The key is a point guard basketball IQ, Aston does not have it. He does not know when he should pass, or shoot and can not guard people well. He is just a backup guard, and can do something good occasionly.
This thread just reminds me why we need to go fetch Andre Miller, who can be traded from Philly if not included with another Philly player. Sure, he can't shoot 3's, but that guy can throw pinpoint passes. He's smart. I loved to hate him when he played for Denver because he'd get cheap fouls called but what an asset to have that plus 9 assists per game on the Rockets. Send them expiring/semi-expiring contracts. We can do it. We need it. I like Rafer, but we ain't goin' noplace with him.
Because I...hmn, let me look....used a double negative! OK, so I rephrase: "Although Rafer seems a kindly sort, and is well liked by his teammates, it would behoove the Rockets organization to trade him elsewhere for a better point guard, given that his presence on the team flatlines our potential for growth."
yeah i agree.. while he isnt perfect, he's still decent. and doesnt deserve all this hate.. he's a very good ball handler and you never feel nervous someone will steal the ball from him or if it'll bounce off his leg. he usually brings the ball up with ease while our other guards struggle under any kind of defensive pressure.. rafer also knows what his role is in the team, most of all, he knows yao is the main main. his entry passes inside are consistently accurate and he knows when the swing the ball around when yao's out of position.. so when the ball gets swung around and he's left with an open three, i have no problem with him shooting it.. even someone like calvin booth can make an open three.. plus its WITHIN the offense.. i will never complain about a good shot just because it didn't go in.. our style of offense just naturally leaves our role players with lots of open jumpers.. rafer, luther, shane's job is to shoot them when the other team tries to double yao.. besides.. rafer's not even that terrible of a shooter.. not great, but he's a decent 3point shooter.. considering his 'specialty' is ball handling.. not shooting.. i can live with that.. not everyone's going to have a 50% 3pt percentage a la luther
I'm not so sure what's to "LOVE" about trading away a top ten player for only expiring contracts and two draft picks. King would be absolutely crucified by the Philly media and fans if all he had to show trading away a fan favorite and marquee player was cap relief and some draft picks. Granted, Miller is a bit overpaid but he's still a solid role player that could have a future with whichever route Philly chooses to go from this point.
Thing is, Philly is likely trying to tank out the season and clear out cap space. Now, maybe Andre Miller and CWebb (untradeable) can actually play well together. In fact, they probably can. But AMiller might wind up hating life as a 76er as much as does CWebb. Depends on what route the 76ers organization really wants to take.
Do you know what really blows the mind? That Alston has had more attempts than Head. Why? Luther should be getting more looks, and as the starting point, Rafer should be getting him those looks. Luther is 57-118 from behind the arc. Rafer 55-151. Think about that for a sec. Alston, while playing 9 minutes more per game, has made 2 fewer treys than Head, who had 33 fewer attempts. This does not compute. Not in my opinion. Rafer is shooting far too many treys, or attempting to, while playing point, and Luther isn't, IMO, getting enough looks. And who's fault is that? Perhaps someone can explain it too me.
It's a matter of playing time more than anything. While T-Mac has been out, Luther and Rafer have taken almost the exact same amount of 3 pt attempts (27 to 28)...which makes sense when they're playing the same number of minutes. They're really interchangeable on offense. It just depends on where the double team is coming from, or how crisp the ball movement is vs how the defense recovers from a double team...a lot has to do with Hayes/JHo's backside pick give the corner 3pt shooter time to release. But yeah, I'm firm in my stance that once the team is healthy, Luther will be increasing his 3pt attempts while Rafer's is going to decrease, mainly due to playing time.
I wonder if Rafer's ratings compared to the other NBA points is dramatically different when TMac plays (not only while TMac is on the court, but in the games that TMac has played in is all) vs. not. Rafer has tried to shoulder more of the scoring load--for better or for worse--and that has led to a decline in his stats. I *think*
Some of it is Rafer handling the ball a lot more than Luther because he plays the point and because other teams guard Luther. Sometimes it's like having Rybo on the floor when teams ignore Rafer because they are confident he will miss. It's as if they are baiting him into taking it inside the paint. One reason Luther doesn't get more shots is he is very easy to guard. Hopefully he will become versatile enough to go around players and consistently make something good happen when they take away his 3 point shot.
Possible PGs Rafer will have to go against in playoffs..... Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Jason Terry, Allen Iverson, Sam Cassell, Deron Williams..... Scary thought considering a scrub named Smush ate Rafer's lunch couple days ago. All he had to do was get physical and apply pressure on him.
That's awful! All of those point guards will eat Rafer. Devin Harris starts at PG instead of Jason Terry now. Devin Harris is a better than Rafer too.
ok, i just finished watching what could be the worst rockets game ive ever watched (houston portland) before this game, i was a rafer advocate...didnt know what ya'll were talkin about when u were bashing him... AFTER this game, i know EXACTLY what ya'll mean... god that was ridiculous how many mistakes he was making...and he shot like 5 layups and missed all of em...and then passed on (atleast) two layups, instead giving uncatchable passes.. and yet, he pulled off our last 5 points to bring us within 2. By then, i was so mad that i found the fault in his last minute play..in the last possesion, where he hit that miracle three, he took like 4 extra seconds to line up a pick, leaving only .8 seconds for the rockets last shot aggravating.
I agree with the botched decision-making early, although Hayes and Battier's absences on offense are inexcusable, particularly Battier's. And the last Alston shot took long because novak never knew when or where to screen for the pick-and-pop. He came over too slow, hence why rafer was forced to shoot the 3. Yes, Alston made mistakes tonight. But to blame the loss and put it all on his shoulders? When Head committed foolish TOs as well? When the Rockets are playing 3-on-5 on offense because Battier and Hayes dont do anything? Because the Rockets get nothing out of their bench until late late in the second half? It was a team blunder tonight.
nononoon..the only reason he had 9 apg was cus of the plethora of shooters on the nuggets. if miller came here and was left open for all those threes, ya'lld be all over him for not hitting it; cus lets face it, whoever ends up guarding miller would drift off of him everytime, doubling yao. When miller misses or doesnt take all those threes, our team's strategy completely fails
Face it, our team just sucks when either of our superstars is out, and JVG is just an average coach who can't make the best with what we have. I've resigned myself to the fact that we'll lose more than we'll win with T-mac out.
Rockets111 -- I noticed you had zero response to the replies to the stats that you posted earlier. This is getting to be the norm for you -- you get exposed and simply ignore it. Luther had 1 turnover. Rafer had 5. What part of this is shocking to you? We've been telling you for God knows how long that the Rockets have to get efficient scoring/shooting out of the point guard position. You told us Rafer didn't need to shoot well ... he'd be setting up teammates all day. So if Battier isn't getting shots off, who is at fault? Rafer played 45 of 48 minutes. Kind of hard to dodge that one. The last 2 losses are on Rafer's head.
