It can be pretty hard when 2 defenders are chasing him around. We need shooters that can throw the entry pass to Yao.
Another trivia question: Name top 3 teams RA has the best Ass/TO ratio this season, and name top 3 teams RA has the worse Ass/TO ratio. Now, not so trivia question: Do you think inserting RA instead of MJ would have made a difference in last season's game 7 against Mavs?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ http://www.nba.com/games/20050507/HOUDAL/boxscore.html If you look at the box score, everyone shot bad , so rafer shooting bad would of made it worse, even though James was 2-7
If the Rockets could have predicted that every single player in their rotation would miss significant time this year, then yes, is was a bad trade. But who could have predicted that? And don't give me the "I knew it because our players are old" argument. These same players played great last year. I'm still undecided on this trade, but I would have to lean towards it being a mistake. But I still think RA can really help this team when/if everyone around him is healthy.
They shot bad because of our stagnant offense run by James who averaged 2 assists in the series, 0 asst in one game and 2 in game 7. Alston had 13, 17 and 18 against Dallas this year and averaged 4 assists without Yao in one game and TMac in 2 games.
Sure we had great players last year...when they weren't injured. Sura missed the first half of the season with injury. Wesley and Barry missed only a few games each last year, but hadn't played a full 82 since 2001 and 2002 respectively, and weren't getting any younger. McGrady missed 5 games last year and 15 the year before. Yes, they played great. But they were injury risks then and now - and I knew that then. You mean the offense run by Sura? What about the 3 games that we won, are those James or Sura? But yeah, his 17 minutes off the bench really hampered us and were responsible for the Mavs 40 point victory.... Poor Tracy he kept coming off the double-screen picket fence again and again but James just wouldn't get him the ball. How can we ever hope to beat Hickory High? Of all the arguments against James, Meowgi, this one is probably the weakest of all and isn't really worth responding to on a serious level But it's what you're down to, so run with it I guess.
Both Sura and James didnt do crap. Tmac missed his threes. You dont think Alston could of stirred things up better than that?
I knew we had older players too and I knew we would have injuries to deal with, but I don't think anyone (including you) could have predicted the way this year has gone with regard to injuries. Look at our rotation at the beginning of the year: Alston Wesley McGrady Howard Yao Barry Swift Sura DA Mutumbo That's a solid 10-man rotation and it doen't even include Head who wasn't really expected to see any time this year. My point is that, if not for the horrific injury situation this year, I really think RA would have been the better fit. Of course, knowing what we know now about the injuries, James would have been a better fit, but like I said, I don't think anyone could have predicted the injury situation to be this bad. And that's why I don't blame the team for making the trade.
Could I have predicted it exactly? No. Should it have been a concern? Yes, given that we were already ditching padgett and Sura, Wesley, Barry aren't iron men. I wasn't in favor of the move with a healthy squad. We lost a shooter/scorer who could defend to get a playmaker who can't defend and can't shoot. We already have two playmakers, their numbers are 1 and 11.
I hate that the majority of people on this board: a) live in the past, and b) are crybabies Rafer is nice. He is a good ass point guard. His job is to run the offense, and distribute the ball. Mike James is nice, but if we had a healthy season, ya'll would've been b****in' about him taking too many shots....just like ya'll did in the playoff's last year when he "waived off" tracy...if he even did that. When one of you busters is qualified to GM, or coach an NBA team let me know. Until then, I'm good with the roster, JVG, and CD. Feel free to bash me.
He had 17, 18, and 13 against Dallas this year. Granted it's with a lot of minutes but it's something.
u knwo what it looks like, alston would be a decent back up pg, we should have kept james he was a hell of alot better defender then alston and he wanted to stay in houston....plus he can make an outside shot
speaking of waiving off have u not seen rafer do that to tmac this year cuz i have....alston is a decent pg not a good ass pg he needs to improve alot this off season
Maybe Mike James will forgive us and come back. After all the wife is from H town. If needs be, we could offer to fire JVG. Mike James is a fighter. It is ridiculous to claim he is only playing for a contract. Most likely we missed our chance last year to lock him up below market value. Smart teams do stuff like that. On the otherhand Allston is not too bad, if we can get a top notch 3rd scorer to take the pressure off of him trying to be a third or even 4th scoring option. Another worry with with Allston is that he might not be mentally tough enough to be the point guard on a contender. He seems to do best when it is early in the game or the outcome is already decided.
I took that 34 off your name, because you dont deserve that number... beyond that...no, I havent seen rafer waive off t-mac....you are making sh*t up, and a crybaby like the rest of the fair-weather fans.... Either you are going to stick by a team, or not.
If you are good with this roster you are in for serious disappointments. After Ming, TMac, Deke, and maybe Howard (though he is an unlikely starter on most NBA teams) the quality of talent falls off the cliff. Head gets a rookie pass. But you are set with Alston, Swift, Brunson, Bogans, Bowen, et al? Wow. I bet you would have a hard time finding anybody, GM's, coaches, or players that would be "good" with that lineup. The Rockets must "turnover" their lineup to even compete next year. Have you watched them play, seriously? I may have missed only one or two games, this group can't shoot, can't defend, they are horrible. I am stunned that there are fans who think otherwise. Actually, amazed.
Alston wouldn't have done any worse than shooting 2/7 as James did in Game 7. Furthermore, Alston would have gotten MORE than 2 assists. That being said, I doubt either player would have been the difference maker. I don't know why you have all this James love and Rafer hatred. They've both proved decent NBA players. It just comes down to one being a scoring 1st guy vs the other being an assist 1st guy. On a team with 2 super-stars, personally, I don't think we need a scoring 1st PG. We definately DO need a scoring 1st shooting guard, however.
