We better keep Rafer: - the only guys reliable to bring p the ball and make good decisions are Tracy and probably Brooks, although he will have to learn it first. - Francis is injury prone, one injury to any of the three and there is no dilemma anymore. - From last year's stats, You could argue that both Francis and James are on the downward slope, while Rafer at the same age is much less erratic. As a team we are better off trading Novak or Luther, but for the same reasons above, Rafer is the one with much more trade value. It all depends who is available for trade, but if it were up to me, and if were possible, James would be the one on the trading block.
After watching him last year and seeing the guards we have on this team, how can anyone still want Rafer here. 1 Star.
I see alot of hating going on here without giving Francis and James a chance. Francis is a question mark and James has won a ring with contributions to a team yet they are both scrutinized the same. They have NOT been given a chance on THIS TEAM. Rafer has had the chance to prove himself and is pretty much poor all around besides bringing the ball up ,and we can get Tyron lue to do that if that's how low your standards are. We don't need a guy who chucks up 3's left wide open because the defense knows he's a hole in the teams offense. That's not a sign of respect from the opponent. Morey knows this and went with a different set of players. For a point guard he can't get the ball in the hole besides chucking a wide open 3 occasionally, nor create so he's no good to this team.
I like Rafer, but he and his 40ishMPG was really just a hole for a more talented PG to fill in. And now we have a combonation of those. TRADE RAFER NOW. Whee.
by that same reasoning rafer has not been given a chance since THIS TEAM is completely different than the one he was on, i.e. new philosophy and several new players. so you dont want a guy taking bad shots but you want francis and tmac...ok. whatever your pleasure.
We've seen Rafer's limitations and holes with Yao and Tmac and there is NOTHING to salvage Donkey. Obviously Francis brings areas that Rafer does not, and so does Mike James. if that were not the case, the Rockets would not have tried to sign him multiple times after they traded him off for Rafer. You are here comparing 2 all star players and one guy who helped a team win a championship to Rafer Alston. Sorry, i'll take the new, out with the old.
you are right, francis and MJ bring things rafer does not...and vice versa. It goes both ways, thats the point. You need to have some versatility, not a team of 1 on 1 players (like francis and MJ are). We have all seen the limitations of MJ and francis as well (especially francis). Why would you want your team to only have 1 skill set and 1 position when you can have both sides of the coin covered? francis and mj arent even true PGs, they are more in the mold of SGs. I was comparing a bad shot to a bad shot, the difference is that rafer actually shoots 3pters at a better clip.
I know its not a reliable source, but hoops hype said a possible 3 way deal for rafer would be: Alston to Miami, Posey to Sacramento, Abdur-Rahim to Houston.
What's the point in bringing in SAR when we just shipped out Juwuan who is basically a slightly less athletic clone of SAR?
It would be better than doleac or nothing. Hes younger than JHO, but he has a little more range, he could give em a good 20minutes if he had to.
Since it's near impossible to get a complete pf, I think it is more important for us to get a defensive presence to fill the gap. Foster would do a much better job in that role than SAR
It doesnt take a good basketball player to dribble the ball to mid court and hand it to tmac like rafer did. Anyone in the nba could do that. He's really only been injured last year. 1 year of injuries does not make you injury prone. Francis was injured, so you really cant base stats on that. How is rafer less eratic??? Because he has a few less turnovers?? I think his ill-advised 3 point shooting and missed layups are equivelent to turnovers.
Guess what: - Francis is actually not the best guard in the NBA that brings the ball up-court fast and hand it over. James does bring the ball up court reasonnably well, he is just not good at handing it over. Court vision and decision making is just atrocious with these two, those short co,ings were verified on our very own team and with others, just like Rafers abilities... All three can be injured, especially at this point in their carreers. Ridiculous: - if you blame him from bricking wide open shots, don't blame him from ill advised 3 point shooting. On a side note, shooting 34% fro, the three point line is better than shooting 45% for the 2... - A TO is the worse thing in BB, can't even compare to a missed shot, especially for us, with Yao, Hayes and T-MAc in the paint.
A player who shoots in the 30% from the field should stop shooting. Rafer was taking 15 shot a game when he had off nights. Throwing up 3s when you cant shoot to save your life is just as bad as handing the ball to the other team. He is a career backup and nothing more.
Those of you who say MJ contributed to a championship team are, I can only assume, referring to helping the Pistons in practices? I mean, don't you think Detroit might have still won even without Mike Jame's 8.9 minutes and 2.6 points a game?
rafer didnt have many TO because he didnt have to create shots for anyone...lets not forget that tmac was the one who created shots for everyone and broke down the defense...basically all rafer did was dribble up and hand the ball to tmac...the assists that rafer gets were usually swinging the ball around the horn for battier/head to hit the 3...and if he cant shoot and finish around the rim then what good is he... and besides we need a pf
Good reasoning. Can I 5 star a post? I remember somebody saying if we had a point rotation of Francis/James, we'd have a 50% chance of getting burned. That's probably what will happen when you have chemstry problems - major chemistry problems in the back court. Does Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis mesh well? No. Why? Because they are the same type of players and neither would be happy with reduced roles. Do you see a similarity in Francis/James? If it weren't for salary cap considerations, I would see Rafer staying, even if just for insurance, unless we could net somebody like Haslem but of course the Heat aren't gonna do that. Look, it's just pretty dangerous. Sometimes, it makes sense to have 4 capable point guards, even if it sounds crazy. Now Sura and JLIII both are goners, that's what we're left with right?
pretty much. assuming JL3 and sura are gone (which seems obvious) rockets have francis/alston/james/brooks. As much as i like brooks im ruling him out as "capable" simply to be overly cautious in evaluation (whatever he gives the rockets this year is a bonus...shouldnt be relied on). So then the rockets have francis/rafer/james...and even head if things get desperate. Like you mentioned francis and james are fairly similar type players (offensive scorers) and luther is a sharp shooter specialist. Really all 3 of those guys are more like SGs. But like you said, i see rafer staying as well unless he is packaged with someone else to get another quality player, like haslem. I dont think getting rid of him for trash (like doleac) is worth it. I wouldnt feel too great about the PG spot with james/francis/brooks/head there....this isnt nba live after all.
Might have something to do with our team being capable of scoring only 67 points in a playoff game... with only four players contributing to those 67 pts (Rafer only shot 5 times btw, and made 2-4 threes). Our team had no options last year -- we were offensively inept outside of Yao/McGrady when someone else wasn't having a good, and started two players (Battier/Hayes) that wouldn't even think about creating a shot. Who else was supposed to be the third option? I'm very eager to see Rafer in a team that suddenly has options at every spot on the floor. That (the bold) is exactly what I'm worried about, and why I think we should keep Rafer. We need a change of pace guard at the 1, we need some playing style versatility, and Rafer is the only option we have.
Then why are people calling steve a balhog and whatnot?? Who esle was on his team while he was on the rockets?? He had not other choice than to take and create shots for himself becuase he and cuttino were the only legit players on that entire team. Weren't Bibby and Jackson both very similar player?? Both were scoring pgs. Alston is simply not needed. He an inferior basketball player to both James and Francis. And what playmaking ability does Rafer possess. He doesnt get many assists for a supposed "pass-first pg." They need players than can finish and score, rafer does not fit that mold.
