DD, stop defending AB! He is a good scorer! But he cannot run the show well! Actully, he was outplayed by Hill in SL too! In the last couple of plays, Brooks shot the ball! But he didn't make any of them! He got blocked by Duncan!
Tmac gave him the ball as time was running out...he got it blocked, but he at least was going TO the basket, something Tmac did not do well. If you think it was AB's fault tonight then you have no clue about the game of basketball. This game was all on Tmac......he is the one you should be looking at. DD
I never said this is AB's fault! I always said he did his best! He is who he is! I just want to say he is not a good playmaker! The rockets need a good playmaker, passing first pg!
The whole game wasn't on T-mac. Yes we lost because T-mac once again had a very bad game. We also lost because Scola couldn't hit his mid range jumpers. For some reason Scola has struggled lately. We didn't give Yao the ball in the 4th. Luther Head once again showed he could not run the pg position. And we made George Hill look like Grant Hill in his prime.
I agree again, durvasa, but my question for you is this: Do you think Rafer's defense is good enough to validate having him starting on a team with championship aspirations? Do you really think his defense is that good that it makes up for his horrible shooting, total lack of penetration and inability to break down defenses and create easy scoring opportunities for other players. Forget about tonight's game for a second. For the sake of argument, let's say we beat SA with Rafer. Do we stand still with Alston as our starter all the way through to the playoffs? Even if Brooks isn't the answer, do you honestly believe we can really threaten elite teams with Rafer as our PG and T-Mac and Yao both wildly inconsistent throughout their Rockets' careers. We won't likely be able to do anything about McGrady and Yao this season so I think we need to try to upgrade the PG spot either from within or through trade. I really just can't accept that Rafer does anything well enough to justify him starting over Brooks. I say let Brooks loose and either use Rafer as a backup or look for a better starting PG, in that order.
Most of the game, including in crunch time, McGrady shot the ball and couldn't make any of them. He threw up airball floaters. 2-for-12. Brooks > McGrady tonight.
If McGrady and Yao don't play significantly better than they have thus far, I definitely agree that Rafer isn't enough for us to win it all. The hope is that those two figure things out, along with Artest, and we get consistent production every game from our stars. If that happens, I think we're deep enough to win a championship with our current PG situation.
Maybe I'm just starting trouble, but why isn't it pointed out how badly duncan outplayed yao? Once again we see offensive production carry into overral game.
Tmac didn't play well! That's true! But, it doesn't mean AB is a good pg! Actually, if AB is a good pg and can create some easy baskets for Tmac. He wouldn't be 2/12! And, Yao wound't be only touch the ball 9 times! Once again, AB is a good scorer! And, he is good to come off the bench to change tempo. But, he is not a starting pg material!
I agree that if both Tracy and Yao were return to top form that we may be able to squeak by with Rafer's offensive ineptitude. By top form, I mean a version of McGrady that we have barely seen since he's been in Houston. In Yao's case, I'm thinking of the Yao before he busted his knee up against the Clippers a couple of years ago. I'm not even sure we can overcome Rafer's weaknesses if both of those things were to happen and Artest finds his groove. No matter how much we try to push the ball or modify our offense, we will inevitably be a halfcourt team when Yao and Tracy are on the court. That means the PG will get open shots on the perimeter. In order to break down defenses, we need a PG that penetrate and threaten to score. Rafer is unreliable in both of those facets. He got to the line less than 2 times per game last season. That is horrible. To be honest, even if Tracy and Yao magically became superstars again, I still think we would benefit more with Brooks at PG. I fully believe he can learn enough to be able to set up the offense and make simple passes. On top of that, he is a better shooter and better at breaking down defenses and finishing around the basket. He has shown that he can also find open players when defenses over commit on him. On the defensive end, I really think you are overstating Alston's defensive abilities. With no hand-checking on the perimeter, most guards are able to get around the first line of defense. With experience, I really think Brooks can close enough of the gap between his and Alston's defensive abilities to let his superior offensive skills be the deciding factor. I think it's more important to worry about our poor interior defense than any difference between Brooks' and Alston's perimeter defense. Neither of them are great one-on-one defenders.
I don't think Yao did that bad a job on Duncan. Duncan scored 22 points in 40 minutes. That's below his season averages, and I think Yao was primarily defending him one-on-one. Duncan's a great player, and Yao held his own defensively. He could have been more effective as a help defender; maybe he was worried about straying too far from Duncan. The bigger concern for me is getting our offense to click with Yao as a primary post up option. If he's not getting deep post catches, he may actually be hurting the offense more than helping it.
It doesn't mean Rafer is a good PG, either. The question is who is better between Brooks and Alston. Can Brooks overcome more of his weaknesses than Rafer? Should we look for an upgrade over both and make Brooks the backup and cut ties with Rafer altogether?
I agree with you! I never said Rafer is a good PG! I always say the rockets need to make a trade for a good PG! Morey is gambling! He is a stats expert. I am wondering how big chance he thinks our current pgs can help the team win the title?!
"Tmac" has shot 3/18 since the Clippers game.. when we had Alston.. so using Brooks to excuse his poor performance... tsk tsk.. also.. to Tracy.. there is no such thing as someone else creating an easy basket for him... in his mind.. only he can..
I'm not so sure Morey is gambling as much as he is doing everything can with limited time and other resources. He was dealt a hand and things won't change over night. There should be no question that Morey has made some good moves and added some depth to this team. He has also avoided getting strapped by any new, bad contracts unlike CD did time and again late in his tenure. It should be obvious that Morey is concerned with Rafer. As a so-called stats guru, I'm sure he sees plenty to worry about with his numbers. Why do you think he brought in James last season and then drafted Brooks. You can call the Francis deal a PR move but the fact is that Francis is a PG and Adelman thought he was going to be the starter. My guess is that the first chance Morey gets to bring in a better PG, he will jump on it. Adding frontcourt length may be a slightly higher priority right now but I'm pretty sure that upgrading the PG spot is near the top of his list.
except when rafer alston plays.........when tmac plays poorly, somehow it's still rafer alston's fault.......but if aaron brooks is at point, well then it's actually is tmac's fault
