After watching last night's game, I got the impression that Alson didn't do really well. All I remember him doing was a steal and a man hug on Anthony Johnson whom wasn't amused. However, after the game, I saw the stats sheet and found Alston had 14 assists. 14? That's Steve Nash number! What was strange was that I didn't remember him making alot of plays on the court. Do any of you have the same impression? Where do all his assists coming from?
Man, I wish this guy can shoot the ball and defend. Every oppenents' PG looks like a superstar against him and his shooting percentage is too low. I still like MJ at this moment.
I notice Alston a lot. The 14 assists don't surprise me, especially when Yao destroys other teams on offense. I'm a broken record, but Rafer has a lot to do with Yao's improvement. Yao KNOWS when he hustles to get open the ball is coming in, so he fights for position more and moves around more than he used to. He takes fewer plays off on offense. Tracy's reduced playing time has increased Rafer's assist numbers a bit since he creates so many of his own shots unassisted.
I think it counts as an assist when yao gets the ball from rafer and makes a quick move and puts the basket in. example. Rafer dumps ball into yao and he makes a quick spin for a dunk. That is a an assist. He was doing a lot of that last night too. Got deep position and got the ball and went up right away. Easy bucket. I think late in the game though with pollard and foster all over his back, Yao would make the mistake of still backing up instead of holding position which allowed them to come around the side and knock the ball out or at times knock his arm out w/o getting called for a foul.
How exactly are assists defined in the NBA? I think every time Alston passes to Yao and Yao scores without a dribble, it's an assist. As has been pointed out by numerous posters before, Yao is now getting better position and starting his moves without dribbling a lot of the times, so it's not a surprise that Alston got a ton of assists on a night that Yao scored 38.
there were two times when alston broke down the defense and drove to the basket and then when they came to block him, he dished it off to yao who finished it off with a slam and layup. he also had a couple of assists from him/juwon pick pop shoot.
I can't say that you are wrong about last nights game, because I was not concentrating on his play. In general Alston makes very few assists to Yao Ming, although I feel sure as their game develops he will be more of an asset to the big man.
offensively, rafer is a good point guard. it never surprises me when he has a lot of assists because he knows when and where to deliver the basketball to guys. his defense isn't very good, but his ball-handling, passing and decision making is the best the organization has seen in awhile at the point.
i like skip's holding the helm but i've got one major problem... he can't shoot! everytime i see him wide open with the ball i cringe. sure he's at 38 percent (which still sucks) but he takes alot of threes (34 percent) so his shooting is at around 36 percent... that just sux.
Alston has a lot of potential - If he improves his shot, I think he can firmly establish himself as 1/3 of a Rockets "big three." In the meantime, I'd rather he penetrate when he gets the ball wide open from downtown and see what happens - I agree with kyakko, his shooting (usually) just sux.
I like Alston, but he certainly has some holes to his game. There's his defense for starters, and his inconsistent shooting. But the thing that concerns me most about him is that he can be VERY shakey at times. Making turnovers and over-dribbling in crunch time. I think it's imperative that we find a quality backup PG this off-season. Preferably a veteran, that can be a calming influence down the stretch or whenever Rafer gets erratic. Someone like Brevin Knight would be perfect.
In fact, by today's rules, I believe the definition of an assist is even looser. Back in the days of say, Oscar Robertson, an assist was tallied only when the receiving player scored without dribbling. Today, an assist is tallied when a pass "directly leads to a basket." In other words, if Yao got a rebound and heaved the ball to Bogans on the break and Bogans went unimpeded to the basket, it doesn't matter if Bogans dribbles 5 times; it's still an assist. The player who scores must have to make some kind of move/fake to beat the defense for it to NOT count as an assist.
man i love it when we complain that out point guard cant shoot, in a game where he shoots like 6 times (if he had made one more shot, he'd have shot 50% for the game. wooo!) and dishes out 14 assists in a win. and then offer the proposal to have someone like brevin knight, to come in as a bench player. rafer is a streaky shooter. he'll have his moments when they are there. until then, enjoy the assists and the above average defense.
How are we supposed to enjoy the above average defense if it doesn't exist. This point has gone over before on the board. Rafer is a poor position defender, and poor at fighting through screens. He creates a lot of havoc with his swipes and his quick hands, so that makes up for it a bit. At best Rafer is a below-average defender, and probably closer to poor defender at that.
We must depend on Van Gundy to gradually make Rafer a better defender and shooter - it is his job. Rafer fills the big need that Yao had for someone to be able to pass the ball efficiently into the post. We did not have that before. I would still like to see rafer, head and wesley stepping in and popping in some 2's from the 10-12 ft range. Kinda like training wheels building up the confidence, then they can move back out to the 3p line. 2 is still > 0.
Rafer Alston is a good PG. Some games he dies in the clutch, though. He could affort to shoot it slightly better, and he could afford a little more consistency, but overall, he's a good PG. He really needs to work on that defense though, his is atrocious.
