Why is Luther stuck on the bench ?? He has played great in the pre-season, was in the best shape at the start of training camp, shot 60% and still no playing time? We could've used him in every game now with our terrible 3pt shooting, especially by Rafer. Does it have to do with the Morey trying to create space for Mutombo (financially)? I can't think of anything else. Also why not see what Wafer can do? Both cannot do much worse than what Rafer has shown in these first 4 games.
to answer your question: rafer is still averaging 4 apg and only 1.5 topg this season. yes, he has shot beyond horrible, but his shot attempts are down by 5 compared to last year and he's taking shots he can make. eventually he'll start making some shots and everything will be fine. luther head on the other hand might give you some three pointers but he won't develop great pg skills all of a sudden. that's why luther and wafer are were they should be. on the bench waiting for playing time in case of injuries.
Luther's DNP isn't what I question about last night. My questions are (1) Why did Rafer play 30 mins and AB only 18 and (2) Why was AB taken out and Rafer put back in to finish the game? Very bad moves by Adelman. When the Celts made the move to go up in the 1st half, I thought the game was nearly over. When the Rockets came back and went on the 23-4 run with AB in the game, it became crystal clear he Adelman needed to play the hot hand. "Loyalty" only goes so far.
1.5ToPG are because he doesn't try to set his teamates up by penetrating, he passes primarily on the perimeter and if they hit the shot, he gets an assist. Rafer is a horrid PG...HORRID. DD
There were parts of that game where Barry was getting torched by Allen. He might have been able to shoot over Luther but he wouldn't have blown by him as much. Even when he didn't score he forced Yao to help and got easy buckets for the Celtics bigs. There was a point when Allen went on his own 7-0 run and I was really wishing Luther was in the game vs Barry. Actually, I was wishing Battier was in the game, but you get what you get.
rafer played pretty bad so far, we can agree on that one. i also agree with a_3po on his playing time in the last game. still, rafer's not a horrid pg. yes, his assists don't come from too many drive and dish plays. i don't think that's a negative point, though. he's smart enough to know he's no chris paul. if drive and dish is what you expect from a good point guard then you must love stephon marbury. he was always all drive and dish and we all know what he's accomplished with this style. but what you still don't get is that rafer sets up the offense in a hurry in a very efficient way. he always looks to push the ball up the court and he's doing a fine job with that. you know, that's the reason t-mac likes playing with rafer so much. and that's what i expect from a good point guard who's playing with tracy mcgrady and yao ming. like i said, criticize him for shooting horrible in the first 4 games all you want, but you've to also recognize that he's not the devil and he has some strong points. look, i'm not satisfied with his play, either, but 7 assists without any turnovers in the last game. i'm very confident that luther head could not bring that even if he had his best game of the season. what i'd like to see is that adelman goes more with the hot hand and that brent barry starts to contribute more to the offense. we'll be fine with rafer then.
No, I am sorry GRF, I am tired of Rafer Alston and his sub 40% shooting percentage. Sure, he has an occasional good game and he doesn't turn it over, but that is NOT enough.... Good teams leave him wide open and his sideways spinning horrible shot clanks off that iron...all fricken day. I have had enough.....Rafer is an anchor that will sink this ship with his poor play...... DD
Brooks was taken out as soon as he gave up an offensive rebound and 3-point play to Ray Allen. Adelman wanted Rafer in for defensive purposes. And since our big guns were in the game (T-Mac, Artest), I guess he thought we could afford to have Rafer in there instead in a "distributor" role. I question the move also, but I think that was his rationale. Not so much loyalty. Adelman has gone with Brooks to finish games in the past.
CO signed and dated Noticed how they fustrated tmac whenever he gets the ball. Who was left wide open? DING!!DING!!DING!! rafer brick house alston. Seriously it's like chuck hayes all over again when he started for the rockets. The opposing team would leave him wide open to go double tmac and yao. If rafer can't shoot wide open 3, break down defense with his so call awesome dribbling skills, or make layups after he beats his man.... What position does he actually play out there? Rockets has a lump that need to be remove and it's rafer i can not even make a wide open college 3pters alston.
There always is a time of year when Rafer sucks and we hate him, but also there is a time when he starts clicking. Last season it was during the 22 win streak and playoffs. The year before it was mid-season-ish and was thought to be related to the changing of the official nba basketball. I'm guessing that eventually he will find his shot.
dude, learn to be patient. it's just 4 games into the season and you're already in playoff form in terms of panicking and bashing players. rafer is an average to slightly above average 3-point-shooter. he will get better. good teams will let him open because he's very streaky. but, it's not like he has to hit 5 threes every game for the rockets to be able to win the game. the point is: rafer has his strengths. unfortunately shooting consistency is not one of them. it shouldn't matter much, though, because over the season he's an average shooter who will have to shoot only when he's open. this team goes as far as tracy, yao and ron take it (in the last game only t-mac delivered...). rafer is (finally!) just a role player and if he has a bad shooting night, let the hot hand play for him. the next night he'll probably hit his shots and he'll be the best pg (as a role player) the rockets could hope for (solid defense, hits his shots, few errors, etc.). this board is way too negative.
Luther is 4" shorter and light years less crafty than Brent Barry. They were running Ray Allen off of screen after screen after screen, and along with Rip Hamilton he's probably the best in the league at playing off of them. I'm convinced that Luther Head would have been torched just as much, if not more than Barry, because if nothing else, he doesn't have the length to affect Ray's jumper on late close outs. Without Ron and Shane both available, we were bound to give up a scoring spree to one of either Allen and Pierce.
Ray Allen would have been shooting over Luther but I am not sure he would be torched as much as Barry, at least on driving to the basket. Screens or no screens, Luther is much quicker than Barry.
Bottom line for me is this. If Shane battier is on Ray Allen he does not drop 29 points. Shane is not a part of the big three but he is a all-nba defender. I would feel a whole lot diffrent about the lose if Shane was playing in that game and Ray lit us up like that.
