I see Rafer playing 38+ minutes every game. No kidding. He's certainly adequate as a point guard, as he's shone drastic improvement over the second half of last season. Scoring, not really, but basically all we have (and will get) at PG. If he goes down, we're screwed. Big time.
I don't have the stats. But I have the impressions that RA did a much better job in the second half of last season than the first half. He was in an another level in the 2nd half. He had a career high in the 22nd win game against lakers. His injure was considered by many as the decisive factor of rockets loss in playoff.
I don't have the numbers in front of me, either, but I think you're right that Rafer improved in the 2nd half of last season. That may have been because he was lousy in the 1st half or because he was forced to step up when Yao went down. Or, it may have been some other reason. The point I was making was that Rafer didn't really improve last season compared to prior seasons, at least statistically. I hope that this coming season is a different story because he has every reason to succeed with the additions of Artest and Barry as well as Scola having a year of NBA basketball under his belt. I also believe that if Rafer sucks it up for any reason in the 1st half that Morey will be looking to bring in somebody that can get the job done.
Uh, actually he was very inconsistent. His 1st and 3rd game he shot *20%*. His 2nd and 4th games played were very good by his standards. In fact D. Williams in those 4 games shot over ---50%---. In Alson's defense he was injured, however on his average day he is statistically the worst starting 5 point guard in the NBA. There is simply little way to defend his play without resorting to fluff. He is decent quality as a backup. Rafer is a mathmatics/moneyball guy like Morey's worst nightmare.
He shot 39.6% in the second half... His best month of the season was March and he shot 43%. If that is "the next level" we are in trouble.
Ok see this is where percentage isn't adding up then. The way your saying he is inconsistent isn't adding up with his per game average. How the hell are you the most inconsistent shooter but yet average the same percentage at shooting both twos and threes as DWest or DFisher or DHarris? The way your calling it for mathematical terms to be correct Rafer must be having some damn dream days stats (lets say 30 points, 12 assist and 4 steals) once in a blue which we all know isn't near true but you might know something. I've added my response that was posted in the wrong topic which BrooksBall so kindly made a new topic at others request.
yeah, but only if you have no clue how to look at the significant stats. see above for why this is a false statement. someone with some basketball knowlegde would actually look at his low turnovers and his good assist numbers given that he plays with one of the best halfcourt playmakers most of the time. he would look at a solid 3p shooting percentage and good defensive numbers. he would look at how the team's winning percentage changes from when he's playing to when he's not. then he would look at his salary and probably decide that all in all rafer's a very valuable player stats-wise. but people with lacking basketball knowledge who only look at stats like ppg and apg without looking into the details and who think that every team should have 5 all stars in the starting five are the ones that constantly underrate and relentlessly bash him.
Rafer has to play consistant. I mean one night he can make 8 3-s but night after it he can go 3/18. That is the problem. But I still belive he can run this team well and I still hope he can finally became a real playmaker for this team next season.
Nicely put. Problem with saying this is that your making it look like no one else has bad nights. You want truth? I can count 5 Rockets starter who all have bad nights. I can count 5 Rocket starters who are cold in the first half and hot in the second or even worse vice versa (hot in the first half cold in the second). Hey I can count to five on my hand, hey there is only 5 starters.... I've seen LJames with some bad numbers on some games. I have definetely seen Derek Fisher with bad games. Do you know who has to play consistent?? Players making double figures (10mil plus) would be a start. What about those who make 20mil plus? People don't seem to understand, as a PG your supposed to be a playmaker....a director. But for Rafer it's harder because Tmac has the ball more then often. Note that before you talk about so called inconsistencies look at other PG's in his pay grade (around 5 mil) and see if they perform super better awesomly like whoa... I have already grabbed 3 for comparision and either Rafer is just better or on par. Also why don't you give some examples because honestly if your saying he is inconsistent but yet he is on average with other PG's then this obviously means they are incosistent? Or maybe 1 + 1 = 0?
I am sure McGrady would like to leave the ball in Rafer's hands. The problem is Rafer doesn't always create positions for other players and Tracy just has to do it. I am not saying Rafer is bad pg. He is a pretty good player in this leauge but I would like to see him handling the ball most of the time and driving to the basket more. He falls in love with those 3s so quickly and it doesn't always give good results (Btw, the same situation is about T-Mac's heat checks) . What's more, im my opinion he sometimes takes way too many shots, remember he is our point guard. Genarally I would be happy if Rafer averaged 10/6 every single night while shooting 43-45% from the floor. I think he is capable of doing it...
If Rafer is Morey's worst nightmare, why's he still with the team? Why didn't we reach out to say, Hinrich? Or perhaps Mo Will? And don't tell me Mo is a better fit for this team because I will burst if you do.
All I'm gonna say about this is that the people who don't appreciate Rafer better not use "we were playing without our starting PG" as an excuse if Rafer goes down with any significant injury this year. Rafer is critical not because of how good he is, but because of how unready all the other PGs on the roster are. Seriously. Lets say he goes down tomorrow. Who starts?
you gotta compare it wif his 06-07 hot spot. I'll let the people on this forum be the judge to decide if alston has improved.
Rafer is just fine. Why do people bash him so much? Sure, he's not Chris Paul, but only Chris Paul is Chris Paul. You can't have the best player in the league at every position. Not even the Olympic team had every single best American. The Rockets play much worse without Alston and he is without a doubt the best PG the team has right now. I do think he will play better this coming season, now that some of the scoring load is off him. He can be a good ball handler and assist guy. By the way, when Barry comes up in discussions I am surprised by how few people worry about his age. I expect him to be about as sturdy as his brother was with us a few years ago. He'll drain some spot-up threes, but does he still have the quickness to be more than a Strickland-type PG?
Sorry, but consistent and Rafer don't belong in the same paragraph. He is what he is and old dogs don't learn new tricks. The only hope for consistent PG play is for one of the backups to play decent when Rafer plays bad. Nothing I've ever seen in Rafer at any time suggests consistency. It just isn't a part of his nature. He's a natural yo yo.
