Look at the stats before you post something dumb like that. He made a ton of 3 pointers but he shot a very mediocre percentage. He is a career 36% 3pt shooter. And from inside the 3point line, he had the worst shooting% in the nba. He is not needed on this team is they really want to contend for a championship
What are you smoking?! Rafer is a good or above average playmaker and passer, yes he cant shoot but that doesn't mean he does everything bad. Go back and watch the games again.
the sighting of the last few remaining rafe-o-philes in these threads is amusing, it is like looking through a rupture in the space-time continuum and seeing dinosaurs walk the face of the earth.
Hey. I like Rafer as a player. I just dislike the fact that he can't make a freaking layup or teardrop.
rafe-o-philes should be coined as "weisbrod" was. Because I agree with SF it is disgusting. Take out Rafer and enter Mike James and we close out Utah in 6 games, maybe 7. IMO
In my opinion, the bottomline about Rafer is: He's a BACK UP point guard. When Rafer was back in Miami he played very well BACKING UP Dwayne Wade off the bench. Why does the majority of this board dislike Rafer? Most of you guys say that its because of his inconsistent three-point shot, his average on-the-ball defensive pressure, his poor decision making, and various other complaints. Those particular mistakesare tolerable if he's coming off the bench. He's not molded as a starting point guard. What qualities should an ideal Rockets starting point guard have? reliable outside shot, able to put defensive pressure on the oppenent's starting point guard, generally should have a consistent and stable presence on the court, and good ballhandling/passing ability. Rafer does not fit the criteria except he's still a good ballhandler. What qualities does an ideal Rockets back up point need? the ABILITY to hit down a three-pointer, able to get steals (not necessarily defensive toughness), and a good ballhandler who'll not turn the ball over. Conclusion: The mistakes that are made by Rafer as a starting point guard can be tolerated if he's moved to the back up role. Generally what you need from a back up is ENERGY. And if Rafer can make some three-pointers (not meaning he needs to hit a good percentage), get some steals, push the ball up the court which is part of his game, and not commit turnovers, then he should fit in as a good back up point guard.
Rafer is like the spur in many eyes here. For that reason, I wish Coach A keep him in Rockets rotation this upcoming season.
1stly, i was talking about the 3pt shooting only, I did went on to say he frustrates me with his tear drops also. 2ndly, we all seen reports how he worked his butt off last pre-season on his shooting, and he did improve on his 3pts %. Looking at career stat is unfair, because it can be influenced by a lot of things. I believe it is better to look each year individually, and rafer did do a decent job in that category last season. Can't someone get better? Shouldn't we give him credit for it? 3rdly, i remember looking at the stats of NBA starting PGs from last season, and not many shot at a much higher % than Rafer in 3pts, which made me think he is okay if he just sticks to doing what he is good at. This is based from memory only, and i stand to be corrected. Lastly, I give reasons and backs up my opinion with them in my posts. Ur reply was full of opinion but no reasons. The only thing you pointed out was Rafer's % inside the 3pt line, and that wasn't even part of my argument. How is 36% from 3pt line mediocre anyway? what is that judgement based? I can just as well say it is decent and respectable. Has there ever been a chamiponship team with a PG position player shooting less than 36% 3pters? I'd say Yes. I am not saying Rafer is our starting PG. Just saying there are things he does well, certainly not a total wreck as some people makes him out to be. Since we cannot trade him without a loss, why not keep him and just let him do things he is good at. Given our depth this year, we don't need him to do things he is not good at anymore, and hence, there is a role for Rafer. Thanks for reading something dumb like this.
Rafer was 66th in 3pt shooter last season, far from good. I was decent. He never improved his shooting he is a career .358% 3pt shooter and last year he shot 36%. I hardly see an improvement. And if you are worried about who will take his place, Mike James will. Mike James was the 55th best 3pt shooter in the league last year so, the team as a whole will be even more improved (even though they were the a top 5 3pt shooting team in the league last year).
At worst he'll keep francis, james and brooks sharp in practise. at best he'll be a 3rd or a 2nd string PG. i say keep him around and let adelman figure something out.
Man, if we only had Mike James back in game 7 in 05 vs. Dallas, we would have won that series. If the T'Wolves only had Mike James last year, they wouldn't be a lotto team.
dead on carl... rafer sucks man. he's a 6-2 pass first point guard and he couldn't even be a solid 3rd scorer on a team in the western conference. he rarely showed up and hit open shots down the stretch, he avg 37 minutes a game but that aint no excuse. he's not a lock down defender and even though he had over 100 steals last year he still sux. he cant hit 3's and teardrops like nash or billups so he is obviousely the worst starting pg in the leauge. furthermore, he got arrested twice this year. granted, his job that he showed up and and worked his a** off for, 37.1 min avg a game, was up in flux. but stress and frustration could never cause a man to have a short fuse. rafer sucks. even though sh*t happens. we should just cut him and start aaron brooks. yeah!!! that'll win us the ship!!! shut up already....
oh and carl... i wasn't tellin u 2 shut up. i was just aggravated by all the rafer bashers, and ur post was a good intro. luv ya carl, good luck with that tax issue ur dealin with... lol
Ok let me ask you one thing. If his role on this team is to take open shots and shoot them at a high percentage, then why not mike james. He does the same thing for this team that james does, except he doesn't make his shot. I don't know where this perception of him being a playmaker came from. He's a terrible one.
the reality is he does everything below average. quit smoking while watching games or posting give-rafer-a job petition.
com'on man, u making it sounds worse than it actually is. Rafer shot 36.2% (191-528)..okay that's 66th according to u, and mike james is 55th? although they are seperated by 11 places, Mike James only shot 1% better 37.2% (80-215), with less than half 3pts made. How is this good enough evident to say MJ is much better 3pt shooter than Rafer? Is a team that wins 30/40 games better than a team with 60 wins in a 82 game season? (has slightly higher %~~!?!) This is a list i saved from somewhere i cannot remember, using 3pt stats from last year for PGs or those who played PG (no point comparing with SGs or SF or PFs). I believe those are the correct numbers, if u think otherwise, let me know. Steve Nash 45.5% 156-343 Jason Terry 43.8% 162-370 Leandro Barbosa 43.4% 190-438 Kirk Hinrich 41.5% 140-337 Tony Parker 39.5% 15-38 Joe Johnson 38.1% 119-312 Chucky Atkins 37.9% 116-306 Steve Francis 37.8% 42-111 Brandon Roy 37.7% 55-146 Mike James 37.2% 80-215 Randy Foye 37.2% 68-183 Smush Parker 36.5% 110-301 Delonte West 36.5% 65-178 Rafer Alston 36.2% 191-528 Mike Bibby 36.0% 173-481 Chris Duhon 35.9% 88-245 Stephon Marbury 35.7% 123-345 Luke Ridnour 35.3% 49-139 Gilbert Arenas 35.2% 205-583 Chris Paul 35.0% 50-143 Jarrett Jack 35.0% 63-180 Maurice Williams 34.6% 79-228 Chauncey Billups 34.5% 109-316 Jason Williams 34.4% 100-291 Jason Kidd 34.3% 124-361 Jameer Nelson 34.0% 65-191 Damon Stoudamire 33.7% 59-175 Larry Hughes 33.3% 74-222 Raymond Felton 33.0% 103-312 Jose Calderon 32.9% 24-73 Earl Watson 32.9% 92-280 Deron Williams 32.2% 82-255 Steve Blake 32.2% 67-208 Jamaal Tinsley 31.6% 61-193 Allen Iverson 31.5% 62-197 Derek Fisher 30.8% 48-156 Baron Davis 30.5% 85-279 TJ Ford 30.4% 21-69 Devin Harris 28.0% 14-50 Monta Ellis 27.3% 39-143 Andre Miller 14.3% 5-35 Eric Snow 0.0% 0-4 as you can see, Rafer is near the top, and made 2nd most to Arenas According to you, Rafer is poor shooter and you are decent. So you mean u r than Baron Davis, Chauncey Billups.......etc? Am i the only one that remembers Rafer's 3pt shooting from last year? Especially in the 4th quarters? The man did a reasonable job and was very clutch in the early part of the season, when Yao was dominating and our shooters had all the space and wide open shots.
I remember as well Mini. I don't understand why people get on him for his "lack" of being a play maker. From what I saw he wasn't asked to do that. In the few, and I mean few, games he was asked to do that he did alright. Nothing spectacular but not exactly weak either. BTW thanks for the stats. Here I thought Gilbert Arenas was a good shooter. But if Rafer isn't, neither is he... Thank god I still think Arenas is a good shooter and am not fooled that Rafer is an above average shooting point guard. I still think that James is the best PG we have right now and that Rafer would be better suited as a backup PG.
