Better shooting, but as far as running the point Rafer was better with 8 assists to 1 turn over, compared to Lowry's 2 assists and 4 turn overs. Lowry had 3 boards to zero for Rafer, and Rafer had 3 steals to zero for Lowry. Rafer played 14 more minutes. Brooks/Lowry also got lit up by Barea which doesn't exactly dispel fears of how our defense we will be, but you can never read too much into one game by either player. +/- wise, Rafer was +7 for his team and Lowry was -7 for the Rockets. I do think that our turn overs were alot higher than with Rafer, but I did like the way Lowry attacked the basket and finished. I stilll kind of worried about both Brooks and Lowry running the plays when things got tight and they didn't have any one to calm the team down and get them in their sets and get quality shots in the flow of the offense. Some of the shots we hit at the end were not really good shots. There were several no, no, no... YES!!! shots that we were fortunate to hit. I want to see how things shake up the rest of the year before we make any final declarations one way or another though. I expected us to win this game going in and we did so bottom line that is all that matters.
Good post, but you just CANT conveniently leave out the 1-9 FG, 0-3 from 3pt from Rafer. That ALWAYS hurts the team. Blending in doesnt count, you cant have the other 4 guys shooting 1 for 9. The only way it doesnt hurt the team is if he gets his own offensive rebound off his own misses and passes it to a teammate for a bucket, which he doesnt do. Rafer had 1 charged official turnover but as far as I'm concerned 1-9 shooting counts for 2 more turnovers. Rafer gets a steal, then goes to the other end and bricks the shot right back to them? Oh well its not our issue anymore
I for one enjoyed watching Lowry take the ball up the court. Straight up the court looking right at the basket. very direct. Rafer has a much different style. DD said it well. Rafer avoids contact, Lowry seeks it out. Lowry, and AB for that matter, make the defense play them. Maybe even Lowry more than AB. AB can go past you, but it looks like Lowry might go through you if you get absentminded. with Rafer it always seemed like playing off him was part of the other teams game plan.
not sure way everyone thinks rafer runs our team better. some of you guys have short memories when he throws the ball away late in games, lacking of composure, careless TO's and ill advised shots. and just his tear drops make my tears drop. i don't know how this came about. i mean as soon as alston was a few decent games , everyone goes back to the theory that somehow he is a good set up man mainly for yao. what the hell. haven't you guys seen rafer? i mean rafer? time and time again rafer? how is he better? he is only a margin better than tmac being a ball stopper. we are truely blessed to be given the chance to get ride of him.. morey is right.. the move makes the rockets better today. we get a wonderful player in lowry. i can see the potential even before he arrived outplaying conley Jr. i go out on a limb and say he'll be better than brooks. you see how he guards his man? i mean he missed a few switches on the pick n roll but those mistakes can be corrected when he gels with his teammates......
A lot of noise about this trade being evidence of the Rockets giving up on the season, that T-Mac's situation contributed to that...there is a different story out there if you closely look at what the GM and Coach are saying. Trading Rafer for value has been an objective of the Rockets for several months. They know AB is the PG here. Also, Lowry has been on the Rockets want list for several months. It took the Orlando PG injury to bring the stars into alignment and make this possible. Those saying the Rockets were giving up on the season, have it totally wrong. They would have made this trade or one similar back as early as Nov./Dec. IF they could get value for Rafer. The organization knew then that AB deserved the starting PG job, but they just couldn't get value for Rafer and didn't want to diminish his value by benching him...all until the Orlando PG injury made it all possible. Rockets management played it smart, and the results will show it.
One thing I really liked about last night's game is that we played an attacking style of basketball the whole game...there was no change in style just because we subbed in different personel...the mavs defense never had a chance to relax. Maybe the up tempo style led to an increase in turnovers but it was nice to see the youthful energy throughout the game. When Landry gets back taht can only make this aspect even better.
Totally agree. This is the sort-of ball style that fits Adelman's bball philosophy. No wonder he looks so pumped up at the game. Sacramento Kings Version 2 Bring ittttttt
and you also have to realize that ALL alston does is make the safe pass usually and stand shoot and miss shots. brooks is in his 2nd year with out much playing time his rookie year he should improve. in saying what i said i dont think alston has many TOs because he doesnt put any pressure on the defense. i really think alston was a horrible player in almost every way.
It is dumb to compare rafers numbers to lowrys numbers...to be just first of all they were both playing for the first time on new teams so I suspect both of their numbers will change soon.. But the real comparrison is AB to SKIP... This may be hard for the same bunch of you guys that thought we should have drafted "big baby" on draft night instead lol but AB is the real deal.. Rafer was entertaining with his dribbles and passing ability but the guy was a liability during the end of games because his man would play off him leavin everybody else with less room to operate because he could not shoot for his life. Rafer shot from the field like a 6th man from a high school basketball team... 37% is horrible.. AB is a pure shooter and Lowry will rarely be used for more than 20 minutes a night. So please if you are going to compare, compare Skip/AB numbers to AB/Lowry cause thats the honest comparisson. and for that, there will be no contest
