Bringing back dead threads, eh. Wait til a mod gets ahold of this. In before the lock! Honestly though, one can't complain much about Rafer nowadays, other than the turnovers. His 3pt% needs to kick up 1 more point to .395 instead of .385 in my opinion, but that ain't so bad. Shane Battier is a bigger concern for me. His 3pt % is now at a pedestrian .362 because of his current 6 game slump at .292 3pt shooting. Because of the offense, Battier will take 3 or 4 treys every game. He needs to start making 2 a game, or atleast 2 every other game. Consistently going 1/3 and 1/4 ain't gonna cut it, and would be underperforming for Shane. And his ft% continues to be an atrocious .563. Funny thing about Rafer though. This summer, I wrote analysis on 3pt shooting (http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=118644) and floor positioning (http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=118361). From the evidence, Rafer last year was a great 3pt shooter from the corners and straight away, but terrible from the elbows. I also concluded that Rockets system open up a lot of elbow 3s, and someone will have to knock them down consistently this year. I expected Luther Head to step up from the elbows, and he has, but Rafer has been good from there too. In fact, Rafer has been great from the elbows and sucky from the corners, a complete reversal of last year. Rafer last year: Rafer this year: All in all, once Rafer cuts down on his turnovers and improves his corner 3pt shooting (enough to raise his overall 3pt shooting to the 39-42% range), he'll be fine. What the Rockets really need though is for someone else other than Rafer and Head to step up and hit those elbow treys. Battier is freakin 0 for 8 from elbows and Padgett is 2 for 8. Perhaps TMac can be that 3rd elbow shooter. Mac is currently at 32.4% from the elbow 3s, a nice improvement from his 29.5% elbow 3pt shooting of last year. But if Mac can kick it up to his 34.4% elbow 3pt shooting of 2 years ago it'd be even better. So back to the original point. Rafer sucked last year. Rafer still sucks at many things, but thank God for his shooting. If Rafer wasn't shooting this good so far, the Rockets would be in deep doodoo. Would Mike James be a better fit? Sure. James hits the 3pt shot better, shoots freethrows better, and defends better. And contrary to stupid popular opinion, Mike James isn't a shot hog that's screwing Minnesota this year...he's actually their only bright spot other than KG. But it's not important now. Rafer should continue shooting well for the very same reasons the Rockets wanted James during the summer. Actually Rafer NEEDS to continue shooting well, and actually improve a little on that.
Rafer is okay for 30 minutes at most. Stop playing Head at PG. Give more minutes to Billy. And get your checkbook ready for Billups, Alexander.
The most important duty of a Point Guard is to be a PLAYMAKER, by having a good eye that can find the open player who can handle his good pass and make a play, secondly to be able to score when the need arrises. Having watched every game since Alston's arrival with the Rockets, I am not one who would call him a pass first Point Guard or a good playmaker. Having said this I still consider him a decent player who can certainly get the ball up the court and is one who is not hesitant to take his shot.Point Guards of the ilk of John Stockton are rare and difficult to develop. There are two players on the Rockets who do have the true ability to perform the role of Playmaker Tracy McG. and V.Span.
The point guard does more than just play the role of playmaker. Rafer RUNS the offense. It's not his fault if his job is to pass the ball to the wing, so that tmac and vspan can throw the ball to Yao in the post. His job is to set the tempo of the game. He determines if we run fast breaks, or if we slow it down and run our half court set. And about Rafer's defense. I think he has done a fairly good job. Maybe its not his strongest asset, but do you guy's really think vspan is that much better?? Watching vspan play, he doesn't play up on his man as close as Rafer. Maybe thats Skips problem, that he plays too up close on his man.
Our offense doesn't really allow for much playmaking... it's pretty obvious by now that pounding it in to Yao is the main concern, with perimeter game being option #2. Mid-game is pretty much non-existant with Chucky and Howard as our PFs. JVG would have to implement a better spaced, more free offensive scheme to allow for any real playmaking. I'm pretty content with Rafer this season -- no real defensive let downs and his shooting, although somewhat streaky, has been real key to our offense. His turnovers are quite surprising though... as well as his poor lay-up shooting.
I feel that KB's defense is great and it showed last night when he stopped that fastbreak and almost got the steal and when he got the charge from marbury. The guy may not be fast in terms of dribbling and penetrating (though it's supposed to be his forte) but he's shown quickness to getting to the spot before his man and forced an important TO. His shot is not where it should be, and thats ok. His drive to the basket and tenacity to get to the rim is where he will become a better point guard (not the best in the league or even start on most teams) but WILL be a serviceable guard. Those who think he should be banished to the bench really need to see that his hustle (no, not ryan bowen hustle which doesnt do squat) is what will bring energy off the bench, and win us some games. and yeah, you can quote me on that,
Ok, we need to define what you are talking about when you say he has great defense. KB did create a little havoc on the defensive side of the ball the other night, but it doesn't mean he is a great on ball defender. He is very opportunistic in playing the passing lanes. But has a PG, and having to defend a player who is dribbling is a different kind of defense. KB's man defense is horrendous. He did not put any kind of pressure on his man when his man brought the ball up. That charge he drew on Marbury was a great play, but that was the ONLY play he made in reference to his man-up D. I agree that he brings hustle and would be a good energy guy off the bench. I never said he should be banished to the bench, but I also don't think he should be our starting pg, and that he is not our solution at pg.
Good effort with the analysis, somehow Rafer as a PG, his best position in transition should be around or close to the top of the arc where he would have better view of teammates and easier decision making for the distribution, as for the corner shots, those really gotta get to the wing men like Shane or even Bonz (is he good with 3s? I have no idea), unfortunately Shane did miss many of those, let's hope he is getting out of the slump and start knocking down shots from there.
Not to change the subject... but... Kim, where did you find those graphic shot charts? Is it on a website?
Anybody still believe this? James is now turning the ball over less, shooting better, scoring more, and assisting more...and he's playing on a crappier team...and he's only taking fractionally more attempts than Alston - as a secondary option and the primary perimeter threat. With James at PG, we would be a legitimate NBA title threat. The James-Alston trade, in terms of straight up, ironic, suckyness, ranks up there with the very worst in Rocket history.
Give it up. Samfisher. I don't think anyone with decent intelligence will believe it was a good trade for Rox. But the reality is some people always choose to live in denial. The trade is too hard for them to swallow. They have to defend it as long as it takes.
JeopardE, king of denial, chose to dug up the "Rafer is Obsolete" thread after he made that 1 shot and thought he made a great case for Rafer! Hilarious! Apparently he missed all those 4th quarter boo boos! Ha! I am tellin ya....denial robs you off of common sense.
It was a terrible trade but theres really nothing we can do about it, short of getting franchise back or something (conning isiah in the process). The bottom line is, unless you guys want to see V-Span start (which you may or may not), Alston will start for the Rox, its really a simple decision. It's tough, but thats the way it is.
Umm... it was olliez who "chose to dug up" that thread. I know its hard a strange concept, but if you look above the posters name there is this thing called a time stamp, which miraculously informs you when a post a made. Regarding James, I agree he'd probably would be a better fit for this team, as the things we are currently lacking are a scoring guard with tough defense and a good shot. However that trade was 2 years ago almost and it wasnt a certainty if he would have resigned with us even if the trade was not made or if indeed there was any validity to the rumors of his problems with T-Mac. Point being, we cant really do anything about it now... so for better or worse we are stuck with Alston (and his contract) for the forseeable future. Oh and rapier28, if we were to trade w/NY for Francis, it would be us that would be getting conned! I like Francis but their is no way the Rockets should trade for him and his contract, one in which he is due to recieve 16mil+ until the end of the 08-09 season.
Just checking back in ... but this time I'm not worried about Rafer -- I'm worried about John. John, are you still allowed to write for the Chronicle?
Rockets coverage is virtually nonexistent. How could he possibly show up in the Rockets locker room after leading the "Trade Tmac at all cost for Iverson, he's finished" parade? If he starts to praise Tmac he would lose all credibility. A journalist is not a journalist unless he sticks to the facts and gets rid of the mouth diarrhea. That's why Feigen covers the Rox. Lopez craves the attention.
This is the bottomline and, ultimately, the reason why Alston is such a liability. How much data needs to be accumulated? After a one full season and over a third of another, conclusion: Alston can't shoot. Obvious, obvious, obvious. However Lopez and JVG can't see the obvious. Another example of JVG's stubborness. JVG won't make any adjustments for spite alone. I can hear his brain working, "they want more of JJ or VSpan, now I am not going to play them at all!" Until, Alston starts costing games. So far, the inspired play of TMac and the overall team has largely compensated for his poor shooting. Again, I ask, has he ever made one of those floaters? I haven't seen one go in, not one.
