Rafer comits a foul on a 3 pt shooter. Rafer shoots an ill advised 3. Rafer comits the turnover. Rafer comits a foul with 2 seconds remaining on the shot clock. These are all things I will enjoy not hearing next season. Not to mention he led the league in 3 pt attemps last season. That alone tells you he should have passed the damn ball more to Yao.
no. not really. bibby is an all around DAM good pg. He can score, he can distribute, he is a well rounded player. jackson wasnt/isnt as good as bibby when it came to controlling the offense, setting up plays, passing, etc.
True enough, but he was there for energy, a little defense and a scoring punch. Rafer is not any of those things.
That is true, T-Mac also pointed that out... I don't see your point though, since when is popular perception the means for an argument? What you stated here isn't contrary to my point in any way... No, Bibby is a much better floor leader than Jackson, James, and Stevie. There's a pretty big difference between a scoring PG and a PG that can score.
exactly! Im not arguing with you on that. Im saying that james is a scoring threat off the bench. Bonzi is. Steve is. why cant you understand that with those 3 guys you dont need more scorers...you need a passer. Someone who can set things up. this isnt nba live. when you have tmac/yao and lets add bonzi on the court...you dont need someone that can play 1 on 1 basketball to create their own shot. You need to get the ball to one of those guys in a good position and rafer is the best at that outside of tmac's passing.
We have Tmac who is a greater passer than Bibby and most players in this current generation. Rafer Alston is hardly known as a great passer, nor a scorer, playmaker or anything else for that matter. Matter of fact he was well on his way to being labled a malcontent in Toronto before we gave up Mike James for him. Bobby Jax had a role and he played it just fine, even when Bibby went out with injury. Rafer has no role on this team because whatever limited things he can do, the team has someone who does it better. Take a guess who Raptor fans liked better as a player, and guess who Rockets fans like better as a player?
During this play off time, basically, what Rafer did was dribbling the ball to the front court and passing to T-Mac. Rafer just can't penetrate, finish near the rim or shoot 3 pointers consistently. SF3 can do the same thing. He can bring the ball to the front court and pass to T-Mac. However, he can finish and have a better percentage on 3pt. Also one of the most important things is he can create his own shoots but Rafer just is NOT capable of doing that.
that's enough for Rafer bashing. Rafer is a legend... Rafer has best dribble... Rafer never make dumb plays... Rafer can hit 3s... Rafer plays defense hard. Rafer is not a scrub.
Don't give Rafer away. I'd like to see this lineup: Starters: Yao Scola McGrady Francis Alston Key Reserves: Butler Battier James Deep Bench guys: Mutumbo Wells
Let's think like an opposing coach for a second. If Francis or James are the primary point guards for the Rockets, how would you attack them? First, I would pressure the ball whenever it was in their hands in order to force them into bad decisions or turnovers (anyone remember the turnover fest when Francis was here last?). And I'd keep doing this until they showed conclusively that they can handle the pressure. Next, on offense, I'd PnR them until the cows come home. I would force them to play a style of ball where they have to subjugate their offensive desires in order to make their teammates better and that is simply not their forte. This is what concerns me most when I look at the current composition of the roster. When Francis was here the last time, there was a running joke about maybe if Yao put his picture on a milk carton, Steve would recognize him during the games and pass him the ball. And Mike James is not much better so again I have to ask: what do you do?
That is NOT how our team is going to be run this year. You guys are still thinking about structured JVG offense. Listen to Adelman say three words and its obvious that is nothing close to what we will be seeing next year. T-Mac will still get his assists, but we're also trying to make it easier for him to score, and not just him making it easy for everyone else. That means he will see more time off the ball, which means we need someone to be on it. I've seen enough Rafer to T-Mac alley oop dunks even with JVG structure, as well as enough solid entry passing, cross court passes, or even extra passes, to know that I trust Rafer to handle that role with T-Mac off the ball. I don't have those same feelings towards Stevie and James.
