With Head extended, I honestly don't see Rafer getting much minutes. At the PG spot, we already have James, Francis and Brooks (skip/jl3 odd men out). Francis or James will start which leaves one of them splitting time with Head & Snyder at the backup spots. That makes it already 3 guards sharing time coming off the bench, Rafer not included. If Rafer starts, that means SF3/MikeJames take up the majority of the backup minutes which leaves Snyder and Head, recently extended, with little to no playing time. Brooks doesn't sniff the court. There is no way James or Francis doesn't start. There is a big reason why we drafted a PG and then got 2 more PGs to join the team. Rafer is decent, but there just isn't any room for him.
If you look at how adleman uses his point gaurds, there isn't really a place for rafer. The offense will be run largely through the high post, and will involve a lot more cutting/ ball movement than JVGS "Yao in the post or T-mac at the elbow, pick and roll...and pretty much no other plays" offense. In this sytem, a point gaurd who can SHOOT and CREATE OFF THE DRIBBLE is a necessity. Rafer's main strengths--rock steady ball handling and initiation of the offense--are less important because of adlemans system (its far more organic/movement oriented/high post based), while his weaknesses--three point shooting and scoring off the dribble--will be highlighted by possesion after possesion when he catches the ball with an advantage over his defender, is expected to score, and fails. My point is twofold: FIRST: you should ignore the lenovo stats--they show his strength in a JVG system, not an Addleman one. and, SECOND: You should ignore that Francis and James are shoot first point gaurds, or that they dribble too much. Their job is no longer to initiate the offense. It is to score. Look at the point gaurds Addleman turned into all stars: Bibby and Jason "white chocolate" Williams. Both chuckers, both 20 pt per game scorers, both likely inept at running another, more control oriented offense (SEE: Jason Williams on the Heat). Rafer doesn't fit. Period. Ship him.
Milwaukee just matched Miami's offer sheet for Charlie Bell. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3029278 With Miami striking out again in their attempts to get add depth in the backcourt (especially at point guard), perhaps Houston and Miami can once again open up trade talks regarding Rafer Alston. Rafer Alston and John Lucas III for Michael Doleac and Dorrell Wright, anyone?
I'm longing for an Alston trade..It would be ok to me..but we still have to trim our roster..2 for 2 trade is not good...
The Rockets want to make moves to clear some of the guranteed contracts. But, I don't think that they will take bad contracts. The Rockets might just weigh their options and sit it out, and possibly let some of the guys go - But I think that the Rockets will keep those with the most trade value. So, it will be interesting, very interesting to see.
