numbers do not lie. Well you can neglect the ppg, rpg and even apg. But shooting percentage and turnovers never goes wrong. Those are numbers that will stay the same no matter which team you play for.
Elastic in terms of demand. Sometimes we really need him, sometimes we need to get rid of him. I was using the economic term for it, not really the theory. Since Rafer can jump from a very good player in one game to a below average PG in the next. You probably know what I'm implying anyways.
Truth. He just needs to go out and play. It must be tough mentally but if he plays scared he'll just hurt it without playing well. If he goes hard and hurts it, you can't fault him.
Rafer does this every year...and every year we go..."Hey, maybe he is finally rounding into form"...then he goes ice cold for a month. Last year his tear drop even started to fall...not anymore....this year it is his 3 ball. If he keeps it up...GREAT....but don't bet on it. DD
Cuz Mo Williams and Kirk Hinrich each have a long history of playoff success? Cuz Kirk Hinrich his his suit would help Rockets much more than Rafer does? Cuz there was a plausible trade for either of these guys that would also help the Rockets?
I admit though, I did not use that term correctly, since I wasn't intending to literally use the theory on Rafer, just the demand part . Elastic eh? get it?
Let's not overrate his shootings. He is a very streaky shooter. However, everything else he does on the floor is underrated. He is a decent PG who has a streaky shooting touch. We just need to learn to live with it..
They're both better players than Rafer. I did say were available, but in Hinrich's case he's still available but injured. I thought you would be able to put that together. Nobody is advocating trading for an injured player, but he's still better than Rafer. Rafer would've been part of the deal. He would've been replaced by a better PG. That alone would've vaulted the Rockets into elite status alongside LA and Boston assuming Houston would've remained healthy. It didn't take much for Cleveland to get Williams and look how they're playing with him. Before the season is over, the Rockets should trade for Kirik Hinrich.
rafer's a decent player. like every NBA role player, you have good streaks and you have bad ones. he just has more bad ones. now he's in a good streak. when he does have a bad streak, minimize the shot attempts and just run the team.
Kirk Hinrich?!? Kirk freakin Hinrich?!!!? Seriously, have you watched bulls basketball at all? He hasn't done jack squat since the 06/07 season. He can't guard anyone at this point and his 3pt shot is as streaky as Rafer's. I've said for years that he doesn't do anything better than Delonte West, yet he makes over twice the money. He's actually much worse than West at this point. Probably on par with Rafer. I'm not going to pretend Alston's a good NBA player, but at least his contract ends in 2010. We'll need to rebuild either this coming offseason or the next. It'll be pretty hard to do with 36 million dollars left on Hinrich's albatross deal.
I should question your basketball knowledge. I'm not sure where or how you came up with this "analysis," but Hinrich is actually a good defender, good shooter, and so on. If I remember correctly, he's better than Rafer Alston in almost every statistical category as well. Thus, Hinrich is a better player than Rafer. Hinrich's deal is manageable. It goes down by half a million each year until it expires. Your whole we'll need to rebuilt comment looks like you've written off the Rockets as potential contenders. I disagree. I think the team needs a backup big man (Deke), steady PG play (Hinrich after he recovers from his injury), and team health. If all those things happen, the Rockets become an elite team up there with the Lakers and Celtics. Rafer + Head + Chuck Hayes for Hinrich gets the deal done. It's obvious why the Rockets would do this. Chicago would do it since they get two contacts that expire in 2010 and one that expires after the end of this season. Also, Hayes would be a good example of a hard working player that their young bigs could learn from. They also get a backup PG in Alston to play behind Derrick Rose. The window of opportunity is closing. We're in win now mode.
Rafer plays better when he needs to pick up the slack. When our starters are all out there though he plays back into a lesser role. I really think he plays a lot better when hes a more integral part of the offense with a lot of touches instead of just a few shots throughout the game. I think the fact that when he does well and we win proves how important a consistently good PG is crucial to a team's win/loss ratio.
Speaking of Hinrich's contract, am I just too tired or does Chicago have players whose salaries' go DOWN year by year!? Hinrich and Nocioni are examples I believe. Wow. It's late. I've never seen that.
Look at their salaries compared to Alstons. Williams - 8.3 million this year, then almost 27 million for the next three years. Hinrich - 10 million this year, then almost 27 million for the next three years. Alston - 4.9 million this year, then 5.25 million next year. Then off the books in the huge summer of 2010. Williams - 32 min per game, 15.3 points, 4.2 assists, 36 % from 3 Alston - 33 min per game, 11.6 points, 4.9 assists, 36 % from 3 Hinrich - out with injury for three months So before just saying names that are available, consider salary issues, not to mention the players it would have taken to get those guys, not to mention its not like Williams or Hinrich would be saviors on this team anyway.
Yeah I just pulled those names out of a hat. Hinrich is only out for 1 or 2 more months. Reason I brought them up is cuz they were/are realistic options. Sessions isn't available I don't think. I did take salary into consideration if you look at the rest of the thread. Also I said earlier it didn't take cleveland much to get williams. This team doesn't need a savior but steady pg play instead. Rafer is the antithesis of that. I've already made the case but lemme make one other quick point, one thing those stats don't tell you is that a lot of rafers shots are WIDE open. Those other guys don't get wide open looks on a constant basis but you can imagine the results if they did. Alston is not good enough to get the job done and has got to go. The sooner that's realized the better off this team will be.
shooting percentage: Rafer: 37.8% Williams:45.5% Rafer can not even hope his best games to shoot over 45%.
