Alston's primary focus is leading Rockets to playoffs

Rafer frustrates me as much as anyone, but I agree about his value to our offense. If Rafer got injured for any length of time, I think our offense would suffer considerably. He might actually be more important to our offense than Yao (*ducking for cover*).

 

But... then what are Yao and Tmac gonna do if he's leading?

 

Obviously Van Gundy strongly endorses Alston which makes me a little confused. I've always believed that the role our PG plays is not that of a playmaker, but that of someone who can knock down the open shot by feeding off Yao/Tmac. IMO, Alston doesn't fit this mold at all since he is a streaky shooter(generally very bad).

That being said, Alston has really picked up his play in the last 5 or 6 games and if continues to play at this level we really don't need a backup or a replacement for him.

 

The PG doesn't have to be the playmaker, necessarily, but he should be able to directly the offense competently such that we execute in an efficient manner. When Rafer's in the game, we get better shots, and more important we don't turn it over nearly as much. Perhaps that says more about how poor Luther has been running the point than how good Rafer has been.

 

I'll tell you one thing - Alston gets the ball up the court fast, fast, fast! Last night's game was an excellent example of that. He gives us more time in the half-court and in those situations when we have a running squad in the game, he knows how to finish the break.

 

Where's the LINK for this article?

 

i think we've all learned by now that running the point, even on this team, is harder than it looks. so as important as it is to knock down 3s (which rafer is actually average to above average at), it's equally if not more important to be able to HANDLE the ball, under pressure, and get this team into offensive sets without turning it over. rafer isn't the best possible fit, but he's definitely not the worst. if you think all it takes to 'fit the mold' is someone who can hit 3s at a high rate, just imagine if luther head was running the point on this team. he probably wouldn't make any 3s because our team would never have the ball because he'd keep coughing it up.

the only people better for this team are guys who are comparable to rafer in terms of taking care of the ball, but can shoot more consistently. there are plenty of guards who shoot better than rafer, but not all of them are as secure with the ball.

 

I was very impressed at how Rafer sped up the offense and got the ball down the court last night, he's got his priorities straight

 

After saying something idiotic like that, you should.

 

Look at it this way.

In 30 games with both McGrady and Yao, our offensive efficiency is 107.0. In 32 games with McGrady but no Yao, our offensive efficiency was 106.7.

Do you think the dropoff in our offense would have been that small if it was Rafer that missed 32 games, instead of Yao?

Maybe we were facing much weaker defensive teams while Yao was out. That could explain it.

 

Rafer may not be a top10 PG or even a top20 PG, but he is the only real PG we have, he played the longest minutes when we face tough opponents.

Therefore he might appear to very important to the team, but he is not that great. If he keeps what he has been doing in last 5-6 games, we should be more than happy.

 

It's at Rockets.com

Here's the link

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Alstonrsquos_primary_focus_i-216945-34.html?rss=true

 

You gave one of the possible reasons. The other reasons include, but not limited to, almost everyone stepped it up and contributed after Yao got injuried, Tmac played out of his mind at times, etc. To say that Rafer might actually be more important to our offense than Yao is crazy.

 

LOl

Media using us to ask questions that should have been asked 4 months ago

poor Rafer, he doesn't care what some net freaks have to say...

 

Rafer's problem isn't the number of shots he takes - it's the shot selection.

He does well when he shots off a set pass out of a double team. He shoots really well.

He shoots well when he drives and no one picks him up because he beat his man.

Any other scenario and he's close to 10%.

Lately he's shooting well because he's taking SMARTER shots - which also means less shots. He's taking open-threes. He's not been shooting off the dribble. He's not forcing driving floaters as much.

Result: Higher fg% and more Rocket's wins.