Do you think we would trade Rafer for either? I don't think we would trade Rafer for Mike James, and he's WAY better than both of them.
LOL, why do you think we were trying so hard to sign Mike James during the offseason? To replace Rafer. Thee answer to your question is this. We are talking about a class of backup point guards. Rafer, Snow, Parker, Payton are essentially backup point guards in this league. If we had a starting point guard, we would move Rafer for Smush or Snow very easily, disregarding salary. Smush is a young, athletic, very good defensive player that can shoot the ball. Snow is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He's a smaller version of Battier that defends from the point position and is very smart offensively, taking what the defense gives him. Either of those guys would be an upgrade.
Have u ever watched smush, any ill advised shot you can think of he will crank up...his playmaking skills are non existent. The Lakers must think alot of his young up and comingness haha...they're paying him the minimum and have no plans to resign him. Erics snows jump shot would have us begging to take rafer back.
Navarro is not a kid. He is a super star in europe. But I don't think he is a pg. Also some team probably has his draft right. Some foreign stars don't want to come to the NBA because it is too different and too much on the line for them, they'll have to start from scratch as a nobody. And many of them have failed.
Rafer is an at worst average pg.I don't look too much in those shooting stats. He does what hes spposed to do. Controll the game, bring the ball up, and get TMac the ball. And he hits his threes and keeps the defese honest. If he finished his drives to the basket he'd be a top 5 pg.
Even Rafer shoots at a poor percentage and sometimes takes bad shots, he is still a true pg, unlike Mike James, or Francis.
My definition of a true PG must be different. In my world of True Point guardism....he looks to pass first and shoot 2nd. In my world of true point guardism ...he looks to set up his teamates before himself. In my world of true point guardism ...he sets the table, and his teamates eat. DD
There are a number of reasons. First of all, just because he's a pass-first PG, doesn't mean he will never shoot early in the shot clock. If he's open, he needs to shoot to keep the defense honest. Otherwise, he will not be an effective PG because he will have nobody to pass to. He's been healthy the whole year, unlike Yao and T-Mac, which means he is forced to take more shots as he is often the best option on a given possession. On a related not, there simply aren't many other good offensive options. Lately, some Rockets have been way too timid. I have seen Luther and Shane pass up a number of good shots. When they do that, they usually feed it back to Rafer, who is forced to take a low percentage shot late in the shot clock. Rafer also plays more minutes than the other Rockets because he doesn't have a reliable backup. Who else would you expect to take more shots than Rafer? Juwon? Maybe with Yao out of the lineup, but even then he is not a great option unless he is wide open or has a mismatch in the low post. Luther? Not enough minutes. Shane? Similar to Juwon's situation plus he is too timid when the ball gets to him. Those of you asking Rafer to shoot less need to realize that such a mandate from the coaching staff would just make him yet another timid player on this roster. To me, his willingness to take his shots is refreshing on this team. That doesn't mean he's "shoot-first" (whatever that means). He is still a very good facilitator on this team, and that's exactly what we need in our PG.
If he is wide open it is usually because the opposing team is leaving him wide open. He can't set up teammates very effectively if he is being left wide open since that implies all of his teammates are being stringently covered. Also, teams WANT him to take the open shot, since he has the lowest FG% in the NBA. He is currently the second leading shottaker on this team and how can he possibly be the best option on a possession when 1) Yao or Tmac have almost always been in the game with him and 2) He is by FAR our least efficient scorer and 3) He can't create offense for himself but needs to be set up for open looks How about Yao or Tmac or Battier or Head or Wells or Juwan? They are all more efficient scorers...and his job is supposed to make his teammates "better" and set them up...he isn't doing his job if he is taking shot after shot after shot. It doesn't matter that he is wide open. Do you see your contradiction here? You can't have it both ways. LOL so you're blaming Luther and Battier for Alston's low fg %? Once again, if Rafer's job on this team is to take a high volume of shots and score, don't you think he is a poor man for the job given his horrid shooting and scoring ability? Hey pay me a couple million a year and I'll jack up shots without a conscience too. Hey might be a good facilitator, but he can't use it to his advantage because the defense plays off him. Thats why someone like Nash is so effective and Rafer isn't. Nash will make you pay if you sag off him and try to negate his playmaking abilities. In Rafer's case, the other team just leaves him open to take shots thus negating any playmaking skills he has. On a side note, isn't it frustrating when Dallas double teams McGrady OFF the ball and nobody on the Rockets could score? Isn't it also frustrating when we only score 72 points against the Celtics at home without Tmac? I think it's pretty obvious that Tmac and Yao are the playmakers on this team and that leaves Alston as someone who has to feed off of them. Someone who has to hit the open shot. I can't think of anyone more illsuited for the job.
TT - It is pointless to argue with you, as you have already made up your mind that Rafer sucks no matter what. You only see his FG% and nothing else. You completely ignore the other things that Rafer does that most other PGs in the NBA could not do as effectively. Try to actually respond to my points rather than reiterating your biased thoughts and I might consider responding to you. Good luck, and don't hurt yourself.
Oh really? Why did we trade for Rafer in the first place? Why was the rumor about the deadline trade this year involve sura and hayes instead of Rafer and sura or something similar? You aren't making sense. If you had said "to obtain a great backup for Rafer and someone who can ease the pain when his shot and defense incredibly off", you'd be right. However I have a hard time believing Mike James would start on this team. Especially when he couldn't start in front of an injured Bob Sura, and lost his starting job in Minnesota halfway through his first season there. Go figure right?
Wait a minute, you ACTUALLY think that Rafer is a pass first PG? PASS FIRST....you do know that means he looks to pass BEFORE he looks to shoot....you know....Steve Nash, Jason Kidd like...... Rafer is not a pass first PG, he is NOT a traditional PG...he is more like a scoring guard who can also pass. And the problem is not really his passing that is the problem, it is his horrible shooting... No one would be complaining if Rafer shot even 40%.....and with all the wide open looks he gets, he should be shooting well over 40%. My beef with Rafer is his shooting and his seemingly lack of understanding his role. A good percentage of the time he is in control and making fairly good decisions but there comes a time, in every game where he just starts making bad choices...be it a foul on a jump shooter, or taking a shot early in the shot clock when the Rockets have the lead, or trying to do too much. Rafer is just lacking that quality control chip that all good PGs have.....Rafer's got fritzed out at Fresno ! DD
I don't believe he's shoot-first by nature. However, his low shooting percentage lets other teams force him into a more SG role sometimes. Which is very bad.
so you agree that we needed to make a trade for a starting PG....btw, trading for a starting PG may or may not require trading Rafer....He would make for a good backup on this team
I wouldn't start any PG over Rafer unless they were significantly better (Bibby, Nash, Kidd, Billups, Paul, Deron are the short list). I just want someone who can back him up when he's struggling. Head can't do that. None of our backup PGs can do it.
