Give the man a break. He's shooting 36% from the arc, which is very good by NBA standards. If he was to make layups, he would be a 45% shooter. He does have the stinkest floater/runner in basketball history. Someone please show him some Tony Parker tape.
The problem is that other teams are LETTING him shoot, they are leaving him open on purpose. Because why? He is a bad shooter ! If the Rockets could start Luther Head at PG.....the other teams would pay for leaving our PG open. However, Luther can not dribble or pass all that well. I would love to see V-Span play some minutes with the starters to see what he could do.....sure he would not shoot the 3 ball, but he could penetrate and dish...which is something this offense needs..... It is too one dimensional. DD
Rafer shoots so many 3's he misses a lot but he also makes them, but the made ones slip pass my mind.
Ummm... actually penetrating and dishing is what Alston can do also (and he can do it better than V-Span). He is less prone to turnovers and a better distributor than V-Span. If only he could stop taking those three's and drive, or at least take a couple of dribbles to take a shorter jumper.
LOL, how can you diagnose a problem (bad shooting PG who teams sag off) and then knowingly prescribe a solution that is even worse as far as shooting goes?
Well if you understood the point I made about V-Span not shooting the 3 but instead DRIVING the ball when he is left all alone, which forces the defense to rotate to stop him, and which allows him to hit someone else for a wide open shot, then you would know what I mean. I don't think V-Span is the answer though at this point, his shot is just not great, and teams will continue to force our PGs to shoot or distribute, I just wish Rafer could drive and dish some....because he is a really poor shooter, especially in the drive. V-Span should eventually replace him...in a year or two..... Honestly though Sam, I would seriously consider starting Luther at the PG spot, especially when TMac is healthy and against teams that don't pressure the PG when bringing the ball up. Luther, Tmac, Yao, Battier & Hayes is our best starting 5...and full of shooters (outside of Hayes of course). That would get us off to a much better start, IMHO. DD
You guys made it sound like Rafer wanted to shoot 3s instead of penetrating. I don't know Alston's mind set, but I do know that guarding ONE option (driving) is easier than TWO (shooting, driving). If the defender know you are a bad shooter, he can just back up a step to take your driving option away, then you either have to shoot, or become a liability of the offense. Alston doesn't shoot contested shot, he shoots when he is open, or penetrating when challenged sometime. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be able to finish the penetration.
He isn't exactly bad at shooting 3's. It's just that he shoots soo many of them (6.2 attempts/gm). Still, its up to JVG to tweak the offense to hide Rafer's poor 3pt shooting. have him cut to the weakside, and have shane up top. Other than that, Rafer has been an excellent pg and has been overworked this season. he needs some rest.
His shooting has always been bad. He has shot below 37.6% almost every year before he joined the Rockets. It's not JVG. It's Rafer.
Alston DOES shoot contested shots sometimes. Usually the two-point variety. Not always, just sometimes. This is one of the things that aggravates many of us. Also, there are some possessions where he just seems to make up his mind to take the shot, which is also aggravating. Rafer could be much more effective if he just used his brain every possession. Sometimes he leaves you wondering what in the world was he thinking. If he were a smarter player, I believe he could be a very good PG for this team. Unfortunately, he is smart about 2/3 the time and kills us the remaining 1/3.
Rafer is the best PG we've got. His FG% factoring out the 3s is only 40% so Rafer is actually better off taking 3s as long as his % is around 36%. We got him to be a pass first PG but this season he has taken the role of our 3rd scoring option, Rafer needs to be reminded that his role on the team is to make his teammates better and scoring is secondary.
But did ya see that AND1 mix tape play ground move he pulled in the 1st quarter? Stuff like that was worth the price of admission because I almost forgot the crappy game he played.
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Anybody know Rafer's FT% in 4th quarters? I'm starting to worry about that. A PG who can't shoot FTs in the 4th can easily cost you a game in a 7-game series.
