ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 11/16/2007

Rafer isn't the problem in the clutch it's james and head for their poor spacing and lack of execution. These dudes are in the same darn spot and they take too many ill-advised shots when they should space the floor and make the extra pass. Rafer will space himself and make the extra pass, the problem comes with james and head on the floor because they don't think WE and TEAM.

 

james made a crucial 3 v. the grizz. eventually james will get his shot back (and he shot well v. the spurs for the better part of the game) and we need his shooting down the stretch.

rafer may space, but his man always leaves him open so EVENTUALLY he will take those crucial shots and more often than not, he misses.

rafer is better at ballhandling under pressure and pass to our stars, but when the game is on the line, the ball will be in tmac's hands to create a play for either himself/yao/others anyways, so we might as well get our best offensive players in the game.

james, yes he's struggling right now, but history says he will eventually play better and shoot better.

rafer, historically, is never and will never be a great shooter.

 

wa did have chance last night, Yao was on hire during the last few minutes, thought we probably could do the same as we did at home(Rafer kept passing to Yao and we won), but stupid Luther chose to shoot 3 point while Yao got his position already.

 

We have this guy named McGrady coming back in a week. Word is that he might be capable of hitting a clutch shot here and there. Then we'll have two clutch shooters! Woohoo!

 

Um.... Rafer is just a couple percentage points behind James shooting the 3 for their careers.


Rafer is a career 35% 3 point shooter. If he shoots that for this season, the Rockets will do fine. Actually he can probably dip to 33% and still be ok.

 

Rafer got a couple of layups in the game. Maybe if he and james take more layups than threes they can up their fg%.

 

mike james is a career 43% fg overall and 38% from 3s

rafer is a pathetic 38% fg overall and 35% from 3s.

and rafer gets much more open shots than james too.

43% is actually very good. tmac is a 44% career shooter. so james is pretty good in that department.

but 38%, get outta here.

 

In fact, I think we have good chance to beat Spurs if Rockets meet them in playoff. First, Yao defendes Duncan well. Second, Scoal and Bonzi play against Spurs well. More improtantly, They cannot shut down Tmac + Yao at the same time.

 

I was talking about 3 pointers. 3% difference. Not as much as it is made out to be in the discussion threads about it.

Some folks actually expect a 35% career 3 point shooter to keep shooting 20% this season.

 

well i'm talking about overall along w/ 3pt shots. his 3pt% will go up, but overall his fg% will always be bad around 37-38%. that's pathetic considering no one guards him.

 

Yeah, but Rafer's main shots should be the occasional 3. I mean, he is the top choice to leave open for the 3, so if he can hit that shot, it will open up other things for other players. We dont need/want Rafer to shoot alot of circus shots around the basket.

If Rafer gives us what he does now as far as running the offense and his 3 point percentage rises up to the 33% range, that will be all we need. Platoon him with James and the point guard will not be a detriment. It wont be a super strength, but it will be fine with the boosts we get at the 2 and the 5.

 

I think it was Marv Albert who said it best during the middle of the fourth, "Yao is giving up. After being fronted the whole game and not getting any calls, he doesn't know what to do so he just stands there letting his man bully/front him around" (not quote for quote).

 

here is my take... you are getting hacked.... you pick one time... and give a hard elbow... not one that stuns... but one that draws blood...

call for the ball again and again

when you are doubled and you get the ball...as soon as you get that ball... the fronter is out of position...and you got yourself 1on1 so you attack the basket...hell attack the doubles... id rather Yao foul out... then go for 16 points or 16 shots only....

time for Yao to grow up... with Tmac down... you need to step up and lead the team... if he cant do that... we will always be a good team... and thats it...

 

but he's HIGHLY inconsistent. that 33% => he can go in LONG droughs (remember the 22 straight shots missed last yr) and go hot for 3-4 game stretch and go cold as hell for a 7-8 game stretch again => 33-34%.

we don't want an inconsistent shooter. we need consistency. and rafer has shown to miss a lot of crucial shots for us b/c he is always left open.

i'm fine w/ bringing rafer in when teams pressure us (like the lakers did) b/c he's our best ballhandler. but i don't want him to be in there if we need a big shot b/c tmac is going to be the playmaker anyways.

i say limit his minutes to 15 mins a game and i'm fine. put him in there in the 9 mins of the first quarter, half of the 3rd, and then maybe in the 4th if teams pressure us. that's around 15-18 mins a game.

 

I think Adelman was putting Head in because he might want to have Head in there at the end of the game instead of Alston becuase Head is a more consistent 3 point shooter. I dont think any of us would be upset if that swing pass to the open man at the top of the key was Luther instead of Rafer. Head just doesnt have the handles.

 

It's not like Adelman wanted Head so cause he didn't trust Skip, Rafer and Head were both in the game. I don't feel comfortable with the ball in either of their hands at the end of the game, honestly.

 

yea that's the sad thing. we don't have any one COMPLETE PG - that can shoot a decent %, handle pretty good to avoid the pressure, and make good passes to our stars.

we have to depend on alston/james/head for just one thing each

 

No, I mean he had Head take some of the duties, but it wasnt like we were stuck if the Spurs tried to exploit something(like a press) becasue Rafer was still in there. Head was to be the 1, Rafer the 2, but if needed, they could switch.

 

If anyone can do it, it's Rafer. You can do it Rafer!

 

Haha, need some pom poms!