I'd like to take a look at the game flow tonight, to see if the Rockets struggled any more on D with him in there than with him out. We all know Rafer Alston has his limitations, and should play limited minutes rather than 36 mpg, but one can't deny that he serves a purpose-- even if it is beating the pressure and setting up the offense-- that others on this team don't do as well. There is a reason why both Van Gundy and Adelman are giving him minutes.
Actually James DID do a better job. Parker had to work for his shots when james was on him. Rafer roller over like a red carpet.
Now now now DD... Rafer is NBA quality, just that he is NBA backup quality. Don't take that away from him.
Van Gundy was. As for Adelman, he has already cut into his minutes. If Adelman sticks with Gundy's treatment, he too will be a was.
I remember him having his way with all our point guard. I'm sure he burnt Rafer the most though.. I was just pointing out that Parker is an amazing player.
Parker is an amazing player. No one is saying he isnt. That does not mean Rafer must concede. When your homer announcer is calling you out, you know you have serious issues. Like I said, he just keeps rolling over. If it's not Parker, then it is [INSERT RANDOME PG HERE] who is killing him on any given night.
Rafer makes entry pass to Yao look very easy. Mike James cant do that.. Luther Head cant do that.. that is one of the reasons why Rafer is starting with Yao because he can make that entry pass. He makes things easy for Yao and Tmac.
Can I recommend that you please air your misguided complaint to Coach A directly? I admit that Rafer is far beyond an All-Star but his ball handling and skill at actually being able to set up offensive plays is a plus that will garner him more opportunities in forthcoming games. The guy had 7 assists in tonight's game and was able to calm our offense down the stretch enough to seal a victory of the World Champs. Your assertion that he is garbage is unwarranted because a player that is "garbage" would not have been able to even muster up even a single assist.
I suppose ball handling is an undervalued skill, seeing that coaches keep starting the guy who does it best. And it being a guy's lone asset to a team can get him 5 million a year over 5 seasons. Wish I'da taken those dribbling drills more seriously back in my youth The overall Rafer stat score isnt too deplorable - 7 assists:check. only 2 turnovers: check. only 5 shots attempted:check. Part of it was his timeliness of doing something bad when you didnt need it, and his body language such as his lack of focus tossing an easy pass into the stands looking like he was gonna cry, and him hardly even trying to be gritty on D to clamp down on Parker. We know Parker is the quickest, but it was like he just conceded the lane to Parker like it was a foregone conclusion that stopping him was hopeless. THAT I dont like... And thats the unfortunately OTHER crappy part about Rafer. Once his counter part on other team heats up, Rafer CANNOT contest good offense with his own offense...he HAS to lock down the other guy. If he doesnt, forget about him even trying to score with the opponent, especially with 2 points a game Chuck Hayes in...THATS the concept of Rafer - too little margin of error when he's in.
thanks captain obvious. His minutes are where they should be for this team to win, thus 4-1. His shot has been off. Whoopidy do, he's also been making some good passes and actually feeds the open man. If you want a barrage of bad shots, thats whats MJ is for. You say it just like everyone else and if you didnt cringe when he jacked 3 consecutive bad shots without looking at a wide open yao in the middle then well...well you know you cringed. And was it only rafer getting used by the all-star parker? hardly. MJ gave up easy buckets to him as well. This just in...parker is really good and NO ONE will stop him 1 on 1. There has to be team defense. And at the end when tony was less effective, you could clearly see the help coming. as for the shooting...did MJ's 4-12 really impress you that much? as opposed to rafers 1-5? bad and bader.
Right now we are going to struggle against teams with good scoring PGs.... Until we get one that can at least break even either on D or O. Mike James is good off the bench, but he has his issues...and Rafer is just HORRIBLE at one on one defense and shooting. DD
A lot of that was good play calling from the sidelines by Adelman. Rafer did a good job those last 3 minutes, but he has a damn good coach who knew when to pull his suckiness out, and when to put him back in when he could use his strengths to make a difference. The real difference is a bench and Adelman.
JVG, adelman...both good coaches who have been to finals and both r****ded for starting rafer. clearly they have no idea what they are doing.
Anyone else find this ironic coming from someone who fails to see the obvious?? Donkey, you are on a roll tonight!
The concept of Rafer Alston is based on the fundamental theories of quantum physics. Heisenberg's equation specifically states that Alston's EXACT FG % can never be precisely known, but that it will ALWAYS invariably suck.
