Rafer Alston vs. NBA starting point guards

This is one aspect of his game that's vastly overrated. His A/TO ratio puts him squarely in the middle of the curve if you look at the chart Clutch posted. The only guys who are appreciably worse are the dregs of society PGs like Smush Parker and Speedy Claxton, or the guys who do a lot of scoring, like Iverson, Arenas.

 

yea about rafer...i in no way meant to put the blame squarely on his shoulders

BUT

yao was FLAMING hot at the end of the game, making like 6 shots in a row...and rafer steps up and shoots a three..NOT good decision making. Yao barely touched the ball in the last minute, which obviously is ridiculous.


on another note, bonzi has GOT to get better...

 

Don't worry, you won't see him play any more for the Rockets...

 

From our options and our means, Rafer is the best we got. We cannot reasonably attain any player that is a tremendous improvement over Alston, nor do we have any legitimate back-up for Rafer on our current active roster.

My main issue with Alston is the minutes he plays, as I do believe that (fatigue) contributes to his reduced efficiency late in the game. This year seems to be an anomaly with his A/T.O. ratio and increased minutes is the main difference. Even then, he has been reliable with the ball in most games. Looking at his three point shooting (because his 2pt shooting is horrendous), he does have his down games but surprisingly he has been a fairly reliable shooter.

I'm honestly content with the situation because its a guarantee that Alston is going to see both his minutes and his shooting reduced. Most of what we have seen this year, particularly Alston's shooting numbers, seems to spur from necessity rather than the desirable game plan. With T-Mac and Battier's passivity, Alston was basically our #2 (or 2.5) option at shooting, as sad as that is. I do not believe the Rockets are going to trade because as Clutch said, JVG has shown that he is not extremely willing to hand out his trust to new players. But within our own team, its clear who has already earned his trust and who will be seeing playing time. When T-Mac and Snyder, two players who have solidified their positions/trust with JVG, return to action, Head will undoubtedly become Alston's primary back-up and JVG has shown that he will give Head minutes.

 

Clutch, you're going overboard. Battier not being in the offense is his own fault. He's not nearly aggressive enough when the ball DOES get into his hands (yes, it does, maybe not on every play but he does get the ball alot. And usually passes it off immediately). Maybe if JVG could draw up more plays for Battier, but with the way he's shooting this year I'm guessing we wouldn't be much more impressed with the results than Rafer's jack-a-thon.

Tell me, say we hadn't traded Mike James to the Raptors for Alston. You most magnificently pointed out that Mike James's on/off differential was better with the 04-05 rockets than Alston's now. But...I have news for you, this isn't the 04-05 Rockets. We have an almost completely different roster. Do you think Mike James would do nearly as well as Alston when the rest of the team is shooting at 35%? Do you think that he can organize the offense effectively?

The simple answer is no. Mike James has and always will be a chucker. We saw that in the Dallas series (sure, he saved our butts a couple of games. But he was singlehandedly the big reason we never stood a chance in game 7). I remember when everyone was complaining about how Sura wasn't passing into Yao nearly enough. How Mike James wasn't passing into Yao nearly enough. People never EVER are satisfied with what they have, and once they get something better they soon forget that yes, the good old days weren't so good after all.

Our team chemistry in 04-05 was amazing, and our 3point shooters were red hot. Right now it's on-again, off-again. And it's not [solely] Rafer's fault. Where is the blame for Battier with his 39% shooting? Battier has been wildly inconsistent offensively. What about Chuck Hayes? He's been fading the past few games and is a foul machine. Blows layups regularly. How about Yao's atrocious first quarter last night? Face it, when the team loses, it's a TEAM responsibility. You could say "oh, Rafer's crappy shot last night cost us the game because we had no time afterwards" but why don't you point out that Luther Head shot WORSE? What about Bonzi? We were supposed to be able to plug him in and get instant offense right?

The point is, Rafer isn't God. We shouldn't expect him to be. Every time I see him jack up a shot my heart sinks, but who else is there? Should he just hold the ball and let the shotclock wind down, or dump it into someone in tight coverage, risking a turnover?

I have to emphasize that I don't think Rafer is that good. However he shouldn't be the scapegoat of all of the team's woes. When you're losing, there should be enough blame to spread around.

 

I generally agree with what you say. Lue is a shorter version of Head, but in addition to good shooting, you also stated that Lue got handles and can pass reasonably well. That's really all we need from a point guard: defense, shooting, handles, and decent passing. He's a 53% percent shooter inside, and last year was the 2nd best 3pt shooter in the League. 6'0" isn't that bad for a PG. The Rockets are small not because Rafer and Luther are small, but because they play both of these guys at the same time (and because Hayes is small).

I haven't watched enough of Atkins so I'll go with your opinion. Of what I've seen of him, he has a decent shot and the ability to get to the bucket at times. If what you say is true, then he wouldn't be an upgrade at all.

He might be attainable because as NIKEstrad pointed out, the Celtics are going with other guards higher on their depth charts. Also West is having a terrible shooting year...which makes it a bad thing if the Rockets acquire him and he continues that way.

I agree that we should look into West, but I also am hopeful about Tyronne. For all you stats guys out there, check out Lue's +/-, they're incredible. And yes, all lot of people here (including Clutch) are still bitter about the Mike James fiasco. The Rockets screwed up twice and they deserve criticism, but it's over with and we all need to move on, unless James is re-acquirable, but he isn't. James is not producing up to standards, but he's still efficient with a good assist/to ratio, great ft%, good 3pt%, good 2pt%, and very good points per shot average...he's just not getting 40mpg, which he should.

The PF spot is an issue that many here are overlooking. Hayes is a hustler and great position defender but is just simple over-matched by taller, bigger, stronger, more skilled power forwards. His height makes his layups harder to finish too. Jho is slow and not good at keeping quick guys off the boards, but his offensive hustle is making him have a great offensive rebounding year. Jho is hustling and his jumper is really underrated...not a great jumper, but I'd say 2nd tier PF jumpshooter, along the lines of McDyess and Joe Smith (behind the Brian Cooks and KG's).

Yes, JJ also owned Luther. Brandon Roy also owned Battier...Battier did play decent D for the most part, but just isn't quick enough. Portland is just not a good matchup for the Rockets without T-Mac and Snyder. Seriously, I'm mad about this loss but not very surprised at all. I'm more upset about Minnesota and the Golden State game...the Lakers and Portland and any other team with good shooters, quick guards, athletic wing players, and tall/good power forwards are terrible matchups for the Rockets. That is why Phoenix totally pwns the Rockets. Phoenix has everything that the Rockets can't matchup to, and they run like crazy. Let's just hope T-Mac and Snyder are back soon, because they really help us out there.

I noticed that too. 2 terrible shots in a row, the first was an early hoisted 3 by Rafer, and the 2nd was an actual PLAY run for Luther called by JVG that ended up in a missed 2pt jumper in the corner!!!! This was when Yao did hit like 6 in a row!!!! That was frustrating..I blame Rafer and Luther and JVG. And yes, Bonzi does need to get better.

 

Did you forget that rafer overlooked battier when he was posted up at least 3 times last night?
How can battier increase his offensive production when he doesn't get the ball? And when he does get the ball, its in the corner where yao is posted up, and i sure as hell dont want him to overlook yao in the post.

Also, Mike James would thrive in this position while tmac is out. How can he not? If rafer gets to shoot 17+ times a game, im pretty sure Mike James in the same situation would outshoot rafer 100% of the time

 

You fail to see the point. Yes, Mike James would be much better than Rafer offensively. But he's much more of a black hole on offense. Remember the times that he thought he was THE superstar of the Rockets and jacked up contested shots early in the shot clock without even thinking about passing? All this while Tmac was on fire. Remember that? It would be like that, except even worse. Mike James cannot carry a team by himself. He proved that in Toronto. And that would be exactly what he would try to do here, because he already did try it while he was here the first time.

I can't wait to see the number of complaining posters if we HAD signed mike james and he had a bad night of chucking which cost us the game.

 

Reality indicates you're wrong. Go back to page one. Do not collect $200 if you pass GO!

 

Most of TOs are passing TOs . Have you actually watched the game when you say he is vastly overrated.

 

History indicates you're wrong. Go back to 2004-2005. Do not collect "2nd round of playoffs" if you pass GO!

 

I don't mean to doublepost, but I just did a quick check of stats to make sure I'm right. Mike James is shooting about 1 shot every 2.8 minutes in Minnesota this year, despite being 3rd option behind KG and Davis. Rafer is shooting 1 shot every 3.2 minutes. Luther is shooting 1 shot every 3.2 minutes.

So yes, I'm quite sure that the Mike James jack-a-thon would have been in full effect if he were here.

 

Alston is fine when both Yao and Tmac are healthy, our record showed that. But when Tmac is injuered, it's a totally different story.

 

You're pretty much no one to tell me what I do know. Let's just get that clear right now.

I can approach my opinion any way I wish. I don't recall being too "smug" about it, but hey, I'm sorry I didn't recognize the sensitivity. What you're doing is placing everyone's poor efforts (Battier's, in particular, as well as the team's) on the shoulders of Alston. What happened to responsibility? What happened to accountability? These are pro basketball players. Alston's job as point guard is to run the offense, take care of the ball, and hit open shots. He does run the offense (no body on the team is a better post-entry passer, nor is anyone else better in transition as a passer), he does take care of the ball (low TOs, around 2.6 per game in about 38 mpg), and whether you accept it or not, 36.7 percent is an above-average number for 3-point shooting. Not only that, he proved tonight against SA that he is more than capable of penetrating the defense and finishing at the rim.

It is the coach's job to get players the ball more to be more effective. JVG's playbook consists of Yao plays, I'm sure, as well as TMac and such. And you know what? Rafer does a great job of getting them the ball, in positions to be effective. He gets Yao in position in the right places so he can score his 27 ppg. He does a nice job of not getting the ball to Yao too early when he's out of place, and of swinging the ball and moving the ball. It's no coincidence that Yao's been at his most efficient offensively these past two years, with Rafer as his PG. Yes, 1/2 is Yao's steady improvement in learning the game, but it's also about having a PG who understands player position and when and where to get your scorers the ball. Something Bob Sura or Mike James never could even attempt to do.

The only thing I've flipped back and forth on is how effective Rafer's shooting must be in order for the Rockets to win. And that's because I tried to consider your thoughts about how so important it is than Rafer be some superhuman PG for this team. But, no, as long as Rafer keeps scoring well (12-15 ppg), running the offense smoothly and keeping TOs down, if he hits 36% or above on 3s, it's fine. Because we KNOW and are CONFIDENT Yao will get his shots and great looks, we know we'll get at least 10 points or so in transition, and we know that if we DO in fact have transition opportunities, Rafer will make a good decision on the break.

Are there better PGs out there for this team? Sure, just like there's better options at PF, SF, and SG, and there's more people we could use off the bench. The problem is, the better options can't be had right now because no one's going to trade valuable assets. And Rafer is a valuable asset to this team.

 

Before anybody gets a chance to jump all over you for this post, I'd like to point this paragraph out to everyone. I think that at least this much is worthy of concession, regardless your stance.


**** the Spurs.


That is all.

 

Please tell me what are you trying to imply in this statement along with your "Shanghai survey" post in another thread? Is it really necessary to bring Chinese into your debate/argument?

You know there are a lot of Chinese here in your bbs and many of us wholeheartedly support Houston Rockets and wish every success of this foreign basketball team. We appreciate your great effort and respect you so much simply because of your dedication and contribution as a fans to the same team we like. I know some of us are really annoying and made stupid posts (perhaps I am one of them from your point-of-view now) but you can just ban the logins.

I always look up to you and enjoy your writings, especially game recaps and player interviews, very much. Please avoid, to your best endeavor, implying Chinese stupidities/poor English writing skills in your posts while there was nothing necessary Chinese-related. Joking is fine, occasional sarcasm is okay. I may be sensitive here but it is really frustrating to see your tendency of constant sarcasm about us Chinese recently.

 

that's ok.. good work.
nobody ever said that Rafer Alston is top10 PG in the league.. he's not.
those stats a little bit dissapointed for me, as a fun of Rafer...
but i think he's ok for us, really, he's at the middle.. the 15th-17th starting point guard in the NBA, what can we ask for? every team has 1 weak position on the court, so they brought Span, Lucas.. and Sure should be back by the All-Star weekend..