Rafer played great, but I will never be on rafer's bandwagon. Ruck Fafer's bandwagon! Long as the rockets win..
True, as far as what the coaching staff sees. But my point really was that once Rafer crashes back to reality, so will this little bandwagon of his. And once that happens, everyone will be calling for Brooks to start. This team obviously needs a quality point that doesn't take nearly more shots than the dominant center that it has.
Ray Felton Randy Foye Beno Udrih Mario Chalmers Kyle Lowry Rafer's always been unreliable and inefficient as a scorer, especially when he feels pressed to be a main option (which happens FAR too often). But he is one of the best in protecting the ball and initiating the offense. Given the choice, I'd rather have a poor-scoring ball handler than a 6-1 shooting guard. Yes, we do need to improve at the position. We've already taken a step that direction by surrounding Rafer with a better scoring cast (vs anemic scorers like Hayes and Battier). I wouldn't argue a trade at all, but it's TONS easier to downgrade at this position (yes, even when we're talking about Rafer) than it is to improve. There's only 2 elite guys at the position right now, 5 other good ones, and then you're down to the guys that don't routinely screw things up. Like it or not, Rafer falls into that last category (so long as he doesn't start raining teardrops). Evan
Agreed - this team is better off when Rafer is taking single digit shots. Of course, Yao needs to average more than 13 shots a game. Also - we need a team around Rafer that removes the need for his shots. The JVG era had Yao and McGrady alternating their injury absences, and the woeful offense of Howard, Hayes, Battier, and Luther Head to help out. Who else was going to score? No one could create for themselves except for McGrady and Rafer. That was it. Now we've got a team much more prepared for reducing his scoring burden. Scola, Landry, and Brooks can do more, Wafer is really stepping to the plate, and Artest (if he plays smarter) will also knock down Rafer shot attempts.
I don't think this is the debate. Our top tier is Tmac, Yao, Artest and Battier. Clearly Rafer is our weakest starter (finisher however you want to name them). The question is what to do about it. The idea of trading Rafer and the end of our bench for GOOD point guard who runs the team well, plays defense and shoots at a consistantly high percentage is NOT going to happen. Seriousl if you were a GM would you give up a good PG for bench players. The rest of our team has not shown the ability to step up at PG. Brooks plays well as a scorer but he does not run the offense well, plays no defense and has recently lost his shooting touch. I think it is the rookie wall. Head couldn't do it, Steve Francis, Mike James, JLIII, etc,etc. Rafer is what he is. He is a solid rotation player. He will start for a bad team and be in the top 8 for a good team. He is our weakest starter, but he is our best PG. There is a reason management keeps trying new options and reasons why Rafer holds on to his position.
Thats why we need to trade Rafer to Denver or toronto. Denver gets Rafer. Rockets gets Billups and Denver's 2009 1st rd pick or Calderon for Luther head straight up
To rephrase, if I may: This team obviously needs a quality point that nails open shots that the dominant center creates.
Rafer definitely likes the offense now than when T-Mac was playing. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/6218475.html I hate to read in between the lines, but is he saying that Yao is not a "star"? Or he's just a star that is more team-oriented than another "star" on the team?
Rafer's best stretch of last season coincided with the period when Yao was out and T-Mac was the #1 option on offense. Rafer seems to play better when he has a bigger role, and there hasn't been any correlation with the presence or absence of any particular player. Rafer started playing like an all star last season when Yao went down, and this season, he looks to have stepped it up in the absence of McGrady and Artest. The problem is that he seems to look awful whenever he has to defer rather than be active in the offense. You drama queens. I can't even figure out how you concocted that inference from his statement. He's saying that things flow better when you don't have to worry about stars getting their requisite amount of run or making sure that the ball ends up in their hands. I don't think it's coincidental that he's playing better now ... it's like he retreats into his bricklayer shell when all he does is bring up the ball, call out a play and dump it off to McGrady or Yao or Artest. When he's just playing basketball and being active on every trip down the floor, he can be much more productive (and by his implication, so can everyone else).
Just to follow up that point ... you might remember a home game against the New Orleans Hornets last year. I believe Yao was in that game, but Rafer played really well that game because he and Chris Paul really got into it and were going at each other. I believe it was after that game that Chris Paul started to hurl insults at him in post-game interviews.
the assist to turnover ratio is definitely nice....but 18 points in 15 shots isn't too impressive. maybe if all he took was 2 pointers and he shot 9-15. but that wasn't the case. He did shoot decently for a 7-15. But you can't say 18 points in 15 shots is efficient compared to some players on our team. *cough yao cough*. remember yao's 26 points in 12-12 shooting. That's efficient. or 31 points in 19 shots that Yao had against denver. Other than Wafer who is probly still trying to find himself a home in this offense rafer was actually the least scoring efficient starter. Rafer is very important to the team don't get me wrong, but he can be replaced. He doesn't have one thing that makes him untradable. Yao has his dominance. T-mac's playmaking and when healthy scoring ability are unmatched at his position by anyone thats not named kobe. Ron is just a ***king crazy dude. battier's spot up shooting and defense. Scola's heart and desire. Landry's hops and disregard for his own health. bottom line is all these players deserve much larger and prettier wagons with 4 working wheels before rafer gets a mention.
I wasn't commenting about whether Rafer plays better with or without any other player during any other season but this one. I actually agree with you that Rafer plays better when he's allowed to be the point guard rather than the guy that brings the ball up court. All I was bringing up was that he himself has liked the offense better without T-Mac. I wasn't making any personal statements about whether T-Mac is good or bad for the offense. Obviously, a healthy and motivated T-Mac is important to the Rockets. To use a cliched phrase, he needs to play within the offense. Ever since last year when the Rockets went on that 22 game winning streak, the concern has always been, "will T-Mac play within the system when he gets back?" And that comment about the quote was a joke, a not so obvious one, but was still a joke. Of course everyone on the team knows who butters the Rocket's bread. But from the quote you can say that Rafer sees that the team is playing more like a TEAM without T-Mac. That's not a statement about whether T-Mac is bad or good for the team. He's just comparing how the offense is running now with how it was running then.
Rafer Alston Appreciation Thread This man has been on fire lately, saved the game for us against the Jazz tonight. Let's clap for Rafer!
We just need an official Rockets appreciation thread and bump it when a player deserves appreciation.
