I don't understand why there is this psychological significance to a player being a starter. You can get starters minutes but coming off the bench. Will you not agree that Rafer plays best when he's playing with Tmac and Yao? Brooks isn't going to put up better numbers deferring to Tmac and Yao.
People bring this up all the time. First of all, McGrady isn't apparently a great scorer anymore. Secondly, he still does most of the playmaking. The vast majority of the time on offense, Rafer hands the ball off to McGrady then becomes a spot up shooter. As bad as Brooks has shot the past two games, he is still a far better bet to hit an open shot. He is also better at penetrating and putting pressure on the opposing PG. You know, actually making them play defense.
When was the last time he make a play other that pass around the perimeter. Yao, T-Mac are playmakers and they are not like CP3 or Nash. A playmaker crate plays for other he don't.
Brooks wasn't that guy today. Tmac and Yao would draw the doubleteam, pass it out to a wide open Brooks who would then pass it again back to Yao or Tmac. When the starters are in he'll defer to them if his shot hasn't been falling. When Tmac and/or Yao are on the bench. He looks for his own shot more.
No, I've seen plenty of times where Rafer has made the correct pass but the other guys just failed to score. He is the guy who makes plays for the shooters. Well, I remember today against the Bucks he made the right pass to Yao Ming for the dunk.
I haven't seen Rafer do anything but be a starter. I don't know what he'd look like as a backup PG playing more often with reserves. Not all backup PGs have to be scorers. Brevin Knight is a playmaking backup PG for the Jazz this season. Maybe they should start him over Williams because he'll play better with the starters. If Artest, Landry and Barry are playing with Rafer, maybe he can fill a similar role with them like when he's a starter.
This is not to get personal best number is how the team plays. It shows that when him the staring job the team play better offensively with less bad stretches and Yao get fewer aggressive double and triple teams.
People bring that up all the time about Rafer. Thing is... thats exactly why he's the starter. Because he's much better at setting up the offense than Brooks is. And if what you say is true, that we would fare just as well with Brooks setting up the offense, then Adelman is the dumbest coach in the history of the NBA because you are basically telling me that Brooks is as good or better than Rafer in every aspect of the game. Either you are wrong, or Adelman is wrong. All I'm saying.
Hmm... Who is right? A man who has led his team to the NBA Finals twice and is considered an offensive genius or another guy who posts on Clutch fans?
Im not too sold on that starters vs bench thing because although Alston has the benefit of playing with starters more, doesnt Brooks have the benefit of playing against bench players more as well. I will agree that Brooks should get more playing time. Not start yet, but play a lot more especially when Alston is having a terrible night. Where you lose people is how you sell Brooks as some superstar in waiting. He is a mediocre option that may be slightly better then Alston at this point. For everything he offers, he also has major holes in his game. Its not like we have Deron Williams on the bench behind Alston. Its Aaron Brooks.
Adelman started Hayes over Scola last season. It's not unprecedented for him to play a lesser option as a starter then eventually make a change. Battier isn't better than Artest, either.
Exactly... its how the team plays. Brooks' strengths are shooting and scoring. Well, he'll get less shots per game if he takes his break in the 2nd quarter when the goon squad is in rather than at the beginning of the game (AKA, not starting) because Tmac and Yao will demand the ball more often. No... its coincidence. We happen to play better when Alston was out because all three of Tmac, Yao and Artest were playing well. Remember when Tmac was putting up near triple doubles every game? That was when Alston was out. Its not because of Alston that we were playing bad, (although I will admit it doesn't help that his FG% is as bad as it is), its the fact that usually two of Tmac/Yao/Artest were having a sub 40% night. If Brooks had been in we still would've lost. Don't try and convince me that Brooks is Nash-like in the sense that our team turns to crap without him on the floor. He's a great player Brooks... but he's not at that level yet.
Battier starts over Artest, because they need somebody to do something for their bench. Go take a look at Ginobili for the Spurs. Hayes started over Scola, because he wasn't sold that Scola would do that well in the beginning. You also do realize Carl Landry also didn't play until later of the season too right?
He may be a lot better than Alston, too. We don't know yet. What we do know is that Alston does nothing special and something really bad. In fact, he is the worst shooter in the entire NBA over the last 5 seasons. He doesn't make up for it with great playmaking either.
I bet BrooksBall believes Aaron Brooks has the shooting ability of Reggie Miller, the playmaking skills of Magic Johnson and the speed of Usain Bolt.
I don't understand what point you are trying to make. Fact of the matter is, Adelman is a HoF coach (or at least he will be), and you are telling me he's starting a guy who is worse IN EVERY WAY to the guy that is on the bench. Adelman can't be that blind to know that Brooks is a better scorer, but I'm sure there is a reason Alston is the starter, and my guess is that it has to do with the 1 or 2 things that Alston is better than Brooks in. And if I were to guess what said "thing" was. It would be that he's better at setting up the offense, and its not just Rafer handing the ball to McGrady. The Rockets have more time to run plays, and the plays come from Rafer calling them (AKA gang signs he throws before every possession). Less time wasted means more time to score.
I bet the thread machine here underestimates how bad of a shooter Rafer Alston is and overestimates how good of a playmaker he is. Fact: Rafer is the least efficient shooter of all starting PGs over the last 5 seasons. Fact: He is not a tremendous playmaker. He doesn't penetrate and break down defenses and find open players. He gets most of his assists passing the ball to McGrady or Yao from a static position on the perimeter. The rest of the time he camps out on the perimeter waiting to jack up a shot. He also gets to the line less than 2 times per game. He's anti-penetration to the fullest extent.
Rafer have play plenty of time with Ron, T-Mac, Artest and we still playing bad. No spacing at all. Since Rafer been back we sucks pretty bad and team are just harassing Yao and T-mac.
