Why does everyone continues to bash Rafer....

Alston a leader? Just stop...please stop

Yao, Howard, TMac and even Battier would not agree with this

 

He's not a team leader per se, but he's definitely one of the leaders on the court.

Just by watching the games you can see it. Just try to shut out the commentary, and focus on Alston running the offense. What you'll see is a savvy court general that follows the gameplan well, and organises his teammates well. And it's even more noticeable in opencourt situations where he will tell guys where to run.

 

KAS13, suggestions/comments:

1 When posters try to provoke you, do not reply to them. Your replying to them is exactly how threads get hijacked. I've had the same thing happen and learned from it. When allow people to change a thread into a personal issue between you and them, you have fallen for the trap. Also, when you allow people to provoke you into not posting, again you lose because that is exactly what they want. Do what I did: Post even more. Don't be so offended by anonymous people you don't even know. They laugh out loud knowing they got under your skin.

2 Don't claim to be an insider (whether you are or not I have no idea). If you know anything about human nature, claiming to be an insider will cause some posters here to do their best to prove otherwise and take you down. That's just the way some people are programmed. You may as well stick your jaw out and say "Hit me". Just post what you know and let it be.

3 I don't always (or even usually) agree with what you post but I like reading what you say and the ensuing discussion. As likable as he is, I disagree with you on Rafer's ability and on Tracy's back. Just who in the media (besides maybe Gene and Jim) makes Tracy out to be a hero because of his back pain? Who in the Houston media says he is physically or mentally tough? If you ask me, the Houston media is skeptical about Tracy and may turn on him (or dismiss him completely) if he again misses an extended period of time. Tracy's back and mood swings last season used up most of his chits earned in 04/05. There are only a very few people that believe this is his team and not Yao's team. I sense that you don't like Tracy and almost resent the respect and love some still give him.

Final (repetitive) words: Don't let people you dislike control what you post here. They win, you lose. Don't get baited into personal comebacks that derail threads. As I told one poster, this isn't a 5th grade playground where they can run you off.

 

I agree with that, and I do think what he does as setting up players at the right position is exceptional, but also isn't that his job?

he is a good passer, no doubt about that, but my main concern is his shot, stamina, and his penetration....

as a PG you should be equipped with a good shot, court vision, good passing ability and a relentless penetration to the rim...

 

Bring back Marc Jackson and Rod Strickland.

We can't have all-stars at every position guys. I'm sure JVG can see how guys play in practice, which we don't see. If practice isn't successful, how can the game be?

 

You're right, that is his job... and as you said, he does it very well (I wouldn't say exceptionally -- that's Steve Nash territory).

A PG's primary roles are passing, ball-handling, running/setting up the offense, controlling tempo, etc. Shooting and penetration to the rim are primarily the roles of a SG. That's the traditional role, anyways.

Problem is, we are ill-equipped at the two to the point where we are switching roles. T-Mac has tried to be our 1 option so we are looking at Rafer to essentially be our two guard. It becomes even worse when all of our 1 or 2 guards spend most of their time behind the three point arc.

In our current situation, Mike James, though not a better player, would be a better fit than Rafer. But, I'm not sure if it would make us a better team. T-Mac as a PG hasn't been too impressive, and certainly isn't someone I want seeing playing huge minutes night in and night out with his back. IMO, we'd be a better team with Rafer as our PG and a capable shooter/driver as our SG -- something like a Rip Hamilton would be ideal.

The more I think about it, this is an extremely confused "traditional" (inside/outside game) offense.

 

LOL.

I think u misunderstood, it's my bad though, it was an ill-written sentence.

here is how it's supposed to read:

I dont know about u, but I've never seen a guy in Streetball who can pass the ball better than Skip

 

Why is there a question about Rafer's stamina when his shooting in the 4th qtr, especially in the last 5 minutes of the game, is actually BETTER than it is in the rest of the game? Tired players usually lose their shooting form.

He does not look like a tired player to me late in the game. He has many faults, but getting tired in the 4th qtr isn't one of them.

 

There is a reason why the Raptors let James walk and a reason why the Twolves are not very good. Do you guys really think Yao would be as good as he is now w/o Rafer. Battier and him are easily the best passers to Yao and look for him every chance they get. A huge reason for Yao's progress last year was because of Rafer. Yao was getting doubled and tripled and we still found ways to get him the ball. Although Alston may not be the most efficient scorer, he has been putting points on the board and hopefully he won't have to play 35+ min. anymore now that Tmac is back and Luther can take over for him more often. He plays from the start of the game to the middle of the 1st quarters and I don't think that is the best use for your starting PG. PG's need quite a bit of rest especially someone with the tempo of Rafer. I think he misses a lot of shots early because he does not find his legs until later in the game.

 

1. He doesn't have much of a shooting form to lose.

2. His defense goes down the tubes. That's how you can tell his stamina is down.

3. The reason that him and Luther shoot so well from 3 in the fourth is largely due to the opponents concentrating on shutting off Yao and McGrady and them getting such wide open looks. I would bet that with Yao out, those 4th quarter percentages go down drastically.

 

this is why I had Stamina/Penetration together in my thread

you can be tired in 4th and still hit shots...but can you run plays? can you make the run to the rim and make the shot few seconds before the clock is out?! make a game winning decision?

rafer can't do that, he looks like a lost chicken in the paint...

 

Agreed. I think he gets more tired at the end of the 1st quarter and part of the 2nd quarter as my previous post states. I play a lot of sports and I play better after I get my second wind. Alston seems to be one of the most hated Rocket's of all time no matter what happens. I will never understand the hate for this guy. Hatred last year was understandable but I don't understand how people can be that dissatisfied with him this year. He is not great but he is solid enough and it is unfortunate that our team has so many injuries because he was doing a pretty good job before all of the injuries.

 

Actually, he does these things pretty well.

29% of his shots during the last 5 minutes of the game are layups. 23% of his shots are layups overall. So, he does not stop making "the run to the rim" in crunch time.

His FG% on layups is 80% in the last 5 minutes of the game, which is way up compare to his 49% fg% on layups overall. So yes, he does "make the shot" when he gets to the rim.

Also, his eFG% with 8 or less second left in the shot clock during the last 5 minutes of the game is .600, which is up from his overall eFG% with 8 or less second left on the shot clock (.440). Also, 59% of his shot attempts during the last 5 minutes of the game come with less than 8 seconds left on the clock. So, he does make shots with "a few seconds left on the clock" during the last 5 minutes of the game.

The Rockets outscore the oppoents by 7.2 points per 48 minutes during the last 5 minutes of the game when Rafer Alston is on the floor. The Rockets outscore opponents by 6.2 points per 48 minutes overall while Alston is on. So, there's no sign that Alston is dragging down the team's performance during the last 5 minutes of the game.

The Rockets team D during the last 5 minutes of the game hasn't been good at all, and part of that is on Alston. He also has had some bad TOs. But to say that all that Alston did during the last 5 minutes of the game was make jumpers is ignorant.

 

It's good to see there are plenty of fans who appreciate Rafer. It's only what I've been saying all along. Before it's all said and done, the Rockets are going to need Alston.

Correct me if I'm wrong, there used to be many insiders here who used to post consistently. I think they don;t simply because the intelligence of conversation has watered down supremely due to open registration this summer. I'm not doubting KAS13 as an insider, but as a fan, I would much rather hear his input than some guy who's clearly biased and is not objective with analysis (not speaking of anyone in general, I've been guilty of this too).

What makes this board successful is, not that we have a forum to talk Rox bball (you could find that anywhere--realgm, espn, etc), but that insiders would be nice enough to share what they know. But now, you don't see much of that anymore because new posters have come in with the everknowing attitude that what they think is law. So now what we have is no more info that what the chronicle or rockets.com ( ) offers, which isn't much because they spin 75% of all Rockets matters.

 

You have nobody to blame but yourself for this thread getting off topic. When you make claims (not even related to this thread) such as this:

You better expect to get some criticism ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NO EVIDENCE TO BACK YOURSELF UP! You keep saying "Oh look I communicate with Clutch, I have inside information!", yet you refuse to elaborate. Until you give us real evidence, you're nothing but a big fat phony. Anyone can make claims if they don't have to walk-the-walk.

Hey KAS13, my next door neighbor happens to be Tracy McGrady! I called him before the Pacers' game. He said his back is still hurting big time and he isn't even close to feeling 100%. He's only playing because he feels he doesn't have a choice with Yao out. "The doctors wouldn't let me play, but I told them I gotta man up for the benefit of my team. I wouldn't even consider myself 50%, but they need me right now. Ain't nobody will stop me from playing!", he said. T-Mac is a warrior! I can't prove to you that I really had a conversation with him, but apparently, it doesn't matter here.

And you still haven't defended yourself from my previous post about you comparing T-Mac's back situation to Nash's. That tells me that you're admitting defeat and that it was pretty ignorant to make a remark like that.

 

If this is Yao's team, then why did we go 2-5 when T-Mac wasn't playing? And why in the last 2 years are we like 10-32 when T-Mac isn't playing? I give you evidence to support my claim that this is still T-Mac's team. Where's your evidence? Oh right, you don't have any. You think just claiming that you have inside information justifies anything you say.