Nice article on Rafer Alston's hard work. Interesting refernce to regiment from the day of Rudy and Jim Boylan (current Bulls head coach). http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5432580.html
Nice to see that the old Rudy T ways are being brought back into the organization. His way worked. DD
Nice article, good to see Rafer knows his work is being appreciated. Hopefully it will give him confidence to continue working hard and playing like this consistently throughout the season and put us over the top.
Just to clarify since it's so easy to get confused.... Current Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylan was NOT the assistant for the Rockets in the 1990s. That was Jim Boylen. Former Rockets coach Jim Boylen is the head coach at the University of Utah.
i <3 Rafer. He has to continue being aggressive and penetrating for this team to have any chance of winning.
Thanks for the clarification. Guess I got the wrong Jimmy B. Still, it's good to see Rafer's hard work paying off. I hope this works for the long term.
You've got to give props to Alston. He's really stepped up. Apparently he's been working hard in practice on his shot and drives to the basket and it's really paid off. His passing used to give me fits but a lot of his shortcomings are masked now with Adelman's offense and having Brooks as a backup.
The only thing that drove me crazy was him not be able to finish when he got into the lane. I'm glad he is actually trying to make a shot instead of just chucking his floaters up and hoping they fall.
Rafer's been playing well, but that's just not true. No one has ever even tried closing on him shooting the trey. They are all WI-----DE open. Opposing announcers cheer when Rafer shoots a trey.
he hasnt played as well as last year, but he has played better the more minutes he plays. but hes down in points, 3fg% and ft% so its hard to say hes playing better this year unless you say hes playing better defensively
Glad to see Rafer shooting the ball well. Anytime last year that he shot the ball well, the rockets usually ended up winning big. Without him or battier making shots, we're a .500 team. I hope the better shooting continues when Tmac comes back.
Not true. Even when he was left open initially, guys still try to run out at him. See 2 out of the first 3 plays of this highlight. Rafer was open, but the Clippers ran at him. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v_s7l57v_Ko&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v_s7l57v_Ko&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
He's finishing better on his drives. That's important, because when his jumper is off he's still capable of contributing as a scorer.
Rafers good he shoulda done this during the playoffs, we lost by 4 and rafer shot 3-11 and like 1-7 from the arc.
I think you bring up a good point. Adelman has been vilified here so often is seems like a broken record, but it isn't out of line to suggest that Alston's improved play (I've seen him shoot a couple of midrange jumpers! Really!!!) is at least partially explained by the team slowly learning how to run his offense. That, and his assistants might actually know what they're doing. A foreign concept, I know, but one worth discussing. So, is Alston's improved play the last several games a fluke, or the result of Coach Adelman and his offensive system sinking in with the players? Might be worth a thread by someone. (I don't start threads unless they're about an asteroid or comet possibly colliding with Earth in the future, ending life as we know it. Those are in Hangout.) I would still love to trade the guy in a deal for the right pieces to improve the team, but I can't deny that his play has improved. And I think it's great that Brooks is playing well with Alston in the backcourt, masking at least some of his faults, and perhaps helping Alston's play while doing so. So maybe it isn't all Adelman or Alston.
I remember that game. I remember last year Rafer would always come up with clutch steals or shots at the end of the 4th quarter to keep us in the game,...Head too. I miss that Although I don't miss the 4th quarter collapses.
Rafer Alston is a baller. I've been a fan of his since he's been in a Rockets uniform. The guy was huge for us last year. He played an 82 game season, often playing the most minutes of any player on the team. He was the only player whose level didn't drop in the playoffs either. Say what you will about his shooting, but he hit some big shots and played well against Utah. Too bad Yao was overwhelmed by Boozer/Okur and T-Mac played like crap. Alston is this team's most reliable player. Even more than Battier.