You can't teach ballhandling. Other than Tmac, Rafer is the best. He HAS to be out there. Otherwise we can never get into our offense. I love John Lucas, but he's undersized and he can't see over people to be able to make passes.
Totally agree with you. VSpan and Lucas aren't good enough to start over Rafer. Isn't that sad? Makes you wonder why we carry them on the roster if neither of them can be a better alternative to the worst starting guard in the NBA. Rockets will eventually have to address the huge weakness before too long. I used to think coming into the season that PF was our biggest weakness but with the poor play of all 3 of our PGs and the strong play of JHo and Chuck Hayes that is no longer the case.
For the love of God! When is JVG going to bench this bum and put in Spanoulis, I mean how worse can he be then Rafer, at least the guy is instant energy and plays D. I mean the substitution should be so simple even a caveman can do it!
okay, I was in big defense of rafer wen this rafer bashing started and i too am getting annoyed with his inability to put the ball in the basket ... BUT that does not mean he's useless and that our unrproven backup pgs should start. I like JL3's energy sometimes ... and the toughness and defense of spanoulis, but they are not ready to start. Rafer does know how to run the offense and tho he occasionally does screw up, I still trust him as our pg. He's prob hatin himself more than you guys r for his inability to hit shots so stop with all this hatin already.
I'm not supporting Rafer whole-heartedly. I just said he's sucking bad. The rest of my statement is pretty valid, at least I believe so, so I'm not sure what's there to debate. I'm not saying Rafer is undeserving of the hate. It's just my opinion that the great majority of his shot selection (particularly from the perimeter) are due to the offense and how it's drawn up; that those are the shots JVG is saying he needs to take. If you notice, many of his shots come within the flow of the offense. He hardly takes "bad shots", except for those stupid tear-drop floaters. He's just missing, point blank. So, with that being said, when someone's shots are coming within the offense and not disrupting flow, it means that those are the shots that that particular offense encourages.
I'm a major Rafer basher. Neither JL3 nor V-Span is ready for full-time duty, but both of them should get some floor time with Rafer struggling so badly. There was a reason we made a run last night: JL3 was in for Rafer most of the 4th quarter. Against such a tenacious team like the Bulls, JL3 I has no chance and I have no problem with him getting only a short look. This is basically his rookie year. I would have liked to see V-Span get a few minutes to see what would have happened. The last 6 games have been amazing. Despite atrocious PG play, the combination of our defense and Tracy's greatness (with role player help) have carried us to 4-2, which could have easily been 6-0.
Our PFs can not create their own shots, this is a fact. That is why RA has more open shots if he chose not to pass.. I watched the game, besides Tmac, JHo is the only reliable shooter tonight but he is a stationary shooter. RA needs to pass to JHo more, and he did some tonight. Lets forget bashing RA, that is just depressing. While RA needs a tutor for his mindset, we have to eat up his bad shootings. Hope other guys step up to cover him up. We have Tmac, can not ask more.
So blame the PFs for the poor play of Rafer? Yeah, yeah, yeah...I watched the game too. Forget Rafer bashing? How can I? If there was a reason for the term bashing it was invented because of a player like Rafer. Rafer bashing isn't depressing, its his 3-17 or 2-14 shooting with numerous TOs, poor decision-making, and poor defense that is depressing. Yeah, Thank God we have TMAC but i disagree with you, we can and demand to ask for more out of the PG spot.
When has Jon Lucas struggled passing to someone? NEVER!!! This is a suspect comment. Its like youre writing something with no basis. Look man, Rafer SUCKS!!! We need to get rid of him. Rafer does nothing positive for this team. If someone says one more time that he's the only one who can bring the ball up or run the offense... These are things a below average NBA point guard can do... there is nothing special about that. RAFER SUCKSSSS!!!!
This is sometimes a legitimate criticism, but on the other hand - there have been several successful guys shorter than Lucas. Heck, if we had TJ Ford right now, another comparative midget, we wouldn't be worried about the PG spot.
VSpan has talent but cannot benefit the current system the Rockets are running. He can't shoot 3's and jump passes too much. What's really sad is that the Rockets have essentially totally screwed themselves this last offseason. Bonzi fell in their laps, but he's been falling apart. So the MLE was to get VSpan and Bonzi, who've combined contributed pretty much nothing so far. I hope we'll see at least some returns on the MLE later this year when Bonzi came back. So for those of you who argue that there's no better option than Rafer, you are correct. JL3 is too short to make plays from the top and he penetration and dish is inadequate. Head has no handles and I've already covered VSpan. TMac will get decent minutes at PG (ball handling and bringing up) as the season roles on. KAS13 is somewhat right that T-Mac can't do it too much, but T-Mac has played PG many minutes this year already, and pretty much every time Rafer is on the bench, TMac is the primary ball handler. But yes, there is no better option than Rafer for most of the PG minutes right now. (By Most i mean around 30minutes) But then you have to admit that the Rockets royally messed up when they didn't sign another legit PG in the offseason. Their MLE is totally wasted thus far. They could have brought VSpan next year and could have left Bonzi at the House of Pies and nothing would be different so far. That's just bad business. Again..I've been very critical of Rafer ever since he got here. But don't call him a poor decision maker. He's a good decision maker. He just can't shoot and he's not quick enough to guard quick guards. But his decision making and ball handling are keeping Rafer on the court. So yes, he does suck at shooting, but some of y'all are going to far calling him dumb and selfish. Just keep it at Rafer sucks (at shooting).
Rafer is still our best PG, he can still bring up the ball, he can still penetrate and pass, he can still run the offense and have been OUTSTANDING on D lately. He hold M.James to 3/12, and Hinrich went for 1-11... So...while Rafer has been shooting very poorly, his strong D also shuts down the opponent PG, so it is still a wash... now..... If Rafer can shut down the opponent PG, AND also go for 20 pt himself,everyone will be happy, like that one game against Dallas when he totally outplayed J.Terry. But then this is All-star level performance that nobody expects him to be. He is a 3mm a year player, and you guys are asking for a 10mm per year performance out of him. As far as his value goes, you will have a hard time finding a better PG than him at this price range. everyone loves to have C.billups, but are you willing to pay for it?
i think you're missing the point a little. i don't care that much about his low shooting percentage cuz he does other things. but does he have to shoot 15+ shots a game? i don't think that's too much to ask just to reduce his shots attempts, even for a 3mil a year player.
For better or worse, what you care about doesn't matter. JVG wants Rafer taking those shots, and right now JVG's offense (as a whole) is working pretty well (i.e. we're winning).
Rafer has shot 6-31 the last two games! Anyone else think that autistic kid could shoot better than that?
Ironic that you mention that...Rafer actually suffers from Asperger Syndrome which is a mild form of autism.
I think of you are a bit short sighted. Those shots his taking, they are obviously drawn for him. You can't say he sucks just because he bricks shots. His probably one of the most competent ball handlers on the team if not the best. Even T-mac has more turnovers then Rafer. I seriously can't believe people still bash Rafer's passing ability. I was watching the Utah game, which wasn't that long ago, In the first half, he did a decent pass to T-mac for an alley. Obviously noone can remember what Rafer does. Rafer isn't bad, he does what his meant to do bring the ball up and take the open shot. People calling for JL3 and Vspan can't possibly have a better reason then JVG for playing them above Rafer. Absolutly IMPOSSIBLE. Why? well, have any of you seen Rafer in Practice? or JL3 for that matter? Would you know the personality or practice attitudes that these three exhibit in practice or general team gatherings? I mean as a NBA Coach you see these guys hours every week and i mean STACKS of hours. how many of you have seen these guys ball that long? seriously how many of you? Your basing your opinions on a bunch of rag tag games from two back ups against a large sample space for a starting PG. IF Vspan lost a game in crunch via 3 or 4 turnovers how many of you would turn around and bash him and say oh Rafer wouldn't have done that? Seriously its like how people were high on Bonzi, yet when he arrived what happens? Ever heard of Swift? how many ppl were high on him? your all going to get burnt when these guys get some serious minutes I'm telling you. Coach JVG no not just Coach JVG his assistants his staff and the players they all support Rafer. Why can't you? Heck even YAO says Rafer is the best passer on the team, how the hell can you possibly question his vision over JL3 when the tallest man in the building says he gets the best passes from Rafer?
