Nonsense. We traded away Jim Jackson, which shows JVG's "loyalty" has limits. Mike James fit us in 04/05 pretty well even though he wasn't schooled in JVG's system. What you're missing is mid-season trades can result in the player "aiming to please" and fit in because he joins a team midstream, wants to fit in and feels like he's on a contender. This is why MJ's flakiness was minimized in 05 and came out full bore his next full season at Toronto. You also must remember this is JVG's contract year and if Morey and Les want a new PG, JVG will not stand in the way. I'm not necessarily saying Rafer will be traded. IMO, he will stay on as a backup. You and others are overplaying this loyalty stuff off the deep end. JVG wants to win as much as anyone and would not object to a trade that improves the team. My prediction is the TE will be used to get a new PG.
Hey, I'm not settling for anything less than a championship. But do you honestly think that we will be able to trade for a better pg??? The parts are all here, their just hurt. I will guarantee that when Yao, Bonzi, and Snyder come back from their injuries, Rafer will not be taking as many shots. You can hold me to that. When all three of those guys are back, Rafer will return to his regular role as a distributor. As for now, someone has to shoot the ball, I wish it was TMac everytime, but thats not realistic.
Too bad, we can't just sign up Jay Williams and have him rebuilt from head to toe by John Patterson, like he did for T-Mac.
It definitely won't be Travis Diener. LOL! For you experts out there, can you compare our trade exception and Sura's salary to various PGs around the league to see what we could concoct in a trade? Something to also keep in mind is Sura's salary can be added to another player's on the roster to acquire a higher salaried player.
Depends who is out there. I agree with A_3PO on this. Expect to see another point guard, but I differ from him - I don't expect us to land a guard who will start over Rafer, but I suspect we'll get guy who can at least take minutes from him on a consistent basis. Desert Scar brought up the Memphis point guards. I think just about anyone in the East could be movable, so I'd look around there. There are a lot of maybes out there, so it's impossible to predict at this point. You could maybe get one of the Indiana guys (Tinsley, Jasikevicius, Armstrong), or maybe Dooling or Arroyo from Orlando. With Ben Gordon continually blowing up and Hinrich around there, and the focus on Thabo to become a point guard, a guy like Chris Duhon would be a fantastic fit here. Or maybe an Antonio Daniels becomes available. Maybe Miami throws in the towel and Jason Williams or Payton are given away. It's hard to say at this point, but if we don't go out and get a PG, it won't be for lack of effort.
It will be illuminating to let us know who you think will be available for the TE in a PG slot, that will be 1. An upgrade over Rafer 2. Who is a better defender 3. Will settled down in the JVG system in 2-3 months. My sense is that Rafer's minutes will be shared. And we will more likely go for depth in the bench- a la Mo Pete etc If you look at the numbers- if we are doing badly at PG spot-and we cannot fill it- we look to strengthen the bench, in the hope that Yao and Tmac will keep the differential at Center and SF/SG- to make up for the negative differential at PG. I am not talking about my wishes per se- but that is what is practical in the Trade deadline market.
Hell no to Tinsley- if you are scared about Rafer, then yu willb e mortified with Tinsley. I like Armstrong and his hustle but that is not a solution.Jasikevicius- I am personally OK- but I dont think he will be available. Duhon is just wishful thinking. More Likely we may settle for a Brevin Knight calibre person.
I don't think it makes one a "Rafer apologist" so point out there is no other serviceable starting point guard on this team. I want an upgrade at starting point guard as much as anyone on this board, but I don't really see any reasonable suggestions of who to start at the point if Rafer were to be benched. It is very easy to complain about him, but what is the solution? That is what I want to hear. We all watch the games or look at the stats so we know how terrible he is shooting. However, it took a lot more than just Rafer's horrid shooting for us to lose this game. TMAC shot bad, Novak missed his shots...I believe TMAC shot 5-10 ft's in regulation, if he hits his average we win. So not apologizing for Rafer, just reminding everyone we win or lose as a team. As for a solution, I would start Head or JL3 over Span. But my hope is that a trade is in order...that or just use Rafer to start the game/2nd half and limit him to about 18-20 minutes a game. It's definately time to start giving 15-20 m/g to JL3 and give Span a cup of coffee now and again to see if he is ready to crack the rotation. Rafer's just not a good shooter, that much is obvious.
Sarunas is not a playmaker. You can count on him to hit the open shots and to occasionally get a good shot for himself, but that's it. Duhon is good. Duhon is very good, especially if he gets a chance in JVG's system. Very underrated shooter and playmaker. But like you said, he's a long shot. The bulls love him. Skiles loves him. No way they'd give him to us, especially with our nonexistant tradeable assets. I like Darrell Armstrong, but he's done. He's running on pure caffeine now. The man literally gets himself drunk on coffee before a game. That's how he keeps his manic pace up. Read this about him back when he was running the point with Tmac in Orlando. That's how many years ago? 3-4? And he was already on his last legs then. Brevin Knight is a VERY good playmaker. Steady too. But he has no outside shot. Granted, he can get off good shots inside the arc despite his smallish size, but yeah...He'd be a good backup. But for a starter, ideally we need someone who can shoot AND pass the ball well and safely. Tinsley fits both the bills, but he's just a headcase and ULTRA inconsistent. If you can't live with Rafer's hot and cold shooting, you'd go bonkers at Tinsley. He's like the point guard version of Stromile Swift imo.
If they can just pull another TE-Kirk Snyder deal to get a backup PG. I would be happy with Rafer riding pine, when he gets shot happy.
um....loosing by 4 points and him going 4 for f@ckin 17 i think is good evidence its broke........since yaos been out shooting below .300 4 times shooting below .400 3 times and shooting .400 once (not above .400) is makin me lean towards thinkin its broke.........and 3 assists in 31 min for a supposed "pass first" pg leads me to believe its broke.............what more do you need to realise this guy SUX JL III is a kid and looks much better out there than rafer. he is holding us back, he needs to be the backup not lucas.
I think our temporary if not permanent solution to the PG position is to play TMac as a point forward. I think the ideal starting lineup would look like this: TMac Head Shane Juwan Deke Tmac is as good as any ball handling point guard in the league so why not? Positions 1-4 have an outside shot so no one is a liability on the perimeter. Head is bigger and better on defense and can pick up the opposing teams PG. JL3 can head up the second unit ball handling responsibilities when TMac needs a rest. Bonzi will add depth to 2/3 positions when he gets back. Am I the only one that thinks this would work??
These guys make more of their TWO pointers is the difference (Except Livingston this year). Rafer driving in within a foot of the basket and AIRBALLING A LAYUP on a floater is just terrrible.
IF we have to Change PG- and that is the managements view. We need to go for bust and go big. I am talking of trading Rafer+ Bob Sura + whatever to get a Real PG. Andre Miller is my preferred choice- I know, he does not shoot the 3 ball well. But I can bet that he will improve our FG percentage and will defend. This way we just lose Rafer and Create a Roster Spot. Do we really need to shoot that many 3's at the PG slot- when a better FG percent and FT's will do? It may take a sweetner- but Miller is definitely an upgrade. IF we are going deep into Playofff and JVG is still our coach- what good is a First round pick? We definitely will not get a starter- if we do luck out, JVG is not too keen on rookies- why waste one more year?
T-Mac is a decent ball handler with great vision when healthy...but today, he was weak and hurting and couldn't control the ball worth crap...he played through a lot of pain and did decent considering the circumstances. Rafer Alston 21 games played with T-Mac and Yao 35.6 minutes per game 10.6 field goal attempts per game (36.3% shooting) 4.5 2pt attempts per game (35.5% shooting) 6.1 3pt attempts per game (37.0% shooting) 14 games played without T-Mac or Yao nor both 37.2 minutes per game 15.3 field goal attempts per game (35.5% shooting) 9.1 2pt attempts per game (37.8% shooting) 6.2 3pt attempts per game (32.2% shooting) So the idea that Rafer will shoot less when the team is in full health is accurate, but the idea of his poor shooting not mattering then is wrong. Ultimately, Rafer's 3pt shooting will be the most important thing, and after a torrid 40% start, he's really fallen back down to earth. His 2pt shooting has actually gradually improved (it couldn't have been any worse than he was at the start of the season), but the problem is now that Rafer is the 2nd option, he's taking twice the number of 2pters he usually takes. But even when the team is healthy, it'd be foolish to think Rafer's terrible 2pt% doesn't hurt the team...it is easier to swallow though because TMac and Yao are taking more shots and hopefully Bonzi will be decent too. Teams are onto Rafer now. They try to deny the open 3, but most importantly want him to take the open drive and just try to prevent a layup but allow him any open shot from 18 feet to within 5 feet. I don't care who starts, but I've been calling for Rafer's minutes to be reduced since the beginning of the season. I'm sure it's going to happen when the team is fully healthy (Bonzi, Snyder, etc). And it's been discussed already that the only attainable guys out there are Chucky Atkins and Tyronne Lue (I don't think Delonte West is attainable anymore). Haven is right though..Van Gundy does think offense is a necessary evil. It's not the best philosophy imo, but I understand JVG and I support him. I support the Rockets and I support Rafer. Non of them are above criticism, but don't hate on Rafer for doing the right thing. Rafer has played just as poorly/well in most games this year and many of y'all just hate on him when we lose and love him when we win. Be consistent. I've always accepted Rafer's flawed game, support him when he plays, and always blame JVG for playing him too much. If there's any legitimate hate, it should be directed towards JVG for overvaluing the wrong things and not caring about made shots at all. It's one thing to be strong at defense, but sometimes you need to be externally successful at offense too, not just taking quality shots, but sometimes sacrificing good shots and even a few turnovers if the end result is more scoring. That's just me though. JVG is different...I disagree with him, but I respect his decision, though I really don't agree with his stubbornness.
Come on ppl.... shooting percentage is not everything.... Maybe Lucas can shoot better than Rafer, but would you want to put Lucas agsint M.James, J.Terry, T.Parker? everything comes in as a package, too bad Rafer is only a 3m per year player, aren't a 10mm per year all star, you do get what you paid for.
