well lets see here is a list of all the starting PGs (or have gotten the most starts) Rafer Alston Jose Calderon Jameer Nelson Mario Chalmers Chris Duhon TJ Ford Mike James Rajon Rondo Mike Bibby Devin Harris Derrick Rose Mo Williams Jamal Crawford Randy Foye Chauncey Billups Russell Westbrook Beno Udrih Rodney Stuckey Kyle Lowry Tony Parker Raymond Felton Luke Ridnour Andre Miller Jason Kidd Baron Davis Steve Nash Chris Paul Steve Blake Derek Fisher Deron Williams out of all those I would say Rafer I would pick over randy foye, mario chalmers, kyle lowry and possibly luke ridnour players i would say on the same level--felton, blake, uridh every one is flat out better or are rookies/2nd year guys who have shown more than enough promise to be flat out better. but if you look at all the PGs I've listed as just as bad or worse than Rafer only one plays for a potential contender in Blake the rest on lottery teams or a team that is probably a 1st round out in the east (chalmers) that means that rafer alston is quite possibly the worst starting pg of the playoff teams in the west...and while normally i say that you dont need an all-star at each position when everyone else in the west has a great pg who is probably the most important position on the court the rockets have failed to get one themselves that is at least adequate.
Funny to see Rafer getting mentioned a lot early. My friend, who is a Lakers fan, thinks Alston is a top-10 point guard in the league.
I think Chris Duhon is (was) as Rafer as you can be, just younger and to his credit progressed in the NY system. If Duhon came to Houston replacing Rafer, he'da been the same low turnovers, sub 40% shooting, reputation as a defender player. Kyle Lowry and Luke Ridnour I for sure wouldnt take over Rafer, possibly Mike James who's too up and down. Everyone else is a lateral move or better, or young with potential to get better. I think they're gonna scrap Randy Foye playing point guard but I'd take him on the Rockets as a combo guard. Raymond Felton is an awful shooter, but I'd take give him a look cuz he'd drive in more. Aggressive athletic bricking > Conservative bricking I guess.
i hope youre kidding about alston being on the same level as blake!?! If we had a pg like blake we'd be incredible, take alston going 3-13 everynight and plug in blake going 6-12 with 3-6 on three's and opposed to alston going 1-6 from deep and you're talking about 6-9 pts a game difference on the offensive end, defensively is another thing but blake hitting the open shot would be huge with us
Looking at that list, the only point guards I would pass over for Alston are Luke Ridnour, Chris Duhon and (maybe) Kyle Lowry.
When he has started, Travis Diener (sp?) is pretty terrible. Not so much this year, but Dan Dickau has been dang awful for a good part of his starting days.
The_Yoyo's list is good cuz it shows most the actual starting point guards. If you go by who's started recently then yeah those 2 are terrible. Can add Kevin Ollie & Sebastian Telfair to that list. Ridnour, Diener & Dickau are the Tri-Tower Power of (obviously lightly pigmented) small guards with the reputation of being cerebral, make-the-smart-decisions PGs who are good shooters. But they DONT hit shots from outside, below average 3 point shooters. Trying to see some Jon Stockton & Mark Price in these guys and its not even close.
Uh yes Steve Blake would make us incredible. We already have the athletic driving speedster pg. We need a big pg who can make shots when open....Steve Blake is that guy. He's just under utilized because Roy does all the heavy lifting on that squad. in fact if you think about it Blake is kinda' like a poor man's Roy(without the leadership qualities and slightly worse at everything), which is still better 0-fer....
Are we talking about the best player to play the position of point guard or the best actual point guard? As an example, Jamal Crawford may play the 1 spot, but is not a point guard.
