Rafer is a starter, on a good team where he does not need to score. Rafer will look alot better when he has some talent around him. He could easily average 8-9 assist a game with some decent shooters.
Don't hate on Skip. When he whips out some AND1 streetball moves on Kobe next year you will be inclined to love him.
Wafer has many annoying habits. Instead of getting down court for the outlet pass, he comes back to the rebounder for a hand-off. 95% of the time, he starts transition inside of the opponents 3 pt line. Wafer never passes the ball ahead to a teammate in transition. He always dribbles across mid-court. He seldom initiates a half-court offense with more than 14 seconds on the shot clock. All of these things lean toward fewer turnovers. None of these things leans toward easy transition baskets. In fact, if I were an NBA player defending the Rockets in transition, my toughest decision would be which side of the free throw line I needed to be on to wait for the Rocket I'm guarding. But it's OK because he doesn't turn the ball over. Something else that annoys me... Why doesn't he get into the weight room and develop some upper body strength? When they beat their defender off of the dribble and get near the basket, most NBA guards lean into the C or PF protecting the rim....and still get a shot up. Wafer leans away and misses the shot. But then, missed shots down count as turnovers. It's almost like he is the 180 of Francis. Francis would (inappropriately) drive to the basket with Godzilla and King Kong defending. Wafer leans away from players the size of Tony Parker. Speaking of Tony Parker...something else that annoys me... If the sum total of what you bring to the table is you don't turn the ball over and you make a few post entry passes...is that really enough to close the gap down against teams with superior PG's? Realistically with all else being equal, if Parker is outscoring you by 15 points, that's 15 points that Yao and TMac have to score more than Duncan and Manu..or Dirk and Stack/Daniels with Terry...or Artest and Miller with Bibby..or Pau and Eddie Jones/Mike Miller with whomever... But I guess it must be OK if you don't turn the ball over....
I think the best case scenario for the Rockets future is if Luther learns how to play the point in JVG's system. For now rafter will do.
that's why we dont need him.. we dont need a "pass first point guard who can create plays".. we need a good shooting pg that is a role player ( a role player gets the pass from playmakers "aka T-mac & Yao" and hits the open J or cuts to the basket)... the best example for that is Dallas ( I hate them more than any of Y'all do) .. they have Dirk, Stackhouse ( I know he is a bench player but he is a playmaker), and Howard... their point guard is J-Terry which cant play pg worth a crap but he is a heck of a shooter and they are winning.. that's why most of the fans rather have Mike James than RAfer...
much like every player on this team not name Tracy or Yao....Rafer's talent/skill isn't great on its own. He needs to play with Yao & especially Tracy for him to contribute positively....cause mask the things he does bad. Also, I love Ronnie Brewer but aint a PG. I would love for Houston to draft him..SG problems would be over. He's Josh Howard with court vision and a better handle (but isn't as good of a rebounder). Legit 6'6 with a Tmac like wingspan. A pesky defender (he and tracy would cause hellon the perimeter)
With the makeup of this team, we don't have anyone who can step up in case one of our two stars has a bad night or misses games. Any good teams do.
I think he's good 30mpg-calibre player. He's just forced to play 40, which further exposes the negative parts of his game.
1 week Rafer is the rox long lost PG and the next hes a scrub. If you have never liked rafers game,fine, but all the bandwagoners out there.... please say something intelligent
Another sizzling shooting night for the Reefer: 2 for 12, that is a whopping 16%! Ten assists softened the blow a bit, but not much. Yes sir, CD and JVG have found our PG of the future. James had 34 tonight on 50% shooting and added 11 rebounds and 8 assists. Heck of a trade, no?
Nonsense. 5 points 10 assists x Magical Pass First PG Playmaker Cliche Multiplier >>>> 34 points 8 assists 11 rebounds.
Rafer is just like Juwan. Only difference is one is a PG, while the other SG. They both suck and should not be holding starting spots for a playoff bound team. Which is why the Rockets are NOT in the playoffs.
Rafer, what is he good for? Absolutely nothing! If any of you get that, please tell me . EDIT: Damnit. Too late, didn't see the earlier posts. I love this thread title.
I think Rafer gets way too much heat around these boards. Mainly in the last few weeks because people don't like what they see when he's asked to do more. He (like so many people on the team right now) is being asked to do things he wasn't supposed to have to do, and hopefully won't have to do ever again. When Rafer is back to setting up the offense with a healthy, two-superstar lineup, we will all remember why we were starting to fall in love with him by the All-Star break. He is a good distributor, and decent at running the break, but he is a poor initiator... that's perfect for us. I think his shooting will improve when the offense becomes more consistent as well. His shooting seems to always follow the shooting of the rest of the team. If guys around him are hitting shots, he is hitting shots. (Which is a little sad because it shows how much of an issue confidence is for him...) His defense isn't THAT bad, either, but he seems to gamble a whole lot.
That's hilarious. It's been referenced no less than 5 times so far. I put the over/under at 7 and a half.
