Alston certainly has a lot of those bad habits from his street ball years, but the guy takes care of the ball better than almost everyone in the league, and has a good court awareness, which I'd rank just below Nash, and maybe Kidd, but better than even T. Parker. His biggest problem is the defense, as many have pointed out. But we have to take the good with the bad , make the most out of it. Who else is out there available for us? If Alston can play better defense, he would be the PG demands a contract far more than we can offer. So, we can be a real good team with Alston as the PG, but we need other players who can play their roles to make that happen.
To say he can't run a fast break is a bit harsh, maybe doesn't finish well on fast break is more accurate. But yes, he penetrates very little. If Tmac is 100% healthy, then it's less of a problem. He just needs to take care of the ball. The biggest concern, to me, is his defense and shots.
i like rafer,but missed james last night,tell him to get over his houston grudge and come back to us, imagine we'd get both pgs,rafer starts,james is the spark we need. especially with sura lokin dim, just a thought
his shot is different from when he was in Miami. that's a good observation. he seems to push his shot more than actually shoot.
Alston may be the Point Guard of the future if he responds to the directions of the Coach. It also depends upon the fact that the Coach knows exactly what to tell him. At present he only looks good enough to be a back up.
Sorry, I got him and Damon confused. His shot looks different in that he used to actually plant and jump off the floor and there was a lot less arm in it.
There are so many people saying that Rafer isn't a championship level point guard and we need one, but they don't say who we can get? Championship level point guards Chauncey Billups? Tony Parker? Steve Nash? Y'all are dreamin'. Rafer is fine as our point guard. He has a problem with defense that can be fixed. He makes some mental mistakes. He will get better. These things are correctable. However, getting an all-star point guard is unlikely unless the Pistons, Spurs, or Suns are willing to take an injured T-Mac.
The only championship level point guards in the league right now are Chauncey Billups, Derek Fisher, and Tony Parker. I agree with what you are saying in principle. I am just wondering how Rafer is gonna get better on defense. Maybe a better PF and SG defensively will put him on par with Parker?? I hope.
At this point, I'd definitely take him at the starting PG position over Alex Acker, Tony Allen, Darrell Armstrong, Carlos Arroyo, Chucky Atkins, Marcus Banks, Leandro Barbosa, Andre Barrett, Brent Barry, Eddie Basden, Charlie Bell, Steve Blake, Earl Boykins, Rick Brunson, Antonio Burks, Kevin Burleson, Jose Calderon, Anthony Carter, Speedy Claxton, Mateen Cleaves, Antonio Daniels, Tony Delk, Dan Dickau, Travis Diener, Juan Dixon, Keyon Dooling, Chris Duhon, Howard Eisley, Monta Ellis, Daniel Ewing, Raymond Felton, Derek Fisher, Gerald Fitch, T.J. Ford, Reece Gaines, Eddie Gill, Anthony Goldwire, Stephen Graham, Devin Green, Orien Greene, Devin Harris, Jason Hart, Luther Head, Julius Hodge, Troy Hudson, Lindsey Hunter, Royal Ivey, Jarrett Jack, Bobby Jackson, Marko Jaric, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Anthony Johnson, Damon Jones, Brevin Knight, John Lucas, Tyronn Lue, Arvydas Macijauskas, Darrick Martin, Rashad McCants, Jeff McInnis, Keith McLeod, Aaron Miles, C.J. Miles, Jameer Nelson, Moochie Norris, Kevin Ollie, Andre Owens, Milt Palacio, Jannero Pargo, Smush Parker, Gary Payton, Zoran Paninic, Ronnie Price, Luke Ridnour, Anthony Roberson, Nate Robinson, Alex Scales, Eric Snow, Damon Stoudamire, Salim Stoudamire, Bob Sura, Donell Taylor, Sebastian Telfair, Billy Thomas, Beno Udrih, Nick Van Exel, Jacque Vaughn, Sasha Vujacic, Von Wafer, Earl Watson, Delonte West, Mike Wilks, Alvin Williams, Deron Williams, Jason Williams, Louis Williams, Mo Williams and Bracey Wright. In a 1-for-1 trade, talent-wise, I'd take Gilbert Arenas, Baron Davis, Steve Francis, Allen Iverson, Joe Johnson, Stephon Marbury, Chris Paul, and Jason Terry over Alston. But none of these would be a good candidate for "our PG of the future," so no. Sam Cassell, Jason Kidd, and Steve Nash are too old to be the point of our future. Mike James certainly wasn't. Mike Bibby, Chauncey Billups, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Shaun Livingston, Andre Miller, Tony Parker and Jamaal Tinsley could all arguably be a better fit - just not in the real world. So yes, Rafer really is our starting PG of the forseeable future - in my eyes, at least.
Many people are saying who can we get? There's just only that many "championship level PGs", we can't afford them if you can find them. That's only partly true. The other part, requires that you have unique eyes for talent and good GM skill. The secret is not just go for known and established commodity. Chauncey Billups? He was unwanted by Minn. How many people thought he was that good back then? Tony Parker? How many people know that french dude is this good when Spurs drafted him? Even Steve nash, how many people thought he would be this good back when he was in Pheonix he first time other than Nelsons? That's how Pistons and Mavs etc. get better. There sure will be next Billups, Nash popping up, but will Rockets one of the teams to find them? At current rate, I highly doubt this. Rockets orgnization, as I said, is mediore.
He's great, probably the best PG in the business. When he wins a championship, he will be at championship level. If he never wins one, he will go down as one of the 2 best PGs never to get to championship level. He may never get one though if he doesn't play more defense and get his teammates to play more defense.
Thanks for the illustration. If looking at the current stats can determine it, we can all be GMs. Delonte West, for one, will be better than RA shortly.
But what if Rafer is the next Nash or Billups? The next guy to get into the right situation and become big. On the Rockets. Whoa. P.S. - Please refrain from calling my team's entire organization mediocre again. I'd appreciate it.
That's the whole point of this thread. Asking a legitimate question regarding future. So where do you rank Rockets based on the last 10 year or so? They were and are mediore, bite me. Edit, I like the edited refrain tone better, but still...
Beside Rafer's passing and steals, I'd say he's unimpressive. I'll give him an off season to work on his game, if not he'd better be shipped out IMO. By unimpressive I mean his shooting, finishing, defense, clutchness, fire, shooting, penetration, FT% and decision making at times.
We are just judging way too hard. From what I gather, only Billups would please us. Let's not get too greedy here. Can't have the best player at all 5 positions now......
