[rquoter]"I don't think every night he'll go 1-for-9," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. [/rquoter] No, Stan. He'll throw in a few 3-for-10 and 4-for-14 games too. [rquoter]"He was getting into the paint. He's not as good as a finisher as Jameer was, but he's not going to miss all those all the time.""[/rquoter] Just 65% of the time.
Tonight was vintage Rafer Alston. The one shot he hit was luck too. If Rafer was playing down the stretch tonight against the Mavs the Rockets probably would've lost. I'm glad he's gone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?_r=2 Maybe you should read this a few times and you'll realize why.
rafer hater here from the start! glad he's off our team but i still think we could've gotten more for him.
No one in Houston denied that he could pass But he was an offensive liability and the Rockets needed a PG who is fast, can penentrate and hit jumpshots, Brooks is going to get better this season and the following seasons.
Not for nothing, but to properly evaluate a point guard, you need to consider the overall team performance. I'd put their individual scoring at maybe the last thing on the list as they do many other things that are more indicative of their success at their position. Orlando looked pretty good and should get better as Rafer learns his players a bit more. I'd call it a successful debut, not stellar, but successful.
caps guy is more annoying than italics guy.. rafer will find himself starting for a team that has a chance to advance deep into the playoffs, while morey has already resigned the fact that this season is a wash i wish rafer the best, although he wasnt a star pg, he did bring a lot of heart to this rockets team as well as some attitude good luck pal
1-9 is utter crap for ANY point guard because teams will just slack off of you on defense. I would only accept 1-9 from someone like Ben Wallace in his prime. You must be RIDICULOUSLY good at everything else to make up for that kind of crap shooting.
+1 to that. Beyond shooting inconsistency, my 2 biggest complaints about Alston's game where his inability to finish strong and his total lack of an NBA-level transition O game. Can't provide the exact minute, but case in point was the last game before the All Star break. Alston and Artest wound up in a 2 on1 against an average defender. Alston held the ball too long and the break looked terrible as his last resort was a missed floater. (Self-talk at that point was "why don't the spreadsheet gurus see this stuff?" ). By contrast, the usual 6-7 fastbreak points the Rox average turned into 14 vs DAL. I don't "hate" Rafer and he'll do well in ORL. But realistically, Jameer Nelson's backup is what they've acquired. The difference between the 2 not being post entry passes, but transition.
If you're providing an excuse for Alston, I call BS. In addition to Scola...Wafer, Artest, Barry and Landry also run. If you'd watched the games with any degree of analysis, you'd have seen no change when Rafer was on the court with the speed team.
I was meaning it is hard to be consistent when a lot of the guys don't run. I was mainly talking about the starting group. Also Artest has his problems on the fast break also.
So you don't think I'm getting feeble as the season wears on, Battier critique to follow. Got it. And you're dead-on right when talking starters. Grady and Battier don't run either. But ORL has a really, really good transition O game. They can ALL run...Hedo, Rashard, Courtney Lee and Dwight Howard. My point is that ORL (some combination of fans, media, management and players) at some point will get frustrated with Rafer's transition O game and lack of finishing strong. Again...NOT a hater...just pointing out something many people don't see.
I agree. One big problem Rafer tends to have in the transition game is pulling up for jumpers. That is his big weakness in the transition game. I do think that Brooks being so quick will help our transition game. Also this team seems more energized when T-mac isn't out there so that should help too.
