For this past season, the Rockets have pretty much had all of their success without Steve Francis. That being said, he might not even be part of the team's plans for next season. For the most part, I think that Francis's playing days are over. As for Rafer, BJax, and Aaron Brooks, they've contributed to the Rockets' successes this past season, and I feel that they'll all be back with the team next season.
also 2 assisstants. with 2/11 shoting. It's ugly, he does two thing at most of time, passing ball to T-mac, thne standing/waiting, or shoting by himself.
Rafer plays D. Way too many Rocket fans are too blind to see this cause he shoots 40%. He also had ZERO turnovers. Steve Nash numbers weren't much better either. Quit the hating and appreciate Rafer for the excellent job he does every nite taking care of the ball and playing suffocating D on the opposing team's PG.
Brooks played complete and utter lockdown defense on Nash this game. I'm liking what I'm seeing from the kid the past few games. I don't know if RA will give him any playing time if we meet Utah in the first round though b/c Deron will abuse him inside...
Right now, rafer can only compliment t-mac, but not as much as well, only the alley oop. Brooks and landry are one good combination. After today's game, I have no doubt that brooks will become a good pg. He already has an accurate jumpshot, and he can shoot from a pass off a screen. Combined with his speed, this guy is unstoppable. He is also a very smart player, I like that. He totally faked that suns player (i forgot who) out with that hakeem like underhand fake during the fastbreak. Man he is good. IM SO HAPPY.
And concerns like this are exactly why I have my reservations about Brooks being the long term answer at the point. As good as he looks now, he will always be at a disadvantage against the bigger stronger PGs like Williams. As I've posted numerous times: I really like his game but I'm afraid that his lack of size will be too much for him to overcome to be an effective starter in this league. Interesting thing about Nash. This is the 2nd game where I've seen the opposing PG take him out of the game (Dallas was the other with Kidd shutting him down). It may well be that age has finally begun to catch up with him.
Jeez! I simply cannot believe how you can still find time to continue to rag away on Alston. By my count, they just won their 54th game with him as the starting PG. That's FIFTY-FOUR F'NG GAMES Dakota and that should count for something around here even with you. Rafer has made enormous strides this season and his improved play at the point has been instrumental in helping this team weather the the various storms that have come their including that typhoon where they lost Yao for the season. The fact that he's stepped up his level of play should be applauded, appreciated and not condemned. Last night the guy had ZERO turnovers in a huge win against one of the top teams in the West and yet here you are again ragging on the guy like he totally screwed the game last night. You did the same things last year blaming JVG for things for which he wasn't responsible so I guess with him gone, Rafer has become your new whipping boy. If, over the past dozen years, more of you "people" had held the Rockets front office to the same high standards that you appear to have for Rafer then this team would be a lot closer to winning a championship than it is right now.
And Hillboy.....the object is not to win 54 games in the regular season, the object is to win the championship...... So the best thing you can say about him is that he had ZERO turnovers....he also only had 2 assists in 30 minutes of play. The guy flat out SHOOTS TOO DARNED MUCH.... For all the quality play he had during the winning streak his averages have plummeted right back to his career norm, which are NOT good enough, IMHO. My point is that if Rafer is off.....sit him....and we finally can do that because we have other true NBA options. If Rafer is hitting, play him...simple as that, I said he should still start......SHEESH !!! At least now we have other viable options. He CHUCKS it too much...for a PG (who is a bad shooter)......end of story. DD
the truth is, on a per minute basis, rafer has about the same shot attempts as aaron brooks and fewer than bobby jackson. before brooks went hot in the last 5 games rafer was the most effective shooter of the three (efg %). rafer has the most shot attempts overall because he plays so much. and he plays so much because he's the best pg on this team. he plays good defense, rebounds good and has very, very few turnovers. besides shooting that's your ideal pg. but b**** on.
you've been consistently inconsistent in what you mean versus what you say in your subject title (see "Luis = most important player"). that inconsistency causes a lot of confusion by people reading your threads and leads to you having to reply and explain what you really meant. if all you mean to say is that "If Rafer is hitting, play him...simple as that, I said he should still start......SHEESH !!!" then nobody will disagree with you. we're all ecstatic to have viable options at the backup point. your thread would've more aptly been named "Quality backups for rafer = Better team." but your thread title is "Less Rafer = More team play," so you'll forgive those of us who read that to mean that you think he somehow hurts the team's play. the bottom line is that rafer runs this offense better than anyone. he takes care of the ball better than brooks and jackson every game. you complain about him jacking up shots, but bobby jackson is far more trigger happy than rafer. luckily he's a better shooter, but again, we're purportedly talking about "team play" here and i don't see how bobby jackson's shoot first mentality helps your argument. spend a little more time on your thread titles so you don't have to spend so much time defending sensationalist declarations that you aren't really making.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I just don't see them hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy this year. That's not going to happen without Yao as they are simply too weak and small up front. Scola has been fantastic but asking him to carry them all the way to a title is asking too much of the guy. But fifty-four wins without your key player is pretty damned impressive where I come from and a lot of credit has to be given to play of Alston. Let's face it: If he plays most of this season as bad as you continue to say he is, then they (Rox) are completely out of the playoff picture by now and we are all discussing lotto picks. You did this last year: You just zero in on something and you pummel it to death. Last year it was JVG being the anti-Christ. This season it's Rafer. I simply don't understand what is to be gained by continually harping on what he's not. Look the Rockets knew what kind of player Rafer was and wasn't when they brought him in. Now it was the same basketball "geniuses" who pretended that a PG with his limitations could make this team competitive in the West so if you really want to rag on someone, rag on them. Rafer is what he is and you just will have to accept that. I see you've transferred your V-Span man-love to Brooks and that's OK. But as is your wont, you have gone overboard again proclaiming AB to be a "legitimate NBA option". They really don't have "viable" options if you consider Brooks to be the solution at the point. Don't get me wrong: he's great for what he is and for what he's doing on the 2nd team but he's still far too small to ask to take on bigger, stronger PGs he'll face in the West in the playoffs no less. The opposing coaches will exploit that advantage at every opportunity I guarantee you. I just don't see his speed being enough to compensate for his lack of height. The regular season is nice but the playoffs are a different animal altogether and this year's edition in the West looks to be absolutely brutal - far too brutal to pin your hopes on an undersized rookie PG.
i hate those isolation plays for rafer. it is horrible. i'm kind of ticked off, that we get in a rush when there is 6-8 seconds left. and we just decide to pass it to rafer. wtf as of francis, grant hill, alonzo morning, mcdyse all made combacks, and i'm pretty sure francis can too. those of saying, that we did most of our wins without francis, that he is not in our plan... wth is wrong with you. we only lost 5 games without yao, does that mean anything? no.. and the reason why spurs won many many championship over the past decade, is because they don't settle with what's going on for them, they make a little upgrade here and there. they got kenny thomas. they got ime udoka. even if we do have enough talent to win a championship, what about the next? what about the future. you really want to the rockets to be a miami? win a championship, than go to last place in your conference? francis will help, and he has plenty left on his tank. he is only 30 years old. most of you make it sound, he had surgery when he was 35.
I scouted the box scores for the last 5 games that Rafer and AB have played. Someone might want to double check for accuracy, but both players in their past 5 games appear to have hit 21 shots. To achieve this, Rafer took 67 shots and Brooks took 36.
I do appreciate Rafer on helping us get to the playoffs with his 22 game win streak hot shooting.........But Aaron Brooks really needs to run our offense more........I love the teams depth though..........BTW where is Mike Harris.....
I feel like I've just wandered into some bizarro parallel universe. Rafer is a NBA Finals cailber PG to some posters because the Rockets had an historic win streak and 54+ overall. News Flash...they won 52 last season and had HCA before Rafer looked hugely mediocre in the playoffs. While I don't regard Alston as a single point of failure, maybe...just maybe...defending Alston with accolades of the current season ought to be reserved until AFTER the playoffs? Or, perhaps you haven't noticed...in spite of Streak 22 and 54+...they are barely above .500 against WC playoff teams? Francis? Francis vs Alston? I read the related posts and got overcome with the feeling I was reading the dialog of 2 early-teenage girls arguing about which boy in their class was "cuter". While I'm acutely aware of Alston shortcomings, how so many people can't come to grips that Francis is a has-been is baffling.
Hillboy, I agree that the chances for the Rockets winning it all this year are between slim and none, which is why I want to see more Brooks etc. As for Rafer and team play.....he is NOT good at running Rick Adelman's offense. When Rafer runs the PnR it is for him to curl around the pick and attack the rim, he rarely passes to a wide open cutter...... And Rafer defers too much to Tmac.... If Rafer is hitting his shots, the team looks ok, but it is fools gold, as we all know he is not going to be hitting his shots consistently enough to win in the playoffs.... Therefore, when he misses, he sits, and for the first time, we have a backup PG capable of running the offense in fact we have 2....... Which is nice. As for V-Span, I never ...NEVER said he was the answer, only that Rafer was not the answer and he should be given a legitimate look, the way that stories change and become myth around here is amazing. And for those small minded people who will jump to a "hater" conclusion, I don't HATE Rafer, but I recognize his shortcommings...and am glad we have viable options behind him.... DD
That sounds fair enough. But perhaps you might reserve judgement on Francis until he has a chance to play healthy? At least none of us have resorted to name-calling insults.
Rafer's turnovers are going to be low because he plays mostly with McGrady, he brings up the ball, and gives it to McGrady to initiate. However, that being said, he is a terrific handle, and his turnovers would still be below average even without McGrady because he rarely makes a mistake dribbling the basketball. The thing that stuck out to me last night was how well Brooks played backing up Rafer and the different element of the offense he added with his speed, quickness, and ability to shoot the bball. Adelman shaved Rafer's minutes back and gave the kid more minutes because: 1. Rafer's shot was off; and 2. Brooks played so well. It worked. And as long as Brooks continues to play so well, he is forcing his way into the lineup similar to how Landry forced his way into the lineup. Right now, in limited minutes, Brooks is shooting the heck out of the ball and his shooting percentages are fixing to blow past Rafer, Head, and BJax with another solid shooting game or two. Not to mention, you guys that think Brooks can't D up out there just haven't been watching the game. He is giving the opponent fits with his quickness. He is either our best or at the very worst 2nd best perimeter defender AFTER Shane Battier. For defensive purposes, he is the preferred defender to Luther and BJax and frankly in my opinion, I think he is better than Rafer at hounding the ball. Brooks is a good defender. The thing Adelman has to continue to do at the PG position is to provide himself with options and get all the guys ready for the playoffs. It is in our best interest to be able to bring in a competitive point behind Rafer, especially when Rafer ain't hitting shots.
