I could spend hours trying to respond to the posts I didn't agree with just on this thread, or I could just say: YOU WIN AS A TEAM AND YOU LOSE AS A TEAM There's no doubt Rafer had an absolutely pathetic night shooting, but it seems from the board like he single handedly cost us the game. What about: Foul/free-throw disparity: Minnesota shot 21 more FT's than us, and committed 12 less fouls than us. Considering that earlier we lost to them with Yao, sooner or later people on this board will have to realize that we just don't match up well with them. They are too big in general. Garnett and Blount had a number of open jumpers, and fortunately, they missed enough of them so we could come back and force OT. We definitely could've used the presence of Bonzi to help us on both sides of the court. Trent Hassell scored 8 points over his average!? Oh, and terrible execution on the Rockets for not preventing the money transaction from the T'Wolves to the refs. T-mac: He was able to reach the 30-point plateau again, but his shooting was not efficient as it was in his previous games. Also committed 5 turnovers and missed 5 free throws. He's feeling back pain again? AHHHH! Head: His main role is to make threes, and he failed miserably at that role today, going 1-8 on threes. Yet most will take delight in the fact that he extended his 3pt streak. This is laughable. I remember when Willy Taveras extended his hitting streak in an extra inning loss to the Cubs by going 1-9. It just shows how overrated these "streaks" are. Novak: His one and only role on this team is to make threes, and he missed on both attempts. Lack of ball movement: Rockets usually won't play well offensively when they can only get 13 assists. T-mac led the team with 4. We could easily blame this on the lack of shooting, JVG, back pain... OR we could give the Minnesota defense the credit they deserve. Once again, we don't match up well with them. There are some teams that just have your number. Basketball is a game of matchups. I guess I could keep going, or I could just quote JVG:
hey you forgot one BIG POINT! RAFER SUCKS LIKE USUAL AND SHOOTS LIKE 20% from the field.. hmmmmm the other guys u mentioned above atleast has good games.. its a given that they will have an off night. but its also given that rafer wont shoot better than 40% form the field. that he will miss some big wide open shots. that he will take some stupid forced shots.. that he will have like 5 turn overs a game.. . point is RAFER SUCKS..
Now this is what we need, I don't know if it would work but instead of just moaning and complaining, here is a workable idea. If we could work out the assignments defensively, I would be interested to try it out.
Rafer does not suck. He is a pg that is put in a tough situation where his role has shifted. He has been put in a situation, due to injuries, to shoot the ball alot more. You can say he sucks at shooting, thats a given. But, to say he will "have like 5 turn overs a game" is completely off base and untrue. He has been very protective of the ball. For the amount of minutes he plays, 2.2 to/gm is very good for a pg. oh, and Rafer doesn't suck, he's solid in other parts of his game, but u just want to focus on the one aspect of his game that is below par. It's like me saying TMAC sucks because he can't shoot free throws. Same difference.
nope id have to disagree with you... rafer sucks.. id almost take any other teams starting PG over rafer now.. okay one he sucks at shooting thats a given.. 2) he is turn over prone.. any team that doubles him or puts pressure on him he collapses under pressure and cant handle the ball .. we lost so many games this year due to his inability to bring the ball up the court.. i was at hte laker game and saw him turn over it twice down the stretch . we could of closed the game instead he turns it over in regulation and we went to over time he did it again in OT so we went to a 2nd OT.. 3) he is suppose to be a pass first PG and set other players up.. well he sure as hell cant do that.. Tmac is our play maker rafer is just trash.. so he cant shoot. cant pass, cant dribble. .i dunno what he's good for.. this i will give you tho.. we have no choice tho.. mabe JLIII but people who want to start head.. HEAD is probably the worst passer we have on this team.. so thats not an option either.. but atleast head can shoot
Oh no, I didn't forget that. I mentioned that before any of the other points I made. What I'm trying to say is that he's shot terribly before this game and we could still win games. The fact is, he was still able to help the team by distributing the ball and taking care of the ball. He had 8 assists and 1 turnover in the Jazz game. He was unable to do that today due to poor shooting, but most importantly, the Minnesota defense.
he is not the only one JVG is having Novak play a power forward position Spanoulis had to play something that he never used to he used Head as a PG few times, big mistake JVG is trying to build his dream team, and not a team that will fit well together
1) Spot on with point 1, which was nowhere to be seen on your list. 2) Oh really? You must be watching a different Rockets game then. 'Cause other than the odd careless turnover, what I see is a guy who's adept and breaking traps and presses, and who's definitely confident and calm with his handles. 3) So I guess when JVG makes Tmac the distributor, by your logic, he'd suddenly just become trash too, because he's passing now than scoring? Or if he made Yao the defensive linchpin and on offense just run around setting screens and mopping up the offensive boards, Yao would become trash too? Get a clue friend, get a clue.
he is the best ball handler we got... other than Tmac... the dude... just needs to play smarter... and SHOOT THE BALL LESS!!!!
Ball handling is overated on this Rocket team, you bring the ball up and you hand it to Tmac..... Yeah, that is certainly a skill. DD
Yeah, when the other team pressures it certainly is a skill...but that is a rare occurance these days. DD
I would think that you would no more about basketball than this. Ball-handling is more than just bouncing the ball past the halfcourt line and passing it. When teams apply pressure to Head it damn near results in an 8sec violation and then results in a risky crosscourt pass to beat it. Head also has a tendency to dribble into traps. Afterwards our offense then becomes in a hurry-up panic mode where an awful shot is forced with the shot-clock running down. A great ball-handler like Skip can get the ball down court quickly against the press and we'll have time to set up our offense and execute more efficiently.
I agree that Head is not the guy you want bringing it up against pressure, I would put in JL3 or V-Span for that role. The sooner this team moves away from Rafer the sooner they reach their potential. DD
If you can not make a shot, then stop shot, and let others to do the jobs, is this too much to ask? Do you understand to play or watch the basketball?
Alston's had multiple, multiple games when he's shot like he did yesterday. If he would stay within his role, he would still be a good backup, IMO, but he wouldn't hurt the team nearly as much. I won't get into his too frequent poor play at the end of games. The man, far too often, SHOOTS TOO DAMN MUCH. Look at Clutch's excellent player game by game stats. It's in black and white. Rafer doesn't know his role. McGrady can go 4 for 17, and make 6 straight shots to win it at the end of the 4th. Alston, however, has a brain fart with depressing regularity and is not Tracy McGrady. Lucas has stepped it up. I wish he had been left in to close this last game out. He's not an answer, either, as a starting point, but he was the better choice yesterday in that situation, IMO.
how hard is this conccept.....you suck at shooting , so don't shoot....you are good at ball handling, so just distribute the ball.....nothing else..... Its like JVG putting in Deke, and he starts shooting 10-12 ft jumpers and trying to run a fast break.....you do what you are good at....skip to my lou was always about the SHOW (from his street ball days)...and to him shooting gets you the fame.....thats why he keeps shooting....until jcg b**** slaps him back into place and benches him, its going to continue..... it is painful to watch him shoot...almost as much as listening to clyde on TV....is he even watching the game when he says thigns?
