Why don't you apply for the Head Coach Job for the Rockets, since you obviously know more then two Top Tier coaches when they chose to start Rafer Alston. For some reason a top notch coach like RA is starting Rafer over James and Francis on this Houston Team, so please explain to me how is it that I am wrong when I am talking abt the Rockets, not the Sixers or Clipps that Rafer will start infront of James and Francis and be the best option to start the game? The point is, Rafer Alston is the best starter at PG (not the best player) for this years Houston Rockets team that has unlimited potential. Not ANY OTHER team. If you put Francis and Alston both on a Seattle squad, then yes Francis will probably start over Alston 500x over, but at the same time I wont be surprised if Kevin Durant's ppg is 10points less then it would have been. I guess if your arguement is that RA is a horrible coach who doesn't know what his doing for his PG spot, then please show me proof of winning over 60% of NBA games in YOUR career as a NBA head coach, otherwise do not even dare question the ability of a NBA head coach that watches these players play every day, plans their roles, watches their tapes, studies and decides every waking second of how to extract the most wins out of this Rockets team. You or RA? I choose RA, and yes that means sticking with Rafer and his streaky shooting over Francis. By the way it's very bold of you to come out firing "you are wrong" since I always thought the board was for discussion and claiming 100% rightfulness is just out-right arrogant. As a senior member of the board, assumably more knowledgable, I think your aguements should hold more credentials then just some Rafer bias, pointing out his obvious deficiencies and exaggerating them by 100x. _ Blues
Please look at playoff numbers if you need any further help in this department. Clutch will be glad to help you along. And what the numbers didnt show, was Rafers god aweful defense.
Dreamshake: Stop dreaming, shake it off, it's 2007. If this was a dunking contest I'll put Steve in front of Rafer. But this is not the case currently.
I think this needs to be made a sticky on the board... I trust RA more than the fans chanting "We want Steve."
Uh.. You haven't been on this board much have you? Claiming 100% rightfulness is de riguer here and I'm 100% right about THAT!
I think you mentioned it twice in your previous post defending rafer. Because the team gets off to a good start is no excuse not to look for ways to improve the team. I'm not saying francis is the answer but I think at the very least he deserves a few minutes with rafer shooting as bad as he has.
Has anyone on this board actually PLAYED basketball? Ever?? Even at the high school level? Its funny to see the way most fans look at basketball. You guys look at stats rather than actual ability and skills. Its very apparent in this thread because anybody who has actually played basketball can tell that Rafer Alston's overall skillset is very weak compared to Steve Francis. And I'm not talking about his crossover or his jumpshot...I'm talking about the way he passes the ball, the way he moves around the court, small moves that he COULD make but doesn't. Example, anybody who has played basketball knows that you have to take the ball HARD to the rim off a steal when you're in the open lane. AGainst the lakers, Rafer stole the ball and was so scared Kobe was going to block it that he made a crazy pass to Tmac, who somehow jumped from the FT line area made a miraculous shot. Any coach at the high school level would have yelled at a player for such an idiotic play. If anybody on this board has played competitive basketball, please state that before you make a post.
You are right, I mentioned 3-0 twice. The TEAM is 3-0. I never said that Rafer Alston is the reason we are 3-0. The team is what is important. We aren't going to play a 3 man PG rotation unless there is some overwhelming reason to do so. You aren't saying Francis is the answer.. but what is the question?? The team is doing well. Everyone knows their role.
Just because JVG and RA choose rafer over francis doesn't make them right. How many championships have these two coaches won? Rudy T strongly believed in Francis. He's won championships.
Exactly. Williams is one of the elite PGs in the league, he was doing that all season long. Franchise would have shut that down that P'n'R that Sloan has been running for 85 years though.
i know i'm late to this thread b/c the bbs has been down. i haven't bothered to read anything in it, so i'll just say my piece. i'm so glad Adelman didn't care for what the fans had to say. i was at the game and we were on the verge of choking when the fans starting chanting this. putting Steve in would have been the WORST possible thing to do. the guy is out of shape and can't run an offense and people wanted him in to play.
What PG will help this team over the top? That's my question. I don't think it's rafer. It might not be francis either. But to look only at our record and say everything is fine is not wise either. I think the starting pg position needs to be improved and we should try our options is all I'm saying.
ONCE again for the SLOW witted ones. DID JVG have Mike James or Steve to decide between? Do you know that JVG wouldnt of started MJ or SF over alston. Then quit using it as argument to bolster your point. Please tell me about Rafers career. How his last two year with the Rox have been with the same basic Starting 5? How was his playoff performance? Lastly how did the TEAM do? Yeah, because in Yao's first years, Steve changed his role. Scored less, fed the post took a dump in stats for the TEAM. But obviously your speaking of a different Steve who was more concerned with numbers than Team. When with Dwight Howardl, Steve constantly refused to play team ball and shunned Howard...wow. My point is that RAFER is NOT the best option. We tried it for a few years, saw the product sucked went out and the GM got three more PGs. Lets not forget that RA had some great teams and has ZERO championships. He also was run out of Sacto. You can win 60 percent your whole life. If you can't win the big ones, then what are you bragging about? Head coaches make mistakes in personell calls. It happens all the time. Personally, I think Steve probably had some issues with Rick in camp. Stories of Steve complaining about TMac and Yao getting all the calls in practice, and Rick giving Steve a practice T had something to do with it. We all saw JVG get stubborn with players and it cost the Rox a chance to do well in the playoffs. I refuse to see this happen again the very next year because of Ricks stubborness. What am I exaggerating? Fact: Rafer is the worst shooter in the NBA over their career since the stat has been kept dating back to 1980. Fact: The Rockets lost in the first round to a lower seeded team last year. Tmac played Great, Yao played pretty well also. Fact: Rafer is a lifetime .699 freethrow shooter. Thats probably the worst number I have seen from a PG that I can recall Fact: Rafer plays Terrible D. Wow just watch him and you can't even begin to argue this. Fact: Rafer can not creat his own shot. Fact: Rafer can not create for his teammates. See unlike you, I am not willing to take another year off wondering what happened in the playoffs. Tmac is one year older, Yao is starting his Prime. The Rox don't have many years left with the two. Burning through another offseason wondering wtf happened isn't an option at this point. I say James and Francis should get the chance to do it. Rafer has had a lifetime to suck. Has he done anything different over 8 years?
Haha.. wow... So JVG and RA have no idea what they are talking about because they haven't won a championship. But I guess you have won a championship coaching somewhere.. and that's why you are right in that Francis should be playing? And FYI, JVG never coached Francis.
Last year. You know what I meant, and it didn't change any of your "points" that have been shot down.
Does Steve have any trade value? If he's not gonna get any playing time and stay in the doghouse, who would take him? And what do the Rockets need to upgrade that they could possibly get in return?
