I'm just curious ... how did AB compare with Rafer Airballston on the *defensive* end against the top PGs in the league? How did Billups do against AB? Billups must have killed him since he is way stronger than AB. Now how did Devin Harris do against AB? Harris must have eaten him alive since Harris is great off the dribble and has a decent midrange game. Now compare that with Chris Paul's recent performance against Rafer Airballston. Paul was completely shut down by Airballston's stifling defense and we all could see the Rocket's offensive efficiency since Airballston is so good at setting up the offense. Case closed. Airballston should be the starting PG and play the vast majority of the minutes.
krosfyah: i think you're taking too much of a "big picture" approach. while i don't agree, your case that rafer should remain as the starter/is the better starter has some merit. however, given the circumstances, blind idealism is foolish. the case for alston is in his steady hand. in the present, mcgrady is as offensively inept as battier. rafer's inabilities are well documented. that lineup right now is scary. they are playing 2 on 5 and scola isn't anything to write home about himself. i just don't know how anyone could trot that combination out to close a game and still be surprised at the predictable outcome.
The case for Brooks starting is getting stronger by the day... at the very least you would expect Brooks to remain in the game when he's playing well and when Rafer isn't (applicable to all starters and bench). It's not as if we need to limit AB's minutes due to fatigue or injury issues, and Brooks has demonstrated that he can start and help the team win. More so than not, his scoring, energy, speed, defense, and ability to move the ball are infectious on the court. I think that if the bench players are playing well during the game they should play more minutes, which also enables starters to stay fresh, healthy, and be more effective for reg season and eventually playoffs. That's what our depth is for. It's understandable that Adelman wasn't giving Brooks the wagon for free. I think that Rafer is a solid and sound veteran but AB is a more effective, efficient, and consistent scorer and arguably a better defender. When the Rox need to score, it gets annoying to see the starters play when they are not scoring or getting to the foul line. Different and better options will always manifest during a season (like with playing Landry earning his minutes last and this year ).
I don't understand the SVG reference ... he had one year with Rafer on his roster, used him off the bench most of the season, then let him walk via free agency. JVG did trust Rafer... over Rick Brunson, John Lucas Jr., Vassilis Spanoulis and Luther Head. The last thing JVG remembers is losing his job after watching Rafer shoot 3-11 in a 4-point loss in Game 7 at home. I know you're not a big fan of the fans, but they were dead on last year about Scola needing to start. Adelman was slow to make that adjustment, and when he did start him at power forward over Hayes, the Rockets immediately started their 22-game win streak. In fairness to Rafer, he walked into a buzzsaw situation in coming back when he did. Brooks set the bar high in those 4 games as the Rockets offense exploded. Rafer came back and on deck are three of the biggest challenges of the season -- two of which were on the road against good defensive teams. Not really fair. Furthermore, Rafer's been not good but blistering from three-point range in his last 10 games (47.5%). However, I'm confident that some of you would be saying things differently had the opposite occurred because I've heard it all before. If Rafer went 4-0 with improved offense and a producing McGrady while Brooks was 0-2 with poor offense and a struggling McGrady, we'd be hearing: "See how the offense isn't smooth without Rafer?" "See how Brooks was 8-11 from the field, but was -15 in the +/- and we lost?" "See how Tracy McGrady isn't getting the ball where he's comfortable?" "See how Yao Ming isn't getting enough touches?" My two cents though is I think what Adelman is doing is smart. Don't bench him because of an injury. Brooks is in his second year and we're just now coming up on January -- Let Rafer's play from here quietly prove he deserves it. We haven't had a real successful stretch without Rafer, but now we have and the difference on offense seemed large. Get everyone back healthy and let the play decide it. Rafer can be valuable in situations -- a specific defensive situation, conserving a lead, needing ball control, making a key pass. My defensive concerns about Brooks are waning, but I'd still like to see him keep it up longer. I don't think it's fair to bench Rafer right now, so I still say start Rafer but increase Brooks' minutes.
the problem last night was rafers other 9 shots that didnt go in including a couple airballs (one floater too). AB is the best option regardless if tmacs healthy or not.
Agreed. Players won't respond well if you are constantly yanking folks in/out of the starting lineup. ...that said, whoever is playing well is who finishes the game. Not sure why he put Rafer back in last night. Even by Rafer's standards, he had a crappy night.
Rafer isn't shooting 10% FG for the season. So using last night as an example to support your argument displays your bias.
brooks also walked into a buzzsaw as well when he had to play chris paul, devin harris and billups and played beyond anyones expectations. ---- its fine if you dont want to start AB, which i agree, with but Rick needs to play the hot hand, whoevers been playing well, let them finish. ---- If we let rafer quietly prove he deserves it, we may have lost the time to prove AB should finish games, something that may prove to be valuable come playoff time.
I will try one more time, they are BOTH problems, you try to fix them both, you don't go..."Well crap, one is a bigger problem, let's ignore the smaller one" That is stupid...you fix the small one if you can, and you fix the big one if you can...the big one is harder, but there is a fix for the small one...RIGHT NOW ! And all those coaches you cited had one common thing, none have won a championship, or I believe a even a playoff series with Rafer Alston. DD
Last night was an obvious scenario for increasing AB's minutes, as Adelman said he would do. Instead, he did not. 31/17
Brooks has clearly won the starting role, Rafer is just keeping his spot warm for him when he returns with the starters.
What really bothers me is Adelman saying: "well I just wanted to have my starters on the court for the last 6 minutes". WTF?! Why??? Did the starters even hit ONE field goal in the fourth quarter? Thats just dumb coaching. I can't think of one good reason to have those players on the floor for the end of the game, not one. I literally said to my friend when they came back in "and thats game" and it was! Those players flat out couldn't play last night for whatever reasons. Battier was a problem, because he is injured he was not hitting wide open shots, but his backup is also injured so what can you do. Tracy is a problem, because he is injured, but he still atleast drove to the basket, got to the FT line and got others open looks. Rafer is a problem, because he sucks, he literally brought NOTHING to the team last night. I mean maybe low turnovers, I guess, but this is fixable when we have a budding star on the bench. Brooks had double the production in half the time on the court. He should be playing 35 - 40 minutes. Again I will say this, because I think it is the most paramount point. Let Brooks start and play the majority of minutes until he proves he can't handle it. He has not let us down so far.
Again Brooks goes to the bench and Alston comes in....and the lead evaporates. Is this thread even necessary anymore? Rafer Alston is not even close to Aaron Brooks... DD
I think some people are trying too hard to explain Rafer's strengths. It's really pretty simple: He sucks.
Rick Adelman took Brooks out for Rafer at about the 3-4 minute mark, and kept him in the rest of the game and overtimes. Why? Is Adelman r****ded? Don't get me wrong, I think Brooks should get more minutes, but there is a reason Adelman starts Alston and Battier and not Artest and Brooks.
If he keeps playing Rafer, he just might be ! I don't mind Battier he fits better with Yao, but there is no reason to start Alston, he is inferior to Brooks in every regard. DD
Adelman trusts Alston for whatever reason despite the fact that Brooks is outplaying him in the scoring department. So... I don't know what to tell you. I agree with you that the minutes need to be at least 24-24 or 28-20 in favor of Brooks. Starting doesn't mean you are better, it just means you fit better with that group of players.
