How about a Rafer....

It may not look it, but Spurs were concerned of him whenever he was in, just by him standing near the paint was creating space for others.

 

seriously? no.. the guy doesn't even shoot the 3 ball, for one thing. A higher percentage shooter, yes.. but not a distance shooter.

he's good for an up-tempo offense. Here, he wouldn't be all that great. And not really better than rafer. And 1.5 turnovers per 20 mins isn't that great. In fact, it's more than Rafer. So you're wrong.

And his world championship with spain, wow. Didn't spanoulis win a championship or something? Right..

 

One thing that impresses me about Rafer (I think Van Gundy pointed this out) is that even when his shot is not falling, he is not letting it negatively affect the other areas of his game- ball handling, passing, defense. That is really a sign of mental strength.

Also, I appreciate that on bad shooting nights he will still take the last second shot, instead of making a pass that would lead to a shot clock violation. It seems to me that on nights when all of the Rockets are off, Rafer is the only one who will at least keep trying to penetrate and take a shot.

All that said, he still needs to work on shot selection.

 

Rafer played one of the greatest games not only in the history of the Houston Rockets, but in the history of Western civilization...

 

Give credit, where credit is due. He had a great game tonight. But as a point guard, you have to be more consistent on your shot selection. I don't mind his shot selection at all, its just that he needs to know how to get himself going, like going to the charity stripe more.

I have always supported the James - Alston trade. It is just that his play of late has been so erratic that its casting doubt in me as of late.

 

I worry about this. I worry that the kind of 3 he keeps practicing is in a gym where he can step into it, and this is not the kind of 3 he gets in real games.

 

excellent post. i think many of the "rafer haters" get confused with the more logical/sensible fans that simply want to see jvg limit his minutes and shot attempts, and i don't think that's unreasonable with the consistency with which he puts up 5-15 nights. you know things have been bad when you have one pretty good game, and there's suddenly an appreciation thread.

but again, great game from rafer and the rest of our boys, hope there's much more of it to come.

 

I DVRed the game in HD (man, I LOVE watching the games like that... more, more!!), and when I have a chance I'll look at that play again. I thought he shouldn't have been in the position to toss up a teardrop "hail mary" in the first place, but if I'm wrong, I'll post it here. And what I meant about Rafer and pressure defense at the end of games wasn't about him bringing the ball down. He does a good job of that. I was talking about his decision making, which is wildly inconsistent. Hey, he had an excellent game. I don't "hate" him, I just think he would be an excellent point... as a backup.

 

Rager had a good game tonight. But I don't really dislike his game most nights. I think on avg. his shot selection is about 78-83% correct. He doesn't always make them, but most of the time he is taking the shots we need him to.

He protects the ball, runs the break well, and does a good job getting the team set up in the offense fairly quickly. I think his defense is above average.

He isn't one the top elite PG's in the game, but I think he is unfairly maligned a lot of the time.

 

It appears that he may very well be somewhat of a clutch player. Some stats appear to show better play late in games (incl his rumored 3-pt % in 4th qtrs... don't know where that stat resides), when he plays excessive minutes (chicken or egg? I think the excessive minutes are forced due to injuries or when playing tougher teams, it's not just coaches decision based on his play early in games...), or against tougher teams (inconsistent, but definitely something is there).

His avg stats in the last 5 games, tough games at that, are very good... 19.6 ppg on .412 shooting, 16-37 3's for .432, 7 apg, (to 2.6 to), eff rating of 18.0 while logging 42.2 mpg. (btw, eff rating of 18 puts one in the top 50 or so players in the league)

His season stats against Phx, SA and Dallas are some of his best. Against them he's averaged 5.5, 6.0 and 8.5 assists respectively, shot .429, .463 and .400, efficiency ratings of 20.0, 16.0 and 19.5, and he's 8-11 for 3's against Dallas. Averages about 40 mpg against these teams.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...ockets/players/rafer-alston/stats/07/10/135/1

I find this all very comforting. As long as the team overall wins the games that they are 'supposed' to, I'd rather have a player who can and will compete with the best than one who will play consistenly all year and wither when the heat is on.

And although admittedly speculative, I think there have been indications that Alston is an important piece of this team and it's chemistry. I don't think that should be undervalued.

* * *

I feel compelled to address a general subject here wrt our players overall. This is our team, these are our players... if someone isn't working hard or is messing with the team's chemistry, I can understand attacks on them from the fans. Except for maybe 1 player's actions this season, I haven't seen this elsewhere. I don't understand the hate that is heaped on our team, a team that together is weathering the storm of injuries very well, playing hard and is d*mn easy to support.

When you played on a close team and someone was hating on one of your buddies how did you feel about that person afterwards? Some of you may not give a d*mn what they'd think, but I bet some of the players that you respect would tell you to go to h*ll.

Try to gain some perspective. If you feel that you could go up to the player or any of his teammates and make a coherent, cogent argument about why they suck ... and you would have the balls to do that, then you may actually have valid points (or be incredibly stupid). If not, maybe you should think twice about voicing your opinion here so strongly and repeatedly (not directed at you Fuse).

 

Puff.

Rafer, bask in this totally over the top icing of chocolate and whipped cream sugary puff because it won't last, and isn't even really true. For the top guards in this league this would have been a good solid performance, helped by the fact that Rafer actually scored on a few of his drives to the hoop.

But as even JVG noted this morning on 610 Rafer has to improve his shooting at the rim, or else Deke, JHo and Hayes all need to crash the boards when he does so they can tip in the rebound.

Rafer, good solid game, to be remembered since we also defeated the Spurs at home.

Now please do it again against the Blazers.

 

Brilliant. 'Isn't even really true' ... I'll have to remember that one.

Thanks for your many insightful contributions to the board.

 

Although i don't consider this a bandwagon thread, more of a just good job/pat on the back thread, you all say, oh one game. Didn't have have a few good games recently?

Team: Pnts/Ast/Rebounds/Steals/TO
Spurs: 19/7/2/3/2 - Good shooting
Nuggs: 16/7/7/1/4 - not so good shooting
Suns: 29/8/3/2/1 - Good shooting
Mavs: 12/5/1/1/4 - baaaad game
Kings: 22/8/3/1/2 - good shooting
Nuggs: 15/4/5/1/2 - decent shooting
Lakers: 20/4/5/1/1 - good shooting

BTW: Good shooting means, decent shooting, not sharpshooter, so ease up

Come on, this is good production from your starting PG, without it's star center, without it's superstar (Suns game), and against some of the toughest teams in the league. He did get owned by the Mavs though.

You guys are far too hard on the guy. He's doing his job and doing it well.

 

I think Rafer operates at his best when operating within a limited capacity. Let him focus on one thing at a time, and he will be great at it - I think his Miami playing days are a great example It is just that the circumstances dictate that he needs to carry that extra burden, and he is often faltering under the pressure. That is why I am advocating for the increased use of Vspan.

 

Those numbers you posted are good VS playoff teams. But "when the heat is on" Rafer hasn't played so well. In his only significant playoff minutes with Miami 2003-04, he shot a abysmal 32% from the field and 23% from 3P land. I suppose we'll see how efficient he is this time around when the heat is on. Sensible fans also know that we need some help at the backup PG position. It would only benefit this team to have a second option other than Luther at that spot come playoff time.

You're right though as far as this team goes. They are very easy to root for compared to team's of the past. Those who says he sucks don't see the good things he does, but his true test will be playoff time.

This is exactly right. When he's taking shots in the flow of the game he is very effective. That extra burden he's carrying needs to be relieved somehow because it may hurt him and this team later down the road.

For some reason in Miami he was much better in the regular season and horrible in the playoff's. Extra pressure perhaps? Let's hope not.

 

I saw the playoff stats and am not too concerned. I don't know the details except it was 3 years ago and about 20 mpg. Very recently he's playing top teams well for 40 mins. That's good enough to discount something from 3 years ago.

To further illustrate how he's changed since 03-04, compare his performance then vs. now against sub .500, .500+ and top 5 teams. Shooting , 3pt Shooting and efficiency all flip-flopped. Where his perfomance used to worsen as the competition improved, now it's better against tougher competition and the best against the toughest. Very interesting... he's not the same player from 3 years ago.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/miami-heat/players/rafer-alston/profile/04/14/197

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...ockets/players/rafer-alston/profile/07/10/135

 

True, but performing well during the season against top teams during the season certainly improves confidence and increases the likelihood of a solid performance in the postseason. Obviously it's not just like the postseason, but the pressure in those games is greater than a regular game.

And again, I'm still just repeating someone else's claim (I don't know where the stat is), but Rafer apparently is a very good 4th qtr 3-pt shooter. That's a very very good sign.

 

Rafer played a great game, but we can't expect him to put up similar scoring numbers every night. But I do expect him to mprove his offensive consistency. I do expect that kind of passing, penetration and defense from him every night though. Passing is something he always does well, and the other two things are a result of giving enough effort. Shooting is not his greatest strength, so as long as he exercises decent shot selection, we're good.

 

I don't think anyone expects him to put up huge numbers. My expectations for him were 10-15 pts a night, plus 5-8 assists. I think those numbers are certainly very attainable.

JVG just needs to manage his personnel better, and maximize their strengths.