The former couldn't play at all in Indiana and he's griping about Rick Carlisle Vspan is compaining about JVG. Name one thing that VSpan can do better than Jasikevicius THere are a lot of similarities. They both are playing the 2 guard when their best skill is passing. Vspan mentions him in the article as somebody he looks up to. Jasikevicius is miles ahead of Vspan and he can SHOOT the ball, YET he couldn't play for Indiana. Why should we expect anything different for VSPAN? I don't think they are quick enough to play defense for 2 of the best defensive coaches in the league in JVG and Carlisle. Whatever you think of Rafer, he's LIGHTNING quick and rarely gets beaten off the dribble. None of our players is exceptionally quick, yet we are the best defensive team in teh league. WHY? RAFER ALSTON He rarely allows penetration and that's why we are such a good defensive team. Same thing with Dallas. Devin Harris and Rafer put a lot of pressure on the ball and they give fits to oppsoing point guards whose job is to go in the lane.
He's not very strong. He gets muscled over. Give the man credit, he always contests shots and gets a hand up.
I am not sure what you mean. If Rafer gets blown by, then other less agile PG's don't stand a chance. He's defintely one of the 3 fastest PG's in teh league. He gave Steve Nash fits the other night. I've never seen Nash look so average this season.
You play long enough under Van Gundy, you'll eventually start to look decent on the defensive end. I still don't think he's a good individual defender. As for the Spanoulis-JAsikevicius comparison, V-Span is a much better defender in my opinion. Or, at least he has the potential to be.
Is this a joke. The rockets defense isn't good because of Rafer Alston. It's good because JVG just coaches good defense. His track record speaks for itself. Rafer is an average defender at best. He usually contests shots which is good, but he's doesn't have the strength to keep guys out of the lane, and when someone starts to go by him, he's more likely to let them go by and try for the steal/strip than make an effort to stay in front of the guy. V-span is just as quick laterally as Rafer, and he's much stronger and willing to take contact, which is why he takes so many charges. V-span's lack of playing time has nothing to do with his defensive capabilities. It's all about his offense and turnovers.
And consider this, if v-span is on the bench for defensive reasons, then why would JVG be giving the backup PG minutes to a guy that's an even bigger defensive liability in JL3.
Siiiiiiince... when? Allen Iverson, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Stephon Marbury, Nate Robinson, Sebastian Telfair, T.J. Ford, Earl Boykins, Jason Williams, Dwyane Wade, Keyon Dooling, Raymond Felton, Speedy Claxton, Tyronn Lue, Monta Ellis, Tony Parker, Jason Terry and Chris Paul disagree with you. Heck, so does JL3.
Err.. Rafer *is* quicker than most of those guys. He may not be better than them (offensively speaking at least), but he is a lot faster than you give him credit for. The guys I'd say are definitely quicker are probably Parker, Lucas and Barbosa. That said, the thread starter was a little too superlative in his assessment of Rafer. He does get beaten off the dribble from time to time, but the Rockets team defensive philosophy generally ensures that help defense shows up and prevents the opposing guard from causing problems in the paint. He has gotten a lot defensively since he first got here, but he certainly is far from an ace defender at the point. I give him kudos for the job he's done on guards like Jason Terry though (I believe Terry's two worst games of the season were both against Rafer).
IMO, Rafer often looks quicker than he is on offense because he's such a great ballhander... I think Jason Williams may have him beat there, but other than him Rafer is tops in the league. No hesitation or stumbling. As far as running a sprint goes, no way do I believe he's faster than those guys. Or at least if he is, it's not by any significant margin.
I want to agree that but when I see Nash was 8-10 from the field with 14 assists I'd say thats closer to outstandinging instead of average. I don't think Rafer's hit 8-10 in practice or warmups much less in the game. Nash did look sloppy with his passing at times and turned the ball alot more and had to work, I will say thats a credit to Rafer making him work on the offensive and defensive side. Van Gundy playing Lucas should indicate its not just totally ALL about defense every step of the way. Lucas has no attributes that make him a good option to plug in on D. He's in there to change up the pace and make shots. If Spanoulis would have played a little on the team last year and showcased his game here domestically in the summer leagues then maybe it'd be a different story on the comfort level and playing time he'd get.
Rafer is anything but an asset to our defense. Our defense is good in spite of Rafer, not because of him.
You guys get so pissed when Rafer is shooting poorly but you want a guy who can't hit a shot to save his life to get rotation minutes? You hate when Rafer makes dumb turnovers, yet the guy you want to get his minutes is a turnover machine. I'm not a big Rafer fan, but I'd MUCH rather see Lucas getting extra minutes than Spanoulis at this point.
