I'm sorry, but that is terrible "analysis." The mere fact that one play is being shown in each scenario and presented as if it occurs on every posession is frustrating, to put it lightly. In photo-series 1, there are three players in excellent defensive posession of the two passing plays that you wish Alston had made. A pass to Battier was a plausible option, but passing to Novak would have almost certainly been a disaster. Rafer decided against passing to Battier, and took a legitimate shot -- nothing forced. Against Minnesota, Rafer twice made similar driving plays in which he found a free passing lane to Battier and subsequently, Battier made two threes. Shooting with someone open is an unbelievably common occurrence that I cannot even fathom why its being shown as a fault. Just from looking at R2Ks highlights from the Minnesota game, the two plays before Battier's two Alston-assisted three pointers were both shots (first by T-Mac, second by Yao) in which players were completely unguarded on the perimeter (first Battier, second Head). In photo-series 2, Rafer is doing exactly what he should have done. Novak stepped up to guard against the drive -- leaving his man open along the baseline. Rafer rotated to provide some protection against either the passing lane to Novak's man (I'm guessing thats Amare?) or in the least, not allow an uncontested shot. That play was lost at the pick and roll, by Head's inability to escape it/rotate and what seems to be a terrible assist by Hayes (though its hard to tell by one photo). If I were to post an Alston bashing thread, that would probably be my second point (shooting most likely first), as he too has a strong inability to escape/avert a pick. This is seen in photo-series 3, though its not even focused on. Alston is the victim of a screen, and it seems (from the picture) that Yao did not even make a move to help. Rafer is also at fault in this pic as it seems he was a bit slow to recover against Nash (though he did a much better job than Head), which caused Hayes to leave his man and Nash to find an easy assist. Just as a side note -- thus far, the only Rocket I can remember providing consistently good help defense against a pick/screen has been Battier, however. In the last series, I honestly don't see any foul, other than what should have been called a charge but was given the horrendous judgement as a blocking foul on Hayes. Thomas set the screen, Yao did a good job rotating, and Alston did a good job escaping the screen. Hayes was in a great position to cover the inside-drive by Thomas, McGrady was in a great position to cover whomever it is at the top of the pictures had a pass been sent that way, and the Head was in a great position to rotate to Marion had help been needed that way. A couple mismatchs, but overall that play shows great spacing and pretty solid team defense by the Rockets. Again, just an unfortunate call.
Here's video of this play: http://www.nba.com/games/20061129/HOUPHX/boxscore.html Click on "Highlights," and the play is near the 1:00 mark. Looks like both Luther and Chuck were the culprits. Luther made a weak effort to fight over the screen. Chuck was way too aggressive in jumping out to trap the p-n-r. Barbosa took full advantage.
I feel like I am defending Rafer in every singel one of my posts. But, I see the same images you are seeing, but in all the instances, rafer is not at fault. Let me break it down for you. Scenario 1. During this play, Rafer drove baseline. If you look at the still of Rafer shooting, the passing lane to Battier and to Novak are blocked. Instead of shooting, Rafer coulda pulled it back, seeing that there is 11 seconds left on the clock. It's the other player's fault for not positioning themselves in a spot where they can receive the ball. If anything, Novak should have been on ball side, or at least at the strong side elbow. Scenario 2. You can blame this one on Chuck Hayes. Hayes was supposed to come on top of the pick, and guide nash away from the perimeter. This help and recover technique is commonly used in college and in the NBA. Big men are taught to force the guard out away from the basket, so that guard getting picked can recover. What Hayes did was come out too far and it gave Barbosa room to split the defense. Rafer did nothing wrong on this play. Scenario 3. Again, same situation as before. Yao ming was sposed to come out and shed Nash out away from the basket. Instead of coming out on Nash, Yao is way under the pick and out of position to help out. This puts Rafer in a tough position to try and come over the top of the pick. When Rafer tries to do this, it gives Kurt Thomas a perfect scenario for the pick and roll. With Yao not coming out to help and Rafer stuck on top of Kurt Thomas, it creats a passing lane for Nash to Thomas. On this play, blame Yao.
