After game one its obvious he is going to be the key to our succuess. We dont have anyone behind him that can get any minutes and when Head gets the ball they pressure him so much that he cant handle the rock. I'm not worried so much about the shooting, because i always feel it cane work out but the minutes, 46 minutes is a large load. He was very close to a triple double 11 rebounds 9 points 8 assists, 3-10 from 3pt range and 3 steals. Solid game basically played Deron Williams to an even standstill (15 pts 9 rebound 9 assists and 3 steals)
I'm actually not that worried, Rafer sticks out as an ironman really. 37.1 MPG in 82 games. But yeah...we need another legit PG.
Honestly despite the numbers I thought he played a pretty poor game. Stupid turnovers, missed open jumpers, below average defense. He is way too streaky to be our PG. When he plays well we're unbeatable, but how often is that going to happen. You just can't count on this guy to hit open shots and make plays going to the basket. He's terrific in the open court and like i said, he can have great games from behind the arc but the guy is just so inconsistant.
probably one of the worst shooters in the NBA but he's alright at everything else.-Rafer Alston summed up in one sentence. POW
I have to commend him on his play. Even though it looked like Deron was going to go bananas early tonight, Rafer held his own. Most of Williams' shot were pretty high on the difficulty scale and Rafer played sound. Not smart but it wasn't stupid either. Thank you, Rafer. Now just 15 more like it.
rafer missed alot of open shots and we still got it done. i think he'll shoot better next game and we'll win by 12+
He's a mediocre shooter and a bad finisher. But it's equally noteworthy that he does the rest of his job well enough to merit 46 minutes, even with those flaws. If he spent less energy on defense, demanded the ball more, shot better, passed worse, committed more turnovers, and took more time to start the offense, he'd be less useful to us, and he'd be paid a lot more. It's his misfortune that the things he does badly are the things most fans notice.
I was surprised to see Rafer nearly had a triple double but the thing that sticks out most about him is he seems to kill every rally the Rockets have down the stretch. As poorly as he plays on a consistent basis, he just seems to save his worst for last. I've come to the point where I cringe when he gets the ball late in the 4th quarter especially when the shotclock is below 12 seconds. For most of the game, it seemed Deron was absolutely killing Rafer. The other thing I noticed tonight was his utter inability to create anything with penetration. No one on the Jazz team expects Rafer to drive into the lane and finish so when he does, the Jazz defense instead of smothering the paint, run out to the wings forcing Rafer into a bad shot or poor pass. Despite all of that, the Rox I feel are fortunate to get a win especially considering the horrible FG shooting pct by the Jazz frontcourt.
I have to agree that Rafer is an unremarkable shooter but good enough at everything else he does - he's like a poor man's Jason Kidd. So yay!
Rafer played a good game tonite even though he shot 30% from the field. If he can be a triple double threat every night, but shoot a 30% clip, we'll be fine. Im just scared of the nights when he goes 3-10 with 4 assists and 2 rebounds.
When you say "poor", do you mean flat-ass broke, sold his teeth, turned to crack, licking Caesar salad dressing off the asphalt kind of poor? Because in that case I'm with you -- he's definitely a poor man's Jason Kidd.
Exactly. Nail on the head. I was saying during the whole game, Rafer is killing us, on both ends of the court.
Rafer is an offensive liability who doesnt know when to stop chucking. Not to mention his turnovers on the dribble either.
What stood out to me tonight was just when it seemed that Williams was going to have a career playoff game Alston stood up to him. On one play Williams nearly knocked Alston down with what seemed to be an intentional tackle-like hit. You could see the strength in Williams on that play as Alston's body shifted 2-3ft even though his feet were in place on the floor. It could have been a message to Alston that he wanted to show he was too much for Alston to handle. I felt it should have been an offensive foul. On the next play down Alston when right into Williams with the same tackle like punch and it seemed to have thrown Williams off. Sort of as if he seemed surprise by Alston's strength on that play and to send a message as if "I'm going to bring it too". After that it seemed to have stopped Williams aggressiveness.
