Rafer has got to be the SOFTEST starting PG in the league!!

Did you see his performance in the 12 minutes of 'garbage time' against the Spurs? 3 TO's / 0 assists. Looked totally out of place on the court.

for the season: .9 assists/game, .88 to/game.

He's got an upside but has got to get his handle under control to get minutes on a good NBA team.

 

Thanks. I didn't watch the 2nd half of the Spurs game.

I agreed. I haven't seen much good things out of him the few times he saw the court.

 

Agreed 100%. 5 star thread...only because, during your truthful rant, you didn't complain about JVG or demand for VSpan to play.

I agree, Rafer is really bad. And the saddest thing is he really is our best option. He makes some decent plays, hits some big shots, but everytime he drives to the hoop you know it's gonna be a missed floater (like when Luther does you know it's gonna be an errant pass)

And that foul last night

 

I love it. Rafer is the Adam Everett of this team. Everytime the Astros get outscored, everybody calls for Adam Everett's head, even though he's not on the Astros to get hits and the reason the Astros lose is because their power batters, like our scorers, can be inconsistent.

Rafer wasn't brought in to drive to the basket like Dewayne Wade or to be a lockdown defender like (wait, there are no lock-down defender PGs in this league). He's here to run the offense and not turn over the ball, and he does those things well when Yao and Tracy and the rest of the team does their job.

I've said this before in another thread. Find another point guard, not on a rookie contract, that does everything that Rafer does PLUS scores in traffic, shoots for a better percentage, and is strong enough to play better D, and then compare that PG's contract to Rafer's. You are all searching for a point guard that doesn't exist.

 

Whoah...wait a minute. I am not blaming Rafer for our losses. When we lose, it's because the TEAM doesn't defend/play with energy/shoot well.

BTW, every other point guard in the league (with regular minutes) shoots the ball better than Rafer does. I'll go and check when I get some free time at work to see who has a comparable contract and is better. Shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Rafer doesn't have to drive the backet like Dwayne Wade or be a lockdown defender, and yes there are good PG defenders lol. Rafer doesn't really run the offense, I don't know if you have noticed but Yao and Tmac are the ones that create the wide open looks on this team, not Rafer. Rafer has to be the guy that can knock down the open shot, play good defense, and take care of the ball. Out of these 3 Rafer's only strength is taking care of the ball. He is a bad fit on this team and clearly one the weaker starting PGs in the league on a team that is supposed to be a contender. I'm not saying Rafer is the reason we are losing, but him combined with our glaring hole at the 4 spot reduce our margin of error significantly.

 

Jamaal Tinsley. Chuckie Atkins. There's two right there. Better in almost every category, and they are not elite PG's. Their PER is WAY better than Rafer's as well.

Not saying that I prefer those players, but it answers your questions.

Asking to find someone for the money is a bit difficult considering most PG's in the league nowadays are still on rookie contracts.

 

if we can identify the player who most resembles Charlie Ward or Chris Childs, we got our man!

 

Jamaal Tinsley is injury prone ballhog and has 5 years left on a 40 million dollar contract. Rafer has 4 years left on a 26 million dollar contract. Jamaal Tinsley is an upgrade over Rafer but he's making almost double the salary.

Chuckie Atkins is a free-agent next year, and I would be shocked if we brought him in. Another overrated ballhog who's doing well on a crappy team during a contract year. See also Mike James, who tore it up last year for the Raptors but now can't get off the bench behind a rookie.

Today's league, under the new rules, puts a huge premium on scoring point guards that can also be playmakers. We're never going to have one unless we get lucky in the draft or we trade TMac or Yao. Until we move one of those players, we're always going to be weak at power forward and point guard. It could be worse, we could be Miami this year!

 

rafer's defense isnt that bad and i would hardly call him 'soft'. too many people throw that term around without using it correctly.

 

There are usually multiple reasons for losses but the one consistancy is Rafer's poor shooting. I watched the Spurs-Bobcats game last night and Jacque Vaughn looks like a better PG He can hit the mid-range shot and doesn't force things like Rafer. In my opinion, Rafer would rather make a big shot than dish out a dime. Thats a big flaw for your point guard to have.

 

Poor Rafer. I mean...didn't he spend all off-season working on his shot? And, where did it get him? He still can't shoot worth a darn. If you can't hit your shot with any consistency, then you become a liability. He can't just not shoot because the other teams would pick up on that and use that against us. He's got to pretend to be a shooting threat but I think all of the league knows if he is hitting his shots...then he is having some good luck and it's not that often. If I'm the other team, then I take that gamble of focusing more on TMac and/or Yao while leaving Rafer open more. What's he going to do? Knock down several jumpers in a row? Yea...and pigs will fly.

 

Rafer's weaknesses would probably be covered if Sura were still up and running. As it is, we need a starting-caliber or just a backup, either one would do Rafer a world of good.

 

If happened,Billups must be looking for a max contract.

 

Rafer has been terrible the past couple games, but how come we all bash him and give Luther a free pass. He has been just as bad as Rafer has been during this bad streak. Some of his passes leave me wondering what in the world he was thinking. It isnt just poor execution it is poor judgment. His shot has become less and less consistent as the year has gone on and his defense isnt that strong either.

I think it is too easy to pick on Rafer. Yes he has been horrible, but so has just about everyone during the past few games. Everyone worries that we will lose in the playoffs cuz of Rafer. i dont think he can either win or lose us games. If Yao and tracy play well we compete with everyone, if they play poorly like last night anyone can beat us.

 

what bugs me most about Rafer besides his horrible shooting, porous defense, and terrible decision making is his tendency to never attack the basket when there's a pick for him. often times, the lane is wide open for him to go through, yet he always brings the ball back out.

but he's all we have and we have to live with it since no one else can do any better.

 

Rafer Altson SUXS BIG DONKEY NUTZ!

 

Rockets have
1. the softest PG in the league
2. a star with the worst shot selection in the league
3. a DUMBASS for a backup PG/SG.
4. another star who is the most turnover prone in the league
5. a midget 6'6'' starting PF with no jump shot.
6. a perimeter "defensive ace" who is slower than most of the guys he end up guarding
7. a fat backup SF/SG
8. guys who are old, soft, ugly, or all of the above as backup bigs.
9. A coach who should be fired.
10. the 95th best (out of 98) GM in pro sports.











It's amazing they win any game at all.

 

The Rockets also have:

1. The best center in the league.
2. Top five swingman at the two.
3. Best defense in the league.
4. Top ten coach.
5. A perimeter defender who can carry the weight against most elite swings.(Shoots better than 40% from the outside)
6. Career numbers from its backup 5. (Could easily start for most teams.)

etc.

Rafer Alston blows but it's not like we didn't try to upgrade the position. The T-Wolves didn't bite on our deal so don't blame CD for the T-Pups having the best GM in the league.

 

I don't have the boxscore in front of me, but with Yao back in the lineup, I saw Rafer pass on shots he usually takes, and made passes into Yao.

Recently, everyone has been missing shots. Why is it Battier can have horrible shooting nights, but get a pass b/c he's such a "hussle player?" Do our other players not work just as hard? Head diving all over the floor last night. Rafer is top 10 in steals if I'm not mistaken. He does keep the TO's to a minimum.

The reason some of the defenders of Rafer don't post is b/c it gets tiresome. I have no problem with people complaining about things as long as they are fair about it. Rafer takes far too much heat when there is plenty of players on the roster having bad nights as well. We are just so quick to make excuses for the others.

Chuck commits soo many fouls, Head is forcing his play, Tracy won't drive when his shot is suckin, Battier can go 1 for X on any given night like anyone else, Howard needs to stick to his mid range shot, etc. etc.

When we play well, I praise the team, when we play poorly, I blame the team. Our guys play hard, I support them through thick and thin. You guys carry on with the posts of [Rocket's name] Sucks!!!! ZOMG11!!