Good things about Rafer and what he brings to the team

I am with you on this. I actually quite like rafer. His handles and passing ability is actually not that bad. I think people here just have to find a scapegoat after every loss, sadly for rafer and JVG, it always seems to be one of them. When T-mac has a bad shooting night, no hatred, but when rafer has one, everybody start hating. It is just sad

 

He pushes the ball up, knows his role, and gets plenty of steals. That's it. I wouldn't say he penetrates creates shots for others.

I like Rafer, I just don't think he quite fits on this team.

 

Rafer is doing his job- bringing the ball up quickly and distributing. He does not burn up the clock. He is a good passer, with good decision making ability on the fly.

He is the best point guard we have had since Cassell IMHO. His shooting is improving and he has a good - winning attitude. He brings the effort every nite. Good Stamina with few turnovers.

I like Rafer!

Go Rockets!!!

 

I think for all his ridiculous turnovers and ballhogging SF is a far superior player to Alston.

I'm fine with Alston's game though. Of course I'd like to see him shoot a higher percentage, but he does a decent job.

 

He brings up the ball under pressure.

 

He gives his team mates more offensive rebound opportunities.

 

You guys pretty well covered it. I too am a Skip supporter. I acknowledge he isn't the best PG, but he's the guy we have and for all the flak he catches you'd think he was much worse than he actually is. He runs the offense pretty well, is a good passer, gets steals, and hits the occasional big shot among a few other things.

And I don't care what anyone says, out of Mike James and Rafer Alston... I pick Rafer Alston.

 

I like Rafer because unlike Tim Hardaway, Mr. Alston supports diversity in the locker room

 

He does the primary dribbling up the court, which alleviates TMac of that burden.

NEWSFLASH for those people wanting TMac to be the PG/primary ballhandler for the game: You Are Nucking Futs. Nothing like wearing out Tmac then to ask him to bring up the ball all the time. TMac will pick his spots of when he wants to bring the ball up, usually in key possessions. I keep seeing these wishful Rox lineups where TMac is the PG and no other ballhandler in the lineup, only way that happens is a single key possession where JVG has a specialized lineup for the last play of the game. Don't try to make TMac into a Scottie Quitten, Scottie was a primary ballhandler (along with the PGs they had) during the Bulls years because it alleviated #23 of those chores until key moments...the Bald One did PG duties for a time but Phil did away with that experiment when he became head coach.

Penetrations to the basket usually results in misses from that teardrop crap.

I beg to differ on shot selection, he shoots alot of "Why the Hell did you shoot that?" jumpers. Usually because at times he'll bring the ball up and shoot it without any other Rox touching the ball. Drives me nuts.

His ability to hit open looks on a consistent basis...he'll make one...he'll miss 2...and misses those when it can sieze momentum of game. Others are guilty of this but Rafer is the main culprit, other teams are actually using his man to double TMac or Yao.

his performance against top teams...I can't think of one game against the upper echelon teams where I can say "Man without rafer we lose that game, he was clutch" (not the bear or admin).

He's actually a decent PG but no way he would start for the other top teams...Suns, nope...Spurs, nope...Mavs, I'll take Terry anytime, hell I'd take Devin Harris, and I hate the Mavs...Pistons, nope...Jazz, nope, Deron is better now and will get better...which brings another point...

Rafer has reached his ceiling, what you see is what you get. He's not going to get better, improve or whatever. He is what he is, the same performance of what we've been seeing is what we're going to see in the playoffs and in the future. If he steps up his play and is a key in our playoff success, I'll gladly eat my words, hell I want him to make liar out of me. But he's fools gold, to me he's like Shaq shooting FT's, I'll be pleasantly surprised if he has a good game, but if not I'll just shrug my shoulders and say "That's Rafer for you".

Bringing up the other top teams, you can see that the starting PG is important to them. We need to make sure our PG can keep up with them and not be outplayed. I'm not asking for a superstar but to me Rafer is too much a dropoff to make me think we can win a ring with him as our PG. If we want to be just another good team that does nothing in the playoffs, then sure stick with him.

I know this was suppose to be positive Rafer thread but we need to ask ourselves "Can we win it all with Rafer as our PG?"

Yeah I know we have alot more question marks in order to win a ring but to me he is tops on the list as far as one single player deficiency and not team problems. PG is too important in this day and age of the NBA just to have a decent inconsistent PG if you want playoff success. On the Heat last year, white chocolate actually has cut down on his bonehead plays, Gary Payton is still a decent defensive PG, and Flash became the primary ballhandler in the playoffs.

In fact we need to follow their idea and have a decent QUALITY backup PG if we are sticking with Rafer as the starter in case he is sucking that night, sorry Luther is not quality at this point, nor is JLIII, nor VMac. If you're not going to have a stud PG like the elite teams do, at least have 2 decent quality PGs that are interchangeable if one is not on (I don't want anymore NOK fiascos where we were screwed because Rafer couldn't shut his mouth). That's the other problem, we're way too dependent on Rafer's performance which JVG should have known fluctuates too much. That's one thing that JVG, CD, Dennis, and whoever else screwed the pooch on. I'll lay blame on JVG cause he should have realized "Man I don't have a decent backup PG and I have no use for VMac this year" and told CD to get on the phone. Chucky Atkins, yeah but he would have been band aid for one year, I did say 2 Quality PGs right? Somehow the tandem of Rafer/Chucky doesn't say Larry O'brien Trophy to me.

...but other then that, yay Rafer

 

I am assuming no one is disputing that fact, however Rafer is the best PG we have had since Cassell. No one should be disputing that fact. Unless all of us have forgot what a PG should be. Yes Stevie played the PG position but he isn't and never will be not with that BBall IQ.

 

underrated defense.

the guy always comes to play...maybe note well, but you never see him half arsing it. intense competitor

the guy has fun out there on the court. sounds silly, but not many guys in the nba seem to have as much fun out there as rafer. he really enjoys the game

decent spot up shooter

keeps turnovers down

good ball handler

 

Just had to say something ... the other poster mentioned Devin Harris.

Devin Harris is a nice speedster, good defender and can take the ball to the hole. But if I were coach, I'd start Rafer over him every time. I just don't see in him the ability to run an offense and lead on the court that Rafer has. Plus he's a worse outside shooter.

Would be nice to have that kind of depth on the bench, though.

 

Pros:
Above-average outside shooter
Excellent ball-handler
Excellent on-ball defender
Excellent in passing lanes
Good decision maker

Cons:
Poor finisher
Tendency to play at a faster pace than the rest of the team

Honestly, who's been a better defender at the PG position. Jason Kidd is overrated on D(though still above-average) and only gets in because of his superstar name. I'd seriously consider Rafer for 1st team All-Defense.

 

If the guy could just make his shots...who knows where we would be!

 

...Rafer, best PG defender?

Nevermind Kidd, what about Billups?

 

First team defense would be pushing it for Rafer but he's definetely improved over last year...he's made, or JVG has made himself into a solid team defender, not outstanding but not the swinging door he was when he came here. I really believe his PG abilities get overlooked by alot of ppl here...he's an excellent ball handler and has the confidence and ability to make passes that I don't believe even TMac can make sometimes. He could shoot a better % from outside, probably should given his amount of open looks but his 37% is very respectable for the amount he's taken. His unwavering confidence produces bad shots at times but I'd rather him take some of those goofy shots than begin to pass up open 3's b'c of a lack of confidence.

 

I'm not the world's biggest Rafer fan (I would call myself a reformed Rafer-hater), but DAYAM can he handle that ball well. Trying to steal from Rafer is pretty pointless. And, yeah, he does other things well too, but his ball handling is so good that I had to mention it.

 

Well, he is Skip To My Lou after all...

I just don't like four things from Rafer:

1. His mid range pull up jumper when the team isn't there yet (on the break)

2. His teardrops

3. His fouling of jumpshooters (yes it's happened more than that Cleveland game) and his hacking of people who have no where to go.

4. Sometimes in the clutch, he doesn't pass to T-Mac.

But other than that, Rafer's pretty good. Comes to play, plays hard, plays with heart. I just wish he would limit his shot attempts, and definitely he needs to stop trying that tear drop floater thing if he can't make it.

 

I'm not sold on Billups D. It's good, but far from lockdown. Billups can handle bigger post up PG's better, but I'll give it the edge to Rafer on the ball. I like how he contests shots, and reaches without gambling and allowing an easy blow by. Look at the other PG's he has shut-down or forced them into very inefficient games - AI, Jason Terry, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, Kirk Hinrich. I know 20,000 people on this board who would throw away Rafer for any one of these guys(then again, they would also throw him away for Vspan )

5 best defensive PG in the league (random order) - Kidd, Rafer, Billups, Hinrich, Snow. There's a huge lacking of good defensive PG's in the league. The days of Chris Childs, Charlie Ward, and Gary Payton(old school) are long gone.