What's everyone's opinion on Rafer after these first 2 preseason games? Is it what you expected, or have you seen something about his play that has surprised you. I will admit that he is much more controlled than I thought he would be. Although I favored the trade, I did have some reservations after hearing all the negative comments flowing from the Toronto media. After watching him play for 2 games, he has already won me over. One of our major issues last year was making the post entry pass to Yao. Sura, while capable in almost every other respect, just wasn't comfortable making the post entry pass. With Alston, not only is he able to make the pass, but he makes the pass in a way in which Yao catches the ball moving to the basket with his hands up. The arrival of Alston has also improved our ability to penetrate and dish. The only person capable of doing this last year was T-MAC. Although Mike James was capable of doing this, when he did do it, he never dished it back out. James would just continue down the lane, often blowing more layups than he made. As of right now, Alston seems to be the new player that I am most excited about. (even more than swift)
Not sure if I agree with the Swift comment, seeing as he hasn't played a game with the team yet and seeing how PF was more a weakness than PG for us last year...but, other than that, I agree with all your comments on the positives of Alston so far and I believe the trade was an absolute steal!!! (Go figure, right?) Our first true PG since... Brent Price??? True, he might get some technicals called on him or whatever but JVG will have this guy playing his way or SEE YA! Seems like a GREAT fit so far, let's see how this plays out during an 82 game season though... Rockets might be the first 60 win 4th seed!
I feel bad for San Antonio. They could have the second best record in the West and they can't finish better than 4th
Actually I think point guard was more of a weekness for this team last year. But I see your point. I'm excited about the potential of both Rafer Alston and Luther Head.
This team looks absolutely superb, so far it seems like the bench players come in and do they're job very well. Many of our players are also interchangeable, meaning that guys can step in for other guys. Rafer Alston has looked completely selfless, and has also looked dedicated to playing defense. Regardless of how his defense has been, the effort is there, and defense will always come with effort. Head looks ready to contribue and looks to be that one athletic player that teams need on defense, of course other than Tracy McGrady, and Swift. Deke has come back playing as consistently as ever, and our window of opportunity is now. I can't wait for this year, I have a feeling that it's going to exceed all of our prior expectations.
I didn't know and notice this guy before he joined the Rockets. Well, my impression is he is trying to be a pass-first PG and he's struggling a bit resisting all those open oppportunities.. He looks like a likeable guy, smiles a lot.. Passing is better than Stevie.. clean and carefull. Can shoot the treys. Overall, another job well done by CD.
I agree.. great passer his passes are on time on target. I also noticed how he lead Yao and others with his passes. I think we still have the great ball movement and the offense looks pretty good with Rafer running it. J
luther head has looked good but don't get it twisted...head is a scorer and slasher while alston is a distributor, look at the numbers not only for the preseason so far but career (for alston at least). plus head has been playing against a bunch of guys who either won't make a roster or don't get off the bench. don't get me wrong i've been impressed with luther head but i'm not going to say he's more impressive than alston. alston looks like he's going to be the perfect fit for our offense at the PG position.
I think Head (from what I've seen so far anyway) gives us what Mike James gave us last year - a tough defender who can shoot the jumper and get to the basket, but doesn't look to pass often enough and lacks some decision-making skills. I'm glad we made the Alston deal.
I would like to see the ball in Rafer's hands almost exclusively bringing it up and creating the offense. I'd like to see him dribble and create even more. I think he has got that insane ability to dribble in traffic similar to Nash without losing the ball and he can run all day too. That could save TMac a tremendous amount of energy bringing it up, until the late minutes of the 4th when TMac can handle it and run the pick and roll with Yao or take his own shot down the stretch. Rafer running in and out of the paint constantly and running down the floor constantly is going to save our energy and going to cause the opponents to expend so much more energy. The thing about him running it up is he will run it right back out if the shot isn't there, contrary to James who was gonna get the shot up no matter what.
he can have a similar effect to this team like tony parker except a better passer if you ask me. he can get into the lane and disrupt the defense and get guys like yao and swift easy shots. i think this may be the best addition we made this offseason. swift and anderson will be big too but alston is going to start and get 30+ minutes a night with the ball in his hands. i really like him with this team.
I can't wait to see him against Parker. I bet SA tries Parker on the post up. I think Rafer is quicker than him.
I liked what Mike James gave to us. He was a great scorer and shooter that brought a change of pace when he came off the bench. He had good defense to boot. He's probably the best bench PG in the league. That said, Skip's the best passer we've had in a long time. His passes to Yao are so good they almost make me want to cry. Before, when Yao was fronted that meant he wasn't going to touch the ball on that possession. Now, Skip's just like "**** that! I'm lobbin this sucker!" Toronto fans had me convinced that he couldn't do that. He also finds three point shooters and anyone else that just happens to be open near the basket. And he has absolutely no problem bringing the ball up the court. All this makes up for the downgrade in defense and 3pt shooting. He's exactly what we needed.
I love Skip as our PG...he's very unselfish and looks to pass to the open man...he has 14 assists/4 TOs in two games...very effective...plus he can shoot the 3-ball yet is very smart with his shot selection...him and DA always look to get the ball to Yao first before anything else...
You know after I heard all the gunk coming out of Toronto I really felt less certain about the trade, but just watching this guy play two meaningless games I think he's exactly what this team needs. Given Yao routinely took only 10-15 shots last season Alston really could be the catalyst for Yao truly emerging. Even if he isn't I like what his speed, ball-handling and passing ability brings to the team. We may have just gotten very lucky with this deal.
Rafer looks like a good fit with the team. I know they want him to pass first shoot second, but he needs to look for his own shot more to reach his full potential. Look at Nash and why he is the best PG in the game right now. Teams must honor his shot because he can kill you with his scoring and he can burn you with a pass when defenders are forced to commit to him. The best thing about Rafer is he can make a good entry pass to a post player which is almost an extinct skill these days.
