Mac and Yao (Ming) tell us to take the 3 pts shots.

I love how they have (Ming) after it says Yao, but no (Tracy) when it says Mac. ROFL.

 

I don't think theyre taking too many shots I think the frustration is coming from the fact that they are not draining wide open shots. This is more directed toward Alston in particular. The way our offense is designed around yao is how it was designed around dream. Dream would score in single coverage and if he drew the double teams he would dish it out to Maxwell, Kenny Smith, Horry, Sam Cassell, Mario Elie, Matt Bullard or whoever to make the shot. The problem is this team does not have those type of dead eye shooters aside from Head and possibly Novak if he got some PT.

 

Perhaps Rafer-bashers should realise now the poor guy is told to take those shots by his coach. If you want him to stop shooting, it might be easier to try all your best to replace JVG as the head coach of our team.

We are so lucky that we have 2 unselfish players leading our team. They really induced good influence to their fellow players by encouraging them to take those open 3s. I felt Luther's confidence in his words (not that he will make the 3 or not but his is confident that he has made the right decision by taking those shots). Great morale there!

 

I don't mind guys taking open spot up threes. The offense works hard to get guys those looks from behind the arc, and it would be hurting the team not to take them. But Rafer pulls up behind screens way too much for my liking. Even though that's usually open, it's not a high percentage shot for him, and I believe that the team is much better served by working the offense further to get a better look.

 

Again I think Rafer is a good catch and shoot guy. It's his shot off the dribble that needs practice.

 

Have you considered that maybe Rafer is more comfortable at shooting off a dribble than a catch-and-shoot?

I don't have the stats to prove this, but it'd be good if someone can get some stats of Rafer's makes and misses for catch-and-shoots and for off-the-dribble shots.

 

Yao is just to unselfish. he should tell Alston, get me the fuking ball. nothing good comes from Alston shooting.

 

He is capable of doing both; comfort should not be an issue. Until his shot off the dribble is close to the level of KJ or Sam Cassell that is what should be minimized. If he practices it and realizes what makes him successful at it so he can >consciously< make adjustments then I'm for taking more of these create off the dribble pullup shots.

 

for that, you will have to watch every single Rockets game (about 30) which is a bit too mcuh for anybody. But from what I've seen, all of his three pointers have come from a double team on Yao and are mostly spot up shots.

 

Any starting guard on this team is gonna have plenty outside shot opportunities, regardless if its Rafer or their name is Brickmeister. Point still is to get maximum makes out of those available shots with a player who can. Battier's not a volume shooter and Chuck Hayes is a hustle player, and the intention was to get Juwan out of the picture. Cant give all the shots to McGrady and Yao through double and triple teams. Someone else has to make these shots and it falls on Rafer now who at times, falls shorting of making.

Actually I don't have too much issue with Rafer's 3 point shooting percentage (just the attempts) or the team's willingness to shoot them. Its the other points, the 2 point makes offensive creativity outside the 3's, that this team lacks at times. Maybe it'll get better later if Bonzi ever gets into form and Snyder comes back. Thank goodness there's some good D on this team.

 

In published news articles, normally upon the first mention of a proper name, the person's full name is given, for clear identification I guess. Subsequent references to said person need not mention the full name. That is the case in this instance. McGrady's full name was already given earlier in the article, so the direrct quote of Head saying "Mac" was adequate. Up to that point in the article, Yao's full name had not yet been given, hence the parenthetical.

 

Speaking of design, ever notice how defenses are more and more designed to encourage Rafer to take the shot? It's almost like having Ryan Bowen back. Seems like from the start of many games, teams know Rafer is by far the weakest link on offense and are geared to push him inside the 3 point line, where he is deadly (to the Rockets). Because of the easy looks he gets each and every game, Rafer should be near 50% from the field instead of less than 40%.

There is a reason Rafer is down almost 2 assists per game and shoots more than 12 shots per game this. He is playing right into the strategy of our opponents.

 

As the article mentions, Battier is also shooting over 40% from 3. This is actually a pretty decent 3-point shooting team (especially if T-Mac ever regains a consistent touch).

 

I will give Alston some credit for hitting some clutch 3 pointers in several games. I feel that his two point percentage especially needs to improve. Rafer, in my opinion is just more inconsistent and streaky than downright sucky. I still think he is our best bet at pg, and he probably needs to keep shooting when he is open.

 

Quote:
"Whatever shots we get, we take," said Head, the Rockets' most accurate 3-point shooter at 47.3 percent. "Mac and Yao (Ming) tell us to take the shots. If we don't take one, they get mad."

"(Van Gundy) says if we work hard enough to create that shot, you have to take it. That's my mindset."

Possibly head was told so but not RF. Rf shoots too many with low percentage. And his FTs are also not reliable. The opponents sometimes leave him open in purpose. Rf may make clutch shoot, which masks his shortcoming. Rf can be a good PG if he remembers the definition of PG and self-limits his shoot.

 

i am with you there man......rafer cant hit the side of a barn. the one thing i will give him is he seems to hit big shots sometimes.....after he has shot 18 % for the rest of the game , the one thing i wish he would do is take a dribble or two in to shoot a midrange jumper or drive.

 

i would be mad if head or shane passed up an open 3 too.

 

has rafer passed instead of shooting behind screens? that's what we need more of...

 

Rafer's percentage coming up again?

His current % is .352 this year.

Let's compare.

V. Carter .360
M. Redd .359
K. Bryant .355
B. Gordon .353
T. Thomas .344
R. Allen .335

So, this year so far, he doesn't shoot as well as Michael Redd, but better than Ray Allen. Sure, he isn't one of the league's sharpshooters, but geez, he's not doing as bad as people make him out to be.

On a lighter note, Francis is shooting better than him, haha. He doesn't have many attempts though.