You know why he is going back to Europe? Because he sucks and can't play here. I have seen him shoot plenty. He is a bad shooter.
Signed. Jason Kidd Avery Johnson Tony Parker Jamal Tinsley Clyde Drexler And every other player that comes into the NBA as a rookie and is labled as a can't shoot type of player. Yeah, give up on the guy after 1 year....BRILLIANT !!! DD
Guess who gave him the ball, TMAC. He was open. He has to take that shot if tmac gives him the ball there. If you freeze the play right when he passes it, tmac should have padded to yao or battier.
PUT IT THIS WAY...I WOULD MUCH RATHER SEE US LOSE WITH VSPAN AT THE POINT THAN RAFER AT THE POINT.... WE NEED TO START ANOTHER PLAY VSPAN THREAD....
HE DOESN"T HAVE TO SHOOT A 3PT SHOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He could drive in, or pass it in to the post for Yao......or try to draw a foul. Rafer is a poor decision maker - 10 seconds on the clock and shooting an unecessary 3....wow.... Do you guys really want your team's playoff lives decided by a 36% shooter? DD
But he is on the team. He is a Rocket. What else can we do but support our players as much as possible and hope for the best?
Juwan shot 50 percent..and if you read Clutch's article on the front page, he mentioned "Tracy McGrady made some questionable decisions down the stretch..." No matter how much you want to defend rafer, a player having such a bad night shouldn't take that last shot.
I assume you're not talking about his years in Europe cause his stats will make a liar out of you. You're obviously talking about his time in Houston which obviously (and I agree completely) matters most to you and to this board. The guy is taken 63 shots in TOTAL spread out over 29 games. My personal opinion is that with that kind of numbers you haven't seen jack. Neither have I to judge his shooting based on this season alone. That is why I mentioned his past accomplishments which I'm possibly better informed about.
Well...you can hope he isn't a rocket. How could we settle for a player that has 1 good game for every 3 bad ones. And why would we want a player that think's he's micheal jordan at the end of the game, but really isn't.
You're absolutely right, which is why I don't believe Rafer is the big culprit here, it's the organization's lack of success in acquiring a starting-caliber PG for a team that has aspirations of being the best in the West that should be blamed more than anything else. For comparison's sake, let's look at the PGs on the top four teams in the West: Steve Nash/Barbosa Tony Parker Jason Terry/Devin Harris Deron Williams/Derek Fisher enough said! For the third straight season, the Rockets have come up short in efforting to build a team around Yao and McGrady enough so where this team would be a legitimate contender. As you yourself have said once before, we're a good team but not a great one. I agree, and the onus is on the organization and its front office to make the necessary moves/corrections to our roster where we can one day -- hopefully some time this decade before both McGrady and Yao are in their 40s -- say with a straight face, "We're going to beat two out of these three -- the Spurs, Mavericks and/or Suns -- in the playoffs this year." Until then, I am content with getting past the first round until we hit a brick wall in the Dallas Mavericks. All I am asking the organization to do is give these two guys -- Yao and McGrady -- a REAL shot at the title. Guys like Rafer, Juwon, JLIII, Novak, Snyder and other 'fillers' ain't gonna cut it. To this day, where's that elusive third option guy? Where's our legitimate PF who can hold his own -- at least defensively -- against the West's best? Where's that legitimate PG? Bench player? I understand we've made some moves on the cheap and hoped things would work out, but they didn't. So time for Les to may be open up that wallet a bit more when he's raking in the kind of revenues he is (third or fourth best yet ranks in the bottom half in payroll?) and may be make a nice little acquisition or two for a guy that will amount to more than a 'gamble' for a season.
The only problem with Rafer is his horrible jump shot and questionable use of it. However, Juwan Howard is a bigger mistake, he has gone from sugar to Sh_t in a couple of months. He cannot get to loose rebounds, hit a jumper, or defend on the perimeter. Basically it was a cast of characters who butts got tight in a big game. The 1st and 4th quarters were horrible and spell doom.
hey, i think rafer pretty much sucks balls but damn, i don't hate him with the entirety of my soul. we failed in the clutch collectively. no, he should not have taken the shot but had it gone in we wouldn't be having this thread. or would we
Don't forget it was Rafer's man that was running the pick and roll at the end...and he failed to cut him off....EACH AND EVERY time. DD
hold on bud, i'm not trying to defend reefer. just saying there is plenty of blame to go around. that was a poorly played game. we can do better.
first t-mac passes to rafer then on the last play he passes it to yao when they need a three. yao was just smart enough to give it back. I can't blame rafer for taking that shot. maybe he should have driven to the basket but as has been often pointed out, he's just as good a three point shooter compared to the rest of his shots and he can't finish at the basket anyway. its just hilarious to see so many people on this guy's case now, when mike james was a good fit for this team and no one wanted him. now both of these guys aren't having good seasons but if rafer was playing in minnesota and james here it might benefit both players and teams.
