like last night in the midst of yet another 4th qtr collapse he takes it to the basket and hits a runner when everyone else was throwing up wide open bricks. he has made a number of those this season when the team is in panic mode and shooting with no confidence. the guy has heart
he has been better, but his D sucks I wanted to open up a new thread about his defesive aggressiveness, but I'll leave it for now
Agree with you completely. Although, I still hate it when Rafer dribbles the ball to the 3pt line and jack up a random shot without even attempting to pass it.
I said "shooters". As in 3pt shooters. TMac has said in an interview that he looks for Head or Battier when he drives in and looks for the open man in the corner, especially for key moments late in the game. I wasn't talking about that pet pick and roll play that TMac and Chuck run to perfection.
Haha true, I would pass to Rafer too if I wanted a repost. Rafer puts it right on the money a majority of the time as Yao is cutting in the lane. Of course Battier is a great post passer too but it doesn't allow Yao as much room to operate when Battier or Head is in the corner.
Flip had 10 points in 25 min, not exactly getting lit up, and Tinsley had 24 points and 5 TO's. Again not getting lit up.
I think he is just on a hot streak, but he has been playing better. I especially like the way he played last night. He did not take too many shots (7). That is the perfect number. 5 3's and 2 other shots. That is the wayhe should play every night.
so true. I like hayes alot, but for him to be really successful, he has to play with two superstars together: one is a unbelievable passer, the other is a scoring machine center. houston is the only place.
Flip was scoring well in the first half. In the 2nd half, Chauncey came to life and starting torching Rafer. Tinsley scored 24, and he did most of it on the exact same play every time down the floor. That's getting lit up IMO. The 5 TOs were bad, but then again who didn't turn the ball over a lot in that game?
Bottom line: Rafer is Mr Indispensible on this Rox squad. Who else would/could play the 1 at a JVG P/O level, Luther? Lil Luke? Billy? Of course we thought the same thing in '86 and Bobby Joe and Rodney Mc led the O into the Finals. But...
You people defending Rafer seem to forget that after starting the season off OK, he struggled mightily well before Yao's injury. I'm not saying Yao's return hasn't helped him, but at the moment Rafer seems to be using his head more often when running the offence. If he were still the old Rafer, we would not be seeing this kind of performance. Maybe he and JVG had a sit-down when Yao came back.
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but I noticed when Rafer is on a fast break or if he feels like he can take the shot, he holds back and passes it back to T-Mac or Yao. I guess he must be relieved...
I certainly hope so. I think the key to his teardrop is to release the ball a second earlier. When he misses, they usually hit the back of the rim. If he could just make a few more baskets a game (not take more, make more), he would be an awesome PG.
Flip, tinsley, and Billups abused rafer. They got to the paint at will against him either with the dribble or with pick and roll. Thank god neither of the 3 passed well or else we woulda lost both of those games. I think the problem was that Yao had to back off a little on the pick and rolls and Detroit and Indiana are great at setting picks. But then again he still got abused on the postups by Billups and tinsley.
Rafer is different with Yao. I can recall at the beginning of the year that Rafer would dribble past half court and shoot the ball at the beginning of the shot clock. Yao didn't even get a chance to fight for position. There wasn't a chance of setting up a play. Every game it was "Does he think he is the 2nd option?"
on a side note, maybe someone can setup a meeting with rafer, about teardrops and running 10-15 footers, and with tinsley. i am not ready to say that he has turned the corner. His performance in the playoffs will be the real indicator. usually when the pressure goes up, rafer deflates. Yes he did do well against SA when the rox blew them out. I give him that. but i would not be at all surprised or upset if rafer doesn't play so well in the playoffs. it seems to me also he is not the man who needs to be at the FT line when things are clutch. last night was a smal example, hit 2 FTs. Usually what I have seen in similar situations during the year, he hits one out of two.
