Alston was a terrible acquisition. The sooner we exit him the better. We are better with nothing, at least there is opportunity for improvement when he is gone. So long as he is here, we are doomed. The Yao/Tmac combo is horribly mis-served by his "game."
too bad Clutch can't give posters the option of adding an audio "echo" to their text. doomed doomed doomed so, pasox2. what is the best beat to play the doomed echo at.
1. He did include the health of other players, that's what the charts do. 2. 32% (wide open) vs. 38% is a substantial difference - Clutch did the math in a post a few months ago which I forgot, but for example: The Rockets point differential was -1.58 this season. Playoff teams generally all have positive point differentials. Adding on .75 to that gets us a lot better.
And he only does one out of these three things. The second he never has really done with consistency and if present performance is any indication, he is not capable of doing the third either. How does this make him "fine as a PG"? By your own definition he's only 33% of the way home.
Alston aka Skip shoots poorly,his defense apart from steals is nonexistent,and he makes mistakes with his entry passes at crucial times after doing well initially in a game. If you pressure him he makes more mistakes but despite that he has a pretty good assist to turnover ratio. I hope he has been working on his outside shooting. JVG said the staff would be helping him out. I do feel that he is the "best" PG that we have right now. Lets hope that VSpan and JL3 might be able to help out although it seems that VSpan's strength is as a combo guard.
As much as I'm a fan of Alston, yes, I do agree that he would make a more efficient player off the bench, though his style suits the starters more. I will always be convinced that Alston is a much better fit for this Rockets team than James. That's just my opinion. And I also abhore how everybody is suddenly some "expert" because of analyzing through statistics. Stats don't tell the WHOLE story. Stats won't tell you that Skip is great at pushing the tempo, makes smart passes and really knows how to run a team. I think it's to his credit that people nitpick on his "shooting" because it's easiest to target. Well, in that case, let's nitpick how James isn't half the rebounder Skip is, nor the passer and is more prone to turnovers. It's easy for those who like to bash Skip to look at his shooting. But that, as a point guard, should not be essential compared towards his passing and defense, which SHOULD be of more significance for a point guard. Why are we complaining about him, acting like there's somebody out there more fitting for the job? This team HAS scorers and Skip will not be one of the featured scorers next season. Hopefully, if all healthy, Yao, TMac, Battier and maybe even Head can be relied upon to deliver offense. Point being, we're neglecting Skip's positive attributes. It's quite ironic how people argue over a point guard's shooting ability. Here's a newsflash--this team is not dependent upon his shooting, especially with the additions of Snyder, Battier and Novak as able shooters. This team needs a point guard who can control tempo, pass the ball and play aggressive defense. Whether some see it or not, we already have that guy.
I don't think Rafer is entrenched in the starting role. Certainly he's going into the season as a starter but it's not like he's got it locked up for the entire season. While I think that an entire season should yield a sufficient sample size, especially when taking into accound his career numbers, I'm willing to give him another chance due to the circumstances of last year. But if he still plays poorly, VSpan and JLIII will have their chances at the starting job. I agree that Rafer's style would have suited TMac and Yao better that James. I would have thought James would have made a better 6th man than a starter just like I thought Mobley was. Someone off the bench capable of providing a jumpstart or taking over when TMac and Yao aren't in the game. I think the concerns of Rafer's shooting woes are legitimate. Of course the primary duties of a PG are to handle and distribute the ball. But it's not like he's never going to shoot or try to take the game into his own hands at times. As Clutch said in his article, after TMac and Yao, Rafer shot the ball more than anyone else on the team. He wasn't the third option. His shot attempts obviously go down with a healthy TMac and Yao but he'll still shoot enough to possibly affect the outcome of the game.
Contrary to a lot of what's been said in this thread, I believe Rafer runs the team very well. He's very good at getting in the lane and he's a good passer. I do wish he could finish better, but he still is good at breaking down the defense. My major complaint is with his inconsistent jumper. His jump shot was much worse last year. Also, I think that a lot of you guys feel that playing with Yao and T-Mac will improve people's numbers. I agree that makes sense, but that is not usually the case. In fact it seems that when new players join teams with 2 superstars their numbers go down.
"isn't half the rebounder Alston is"? Where did you get this? James grabbed 3.2 boards in 25.6 minutes with the Rockets. "Otis" Alston got 4.0 in 38.6 minutes with the Rockets. For their careers, James is 2.7 boards in 27 minutes to Rafer's 2.6 in 26 minutes. There is nothing that suggests Rafer is a better rebounder than James, much less to support the Paul Bunyan tale you're telling. For all I know you're a Harvard Dean, but when it comes to basketball posts, you're somewhere between a severe brain injury and a carrot. I'm all for passion, but come on -- atleast be open to using your mind a little here and not just your "President of the Rafer Alston Fan Club" heart to analyze. Saying Rafer Alston doesn't need to shoot well on this team because he's the point guard is just ignorance. Period. The Rockets' system calls for guards on the floor to shoot well from the outside. Not even an interpretation ... simply fact. Rafer, last season, shot 5 threes a night. He shot 4.5 a night with Yao and T-Mac on the floor, and Juwan Howard and David Wesley played every one of those games. So if you have two superstars on the floor, Juwan and a guard who hits between 37-38% from downtown -- all of them strong offensive options -- why is Rafer putting up nearly 5 threes per night? Better question: Does the system call for Rafer to take those shots, or is Rafer going outside the system to take them? By NBA comparison, Steve Nash (51.2% from the field, 43.9% from three) shot fewer threes than Rafer - just 4.3 a night. Jason Terry (47%, 41.1%) and Chauncey Billups (41.8%, 43.3%) shot 5.2 triples a night. So why is Rafer Alston shooting as many threes as superstar point guards on contenders who hit between 41% and 44% from long range? Stick to what you said in the past, that Rafer is actually a good shooter (with us left to assume that last season was a fluky dud) and we should see improvement next year, because newsflash to Mr. Newsflash: Saying the Rockets don't need their 35-40-minute-a-night starting point guard to shoot reasonably well is a stance devoid of intelligence.
I didn't say Rafer doesn't need to shoot well, I said we won't be dependent on his shooting. Assuming the Rox start a lineup of Yao/Howard/Battier/TMac and Alston, they have a lot of options at shooters. Rafer will be the fifth option as a shooter. Howard has a capable mid-range game, Battier and TMac are all sufficient from 3. All Rafer will be asked to do is find the right players, get guys their shots and just space the floor. As far as his attempts, your question is correct: was it the system calling for those shots, or did he go outside the system? I would think it was the system. He rarely took shots early within the shot-clock. My thoughts are that, this season, his attempts will be around 3 treys per game, not five. He's a pass-first PG who had to score and shoot last season for the team to be somewhat adequate offensively. As I said, my whole deal is this--why harp on just his shooting when he does everything else he's supposed to at PG? I really want to know. I still believe some here are angry that we didn't get James and are blaming Rafer and just enlightening his shooting. Just as some of you all say how Rafer is such a detriment to this team, I believe that James would not have helped any more. Also, on a sidenote, it's really unfair for you to insult my intelligence when all I'm doing is disagreeing with your opinion. It's not like I'm some naive rookie when it comes to basketball---I've been a Rockets fan for 12 years now and have covered sports, particularly pro ball, for an assortment of online and print publications. So, just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I'm stupid or unknowing about the game. All I'm doing is standing up for my opinion.
Why was this thread down to 3 stars before I voted it 5 star? I really think it needs to be explained again what the star rating system is about. It seems to me posters have been seeing topics like the Gay/Battier trade sticky and giving it a 1 star rating because they don't like the trade. Things of that nature. It has nothing to do with the quality of the discussion within, which should be what a thread is rated on. The discussion in this thread, by and large, has been excellent - so why a mediocre rating? Further, the article that began this thread was excellent, so again, why a mediocre rating? I vote we have a new sticky explaining to these rookies how the rating system works.
Rafer shot 5 trey's per night because he was wide open all the time. When you have 4 good shooters on the floor next year and 1 scrub shooter in Alston, I think it'd be smart for a defense just to leave him wide open like last year and guard everyone else like crazy. He will continually be the guy people leave open to double team Yao and T-Mac, so no matter how good point guard skills are (which I think are pretty good), he's still going to continually get a bunch of open shots with defenses daring him to shoot it. Watching last year was a pain. He often looked up towards the heavens for an answer to his missed shots and then prayed a thanks when he finally would hit something. Clutch is right though that if Alston continues his piss poor shooting, V-Span and JL3 and Sura are going to get more of Alston's minutes.
The only stats I am interested in and the only ones that matter is what were the WON LOSS record when Rafer plays with Tmac and Yao. That is all that matters. DD
Since you were a fan back then, do you think we would have won those championships if Kenny Smith was shooting 30 percent from 3? You're only as strong as your weakest offensive player in the NBA. If you have a Ryan Bowen, Rafer Alston, and yes, even Juwan Howard on the floor, then the defense will force those guys to take and make shots. If they can't make em, well that sucks for you. The Laker's won titles when Fisher and Horry got hot from 3. They lost in the years when they were throwing up bricks. Bruce Bowen was a borderline NBA player before he learned to shoot the 3. Now, he's one of the best role-players in the league. The 3-ball is the difference. Rafer is not going out of the offense to take his 5 threes. He's being forced to take them by the opponent. Same deal for Juwan's 10 wide open jumpers per game. And the sad thing is, instead of stepping up and draining those open shots, they each seem to crumble under the pressure.
I'm interested more in the win/loss record with both Yao and T-Mac healthy and without Rafer Alston. That is what really matters. Last year's record doesn't count because we were piss poor at pg position. If Alston goes down next year and the Rockets don't lose much speed with rookie point guards Lucas/V-Span, Alston is pretty much useless. Don't let Yao and T-Mac's greatness cover the weakness of players. Let players add to their greatness.
We all saw those missed shots from the perimeter, and they just killed us. I'm hoping we've addressed that a bit already... we'll have to see, but Rafer wasn't getting in done in our system. Can he bounce back to be better than a decent backup, by hitting from the outside? If he doesn't, I don't think he'll stay the starter by default. Someone else on the team will replace a lot of his minutes, either someone we have now, or get out of need, when Rafer's shown he's shooting like last season. KillBill, JL3, and possibly Head (if he's here) won't be able to say they didn't have a chance this season. Unless Rafer steps up, they'll have lots of opportunities to show what they can do. Or someone else will.
i think people forget what alston did when tmac and yao were playing with him. He was getting the ball to yao and tmac in scoring positions, i think he avgdouble digit assists in those games (if not dam close), he took care of the basketball, and he set up the offense. he has his flaws, but last year he was put into a situation (with all the injuries) that didnt really show his assets.
Steve Nash sold his soul for the ability to make layups despite being knocked over or even held upside-down by the defending post player.
