rest assured, come 4th quarter time, he turns into a 16 year old girl with his play and decision making. Doesn't have half the composure of a 23 year old Aaron Brooks. I don't mind him being a starter and "pushing" the tempo throughout 3 quarters, but we need a veteran PG with composure (hell I would take Anthony Johnson) in the 4th. This would also help TMac who we know doesn't have the balls to put his head down and go to the basket when his jumper isn't falling, or when he's being pushed around by a physical defender. Sam Cassell, Anthony Johnson, Brevin Knight are a few tough old school PG's with a psyche that would help TMac in the 4th rather than compound his troubles.
Some of you dumb ass sob's just can't wait to start a negative post can you? Fkn pathetic dude. Do we have problems? Yeah!! Can we improve? Yeah!!! But have we won like 18 out of the last 20? Hell freakin yeah!!! Enjoy a win you whiny babies.
rest assured, no matter how many posts you have, you still act like a rookie. just your above post, shows why you deserve to be demoted. Give credit where it is due, Rafer was awesome tonight.
Huh? All he was doing was going to the rim tonight. Unfortunately he wasn't looking to score, but he was getting everyone wide open 3's from dribble penetration. And BTW, he dropped 40+ on Artest 2 games in a row entering this game...he can score on anyone. As for Rafer, he needs to calm down a bit. I like him playing with confidence, but needs to tone it down.
A team that routinely blows leads is a bad sign for the playoffs. I think Rafer has alot to do with this, although he's often a big reason why the Rockets can create those leads. I don't see the problem with bringing in a veteran PG to run the floor in the 4th, though, which would be especially useful during the playoffs.
Im sure it is rafers fault. NOT. How about yao cant play down the stretch? Hes a CHOKER. Tmac was just trying so hard to get everyone involved. He drove to the basket, but tried to find the open man. This thread still sucks. IBTL
Why does this come up after every game? If you blame this possible chokejob on something or someone, you need a better excuse then Rafer Alston. "He is what he is", he isn't paid big money like Tmac and Yao are. Rafer shot 9-20 23 points and had 7 assists and played some good D. This mental meltdown that continues to happen frequently is on each player on this team and more importantly the leaders Tmac,Yao and Rick Adleman. This gameshows me that at least we are able to win as a team without Tmac doing anything, which is an improvement over what we used to do.
Rafer was good tonight overall. Started out insanely good (5-7), then fizzled badly (4-13) and missed big shots in the fourth. 20 shots and no one acts concerned. Rafer is going to be left open in the playoffs, and he's going to have to knock them down. It's not something I feel too warm and fuzzy about.
Well, atleast you are addressing the argument now. I'm not denying TMac trying to get people involved, but throughout the game he was hesitant to score or try and finish around the basket because his jumper wasn't falling. This shouldn't be the case. And I can sit here and applaud Rafer for having 3 great quarters, or playing much better in Jan/Feb, but that fact remains he lacks composure and it always shows in the 4th quarter of games. Not a good sign for a team with no 2nd round experience.
Rafer was great offensively for 3 quarters tonight... but I think this guy has a point about his play in the 4th tonight.... He dribbled way too much of the shot clock away and eliminated the possiblity of a good shot in a few possessions, and that last entry pass to Yao was near-disastrous... HOWEVA.. We definitely DO NOT need to trade him or anyone else for a PG at this point, ,, Rafer is doing just fine IMO and will play better than that most of the time.
I think I've been pretty clear that they need to trade. James has been terrible and Brooks is raw. Not sure your point.
I think by adding a veteran PG we can dramatically improve the mental makeup of this team and we don't miss Rafer too much if he is only benched in the 4th. I think it comes down to hoping Rafer isn't forced to make decisions down the stretch and hitting open three's versus someone who can make decisions and give this team a mental edge but won't be such a great 3 pt shooter.
Rafer just need a 15 minutes break! you dont play him 40 minutes, the whole 2nd quater and ask him to be efficient! same thing for TMAC. Adelman did a terrible job tonight.
My God people, look at the whole track record of Rafer's career with the Rockets. He is 99% God Awful in the critical moments of a 4th quarter. Yeah TMAC has his weird issues the last couple of games, but Rafer is consistently horrid in 4th quarters especially in high pressure playoff like atmospheres. No need to flame the thread starter here, he is simply saying what many many think and there should be great concern about not having a gutsy 4th quarter capable PG, just take a look at the past few years, the metric is there!
