Alston's primary focus is leading Rockets to playoffs

I don't think it is coincident that Rafer plays significantly better after your claim. I like that thread and I love to see Rafer plays like now.
Verbally on this BBS you have your advantage, physically I doubt you get any chance to be better.
In case Rafer has a slump, a renewal of the thread will be in your hand. Hey, if it works, I'll say you are our X-factor in playoff.

 

Dude the guy plays the most minutes of anyone on the team and he has to run the offense. Tough job.

He's been playing very well lately and he ACTUALLY DRILLED A FLOATER IN THE 4TH QUARTER ( ) against the Pistons!! It was so sweet! Imagine if he did that all the time.

That was a damn sweet floater.

I still can't get over that he swooshed a floater. Damn, I'm drooling again.

Anyways, go Rafer. Keep your shot attempts down because your selection is good and I have a feeling your % will go up.

 

I pretty much agree except the open threes. When he start off 1 for 5 from downtown, he's never shy of making it 1 for 9, by which time Yao has only taken 6 shots. When his shots are not falling, Yao's turn around jumper against double team is probably more reliable than his open threes, and gives us a better chance of getting an offensive rebound.

 

You're not done embarrassing yourself and making ridiculous statements?

I'd shut up if I were you. You cannot compare to any NBA player, hell you can't compare to any Euroleague, NBDL, or D1 college player. I could pick a random dude out of any of these league and he'd kick your ass.

 

He's not....notice the lack of such quotes as "I have negative trade value" or "I'm worthless" or "We're never going to win a championship with me as the starting PG"

 

May be or may be not.

Anyway, you definitely deserve to have your own opinion that Rafer is a more valuable offensive player than Yao, no matter how rediculous it is. We have freedom of speech on this board afterall.

 

Now I wanna' fight him...

Don't be dissin' skip, rafer.

 

That's not my opinion. I said "might".

 

I'm sure Rafer is a professional, and all professionals appreciate constructive criticism , you can actually draw from it and improve. Someone has to tell the emperor that he isn't wearing any clothes. Thats better than having a bunch of yes men.... If people sometimes criticize rafer its because they care about winning and want him and the rockets to succeed. Kudos to rafer for being a good sport and improving his game... The past five or six games are some of the best ball he's played. keep up the good work.

 

Very good post. thank you!!!

I like how Rafer protects the ball too. Low turnovers. He does a good -though under appreciated job.

 

What a stupid article. Rockets.com stories suck.

With that said, did the "reporter" seriously think Rafer would admit to reading message boards? "Yes, I do read them, and the comments of people in chairs, drinking beers and typing on computers seriously affect my play."

It's like the website went out of its way to defend Rafer when he needs no defense. Does anyone realize that it's possible that Alston could end up connecting on as much as 38-39% of his treys when it's all said and done? He has the players in his corner. He has the coach in his corner. Hmmm, yea, I could say he's not exactly on pins and needles wondering if his days are numbered.

It's mind-boggling the hatred Alston gets and other one-dimensional Rockets get off so easily. Even when Alston's not shooting well, you can always rely on him to run an efficient offense and defend well. What does Head offer us when he's not hitting 3s? Nothing. What does Hayes offer us if he doesn't at least get 6 boards? Nothing. The Rockets have many more issues than that of Rafer Alston.

 

Excellent team defense.

 

thats pretty poor, if thats all his contributing. Cause honestly from a PF perspective if your not contributing boards or points your not really doing much. Excellant help defence would only come if you were getting boards too. No point pressuring and getting them to shoot a low percentage if they can't get them to turn it over too

 

By that logic, Shane Battier doesn't contribute much either. He doesn't force a lot of turnovers or get a bunch of rebounds.

Chuck has value beyond his rebounding. That's obvious and not worth debating over.

 

Totally agree with that. Another intangible that you must factor in is that Chuck Hayes blends in well with Tmac and Yao. Team Chemistry is another intangible not appearing in the stat sheet but if you watched Team USA in the world championships you would have to say the team chemistry wasn't there yet. Theoretically , you could put a bunch of superstars together , but the ultimate question is whether or not they will mesh or blend in well. Carter, Kidd, and Jefferson looked good on paper but in actuality that combination just doesn't seem to fit. though AI and Carmelo have been doing well , one could argue that the combination does not have the intended chemistry intended. Payton, Kobe, Malone and Shaq seemed like a sure formula for a championship but they were beaten by a pistons team that had overall better team chemistry. In short, role players are just an important piece of building that championship team.