he does protect the ball very well when going coast to coast, he is secure and its really impossible to take the ball out of his hands...the ball sticks on his hands
It's pretty sad how important bringing the ball up is as a strength that Rafer has over Head, but it's that obvious. Head's handles vs pressure are just pathetic. Hell, it doesn't even take pressure. So in no way shape or form am I advocating Head to be the PG, but that's why we have T-Mac who can bring the ball up when Rafer sits. Also, the Rockets successfully utilized a big backcourt of T-Mac and Snyder on occasion, and they both handled the rock pretty well going against D-Wade and Payton amongst other tandems. Nowadays, Rafer makes nice passes to Mac on the wings and stuff. But when we ran a Yaocentric offense, Rafer wasn't the primary entry passer. He was a good entry passer and did it better than Head, but Battier and Mac were also good entry passers (Battier being the best). Rockets put Battier at the top so much because of their transition Defense problems, but now they can put Mac up there and have Battier return to wing entry passer when Yao is back.
Mike James is playing with KG. No excuse here. Scoring PG always do well with KG; Marbury, Cassell, even Terrell Brandon had a few good seasons with him.
What do people on this board see in Vspan? He's an ok player but the man is a fresh turnover ready to come out the oven. If he was outplaying Skip(or even Lucas) in practice I would expect to see some minutes, but apparently he's not because I don't see him come off that bench. For all I know, Skip might be pwning Vspan in practice. Besides, Alston is one of the best(if not the best) ball-handler in the league. I would hate to see Vspan attempt to break a full-court press. But please Skip, no more floaters and teardrops, they make my tears drop.
I am not dogging Rafer. He is our best PG at the moment. But he does have weaknesses. The only modestly efficient shot he has is a 3 pointer--and it is only modestly efficient. It is true he handles the ball well versus pressure, but at the same time he doesn't punish pressure because he is a weak threat mid range and in once he has gotten through. As a consequence there is no disincentive for opponents to press us--either we have a poor handler who they might get a TO from (Head), or a guy who they won't get a TO from but who won't punish them and they succeed in wasting our clock and energy (Rafer). I really would like to pick up a vet like Atkins, Stoudamire or Anthony Johnson where Rafer gets 55-60% of the minutes and they other vet gets 40-45% of the minutes. I think Rafer is more of a 26-28MPG type guy. He would probably stay fresher and better from 3 land with lower minutes than he has to play now. As you can see from the above, I really doubt VS or JL3 are much relief right now. We need guys we can count on in playoff pressure.
In summary, The Rockets are contenders if Yao and TMac are playing above average and one is playing MVP caliber ball. If they do that, we can win with Rafer as our PG. If both Yao and TMac are having subpar seasons, Rafer is irrelvant. You can't have an allstar at every position. Rafer will be fine.
LOL ... there are more cliches used in defense of Rafer Alston these days -- "can't have an all-star at every position" is one of my favorites. I didn't know hoping for better than 35% shooting from the field was expecting Steve Nash.
There are those who think everything is okay with Rafer's bad shooting and then there are those who think he is teh suck. Love him or hate him, Rafer is an integral part of this team. His qualities are extremely helpful towards the Rockets winning big, but at the same time his deficiencies are extremely detrimental towards the same goal. Rafer is going to continue to get wide open 3's and wide open lanes to the bucket. Defenders are not going to leave their man to cover Rafer driving....they don't want Rafer to pass; they want him to shoot. Those are good shots and if you pass up good shots, the offense will die. Can the Rockets win with Rafer shooting like crap? Yes. But it would be extremely difficult to win big that way. The only remedies are to hope he gets better or play him less. Both will happen. It would be crazy for Rafer to continue to shoot this terribly on the inside the rest of the season...it can only get better. It would also be crazy to think Rafer would be a 40pmg player on a fully healthy Rockets team. I've done the math and proved it already. There's only 77 minutes per game (give or take 2 minutes) to be divided between Rafer, Luther, Bonzi, Snyder, and Lucas. No way in hell is JVG going to give Rafer 40 minutes and split 37 minutes between Luther, Bonzi, and Snyder...what are they each going to play 12 minutes? Every player brings something to the table, and it would be foolish to play Rafer so many minutes when the team is healthy and deny the team the benefits Luther, Bonzi, and Snyder bring.
On the other hand, a savvy point guard learns never to pass to a cutting Deke, which is one of the reasons for keeping Rafer's minutes up - he needs to learn as much as he can about the strengths and weaknesses of the Rockets he is on the floor with, so he better understands who to get the ball to, at what position on the court, etc. People forget that the guy still barely has one full season of experience as the Rockets' GG. And as for his shooting too much - did it ever occur to the multitude of complainers that Rafter is shooting because JVG wants him to shoot? Do you think Rafer would continue shooting - and continue playing - if he was taking a lot of shots that JVG disagreed with? No, the reality of the Rockets offense - particularly when Yao is in the game - is inside out, shoot if you are open at the 3 point line. That requires at least a triangle of 3 3 point shooters, and if one of them stops taking the open J the whole concept of the offense falls apart. (I challenge all of the Rafer detractors to point out when he takes a 3 as to which he is not only open, and even usually with a good deal of open space to spare.) Rafer doesn't realistically have a choice - he has to keep taking the open shot, just like Battier, and T-Mac...or are we going to demand that T-Mac, whose 3 pt % on the season and for his career, are lower than Rafer's, should also never shoot open 3s?
I guarantee you it is not good - after his starting five, and especially at the lower level of his rotation, JVG has always maintained that a player earns his playing minutes in a game based on practice performance. If Span was shining in practice he would be would not have seen all of his game minutes taken away.
possible... did anyone see the interview with Battier, it was prior to the game in Utah last night, he said how he appreciates the bench guys busting their ass in practice and how he feels for them not getting many minutes. somewhat in that way..... I think Battier was especially talking about VSpan and probably young Novak... Span is pissed, but, if they have practice and he plays bad, and can't manage the ball well (turnovers), then its likely to say he is not going to get playing time from JVG.... I hope I'm wrong and Span can kick it as soon as possible..I really want to see him play more
They RARELY practice during the regular season....see JVG's quote in the Synder thread.....for instance they don't have a practice scheduled until the 15th....... V-Span is in his doghouse because he tried a behind the back pass in a 30 point rocket blowout win against Golden State. JVG needs to let him play the PG position because Rafer will KILL this team come playoff time. DD
I agree on Rafer but it's extremely doubtful V-Span will be much use at playoff time either, whether he gets minutes during the regular season or not.
Oh, now you want to play the what if game? What if Alston actually shot the ball well? Then what could Amel possibly say to defend his belief that Rafer sucks? How can you say that Rafer is not the right PG for us, WHEN WE ARE WINNING!? I want a PG that can distribute and doesn't turnover the ball. Rafer did that against the Jazz. Of course he's not shooting the ball well right now. Neither was Howard at the beginning of the year. Give him a chance to improve his shot. He is struggling. It's not like we're seeing Alston at his best. In reality, you're the "wiener" who continues to b**** about the performance about individual players (one in particular), while the team is on a winning streak. I don't care if you watch every game. There are a whole bunch of fickle fair-weathered fans in Houston. You're just another member in that group.
I think you misinterpreted my post. I was only comparing Rafer's D to James' D. I even said neither player is that good of a defender, so it's a moot argument. I never said Rafer was a good defender. I remember in the Spurs game at least a couple of times that Parker was able to take Alston to the basket, post him up, and score over him. That did not look good at all.
It is your opinion. It is also my opinion that the combined guard play of James, Wesley, and others were liable in not containing Jason Terry, and that absolutely killed us in that series. Mike James is a mediocre individual defender. He's probably better than Alston, but the bottom line is neither players are good defenders. Don't let one stretch in one part of a game cloud your judgment. Alston shot the ball very well in the 3rd quarter in the Sonics game. That alone does not make him a good shooter.
