I've seen Rafer lose his cool on the bench when he's taken out of games, as a Rocket. It's nothing something that would shock me if he's subbed out a little early for Aaron Brooks.
Shane Battier is one of the better help defenders in the league, we know this without Van Gundy saying it. Chuck Hayes is a good help defender, so with Scola instead of Hayes a little help defense was lost (but 12 times the offense gained). Who else is supposed to help Rafer on perimeter D, Yao? McGrady? <-Yep. If anything McGrady is NOT helping. When Brent Barry comes in for Battier or McGrady, Rafer's REALLY gonna feel slighted on the help Help from Head, no. Brooks, no. Healthy Francis, no. So its gonna be Artest by himself that makes an impact.
You are making me more nervous about Rafer than I already was. It's one thing to massage the ego of a star player that has to help carry your team. It's another thing altogether when it's the weak link of your starting lineup. If Rafer gets rattled by legit competition from AB, Morey made a grave mistake by not bringing in another legit rotational PG. If Rafer starts sucking his thumb on the bench while AB plays well, the Rockets now only have Brent Barry, who I consider a specialist player only.
Rondo shot 49.2% and he is one of the league's top rebounding PGs. His mid range game is actually very good.
Like I said earlier, we should used TMac as our backup PG. If Rafer is pulled for Brooks, he might not be happy. But if he is substituted by Artest, or Battier, or even Barry, and TMac moving to the point, there is no reason for him to sulk.
I suspect few people here watched the Celtics in the regular season when Rondo was draining the mid-range jumpers with regularity. Most remember him choking in the late rounds of the playoffs. Still, considering he was a 2nd year player who wasn't good at all as a rookie, Rondo did very well and is a better PG than Rafer.
what his mid-range is terrible there is a reason why when kobe asked to guard rondo so he can roam free and help out on anyone he wanted...they gave rondo all the looks in the world he wanted and he didnt really do to well. what rondo does really well which bumps up is fg% is finish in the lane. if only rafer could do that with more consistency
Over 70% of his attempts came inside the free throw line. He's fantastic at getting to the rim and an elite level finisher, not so much with the mid range game. The quotes we've seen in the Chronicle indicate Rafer is a leader in the locker room. For whatever reason, the players respect him. This team will go far as long as Rafer can keep them together -- both on and off the court.
Yea, and if our team had 3 stars (which we do this season), our PG could basically walk to any spot within the 3 point line, outside of the key and have an open shot. The fact of the matter is, the better our offense is, the better Rafer is offensively. He'll make a higher percentage of shots because he won't have to take stupid shots.
Regarding the "mid-range" jumpers, here's a comparison between Alston and Rondo: Code: Long2FGM Long2FGA Long2FG% Alston 52 153 34.0% Rondo 84 186 45.2% And what if we mix in 3-point attempts as well: Code: LongFGM LongFGA LongFG% LongEFG% Alston 195 560 34.8% 47.6% Rondo 89 205 43.4% 44.6% Last column shows effectiveFG%, which gives 1.5x more credit for made 3-point field goals.
Rondo is an elite inside finisher? OK, forget it, let's compare his midrange game with Rafer. Rondo shot better at midrange than Rafer? OK, lets mix midrange with 3 pointers. yeah, Rafer looks better, thanks EFG%. Still not a clear win for Rafer? lets compare 3 point shooting .
Nice to see that someone who knows the game like Adelman commenting on a guy that too many here in the GARM dismiss as an impediment to winning and perennial trade bait. Yes Rafer is not a top ten PG but he isn't being paid like one either, I've said he's the 10-15 best starting PG in the league because of his defense and ability to take care of the ball and his shooting has gotten better as well since joining the Rockets. I hate the posters who say we can never win with Rafer as the starter, most NBA championships have been won by teams without a top five PG. We can win with Rafer just as long as you have other pieces like TMac, Yao and Artest.
anyone can tell rafer alston is a good defender. he's not a shutdown defender but he's defintely above average. he knows how to play d and how to rotate, kind of like shane battier. both aren't athletic defenders but they know how to play it by the book. i still remember rafer cleanly picking off cassell and marbury by himself.
A top 10-15 is a bit of an exaggeration. I would say a solid starter, but Rafer really isn't star caliber. I could name more than 15 that are obviously better: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Tony Parker, Allen Iverson, Chauncy Billups, Jose Calderon, Andre Miller, Rajon Rondo, Monta Ellis, Mike Bibby and Devin Harris. You could count Brandon Roy in, too. Eventually, there will be Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo to boot. Many of the above mentioned players aren't real point guards and probably wouldn't function better than Rafer in this system, but still, they are undeniably superior talents. By the way, Rondo's one of the best defenders in the league at his position due to his amazing combination of length, size, speed and athleticism.
I found this kinda interesting. Elie Seckbach interview. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/80dvEEM-R3E&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/80dvEEM-R3E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> I love how he says "elle seckbach,Repoorting." at the end.
As soon as he went out, Deron Williams torched us to end the game and the series. Before that it was tied
