http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/5212351.html Playing his way back into the mix After an offseason that seemed to indicate Rafer Alston was on his way out, last year's Rockets starting point guard has turned heads with a strong preseason By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Rick Adelman made sure not to have any expectations, a policy that was a good thing for Rafer Alston. Had Adelman gone into his first weeks as Rockets coach with preconceived ideas about Alston, they could not have been good, if only for the influence that would have come from the Rockets' apparent determination to replace him. Since last season, the Rockets traded for Mike James, drafted Aaron Brooks and signed Steve Francis. If they could have built a point guard in the lab, they would have. Alston was arrested twice and was around Toyota Center for offseason workouts far less often than the previous summer. He said someone would be "the odd man out" and seemed certain it would be him. But after two weeks of practices and two games, teammates, coaches, one general manager and in a way, Alston himself raved about his play. By Saturday, Adelman had formed an impression of Alston, 6-2, he had resisted in the summer, calling him "a perfect fit." "I was just waiting to see," Adelman said. "I wanted to see these guys on the floor together and I told him that. He's been really good. He came in with a great attitude with all the stuff going around. He worked his tail off. I couldn't be more pleased. I knew he was a good player, but he's a much better player than I really realized." Fit with the offense In some ways, Adelman's offense fits Alston's abilities. He has chances to be a standstill shooter, coming off a season in which he made 36.3 percent of his 3-pointers and set a franchise record for 3-pointers made. But he is not in position to have to finish drives with the floaters and midrange shots that had his shooting percentage at just 37.5 percent. The cutting and movement would seem to give him more chances at easy baskets and call for his eagerness to be a playmaker. "He's a smart player," Adelman said. "He picked the offense up as quick as anybody out there. He thinks things through. He not only knows where he's supposed to go, he knows where everybody is supposed to be. And he's very unselfish. He isn't going to force anything. He's been a perfect fit, so far." Alston, 31, met with Adelman and general manager Daryl Morey, asking what they had planned for him, but came away frustrated by the Rockets' determination to wait until practices and games to declare their intentions. It turned out that open minds offered him a chance. "Not answering if you were starting or (getting) high minutes off the bench or whatever was great because now, I went to training camp with the mindset of 'Let's compete. Let's go out there and work hard at it and let the basketball take care of itself,' " Alston said. "It's playing out." Told Adelman called him, "a perfect fit," Alston smiled and recalled how much his prospects have changed. "I'm thankful for that," Alston said. "You want to go out and play well and perform well because of that. It easily could have gone the other way. They easily could have waived me for things like that (the arrests), but I think they understood that's not the kind of character person I am and I'm a good person around here. I come here every day on time and ready to work." Alston's play has only made the backcourt overcrowding more severe. The Rockets have 20 players under contract, with five point guards. But if the Rockets agreed with the common assumption Alston had become expendable, they seem to have changed their minds or decided they did not like the trades they could make. In the Rockets' plans Either way, they plan on starting the season with him on the roster and competing with all those offseason additions for playing time. "I wouldn't comment on the roster side of it, but I would say his play has exceeded expectations," Morey said. "I think we were always bringing all four guards to the roster — Rafer, Steve, Mike and Aaron. That continues to be the plan." Alston said he fits because he can play well with each of the guards. James and Francis have played shooting guard next to Alston. The incumbent starter next to him, meanwhile, has noticed the improvement. "He's been great, the best I've seen him yet," Tracy McGrady said. "With everything going on this offseason, I think he's more focused. Talks of him being traded, bringing in Steve, bringing in Mike, drafting a point guard, it makes you work harder, be focused and take your job more seriously. He did that." But that began when Alston wanted answers and Adelman did not have them to give. "There was uncertainty, uncertainty about the way I'm playing or what the situation is with myself," Alston said. "That would be anybody's concern when you have so many guards coming to camp. "I told the staff I'm in excellent, excellent, excellent condition. I think they were fascinated by that. "I told them my game was ready to go. I showed it in Austin. I happened to have some good showings in the first two games. They want me to show it. I told them, they don't have to worry about that."
I just have a gut feeling they are going to trade Luther Head... I don't mind because to me all he can do it shoot the 3 ball...
"I wouldn't comment on the roster side of it, but I would say his play has exceeded expectations," Morey said. "I think we were always bringing all four guards to the roster — Rafer, Steve, Mike and Aaron. That continues to be the plan." I guess bye Lucas, and happy retirement Sura?
If this was a year ago I'd say "NoooOOoOo!" but now we have SF3 and James when Rafer decides to brick his teardrops again. Can't rely much on Head and Brooks at the point. Head turns it over and Brooks can't make a shot (at least not now).
McGradySNKT, I thought the same thing. No mention of Head is a clue. Sura(already known), JLIII(already known), and Head(next one) are gone.
Yaozer, Yeah, those Rafer tear drops suck. I am sure we will be seeing some of those during the regular season. Then, James and Francis will come into the game.
we've been the beneficiaries of circumstance.... had the organization not decided to "go in a different direction", alston would not have worked so hard on his game. now he is an integral part of our system, and almost a spokesperson for our team, who's spokesperson used to be shane. now shane has kinda stepped back, and rafer, since the media wants the juicy details of controversy, has hung on rafer's every move. and because of that, he's gone from the odd man out to the ambassador of the rockets.
I wonder how Rick Adelman compares Rafer to all the other PGs he coached in his coaching career, such as Terry Porter, Tim Hardaway, Jason Williams, and Mike Bibby. I think that if Rafer is out there on the floor asked to do different things that are more to his strengths unlike what he had to do his other two seasons here, then playing 35-40 mpg might not be as bad as you think. I still say wait until the end of November at the earliest before jumping on his bandwagon, though, because I still feel we all will just have to wait and see if he will be able to carry on with his improved play into the regular season. Let's all wish Rafer well for perhaps his best season in his NBA career now that he is still with the team. If Bonzi can jell under Rick Adelman, then why can't Rafer?
Its going to be funny when Alston is starting PG again this year. I think it makes sense though, play Rafer in the starting rotation and bring in Francis/James/Wells when McGrady is on the bench.
Right now I'm glad with Rafer. I'm very calm cause if Rafer sucks we'll have a lot of options to put at pg instead rafer. Looks like he knows what he has to do.
Head don't get much minutes since he doesn't seem to have the size to attack the basket...but he's a consistent shooter though...remember how awesome he was last year with his shooting?? You can't forget that! The negative on him is he doesn't have the size to attack and play defense. The same can be said about Rafer but Rafer has the necessary ball handling dribbling skills the Rockets need. And he has the speed. I think Rafer can score easily by attacking the basket as he have shown last year...though he rely on tear drops too much. But with Adelman's offense...i think his chance of attacking and scoring inside is a little easier. Mike Bibby rarely attack inside anyway.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! A dream for Rafer Fans. A nightmare for Rafer Haters. After all that crap we heard about him being cut during the offseason.
If Rafer stays and is in the playing rotation, Luther is out and could be traded. There's room for only so many smallish guards. A fire was lit under Rafer when they didn't answer his questions but eventually he'll revert to form after the season starts. This preseason honeymoon will end.
It was allways gonna be this way. rafer is a heck of a open court player. he can creat shots out of nothing in the open court. with so many cutters out there we need rafers creative passsing ability more then ever. i think a month or two into the season rafer trade value will sky rocket so to speak. Rafer is a perfect fit. i've been saying it from day 1.
Rafer was playing pretty good lately, and there is no doubt that he can flourish in this system... it`s a shame that we have too many good guards on the team, but we don`t seem to be able to trade them and get something good out of it (e.g. draft picks)... Next season will be really interesting. Last year we had a great starting 5 and basically nothing else. This year we have a great starting five and a second starting five backing them up, that would at least compete for a playoff spot in the east (James, Francis, Bonzi, Hayes, Mutombo).
