What the hell is alston smoking?!?!?! He is one of, if not THE WORST nba drive and dish point guards I have ever seen. He simply cannot make good decisions in the paint. Seriously wtf?!?!?!?1
The other possible option would be to let McGrady continue to play initiator but make Brooks the starting PG . Meanwhile, Alston can be the playmaker alongside Wafer/Barry in the second unit.
alston is smoking some weed if a good week makes him think he can be a main playmaker ALL game. but solomon is also right: would you rather have tracy shooting, or rafer and battier? alston needs to have the freedom for "stretches"
The problem is that Rafer is at his best when he has the freedom to do what he pleases with the ball. But so his McGrady.
Thats what shooting percentage can do. it is amazing Rafer jumped from a worst PG to someone who can take over TMAC's job by 3 good shooting games. One obvious improvement of the team is that they get less shots for Yao even if he was shooting with fantastic percentage. Yao made the room, and Alston used it very well. Is this a right way to go?
I can and I will. Iv'e watched the recent games, and he hasnt been doing anything differently but shoot the ball better. When was the last time you saw him drive and dish without turning the ball over?
I don't think that having Rafer control the offense is a bad idea since this will keep him involve in the game and TMac will not have to be wearing down setting everyone else up. TMac can benefit because he will be the one getting the ball to shoot or drive instead passing to shooters he will be the shooter or driver and I for one would rather have TMac be attacking and shooting instead of being the PG.
Exactly what I was thinking, the only difference in Rafer game is his shots are falling right now. He's had some assist but I wouldn't say he's been some great playmaker out there. He has made some nice passes though but I think this needs to calm down a bit. But this is good that maybe Rafer is thinking about making more plays for his teammates instead of taking pull up J's.
One thing about Rafer is he generally does a good job taking care of the ball. He's not creating as many plays as a lot of other point guards, but I think that's still one of his strengths relatively speaking. Since the beginning of last season, only 7 other players have had more regular season games with at least 5 assists and 0 turnovers.
I fully believe in Rafer. 32 (almost 33) year old PG with a career shooting percentage below 40% turn into All Star caliber talents overnight all the time.
<br> Lets not get carried away though <br> As good as Rafer is playing right now, we all know he is one of the streakiest players ever. You said it yourself, he is not a play maker, but he can handle the ball efficiently. I think that basically contradicts the point of this blog to start out with... <br> Furthermore, I also think its probably not the best thing in the world when Rafer Alston is saying he wants to be the "offensive creator" as opposed to your best player. Just saying, you didn't hear Rajon Rondo saying those types of things with Pierce and Allen on the team..
Rafer has good court vision and great handles. But he makes bad decisions when under pressure, this is why he cannot drive and dish. Finding the open man when you can see the whole active court or when you know where he is going to be within the offense, is completely different to finding the open man when you drive into the paint. Rafer does not drive and dish because he can't, which is one of the reasons why he has low turnovers. The thing is, now he WANTS to drive and dish. He wants to do something he has shown he cannot do. Im not sure why this is, it might be because hes hitting his shots now so other players will respect him more and hence make his decision making easier, im not exactly sure. What I am sure of is that Rafer is deluded. Completely and utterly deluded.
Rafer may not give us all-star play, but as long as McGrady has his paint allergies, Alston is a much better choice for penetrating to create. Artest would be a nice option if he trusted his teammates enough to pass out to them. I strongly feel that when McGrady and Artest return, they need to adapt to the team and not come in commanding 17 shots a game in iso situations. Evan
brooks can't play defence for crap and when he isn't making any shots, it doesn't make him any more appealing than luther head.
When Tmac is getting down, everyone wants a bite. Yao is claiming his position as the leader of this team; Wafer doesn't want to give up the starting SG's position; And Rafer wants more 'room'. Who's next?
