That's the key. When things go bad for Brooks he retreats into a shell. For all of Alston's problems, he can still shake off a poor shooting performance and make big plays down the stretch. He made two critical defensive plays that won the game tonight. I would still give Alston the majority of the minutes at this point.
Well until he gets back some confidence, and starts to want to shoot the ball, then I doubt he will be starting anytime soon, in the PG spot anyway. In the past few games he has been almost reluctant to shoot ball, which might be the cause of his "slump".
Assists per 48 minutes: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams...&season=2&sort=asts&order=true&avg=48&split=0 Rafer Alston: 6.9 Aaron Brooks: 5.4
You are making this assessment based on 2 games from Brooks? Despite the fact that he's leading all guards on this team in FG%? He's played a lot this season, too, so it's not like the sample size is insignificant. You remember 2 or 3 shots that Rafer hit this season and conclude that he is able to shake off poor shooting performances and make big plays late in games? Where were those big plays in the playoffs? If he's so clutch, why does he almost never get the ball in key situations late in the game? Sure, I remember some big 3s Rafer has hit over the course of the last 4 years... like 2 or 3 of them. Meanwhile, he's the worst shooter in the league and an average playmaker that would be riding the bench on any other team in the league.
Thanks for making my point. There isn't much difference in those numbers and Alston plays a lot more minutes with Yao and the other starters. Now, go get the shooting statistics. The discrepancy is a lot more significant.
Here are the shooting statistics per 48 min, not including tonight (both of their FG%s and 3PT%s took hits tonight): PP48: Brooks: 22.7 (3rd on the Rockets) Alston: 16.7 (9th) FG%: Brooks: 43.6% (5th on the Rockets, 1st among guards) Alston: 36.3% (12th out of 13 Rockets, only Hayes is worse) 3FG%: Brooks: 39.3% (5th) Alston: 35.9% (8th) FT%: Brooks: 91.2% (2nd) Alston: 79.7% (7th)
What point? That Rafer has 1.4 more assists than Aaron Brooks does? What difference does it make if he plays with Yao or the Starters? I'd rather have the PG that can set up an offense and makes plays. No score the basketball.
Wrong, Alston has 1.5 more assists per 48 minutes. If you play with the better players on your team more, you should generally benefit from more converted shots. And the difference in shooting statistics between Brooks and Alston is much, much more significant (see above. Rafer has a slight advantage in AP48 while Brooks has a huge advantage in PP48 and FG%.
Ok, so undoubtedly, Brooks is better than Rafer. Now the question that we must now ask, is why isnt/wasnt Brooks starting ahead of Rafer? If Brooks > Rafer, then why hasnt RA let Brooks start? Is RA blind, and cannot see the facts? Or does he see something in Rafer that we dont? Or maybe he is just too loyal to Rafer, or doesnt trust Brooks yet? Whatever the reason, something major has to be done (eg Rafer continues his 20% shooting and Brooks starts blitzing) before RA chooses to start Brooks.
Yeah Aaron Brooks would start. If there weren't 3 more other dominant offensive players on this Houston Rockets team. I'll take the Pass-first PG who can make plays thank you very much.
I don't think anyone is questioning that he's the best scorer of the two. Better scorer generally means better player (and you could make a good case for Brooks being the better player), but better player doesn't always mean starter. My argument has been that we should give him more minutes, but bring him off the bench. Our starting line-up isn't getting killed to the point where we need to make that kind of change. Obviously it would be better in general if Alston had less minutes (20 per game I would say). But those minutes need to be with the starters because thats where his strengths are. He plays better with Tmac and Yao. Brooks plays better when Yao is on the bench because it allows him to speed the game up. Play Alston 20 minutes, Brooks 30... but bring Brooks off the bench. For the team, thats the better situation. Brooks won't produce better with Tmac and Yao having plays run for them most of the time anyway. He'll get more shots coming off the bench.
All I'm saying is that Rafer is a scrub. Brooks hasn't had enough time to prove what his ceiling is. Rafer has and it's not good enough. As long as we have McGrady on this team, who does most of the playmaking anyways, what is the justification for starting Alston? If we get a better PG than both, I'll be fine with Brooks being a backup. Until then, I am sick of seeing Rafer be an average-at-best playmaker and the worst shooter in the NBA, especially with McGrady being totally inconsistent as a scorer.
Alston is not a playmaker. He is good get in us int our sets but he is not a playmaker. Houston need a player that can make shoots and keep the defense honest when they getting double. Yao, T-mac and Ron don't need a plyer to make plays for them they make play for each other. In a motion offense you need everybody to be able to shoot, Alston is a weak link in that aspect.
All I'm saying is I'd prefer the guy who can set up 2 other stars instead of another guy who mainly shoots. Not to mention the 1st lineup is a halfcourt offensive team. Aaron Brooks is a player that goes out on the fast-break.
Because Scola was a rookie and needed time to fit into the system. But the thing is that Hayes doesnt contribute on the offense end, whereas Rafer has made big plays in his career before, giving reason for RA to trust him. Look, all I'm saying is that for Brooks to get the starting spot, either somebody has to give RA a big slap and show him how bad Rafer is, or Rafer has to plays even worse himself.
