Yes Rafer has his good points. For some reason he has the respect of the players on the team despite his crappy play, which is when he has his head on straight he makes an adequate point guard for our team. The problem is that some days his attitude is far bigger than his talent level. Given the fact that he 0-fer through out the game you would think he would grow a conscience and let other people shoot. But no! He sets himself up for plays, takes heat checks like he's tmac and even botches a 3-on-1 fastbreak by hogging the shot Rafer and 0-fer night was a big reason why we were down in the first place. Outside of boneheaded performances like the last game, Rafer isn't that bad. In fact, last season he was instrumental and contributed a lot to our win streak. Also, I realized today that Rafer was alot more athletic than we give him credit for-he was able to get right to the rim a lot of times, but just had trouble finishing. But somebody needs to talk to that dude and tell him to either work non-stop on his shot or have better shot selection. He's bringing the team down with his mike james-esque plays...
great win! a few things to point out. i think tmac is a great spot up shooter for now. this is why the offense should go through yao. i feel tmac is not capable right now to handle the ball because of his knee. he should stick to spot up shooting and being a decoy. the only problem is that the coaches need to make sure the players are in the right spots. the ball should get rotated and end up in a shooters hands rather than rafer. last night was perfect, albeit tmac was hitting his shots which made things look better. my point is that he's a decent shooter and im pretty sure he'll hit most of them when he's open. i dont want to get too excited after last night's win but i cant help it. they really were hitting on all cylinders at the end of the game. they showed intensity and aggression. i just wish they would show that intensity and aggression on a nightly basis. yao dunking on dudes, tmac showing emotion, and the bench standing up. it kind of reminded me of the celtics. hopefully someone can get this out of stars more and help them be more consistent. besides a back up center, all we're missing is consistency.
haha I bet all the people that really hate T-Mac were crapping their pants when T-Mac had that huge 4th. "C'mon T-Mac, don't step up now!!! I want to be right!"
If you watch the T-mac video against the Wizards you will notice he got wide open looks because they always passed it into Yao first...Passing into Yao to draw defenders and create open looks on the perimeter is the key! I think this simple offense is way more effective for players like Yao and T-mac...they do not need complicated offensive schemes to dominate their opponents.
First of all, if it wasnt T-mac, we wouldn't win. Our #1 priority is still looking for a back-up center. However, I think we also need a new starting point guard. Seriously, Refer really sucks. Well, many ppl say hes the best fit for the team just because of the experience of being in the team. Yes, we are more likely to lose without him. But that doesnt prove hes good. It just proves we dont even have an AVERAGE point guard. Brooks is not a pure point guard at this moment. He doesnt have size and the ball hadling/passing skills. But what does rafer have? He cant put the basketball in even if hes wide open most of the time. He enjoys driving to the rim but ending up with turnovers. The ppl who think Rafer is okay is just because hes the only point guard in our roster. Thats pretty pathetic. He is actually below the average in the league IMHO. I dont want brooks start, but I hate seeing rafer missing wide open shot or drive and turnovers.
he may be a streaky shooter, but he can get the ball to yao with ease, plays solid defense, goes after rebounds, and hes an excellent passer, I think its pretty unfair to go against this guy because of his stat sheet.
Like I said, he has been in this team with Yao and T-mac for a long time so he knows how to get the ball to Yao. I believe our goal of this season is the championship, right? Then it requires Artest being fit in our team. If he can fit, then why cant another point guard fit? Boston get the chapionship the first year the big threes merge. And, I believe finding a better passer than Rafer isnt hard since Rafer is really below average.
Went to the game. First basketball game ever and it was a great win. 1-0 baby!!!! It was great being in enemy territory and cheering for my team. Words can't describe the ending with T Mac and Alston finally hitting that three. Priceless!!! Anyway, it was just a great experience overall. Hopefully I can return to the US sometime and witness a Rockets game in the toybox.
I think it was the best all around game by the Rockets so far this season. Especially offensively. Good passes. Good shot selection for the most part. Still some bad spots defensively. The Rockets aren't good on transition defense. And in the half court, they give up too many open shots.
