I disagree that we don't need a great PG......a great PG makes it so much easier for everyone else. Other than not turning the ball over, what exactly does Rafer do to make everyone better? Does he throw a great lob pass like CP3 to Chandler? Does he throw a great bounce pass on the PnR like Williams to Boozer? Does he attack the middle and finish strong like Tony Parker? Does he keep his dribble alive and set up teamates like Steve Nash? Does he create havoc with his physicality like Baron Davis? These are just some of the point guards that are in the Western Conference.... We absolutely need an upgrade at that position......Rafer would be a wondeful backup. DD
I completely agree. I too think he would be a wonderful backup. He would not be a starter on any other team in the West, not even close. I stand to be corrected but in the last three games where he faced Paul, Davis, and Nash I believe he is shooting 30% or less.
I would rather have a PG that can make a creative pass to set up a teamate, than one that can hit a 3pt shot. Give me a midrange shooting PG who attacks the basket over a 3pt bomber any day of the week. DD
no doubt we need an upgrade but not necessarily a great one. For a team to be successful with guys as good as Yao and tmac you just need a capable point who is a good shooter. Adleman's offense is almost never ran through the pg (because it is easy to guard when the point isn't crafty inside), it is usually ran through others who are threats over more areas. Tmac and Yao will always be the ones creating on this team and there is no way that we are going to get a great pg with one of them still on it. Just imagine if Derek Fisher was the one taking all of those jumpers Rafer Alston was. We would have probably won alot more games. He isn't great but thats all we need.
DaDakota, here's my take: Rafer's the "ballstopper". If you watch him, he often waives off Tmac, dribbles to the side, and runs his own pick-n-roll. A lot of times he'll dribble the ball until there's 5 seconds left on the clock - and try to jack it or take someone one-on-one. Hell, he's even done this at the end of quarters before. Adelman's system is based on movement, cuts, crisp passes - Rafer seems to have Moochie-Norrisitis sometimes out there. It drives me nuts, he should get the offense started, and make the necessary cuts. How many times have we seen Rafer cut to the basket and get a layup vs. Bobby Jackson doing the same thing? I think BJax has gotten more layups off cutting in his short time here than rafer has all season. He can dribble the ball sure, but run the offense effectively? I haven't seen it lately. As far as the question to this thread, his problem is his ego. If he just played within himself, he could be a solid piece. However at times he thinks he's Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Chris Paul - and he's not. The guy thinks it's on his shoulders to score more since Yao went down. Are you really comfortable with Rafer taking the second most shots on the team, behind TMac? I'm not. Especially since he was labeled as a "pass-first PG". (Where's pass 1st shoot 2nd when you need him?!) He basically turns himself into a Mike James with a worse shot. Additionally, whenever Rafer tries to takeover the offense, he no longer becomes an effective PG, IMO. vs. PHO - 15 shots, 1 assist vs. GSW - 15 shots, 6 assist vs. NOH - 13 shots, 4 assist vs. BOS - 13 shots, 1 assist vs. LAL - 22 shots, 5 assist vs. CHA - 19 shots, 4 assist vs. ATL - 18 shots, 7 assist vs. NJN - 11 shots, 3 assist vs. NOH - 13 shots, 2 assist vs. DAL - 21 shots, 4 assist ----------------------------- Over the last 10 games, he's averaged 16 shots and 3.7 assists. Terrible for a "pass first" starting PG on a playoff team in the West.
Adleman always wanted to run the offense through Webber or Divac or even Miller at times. You could say it ran through him at times, especially when they started to play horrible when Webber and Divac were gone and Miller was hurt. Bibby is another one of the type of players that I was talking about. He's a great shooter but as a set up man he leaves much to be desired, it didn't matter under adleman. He is looking like a fish out of water down in Atlanta though (i guess they didn't know what they were getting). Look, I know a great pg would put us over the top (Paul, Parker, Davis, etc.) but it ain't happenin. Having that type of pg is always better but it ain't happenin. The most we can hope for is a guy who can contribute when he's open. I don't think some bottom of the barrel pg who slashes is gonna help us, just cause a guy tears through whatever euro league doesn't mean he is what we need. Everyone loves a pg who can get to the rack and finish but if he can't do it with regularity in the nba and set people up while doing it then it doesn't matter. The blazers would be playing Sergio alot more and they would be winning alot more if he was so great. Nate's a great coach, he's no idiot.
Uh....heck yes !!!! But unfortunatly we do not have that luxury.....well, not all that often anyway. DD
I completely agree. Rafer can't break anyone down off the dribble. In a one on one situation in the open court he can rarely get to the rim. He can't finish dribbling left when he trys to shoot a right handed floater on the left side of the basket while going left. He does not have very good court vision and is not a creative passer. He rarely (more like never) creates plays for a teammate. The only thing he is good at is that he doesn't have that many TO and I think its because he dribbles the ball up the court and then passes it off after he gets past half court. Rafer would be a perfect backup on this team playing 20 min. And he is more cost effective than Bobby Jackson being a backup for $6 million.
Yall can't be serious about this dude, he looks like he has a nice game but come on, I didn't even see 1 black guy on the court. He'll just be another Spanoullis.
To me he looks like the next Jose Calderon. Calderon wasn't the greatest shooter when he first came to the NBA, but now he is a lights out player. I think Rodriguez has that kind of potential.
Are you kidding me? WTF does skin color have anything to do with being able to play basketball? Hopefully you are joking right? Houston's lone remaining weakness is at the PG position.....we could use a good one...no matter what color his skin tone is.... And I can't believe that people take V-Span's rookie year and say he was done.....I mean Nash didn't exactly tear it up his rookie year either..... Sometimes it takes a while for a player to learn the NBA game......let's hope Aaron Brooks learns something this year too... DD
Oh man this guy is great. Great passer, playmaker, that's what we need. But hay he has also became a better jumpshooter. He can score and he is showing that in Philly. But I'm sure Sixers are not idiots, Alston for Miller wouldn't work.
I just don't understand the way some people think sometimes. When we were on our 22 game winning streak you could not find one negative thread about Rafer. Last week was hell week for us, we lost some games, and now everyone is bashing on Rafer. I'm not making exuses for him by any means because his play as of lately has not been that great by any means but come on. Rafer was as big of a reason if not the biggest reason we even won 22 straight. I don't see any other point guard on this team capable of being the starting PG not even Bobby Jackson. Lets give Rafer the benefit of the doubt here. Nobody ever said that Rafer was going to be our permanent answer at PG. Does Rafer have many flaws? You can bet your rat's ass he does. All I am saying is that Rafer is not Paul or Williams or even an old washed up JKidd. He is Rafer Alston and I believe he is playing at his highest potential right now. Can't you guys see that? Isn't that the most we can ask from any player or anyone to "BRING THEIR A GAME"? He may not have a lot of skills but he has plenty of HEART and that's a hell of a lot more than I can say for MAC-SOFT.
