Rafer needs to do nothing else except hit the open shots, it is obvious that he is going to continue to have trouble doing this. What happened to JVG mantra that the team was hgoing to get out and run a little bit because in the games I've seen we have not pushed the ball at all. If we are not going to force the issue then Rafer really isn't going to look very good. Put Luther in at starting pg and let him camp out at the three because atleast we know he can drain them at a good clip. Rafer has the same problems Steve Francis had in that he is not a catch and shoot guy and in an offense that relies primarily on Yao's scoring and dishing to wide open shooters we need catch and shoot guys. If we were running more Rafer would look a little better but he is not Kenny Smith and will not look very good if he is being asked to play like him. His main strengths are his quickness, handles and vision; none of which are taken advantage of by having him jog it up, dump it down and clank wide open treys. I can understand why we got away from running because when Snyder went down, we lost alot of our athleticism on the break.
20 days ago I am sure he was shooting something else. Why does that matter? Right now he is shooting 35.7%.
I just NBA stat page, in recent 10 games, Rafer is 0.328% on 3pt line, so he is back to last year again.....
blazer_ben, It's been a while that you jump to conclusion and call people YOF to dismiss people's opinion. You are not going to win any argument like that. Since YOF is a bad term on this board, you are basically resorting to name-calling, which is very bad. We all know you are a huge TMac fan, I am a TMac fan myself, since his Toronto years, those Chinese fans you picked on, they didn't call you TOF, did they? Your claim that most YOFs want TMac gone, and therefore anyone Chinese mentioned trading TMac is a YOF, that's ridiculous and illogical to say the least. What if someone proposed TMac for Kobe, I know you don't like Kobe, but I am sure many Rockets fans may jump on that ship, does that make them all YOFs? Let's go even further, what if someone proposed TMac for LBJ? Not that Cleveland will do that, but will Clutch support such trade, if possible? I guess so. Does that make him a YOF as well? Oh, I forgot, he's NOT Chinese. Not sure how much time you spent hanging around Chinese BBS, I guess ZERO second would be accurate. But you are so certain that how most Chinese basketball fans are YOFs, and how YOFs all want TMac gone. Let me tell you something, on Chinese sports boards, Yao Ming is certainly a hot topic. So-called YOF and YOH take on turns to deliver their biased opinions, but the majority want Yao Ming's team to succeed. Being Yao Ming's fans, doesn't mean they are all stupid. It's proven that one top player can not succeed, not even if you are at the level of AI and KG in their primes. Yao Ming is not at their top level yet; in other words, Yao is never going to succeed alone. As fans of Yao, even more for YOFs, they want Yao to succeed. By that logic, only YOHs would want Yao to be the lone star on the team, given that TMac is one of the most unselfish players. I remember a year ago, you called posters with a Chinese like name proposing to trade Yao away, YOFs in disguise. Your logic was that they wanted Yao to go somewhere else to ride someone else's jork. Do you see yourself here? As long as a poster said something regarding roster you disagree, and he/she happens to pick a Chinese like screenname, you will call them YOFs. That's just terrible act. Like RocketsForever said, he doesn't like the idea to trade TMac for AI, neither do I. I love AI's passion and fire, which is obviously at a higher level than both Yao and TMac, but he's passed his prime and sometimes is a ball-hog. But the poster was obviously worried about TMac's back. Who isn't? Unless he's not a Rockets fan. But you just jumped out to call him a YOF, that's so uncalled for. To make things even worse, your reason was "obviously he's a Chinese". You got to rest your silly labelling game.
Not sure whether to laugh or cry... Alston's strength as a player is lost in slower transition? He's the one bring the ball up. (Also the one who doesn't finish a break very well). Alston has Stevie-itis and is not good a catch and shoot player? Funny, I recall not that long ago he was the perfect fit because he was a "true" PG...get the ball to Yao and wait for the double team and he'll be wide open. Now we need quicker tempo and the ability to drive? Those are Alston's strong suits? Someone is confused.
I disagree, at least for this season. I am not a Rafer fan, but who are the alternatives? -Head is a clear SG -Spanoulis is not ready, yet (maybe next year) -JL3 is too short to be a starter, actually his style reminds me more of an undersized SG than an PG So...let's keep it as it is.. By the way, It is really funny that many people here at some moment admire a certain player, and one day later they want to bench him, send him to NBDL, trade him etc. Unbelievable. I observed the same with Head, Spanoulis, JL3,Yao,TMac...
well i always thought his court vision was decent in a transition game. For the love of God I can't work out why his been so horrible laying up the damn ball. I can't even work out why he can't finish a break. If he has someone to pass to on the break i think he would look pretty decent like a Snyder type. I don't the Rockets are particularly good at running the break......Alston is good at running a break just not finishing it. But who does he pass to? to finish Phoneix style? short of Mcgrady and Snyder i don't see many other ppl on this team to pass to. I mean remember that pass that Chuck Hayes blew, on his And1 no looker against Dallas..........
Well the main task of a pg is to dish assists. Concerning his shot, you are right, but he has other scoring abilities-like penetrating. I bet that in 2 years, when he has got established in the league he will get more charges when penetrating than Wade! If Span plays the 1, let Head be the 2 and TMac and/or battier play the 3. Then our team has everything: Good penetration, good shooting, and good inside game with Yao and Hayes.
Good post. The shortcomings of his logic have already been pointed out without any acknowledgement from him. Pretty obvious he's the ignorant one here.
NBA players with speed and ball handling ability are their own 1 man break...Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, Speedy Claxton, Chris Paul, Nate Robinson, Earl Watson and Earl Boykins to name only a few. To say that Alston's ability in the break went down when Snyder went down totally ignores that fact that Snyder was not a starter but a rotational player. I'm not a fan of Chuck Hayes but he does have good hands and runs the floor well for a big man. Sighting a single incidence is not very conclusive. With McGrady in the lineup every starter but Yao should be able to provide quick transition offense regularly. With McGrady out you have to go to deeper into your bench...Luther Head, Spanoulis and John Lucas III are all more than adequate at getting up the court quickly. No excuses...Mike James and Sura got up the court quicker with David Wesley and Juwan or Rybo starting and Jon Barry off of the bench!
No i agree. i think i am being tad paranoid these days. . i've allways tried to be a tolerent person. so if i'm coming across as otherwise, jeez, not my intention.
Just because i dont want to beat a dead horse down, it certianly dosent equate to me running away or anything of the sorts.
LOL ... blazer_ben, you have been making a case for yourself as an undisputed poor man's NewYorker. If you don't grasp what I mean, I can tell you NewYorker is at least somewhat intelligent and entertaining, whereas you are neither.
Riiiiight, suffer through this horrendous 14-7 start. You are right. Rafer is not the perfect PG, not by any means, but some nights he'll help us win games, some nights he won't. That can be said for just about any person on our roster. As much as I love Luther Head, I just don't think he can start unless you are talking about sliding him to the 2, and having Tracy run the point. Last night's Yao lap sitting is on everyone that couldn't make a bucket in the flow of the offense, not just one.
I doubt Alston will be benched because his on/off court stat is much better than Head at 82games.com....
It's not all about stats. Rafer has too many mediocre and brain fart moments to warrant as much time as he gets. Some plays he won't even set up, he'll just jack up a 3 like it's his personal practice time.
I dont think Rafer will be stripped off his starting job right now. He is still the best PG on this team, experience wise, believe or not. But me think that JVG will sub Rafer out much more quickly now that JLIII shows he can play a little.
