I am just fed up with this guy. This argument has been dating back to his 1st year with the team. He's suppose to be the general of this team - controller of the offense. Everytime I see him start this offense, it seems like he has no idea what to do. - Most of his passes are very questionable - When he's suppose to push the ball on a fast break, he pulls back - He shoots bricks, never consistent - Never attacks the basket - During the season, he was the 3rd highest scorer on this team. But only produced 13 points/game on 38% shooting. Head comes off the bench, scores 11 points/game on 44% shooting. What a load of crap. If I'm a free agent PG looking for a starting position, I would be licking my chops to come to Houston and take away the starting position from Rafer. To have 2 superstars take up all the attention of the offense and you brick wide open 3s, it's freaking ridiculous. JVG, I know you need a strong SG shooter from the draft or FA, but you seriously need a PG who can lead this offense, shoot the damn ball when open, and penetrate toward the basket when we need some points. It's just the Rockets luck that we haven't found a true PG since Sam Cassell.
non of those is a problem... the problem is the guy has 0 mid-range game... he should take a lesson from sam cassel about how to play a midrange game
where's mike james when u need him? there's no way rafer could develop a midrange game like cassell. thats not his skillset. it'd be like teaching a dog how to ride a bike. you can't do it.
just last game there was a thread started about how much we love Rafer and now this... he wasnt the only one who played bad....the whole team played horrible...this is seriously ridiculous for blaming him for it all...bc he does a lot for this team and we all know what our team is like without his penetration and him pushing up the ball... and the ppl who keep on swinging back on forth on Rafer are the ones who make fun of bandwagon fans...ironic....it seems like these threads are now started just to get a lot of replies for your clutchfans rep.
Your talking about this game. I know the whole team played like crap and should be blamed as a team for this loss. But I'm talking about Rafer's play for the past 2 seasons + this year's playoffs.
i was never on the rafer bandwagon. i disliked him ever since we traded mike james for him. his penetration? what penetration? if you're talking about the times he goes in the lane and bricks his "floaters" then i guess that counts.
he tried to pass to yao and tmac when they were posting up. both went out abounds. hes just too small. he can pass over the tall defender. thats why i think battier is the only one to know how to pass. luther and rafer keeps bounce passing. by now, i'm tired of clyder, and bill saying, bounce pass to the paint is a bad pass.
this team needs Vernon, smeone who would take losing personaly. not a bunch of nice guys, van gundy yesmen.
Why is Rafer on the team? Really? Because Sura got hurt, and the Rockets didn't want use a 6'0", me-first, low Basketball IQ, penetrating SG as the starting PG. I'd say that's wise. Rafer was the best PG that anyone would trade for Mike James, for good reason.
I do not like threads blaming one particular rocket in this playoff time. It is the team lost. Nobody did good job except Battier.
Sure can. James current status is trade bait on the Wolves just like he was with us. The guy can't get along in any system because he thinks he's a superstar. That's why he lost his starting job in Minny and they'd trade him for a signed Tmac basketball right now. I love how certain fans on this board blame everything on Rafer. The dude shot 2 for 5 last night and had 7 and 5. he turned it over too much but who didn't (and it's not typical of him to make bad passes). 2 of his makes were from three point range.
yeah, it was all rafers fault the rockets lost. i didnt see any of you guys giving him credit after the 2 wins.
I think Rafer might be the most underappreciated player on the Rockets. Whenever he's off the floor, our offense goes down the drain. It's interesting to look at player's off court +/-. That is, our point differential when a particular player is off the court. The smaller, the better. Code: player OFF COURT Net (per 100 possessions) Yao +3.4 McGrady +1.6 [B]Alston -3.2[/B] Battier +2.7 Hayes +1.3 Head +11.1 Howard +9.8 Rafer is the only regular player for whom the Rockets +/- is negative when he's off the court.
I've been preaching about the problems with Rafer Alston for as long as I can remember now ... but I really wouldn't overreact to this loss or pin it exclusively on Rafer because every single player was terrible. As bad as Rafer's 32% shooting and 30% from long range in the series has been, it looks like Jimmy Chitwood compared to Juwan and Luther right now. I think the Rockets will bounce back. BUT... ... the defense of Rafer Alston has officially hit a new all-time low (and that's saying a lot). Whoops, sorry KAS... your record lasted less than a minute.
It shows you how important a point guard, even a below average one is. Mediocre PGs are much better than even great miniature shooting guards.
