That's probably the only thing I like about Rafer right now. He can handle the ball. I am not worried one bit when he brings it down the court or when he's trapped in the corner trying to dribble out of it in a fancy way. Just remember Sura 2 years ago. Every time he would even do a simple cross over I would be scared out of my mind. My simple question is why doesn't Rafer penetrate more often? He's great at it and he has really nothing to worry about. He hasn't fallen down hard yet, he hasn't gotten rejected, and he hasn't lost the ball on the baseline. And that's probably one of his greatest strenghts. He really needs to stop shooting. I don't care if it goes in or not..he needs to stop! This is exactly what I've been trying to argue the past few days. Just stop all your "Rocket love" for one second and think about everything. We aren't that great of a team. We've definitely had some impressive wins (what team in the NBA hasn't) and I can even argue we've have played some flawless basketball at some point this season. But I'm telling you now this will not keep up! And even if it does, we will go nowhere in the playoffs yet again!
I dont think stats really prove anything. If you went by stats, then Battier would be one of the worst players in the league. It's the crap that Alston pulls in the heat of the moment that kills us at times, or wins us games. He played a solid game against the Clips so we won. He made some crucial mistakes against the Lakers so we lost. We need a more consistent PG, one we can rely on every day. Not just 1/5 games. I'd say a great PG would be more vital to our success than T-mac is.
Bob Sura is known as "not passing the ball to Yao", do we really want him back? Now the player who is so determined to pass to Yao is Battier, he never even appears to be hesitate when passing. Praise Gay+Swift all you want, but I think getting Battier really helped establising Yao a lot.
and just found out from nba stats, not surprisingly, Batteir is having his career high season on APG. (almost 3)
I think the idea is that a leopard can't change his spots. Defensively, calling Rafer mediocre would be kind. Offensively, he's a downright average 3 point shooter taking an inordinate amount of them. The fact that TMac basically took the PG duties from him is a statement in itself. Rafer's duties as a "role player" are now to take care of the ball and hit open shots. He does the former decently, but is thoroughly average at the latter. Combine that with below average defense, and it's hard to imagine that we couldn't find someone better.
That's the thing though, there isn't anyone better out there that is attainable and who would fit our needs. Sadly, when it comes to taking care of the ball, hitting open treys, and knowing defensive rotations, Rafer is the best PG the Rockets have...well Luther's extremely good at the shooting and poor at the ball handling, and that's the best we can hope for now, is for Luther to take Rafer's minutes. It's not hope either, it's really what I believe Van Gundy is going to do when the team is healthy. Right now, Van Gundy is being forced to play a small backcourt, but ideally, he'd want Battier, T-Mac, Bonzi, and Snyder rotating exclusively in the wing positions. Seriously, I've looked hard. Seattle still wants Earl Watson even though he's disgruntled and shooting like crap this year. Mike James is actually playing big minutes now for Minnesota. Derek Fisher is the stabilizing 6th man of Utah who actually plays along side Deron Williams a lot. Andre Miller is a great ball handler, tempo pusher, and penetrator, but can't shoot the 3ball worth a lick. Damon Jones isn't that much of an upgrade or probably a down grade in some areas...either way, Cleveland plays him still. Leandro Barbosa is perfect, and highly impossible to attain. Same goes for Kirk Heinrich and Luke Ridinoor and anyone else good. Chucky Atkins is a maybe...he's up and down, but could be good in our system. Who's out there? Two years ago Wesley and Barry were smart, hustling, good shooters, but were old, and therefor attainable. Mike James was just undervalued gold. But today there's really no one like that out there now. Why would Chicago give up one of their young guards to us? Draft picks? VSpan or Novak?...I don't see that happening. Sarunas Jasikevicius?..nope, and not even a good fit. I'm tellin you guys. Tyronne Lue is the good only shooter around with decent handles who is attainable. He isn't a terrible defender and it wasn't getting rid of him that made the Rockets better. It was the additions of Barry and Wesley, and then James that year. Tyronne can play, and I really think he can fit on this team. He checked Iverson in the playoffs when he was with the Lakers...not saying he's a defensive stopper, but he ain't no slouch. Damon Stoudamire? He's attainable, but slower, injured a lot, and most importantly not a great 3pt shooter. Travis Diener is a great shooter, but teh Magic boards love him and rip him up all the time...seems like shooting is the only thing he can do. Maybe Bobby Jackson, but that wouldn't make sense for New Orleans giving up on their FA acquisition. Really, the Rockets are kind of stuck in a rut when it comes to PG upgrades. It's either Tyronne Lue or more minutes to Head instead of Rafer. I'm hoping for the former, but thinking it's going to be the later.
It's hard to get assists when most of your offense consists of just giving the ball to the 7"6' chinaman in the post and let him do all the work.
LOL Well, Tyronne Lue or Chucky Atkins. That's it. It's not the end of the world though, for I don't mind having Rafer and Luther split point guard duties during the playoffs, sometimes the Rockets will go big too, with T-Mac playing point or Snyder guarding the PG or zoning. It's the Rafer Luther combo backcourt that's made the Rockets a defensive turnstile lately. Individually, they're already bad, together, it's one of the worst defensive backcourts in the NBA. But when the Rockets are fully healthy, they got athletic freaks and defensive studs covering up for one bad individual defender, and that should be enough to do well in the playoffs.
Kim - I agree very much with your assessment and see this area as a top priority for the offseason. The thing about the position, a guy with the right skill-set could theoretically step in without much issue - we're not asking for a playmaker, just a solid defender/spot up shooter/ball handler. I think the prototype would be Kirk Hinrich (obviously we're not getting him). I'd add to your assessment there are a couple other options on the team in Span and Lucas. Neither of these guys are ready right now. With Span, you get a very good defender (once he learns the ins and outs of the NBA a bit more), and an added dimension of penetration ability. The thing is, he's turnover prone and can't shoot now. I think the turnover problem will eventually be fixed (maybe not this year). The reason he's not getting minutes is he can't play within the offense's confines, and he's not good enough to alter the offense significantly to accommodate him. Once he controls TO's, that changes things - but again, looking like that won't be this year. See how Bonzi's role is different than any other 2/3 on the team - Bonzi's a proven NBA scorer, and will thus have a few different wrinkles to his game used. Lucas is...trigger happy. However, there is one person I think you've missed that I suspect we may target and could be available - Delonte West. I believe Morey had a big hand in his selection a couple years ago. He's in the midst of a bad year, and his minutes have been wildly inconsistent. But last year as a starter (at the age of 22), he averaged 12-4.5-4 with a 2.5 AST/TO ratio, on some very solid percentages - 48.7% FG%, 38.5% 3P%. The Celtics then went out and acquired Telfair and drafted Rondo. His numbers this year are ugly, but I think that may make him more affordable. With Telfair and Rondo in the fold, that leaves few PG minutes for West, and at the wing spots, he's fighting for the leftovers after Pierce and Wally Z along with fellow recent 1st rounders Tony Allen and Gerald Green. As far as his cost, I do not know; his individual salary is just over $1m, so maybe you could get him with a TE and a first round pick. Or you could certainly gain their interest by taking the much maligned Scalabrine off their hands (who also was apparently a big time Morey acquisition). Scalabrine has around 3 years left after this at around $3m/year. Just some idle speculation.
West still gets 23 minutes per game and if he doesn't play the entire of the fourth quarter he'll usually play more minutes there (in the 4th) than Telfair. Also having him qualify for his Bird Rights (after this sesaon) could maybe up his value as a trade asset.
I overlooked Delonte West because I thought he unattainable. I totally wasn't thinking about the Telfair deal and Rondo pick..totally slipped my mind. Ouch, his shot chart is really ugly...okay, his shot chart from last year looks pretty solid...48.1% from straight away 3, a consistent 37.3% from every other 3pt spot...really good jumpshooter. It looks like he's taken an Earl Watsonesque dive in shooting this year. Maybe it's the lack of playing time. I am optimistic about VSpan's future...he does look talented and very mentally talented when it comes to offensive and defensive anticipation...it's like he sees things before they happen. That's a very strong talent that few players have. He's made some incredible passes this year...those anticipation type passes where you're passing to a spot that the player will be at through a keyhole. Once Span leans the defense and cuts down on turnovers, this guy has the potential to take over games man, i really believe that. I just don't see it happening this year either...and he needs to learn how to shoot properly. Okay, so West's crappy season and low priority on the depth chart definitely makes him a target. So that's West, Tyrone Lue, and Chucky Atkins. I don't think we can have 2 Chuckys on the team, so that leaves West and Lue, or no trades at all. It'd be awesome if one of these trades go down though. The Rockets need to hire us now.
Great assessment and as usual a great post. All discussion of rafer and how much he suck or doesnt suck, should bear in mind the first paragragh of your post. For those who love to bring up Mike James and how he would or may have been a better fit for this team, the vast majority on the board agrees; "its water under the bridge" "too little too late" and "woulda coulda shoulda." And for better or worse the rockets are stuck with Alston since as Kim pointed out, there isnt much better pg options out there the Rockets could hope to attain with their limited resources. Personally, I'd rather the rockets use their limited resources to obtain a pf, like Troy Murphy who's stock I hear has fallen due to; his contract, his current injuries, the warriors need to extend their young players, and managements desire to play ike diogu.
