Yes but what happens if you trade Battier for a better PG? Is the PG you get going to make up for the loss of Battier? We are already weak at the 2/3 spot. You cant improve a team by making an already weak spot weaker to make another weak spot a little better. I know I know, thats not youre point. You simply want people to say that Reafer is a bad player. You say that Kenny Smith would of been a better player for this team. Well guess what? People use to say the same thing about Kenny before we won our Champoinships. Reafer has improved every year hes been here and continues to beat out all competition brought in. He isnt the best PG in the NBA but he is good enough (just as KS was) if the right players are added to this team. There are more pressing needs right now than upgrading the PG.
See this is just wrong, Rafer has not improved one single bit, he is the same player now as when we got him...same percentages, same everything. He had some hot stretches, but overall, he sucks. I agree about trading Battier, if you trade for Calderon you have to have a backup plan for someone like Magette to replace him......simply moving holes in your team around does not make the whole better. DD
Kidd's man would just double off him ALL DAY, thats added pressure. Rafer must be respected from outside. Once T-mac kicks it out to Kidd it's Final Fantasy(ask Scott, Byron). DOWNGRADE Steve Blake - Kenny Smith.... huh!!?? So the guy can shoot, so can Rafer. Rafer is a better ball handler, rebounder, defender, passing equal at best for Blake. DOWNGRADE Beno's slight edge at shooting is not gonna offset his defensive deficiency. He was always a good shooter even with the Spurs(far better than Parker), but that huge black hole couldn't even earn him minutes over Jacque Vaughn, and Pop values defense.... so do the Rockets. Right now he's in a Kings system that in which defense isn't a priority outside Artest, which suits him just fine. Again, its a step sideways and another backwards. DOWNGRADE
Hey at least this is a point in which you and I firmly agree. I am just tired of hearing..."Well, Rafer is not that bad"....because he IS that bad. By the way here are some stats for people who are arguing about my picks as upgrades, no matter how slight they might be.... Beno Udrih FG% .464 3pt .387 Asst: 4.3 ppg 12.8 Steve Blake FG% .408 3pt .406 Asst 5.1 ppg 8.5 TJ Ford FG% .469 3pt .294 (only 51 attempts all year) Assists 6.1 ppg = 12..1 Jose Calderon FG% .519 (WOW) 3pt .429 assists: 8.3 ppg 11.2 Now for the Rafer faithful: Rafer's FG% .394 (Yuck) 3pt .351 (pedestrian) Assists 5.3 PPG 13.1 Each one of those guys above brings a little bit more than Rafer to the table and in different areas....and they all shoot better than Rafer....all of them. The guy is just not good.....and the fact that Morey brought in THREE guys last year to try to replace him speaks volumes. Yes, all 3 failed, but at least the front office realizes that we have a major problem here. DD
Preface your statements with IMO, preferably spelling out In My Unknowledgeable Opinion, cause that's what they are. You're wrong on Beno, wrong on Blake, wrong on Ford. And since when is Toronto in fire sale mode like the Grizz, yeah I'm sure Toronto will give up Calderon for nothing, that was well thought out, genius. and what's the point of hitting your open shots (btw Kenny wasn't lights out as you think he was) when the other PG doubles that score of what Kenny scored. thanks for trying again, back to the drawing board for you.
Wow, If Rafer keeps those numbers up for atleast 5 more years, he will have his jersery retired next to olajuwon's
Well you should stop using it.... Of the first 10 you listed, Monta Ellis is not a PG, and in Nellie's system we see Matt Barnes playing the occasional C. He just puts any 5 guys out there. Jason Kidd RIGHT NOW at best is as good as Rafer. Rondo is equal defensively. He isn't even as good a shooter as Steve Francis in rehab. I made my case for Ford several times already. The same would apply for Andre Miller. Calderon and Rafer is a wash.
Well they probably won't be able to keep both, right, so one of them should be available....smarty pants. Kenny was lights out compared to Rafer......and it is not about how many points they score mano y mano...junior....it is about how much better the TEAM plays because of having a scoring threat on the floor. DD
What? Rafer is better than Jason kidd at his best?....You gotta be kidding.....Kid is better than alston period....
Calderon and Rafer a wash?!??! If you are not joking, I can never take anything you post on here seriously again. After reading that, you have literally made me speechless.
I guess i just don't understand the point of this thread. The discussion has gone like this: Side A: Rafer sux this much Side B: Rafer doesn't suck that much (who knows what "this much" really is) Side A: yes he does Side B: no he doesn't I think the argument is a failure. Regardless of what you think he is one our top 5 players, which is the reason why he starts, which is the main problem. The problem isn't that he isn't that good. The problem is that we aren't that good. The championship rockets didn't depend on Kenny this much and the lakers didn't depend on Fisher this much and those guys are better than rafer. You don't get po'ed that one of the dleague all-stars isn't performing you get mad becuase the organization is asking that kind of player to contribute 10+ points a game. But, that below average comment you keep bringing up seems false to me. If given the time i think i could verify that Rafer is better than 50% of the league, assuming that average is in the middle pretty easily.
Kenny Smith Rockets CAREER FG % was .494.......and his 3pt percentage was .407....not to mention he dished out 5.25 assists per game Rafer Alston's CAREER Rockets FG % is .383 and his 3pt % .351 while dishing out 5.71 assists per game Kenny OWNS Rafer....you might want to actually LOOK at the stats or know something about what you are saying before you post. SHEESH.... DD
good and bad, it's all relative. no. rafer is not THAT bad. he can be bad at times, but he for sure is not THAT bad. he's a decent pg. it just so happens that his big weakness is shooting the ball, which in turn happens to be so unfitting on this rockets team. if we can upgrade, great. if not, i'd not be screaming - provided we find ways to take care of our other needs this offseason.
See, I think it is the number 1 need, if you have a decent shooter at the PG spot you have enough with a healthy roster to win it all..... DD
Get off the stuff lol, I said RIGHT NOW. And Rafer is a far better fit for this team. Kidd is as valuable as a floppy disk in the halfcourt set. Hell no I'm not joking. What Calderon might bring offensively(which might be a higher %) is offset by his piss-poor defense. He(and Ford) were slaughtered by the Magic backcourt, which is one of the worst in the league. Rafer is out here matching numbers with Deron Williams when he played by containing him and putting up solid numbers of his own.
opposing pgs didn't just score on kenny, they Pwned Kenny. The whole time kenny was here fans wanted him replaced, sounds familiar? Rudy T wasn't a big fan of him and had Cassell close games in his first year. Kenny may have been a good shooter (not great), but he sucked everywhere else. thanks for playing, tyro.
