i agree, but we can't blame rafer for t-mac not shooting. T-mac had eight assists so its not really rafer's fault that t-mac is looking to pass more than shoot.
Question: Why is this guy still a rookie? It is astonishing to find people who actually know a thing or two about basketball posting on this BBS.
i really have no problems with alston, except for his horrendous defense! he is just to lightweight compared to other PG's. thats why you see the likes of billups/andre miller posting him up! if theres any PG out there whom i love to play for the rocks? its gonna be D-fish! yeah! derek fisher! strong muscles, shoots better than alston in 3's, has high B-Ball IQ..but his contract sucks!
I think its because alot of the great analysis is done by people who actually watch the game and know a thing or two about baskeball, as opposed to people who can only see the single frame picture on a television or computer screen
I think Rafer is an adequate PG, but not one that is great. If we win with him it would be like the Spurs winning with Avery Johnson. Rafer has done a decent job of hitting 3s, but his 2pt percentage is pretty bad, and his assist numbers are not great for a PG either. My problem with Rafer is he is a swinging gate on defense, he can not stay in front of anyone.... I think eventually V-Span takes the starting spot and Rafer becomes a quality backup, and that is probably where he belongs at this stage of his career. DD
Unbelievable. Did I mention anything like Vspan should take over Rafer as the starting PG? And where is "the argument about Rafer being traded or he's a non entity on this team"?. I merely reponded to Easy's post about him thinking Vspan can't hit open 3s and can't take care of ball. I feel he should be able to do both, especially bring the ball up court. And in the limited minutes Vspan was on the court, he did show more poise and better basketball IQ than Rafer. If you don't agree, go check the Wizzards game. Rafter made bonehead plays in 1st quarter, one of them caused a timeout by JVG. Next time, please try to understand what a poster is trying to say first. Put your own words into other people's mouth doesn't make you smart.
So you believe Rafer has a high basketball IQ and runs the game well. That's why he pulled up for a jumper on a 2 vs. 4 "fast break" when somebody was in his face and no Rockets was in position for an offensive rebound. That's why he passed up an open shot and drove into 3 defenders, got nowhere to go and passed out for a turnover and forced a timeout by JVG. That's why he threw up an off-balance airball when there was time on the shot clock, fumbled an easy pass by Yao, fouled a jump shooter near the 3 point line in a matter of minutes when the game was on the line. More importantly, that's why whenever Rox pull away with a victory, it's usually Tmac is running the show and be a playmaker. Rafer is an average PG in NBA without much potential. I believe Vsapn eventually will develop into a better one.
I'm not saying Rafer Alston is the greatest PG in the world. What I was stating in my post is that I believe he has a lot higher basketball IQ than you give him credit for. I understand the 2 vs 4 three point shot as a poor judgment call on his part, and that is not the right thing to do unless ur name starts with T and ends with MAC. But, fumbling a pass from yao has nothing to do with IQ. Everyone makes mistakes, but overall, I believe Rafer is a good PG for the Rox. You said most importantly, the Rox usually pull away with a victory when TMac is running the show and being a playmaker. Well, Tmac better be running the show and be a playmaker, because he wouldn't be considered a superstar if he wasn't. Whenever we "pull away with a victory", it's usually done when your two superstars, yao and tmac, are making plays and taking over the game. If one of our stars are having an off night, getting a victory is more challenging. What you said is absolutely right about TMac, but it doesn't have anything to do with Rafer. Its the same thing as coming to this conclusion: "Battier is not that good of a defender. More importantly, that's why whenever Rox pull away with a victory, it's usually Yao making the big stops and being a playmaker." As for as potential goes, Rafer is about as good as he is gonna get right now. I never said he had alot of potential. He is an old vet that has pretty much maxed out his potential. VSpan has all the potential in the world and I also believe he will be a better player than Rafer someday.
i think the funniest thing about raefer alston is the fact that he shoots better from the arc than from mid range or going straight to the hole.
Actually thats my bad, I was talking to the whole thread in general. Sorry about that, I was just lazy and pressed reply on your post as opposed to scrolling down. Bad habit i've picked up trying to correct it.
How about considering the fact that Billups and A.Miller are actually big players at their position? Rafer is average sized. Not so small that he's a mismatch, and not so strong that he can post guys and muscle his way to the rim. And Fisher? Yeah I think he'd fit great too. But he has anything but high Bball IQ. To me, he's just Mike James-lite.
You are right on most counts, but I do feel that Vspan is a better defender than Rafer, and here are a couple of reasons: 1) Vspan can actually stay in front of his man, 2) His physique allows him to be a lot more physical. Rafer gets beat off the dribble way too easily. Watch him on the picks, he does get abused. He has improved slightly the last few games, but he was absoultely horrendous along with head when we first started. I was raving about the trade for MJ when Rafer first got here, and he still is the best PG we had in quite a while, but as you attested to, it is way too early to compare Rafer to Vspan. Vspan is playing a very limited role and is not given the opportunity to play to his strengths. JVG's decision to slowly break both the rookies in is a great decision. Last night's game was an example of such decisions, when he allowed Vspan to make 3 if not more mistakes in a row. That in itself is a lot to ask for from JVG when he first started here and would yank ppl out when they even committed one mistake. Rafer is doing a great job, and it is a good dilemma to have Vspan as a potential back up pg headache. Head is not a pg, he is an undersized SG with a good stroke, and JVG should just leave it at that.
No. Right now Alston is our 3rd leading scorer? And for the most part it is because of the ton of minutes he plays. If Tmac is going to assume the majority of the "half court" play making responsibilities then the #1 job of our PG is basically a 3pt shooter on offense (and if we are lucky someone that can create their own shot and be a TRUE 3rd scorer) and on defense be quick, stay in front of their man and play good defense against the other team's PGs. Is this Alston? Not really. Seriously, I know it's early in the season, but Randy Foye is starting to play well in Minny. If I am the Rockets I have the Wolves on speed dial to try to pry away Mike James. I know this is a tired topic. Beaten to death. But the way we are playing in the half court right now really fits James in our "PG" position.
Exactly. I'm going to bravely continue to be a minority voice of one. The Rockets roster has too many stand still spot up shooters. Elite NBA teams make better rotations and have better athletes making those rotations. When even remotely guarded, the Rockets' spot up shooters can't create their own shot or can't finish on the occassions when they do. And that definitely includes Alston.
McGrady and Alston combined for 21 Assists (13 T-Mac, 8 Rafer) out of 25 total for the team and 6 Turnovers (5 T-Mac, 1 Rafer) last night. All assisted T-Mac shots came from Rafer and vice-versa (3 assists for Rafer and 1 for T-Mac). I know its just one game, but outside of their ability to knock down the three (2-9 combined) and Rafer's ability to get around a screen, they worked together pretty flawlessly last night.
i just started a thread on this a little bit (whoops!), but yeah i think rafer should sit on the bench for awhile til he can prove that he's gonna bring it every night. shooting a wide open three and bring the ball up can be done by like 6 other players on the team. and his defense is lacking. when he is on the bench it seems we have much better effort and energy on the floor.
GATER, you are not a minority of one. I agree with you on the creators/penetrators. I think people would be surprised how EASILY offense would come for this team if we had a few more people in our offense that weren't so one dimensional and so dependand on Tmac and Yao to create shots. And defenses would have nightmares.
