Hahahaha sorry I saw the title when I signed on and was like "DAMN I'VE GOT TO SAY THIS" but I forgot there were other people on this board who might have just seen the movie or heard the song. So if Tigermission1 was late, I guess I missed the party...
Whats it good for? Raefer? Reefer? Puff, puff, pass? Pass him to another team? Trade him? Nah... I think the teams bad shooting is contageous. You have to admit, his assist #'s are better than anything we've had at the position in years. Sure Yao's responsible for most of it, but Smith, Maloney didn't do nearly as well with Hakeem. He can work on his shooting and entry pass, watch film, etc in the off-season. Then the coaching staff can make a decision. I don't think we could get anything much better for him right now. Bibby would be awesome but salary-wise I'd doubt it.
i liked rafer when the team was healthy, he was smart, controlled the tempo of the game with a precision of a surgeon, and he could drain the occasional open j...obviously the team hasnt been healthy in a long time and rafer has fallen into some BAD habits...hes obviously pressing, obviously trying to pick up some of the scoring load and thats not his forte, we all know i think he can be a damn good player for us if hes given the chance, and if he accpets a bit of coaching/plays under a bit more control mike james wouldve been nice this year, but in the end i think itll be a wash (thats all ill say about the trade, dont wanna hijack thread/piss off samfisher)
Are you guys serious? Remember when T-Mac was healthy? And the team was playing well? And a lot of people were praising Rafer, with many even suggesting that Yao's improved play was partially a result of having Rafer back healthy? Anyone remember that? I guess not.
Very valid point. I think we should nickname fans with a 30 second memory, "the fish bowl" collectively, after the goldfish memory-span myth. Or "Dora" (Finding Nemo) if they just rub you the wrong way and you wanna call them something girly. Or how 'bout for posters who start a thread dedicated to aquiring the player who lit us up from the team we JUST played that evening, "Isaacs" in honor of Isaac Newton. A) bc its ironically calling them geniuses and B) the apple fell on his head right before he got the idea for applesauce, when people had already been eating applesauce for hundreds of years beforehand and knew applesauce wasn't that great to begin with... oh, my bad, that was Chester Orlando Applesauce the III.
Rafer is an ok point guard. First and for most thats what he is. He is not a combo guard like sura, he is not a shooting guard in a point guards body a la Wesley and Head. He is a point guard. If he hits his three Rafer is a good player and just what the Rockets need. If he doesn't, teams will consistantly sag off him and leave him open while doubling Yao and Mcgrady. My big gripe with him is his D. Rafer is a good theft man and does an adequent job on smaller guards. But the bigger ones kill him, and the real fast ones blow right past him. Truthfully the Rockets need a guard in the mode of Derek Fisher, any suggestions as to whom?
The fishbowl has spoken - Rafer must be worthless. Putting up 6.6 apg and 2.5 TOs is a remarkable effort with this group of players. I doubt Nash or Kidd could do much better. I don't get people bashing him when his acquisition was based on an idea that we would have a healthy squad of players worth passing to. Rafer would get at least 8 apg on a team that had better shooters - but Yao's been down, Tracy's been down, Wesley's been down. Cut the man a break! Thanks to our horrible shooting, the Rockets also have horrible spacing as well. Stockton would have problems ringing up 10 assists on this squad.
Another Rafer bashing thread? And a chance for the James lovers to come out and whine "bad trade"? I didn't like getting Rafer Alston. I didn't think he was particularly good for anything. He played pretty good in the preseason. I thought maybe I'd give him a chance. Looking back, he is just what I expected when we traded for him--an average PG not particularly good for anything. So in that sense I am not disappointed. I just don't get why all the hatred. I mean, Moochie got more love in his first season here, for goodness sake!
A few questions.... While we had a good record when Yao and TMac were both healthy...did any/many of those wins come against the top NBA teams? Considering we didn't have a divisional win all season until the recent NOK win, I think it was lower WC and poor EC teams we were beating. We should have been beating them and we'd have beat them with James at PG. Toronto is pretty much beating those same teams. With a healthy YM/TMc....are we winning because of Alston or in spite of him? Again, I pose the question... If you are giving up major points and/or skills at PG, does not turning the ball over and making a few post entry passes help YM/TMc compensate for how they have to (out)perform against elite teams? IMHO, no! This is not an original idea (and not one I favor) but there are a great number of posters here who would like to see Sam Cassell as the Rockets PG next season. Mike James is much, much closer to Cassell in both style and substance (and transition O and D) than Alston. IMO, any poster suggesting or favoring Sam is tacitly expressing we'd be better off with a scoring guard. At this point, I'd have to agree.
Moochie got more love his first couple of seasons because he was much better at his role(backup pg) than Alston is at his. And the fro.
GATER, something else that a Mike James or Sam Cassell gives us, is well....swagger. Basically a "killer" mentality. That's something this team needs. Those "pitbulls" to surround Tmac and Yao with.
I think the fro was it. Rafer should've done the same. I know what you mean. It's that little thing called expectation. Francis got hated because he was supposed to be the Franchise. He'd make a great role player if he was paid as one and accepted his role as one, and he'd be a fan favorite--pitbull mentality, right? Incidentally, when Mike James was here, I always thought that he reminded me of Francis, maybe a little less turnover prone, a little less scoring and rebounding talent, a little more defense. Hey, listen, he even talks like Francis, "I'm not gonna change. . ."
For the longest time I wanted to give rafer for time b4 I really judge him and the trade... but while im incline to give Rafer time to play with both T-mac and Yao before really judging his overall value to the team... I've come to accept that despite the whole, he fits better, Yao needs a pass first point, the team needs someone to setup the offense etc... that the Mike James for Alston trade was a Mistake. Mike James is just a better player... by far. Alston is a better passer and initiates the offense better... but is that worth losing the tenacity, scoring, shooting and defense Mike James brought to the team... sadly no. Despite this, I'll reserve from judging either him or the trade too harshly till I see more of him doing what he was brought here to do... play a supporting role, initiate the offense, make the pass and shoot the open J... with the luxury of doing all this while the defense is focus on Yao and T-mac.
Rafer Alston's stat's from February 1st to March 5th, when the team went 12-4 with McGrady and Yao healthy: 10.4 ppg, 7.9 apg, 3.8 rpg, 2.6 to, 1.8 stl, .379 FG%, .341 3P% It would be hard to argue, IMHO, that Rafer wasn't helping the team win during this stretch. You can't penalize him for the level of competition the Rockets faced. He played quite well in the Rockets two wins against the Clippers, averaging 11ppg and 12apg. Tracy and Yao are supposed to be our two horses. They're supposed to be the ones carrying most of the load. This team won't win a championship if it's depending on Mike James or Rafer Alston or Bobby Sura or anyone else to shoulder the offensive load. When the team was healthy, I felt that Rafer was going a good job of protecting the ball and getting it into either Yao or TMac's hands. That's what he was brought in to do, that's what he did, and I can't fault him for that. We didn't put up as many fast break points as some where hoping, but it wasn't for a lack of trying on Rafer's part. We certainly could use a scoring guard right now with TMac injured. But let's say we get a player like a Cassell or a James in the offseason. How long until the posts start popping up saying "(so-and-so) is a selfish ballhog!!" or "(so-and-so) needs to realize he isn't the star!!!"? I wasn't in favor of the James-Alston trade simply because I thought CD was undervaluing our expiring contracts. That's why it irritated me when Spoon was waived, Moochie was moved for trash, etc., etc... Had we held onto those contracts, maybe Steve Francis would be a Rocket right now, and we'd have our scoring guard and everyone would be happy except for maybe Pass 1st, Shoot 2nd. But regardless, from a personnel standpoint, it seemed like a good move at the time. I just think Rafer's getting more blame than he deserves. If anyone should be called out for their performance, it should be Stromile Swift (who I never wanted...)
