A poll about Rafer :eek:

Maybe you can sell your "BIG OLE CAN OF I TOLD YA SO" on ebay.

it's never been opened as far as I can tell.

 

If he'd be reading this, he'd probably agree with the rest of us think that you're a flaming idiot with questionable judgment, with a serial problem of talking just to talk and making bad arguments with no support, or that your lips are splattered with Spanoulis' tzatziki. And he'd have a 50% of being right.

 

Great, another Rafer-Sucks-JVG-Sucks-Play-VSPAN thread. How many of these do we have to go through each day? But seriously, I'd understand if we were 13-22, but we are 21-13. Rafer must be doing something right with that starting spot because we are a top team in the tough West. Sure Rafer isn't hitting his shots, but everyone is acting like Rafer turns the ball over everytime down court and cost us each and every game we lost. Basketball is a team sport. You win and lose as a team.

 

The biggest problem I have with Rafer is his inconsistent shot. He's not really forcing that many bad shots, he actually gets lots of good and open looks, but can't connect. With the offense we run, I think Rafer is well suited, especially with T-Mac on the floor. If he just shot half as much as he does now, I don't think fans would be as hard on him. But when you go 4/15 on numerous occasions, you're going to catch heat from the fans.

With that said, when our team is fully healthy, Yes I'm ok with Rafer playing the majority of the minutes. Because then, all we are asking for Rafer to do is bring the ball up, give it to T-Mac or Yao and hit a couple jumpers. He may not be the best starting material, but I'm positive he can at least get that done. You got to remember the type of offense we play. It's not run-n-gun type like the Suns where the PG plays a high demanding role in the offense. We can still get it done with a sub-par point guard.

But, if from this point we start losing lots of games with all those loses pointed towards the PG play of Rafer. Then yeah I'm all for putting Skip on the bench and giving somebody else the start. Until then, Rafer is fine option at the point.

 

Voted option 3...

I'd love a better starting PG, or even someone who could take just 20 minutes away from Rafer, but I have no confidence in any of our back-ups. Outside of a trade for someone like Mo William's (whom I doubt we can get, despite his $2 Mill salary), I'm pretty content with Rafer starting night in and night out.

 

go check out M.James's stat this year, he isn't doing much better either...
last time I checked, he went for 3/12 against us on Sunday.

And don't forget, M.James is also more expensive than Rafer.

 

TMac is probably the best point we have, yet he's the 2 guard. I personally would rather see JL3 get more minutes, since he's a spark player off the bench and is a better shooter then Rafer.

 

Too many miss shots does NOT equate to too many turnovers. DO you really think 100 TO = 100 Miss shots? Or rather 10 TO = 10 Miss shots? You are aware with a turnover, there is ZERO, NONE, NADA, ZILCH, possibilty that your team can score and while a miss shot is no great thing there is atleast a 20% chance for an offensive rebound. If you dont understand that simple principle, then there isnt much to discuss here.

Regarding whether play V-span over Rafer could possibly result in a worst outcome... the answer is an EMPHATIC YES! Not only is V-Span more likely to turn the ball over, he is also more likely to miss MORE shots per attempt as he is shooting UNDER 30% for the season.

 

I agree with this he is taking the right shots most of the time but he isjust missing them. With Kirk Snyder and Bonzi and Yao coming back this will help his percentages. Would have been nice to also have a healthy Bob Sura who would help with some of our offensive and defensive problems, but I guess we'll just take a contract that expires next year instead.

 

We are 5-3 without Yao so far which is better than expected. No reason to panic about the PG position at this point.

I would be ok with giving Lucas and Spanoulis more burn, but not until Yao is back. Yao and Tracy can cover for their mistakes, but without Yao in the lineup we just don't have the cushion needed to give them extended looks.

So it's Rafer until everyone is back and healthy. Then evaluate.

 

I haven't read any posts, but DaDakota, I am really disappointed. none of the choices are good for me.

u need a 4th option that reads:

TRADE RAFER'S POSTERIOR OR SEND HIS POTERIOR TO THE NBDL

now this is the perfect choice. I've defended the guy for a long time. and I really think that he is a decent PG, maybe for the Suns, but not for the Rockets. he doesn't fit in our half court system and he cant shoot worth a crap. he is a good driver to the basket, but when u have Deke, Chuck, JHO, or Yao blocking the middle, u really cant drive and u are forced to take those r****ded "teardrops", yep, the same ones that he missed 200 times in a row in Minny's game..

so that's what I can tell u: either change the system (yeah right), or trade him.

 

Duh

 

is that you Kenny?

 

I would really like to give JLIII a lot more minutes for a few games. He doesn't have to start, but give him starters minutes for a few games. I think people are writing him off because of his size. You can't just know that the man can't be a starter on this team. I realize he would not start on most teams, but most teams don't have our talent at other positions either.

http://www.82games.com/0607/0607HOU.HTM

JLIII has great +/- numbers. This is largely because the alternative to him playing is Rafer sucking donkey balls. I don't hate Rafer, but he is not what this team needs at PG. We need a shooter who plays D. He provides neither.

JLIII and Alston play roughly equal defense. Alston cannot defend the pick and roll worth a damn. However, he is a good on the ball defender. JLIII is good at defending the pick and roll because of his quickness. He is ok at defending on the ball, but does not disrupt as much as Alston. JLIII's main defensive weakness is bigger guards posting him up. I think our good team defense can mask that weakness better than Alston's deficient pick and roll defense. Also, JLIII provides a lot more offense and offensive efficiency than Alston to make up for his defensive deficiencies.

JLIII's +/- numbers are from a small sample... so let him play! That is the only way to evaluate him. He has earned his minutes (a big thing for JVG).

Rafer has ok +/- numbers. They have been going down a lot recently because of better play off the bench in his stead. You guys do realize that's what +/- numbers mean right?

Luther is not the answer at PG right now. He probably needs a summer to improve his handles and then he will be fine.

VSpan should see some time when we need tough defense more than offense. If he manages to provide some surprise offense then he will have earned more minutes.

The bottom line is play JLIII because he has been effective and deserves it. Stop playing Rafer just because that is what we have done for over a season. What ever happened to earning your minutes JVG?

 

I vote for Clutch banning DaDakota. He believes he is a better decision maker than JVG and then b****es if he doesn't have it his way. For whatever reason, Coach DaDakota believes since he is a longtime member, he has the right to ignore rookies that disagree with him, only to post and repost the same exact ideas that others refuted. I am actually more annoyed with this tool than with trolls like Amel.

 

Yeah you're right, how stupid he must be. Why in the world would he think he was right, and not be happy if he thought the coach of the team he loves is making bad decisions. What kind of fan would do that?