to get out the 1st round we can't afford to lose T-mac, Yao, or Rafer. If we want to become serious contenders we can't afford to lose T-mac, Yao, Artest, or Rafer.

 

why so serious?

 

Agreed on both. I can't remember another situation where the value of a player was inflated to this extent simply because there was no viable backup.

 

Um, isn't the fact that there's no viable backup a reason to inflate a player's worth?

 

I agree that at this point, Rafer might be the hardest to lose, but that is from a regular season point of view. Playoff and championship wise, it is either of our Big 3. If we lose Rafer but have our Big three and everyone else, we will still win it all, imho.

That's why I also think we will have another move, even possibly before training camp to bring in another guard like Barbosa, Pargo, or Delonte West to sure up that spot, most likely at least involving Head, Hayes and another player or two not named Steve Francis. (more likely Brooks and/or Harris)

 

No I disagree..

This team only goes as far as Yao goes IMO.. Tmac also. Without either the Rockets are f*ked.

 

It's not just that he has no viable backup but that horrifically, he's actually the "leader" of this team. And that is even more greatly magnified taking into consideration the fact that he is the only guy on the team with any chance of keeping Artest in check.

The irony is so thick you can cut through it with a butter knife. The weakest link in our core rotation is somehow the most integral part of the team.

 

Well said. It's funny but it makes me want to cry.

 

The one guy we cannot afford to lose is Yao Ming. We can't expect to go deep into the playoffs without him even with the addition of Artest and a healthy McGrady.
Rafer is also critical to our success,without him McGrady will have a hard time playing as a point forward,but Yao is the foundation of the team.Without him we are nothing.

 

WTF? Really?

 

I feel comfortable with Brooks running the show in the regular season if Alston goes down. But in the playoffs we really need everyone healthy or we are done.

 

Holy crap! Too bad that wasn't the case in the playoffs.

 

it's a good point.
basically, hopefully no one gets injured