Hopefully he does play , but I dont expect him to play like he did during the 22 game streak, not right away.
Well if he can't that there is noting we can do. But even without him I expect Bobby to have a lot better night in Game 2, Brooks also has to step up
The difference with Rafer is that if he is not hitting then you can try Jackson.....so you have at least 2 chances to get a PG that is shooting well. For those who think Rafer is a creator you are delusional, he does not create, he makes the safe pass.....every time..... A good PG can create for others....Tracy is a creator.....Rafer is not.... Rafer is a guy who is excellent on the dribble, but who shoots FAR FAR FAR too much for a guy who can't shoot. Yes, he gets hot and on those days...fire away...but his problem is that he has lacks a quality control chip that tells him when he is 2 for 12 that he might want to rethink that 13th shot. As for him coming back, I hope he is healthy, because if not, he could hurt himself and the team by coming back early. DD
The number of posts on this board about the "Return of the Rafer" is hilarious. It is not like Willis Reed is going to run on the court and save the day. The team doesn't exactly need more 30% shooting.
you exhibit an incredible lack of understanding about basketball. just because rafer makes the simple pass instead of the flashy one does not mean he isn't a creator. tmac gets much better shots when rafer is in the game. and the assertion that rafer only makes simple passes isn't even true, otherwise tmac wouldn't be getting a lob dunk every game off of rafer's assist. and you're right about rafer shooting when he isn't hot, but what would you prefer? a player who gets gun shy after missing a few baskets? it's not like rafer continuously takes horrible shots, he takes decent looks and just misses because he isn't a great shooter. coaches take that any day of the week over players that pass up open looks. some open shots you HAVE to shoot, even if you're going to miss. that's basic basketball. and its clear that we don't have any players on this roster besides novak that you can rely on every single game to make shots; subbing players willy nilly to find a hot hand is not that easy and adelman does a good enough job of it when rafer isn't feeling it.
You know what, you are correct.....he does make that pass.....And the weird thing is that Rafer has no problem passing to Tmac, but he doesn't create for others.....it is almost sureal....he is programmed to pass almost exclusively to Tmac. It is not the shots he shoots off of other passes where he is wide open it is him getting the pick, going around it and then launching a 3 instead of hitting the cutter....and he does this almost EVERY time.... And, If he is going to do that, and not hit, he is hurting the team. The guy is a CAREER SUB 40% shooter....that is NOT starting quality......Rafer is a good backup PG, but as a starter, he is less than ideal (and I am being kind). DD
i agree with you wholeheartedly here. but the point is that on our squad, he's the best option at point, as sad as it may be. and we're better off if he's available than if he's not.
I concur, but if people think he is the answer than they are asking the wrong question. As for best option, I actually think it would be more prudent of the organization to get Brooks more time.....the team is not really a threat this year, so they need to be building for next year...... DD
We really have a problem in our back court. Rafer is sub 40%. Head shouldn't ever touch the ball unless it is to bomb a three pointer. Jackson has shown that he has lost a step or two and has made really silly mistakes that a starter can't afford to do. Brooks is too small (actually, all of them are too small). On top of that, TMac is sub 40% too. Come to think of it, we have a huge problem with our front court too. Hayes can only play half a game because he is a big waste of space on offense. Deke is only marginally better on offense. Scubola's tendancy to blow layups costs us big time. Battier can't create his own shot. Landry is clearly hurt. On top of all this, we are a sub 70% FT shooting team. All of this means we will rarely be efficient on offense. If we get fouled, we can't make them pay. Our inside game is inefficient. Our outside game can be absolutely terrible and on average, it will just be mediocre. It is no wonder that we've been *blown out* by the western powerhouses of late. We just can't compete with them. The Jazz were smart to throw their last game against the Spurs to get an easy first round match up.
so since you don't think we have a chance this year - we should just pack it in and prepare for next year? What kind of crap is that? This Rocket's team has been about fighting all year and you'd rather just look forward to the future and train up other players since we can't really do anything this year anyway. We're in the playoffs, we're not talking about tanking to get a better lottery pick! That's just pathetic...I'm glad no coach would ever subscribe to your philosophy
Rafer is out tonite. Also stated is the obvious... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5716477.html
Jackson chasing williams around takes away his shooting. I feel that brooks should start, take advantage of his youth.
Be careful what you wish for! Rafer is done. He will not play a game in this series. We will have to get by without him.
This reminds me of a couple years ago in our series W/ Dallas. If you'll remember we lost Juwan Howard to injury before the series and lost another (small but reliable) scoring/rebounding threat. The funny thing to me was that before this happened the board was alive with poster after poster bashing Juwan about how useless he was and how we needed a REAL PF for that position. But when we lost him and we saw how much he was really giving us everyone was calling for him back and we lost too much without him. Jump forward to this year - b*tching and moaning about how useless Rafer is and he can't distribute (which I don't agree about), and shoots too much (which I agree about), etc. and then we lose him. Now everyone's calling for him to come back and save us.... History sucks sometimes. -Humer
