I was being sadomasochistic last night and re-watched game seven of the Utah series. I agree with who ever said that Rafer would be fine if he wasn't supposed to be the third scorer. Rafer had like 4 steals in that game (three of them in the second half I believe). Had some fantastic passes to both McGrady and Shane. Did okay defensively on Deron (wasn't great, but he wasn't bad either). In the third and forth quarters he pushed the tempo, especially when Yao wasn't on the court and moved us up in the shot clock on the offensive end. The problem was when he was wide open for a shot and missed. I don't know that he will be traded for sure, but I think going into the season with a Mike James and Rafer Alston rotation at the pg position isn't bad. It isn't great but I don't think there are enough assets to get a great pg and a utilitarian PF.
I'm not a Rafer fan either but he's not that bad if he's not playing 40 minutes a game as the 3rd scorer. With Mike on board, that won't happen.
This team has forgotten what a solid pf can do. Since Charles retired we have had either flower forward like MoT, Eddie and JHo, or one end player Kelvin Cato, Chuck Hayes, and Scott Padget at the position. We need a defensive banging rebounder who has a decent jumper. A legit sized pf who is willing to bang and has a decent game on both ends.
As much as I dislike Mike James and what I've seen of his attitude so far, I have to agree with everyone else that we NEED A PF. Mike James isn't the best PG, but he certainly isn't bad. Personally, I'm still hoping we can pick up SF for cheap to close up any worries at PG, but even without that, I think we're almost set at the PG position next year. PF is clearly the biggest hole we have right now, and I don't think drafting a PF is necessarily the answer if we want to win it all next year. Mike James will not stay, so if we're depending on him to be our starting PG for a championship run, I would get a good PF through trade/free agency, and draft for the future. Whether that's a PF or PG doesn't matter to me as long as the player develops into someone that's effective. The only player I wouldn't draft is a C or swingman since Yao and McGrady already fill those roles.
Trust me, I agree we need a 4 badly, but do you want to draft a 4 this late or would you rather take a guard which are still pretty good late in the draft. Remember, we are drafting Best Player Available, not team needs. Most of the good bigmen go early anyways but you still have a chance at taking a pretty good guard late. Barbosa and Parker come to mind. I like Dowdell for his physicality and defense. He kinda reminds me of Rondo with some offense and range. BTW, Rondo went 21 last year. I like that Finland kid Petteri Koponen if coach wants more of an uptempo, but may require more time to develop.
i can recall rafer getting several crucial steals and banking in a lucky three during our 4th quater comeback that made game 7 close. im not saying he was a godsend but i dont remember him being lost either. and no one had an answer for deron williams in the playoffs, not even the spurs, look at his stats. im almost positive that if nba fans were polled asking whether or not they felt rafer was a servicable pg there would be a near consensus yes. except for in houston.
this isnt a good draft for guards. Its very forward heavy so chances are the best player available will be a big man of some sorts.
yeah. i dont know what he's laughing at...other than how poor this teams depth was. rafer is more than servicable, i wish more people realized this, but he was put into a bad position. Despite that, he still played solid.
I hope the team doesn't become too preoccupied with positional needs. The biggest need is talent, preferably at the 4 and the 1, but talent definitely should come first. Stockpile as much talent as possible, no matter what position, and maybe next offseason, worry about making tweaks to balance out the roster. We're not going to be contending for a championship next year.
