In my book: Rafer is tolerable at the position, but we won't ascend to the elite with him as a starter. Steve, should he find the game within, could lift the PG position from tolerable to good. Mike James and Luther Head are wholly unable to play minutes at that position. Aaron Brooks isn't ready yet, but I'd still like to see what he could do with some seasoning. Moving anyone not named Yao, McGrady, or Scola for Jason Kidd would be a phenomenal move, so long as a contract extension for him isn't involved. Andre Miller wouldn't be the massive upgrade over Rafer that some people mistakenly believe he'd be. Evan
I'll tell you why Francis will never be our starting PG. It's because of the play where T-mac curls around one side and receives a pass on the other side on the elbow. Francis was INEXPLICABLY BOUNCE-PASSING it to the player (in this case Bonzi) on this play, and Bonzi had to reach down and bend to catch the ball, which gave ample time for the defense to recover. Why the hell would Francis bouce pass when a fast, direct, and accurate pass is most needed on this play? It just boggles my mind. You NEVER bounce pass unless you NEED to. This is where Francis struggles, his lack of bball IQ, and where Rafer flourishes, which is why Rafer will be starting every game this season and be the primary PG.
I stand corrected he actually played a better game when you look at stats. But even with that above average performance by Rafer and Tmac's triple double and Yao's 24 points and double digit rebounds we had to have Battier's best shooting game Scola's clutch bench play and Bonzi's best game of the season to win comfortably. This should have been a blowout and it wasn't. And part of that problem is because we have 2 starting players who can't shoot, Hayes and Rafer. Teams don't guard them anymore. I can live with Hayes because he is hustle player whose minutes are adjusted with matchups. And Scola stands by ready to give us an offensive burst when needed. But Rafer is just not doing it for me. Watch his man leave him open for a 3 time and time again. It's as if they are begging him to shoot. We need a point that demands some attention. Rafer will never be that guy and they rest of the team especially Yao suffer for it.
It's hard to say Rafer has been outplaying the other guards in every aspect given his shooting has been so poor as of late (or I guess always), but that's not why you have him on the floor. People who don't see that he runs the offense well are just kidding themselves. He distributes well, even if T-Mac out assists him Rafer is often the setup man on those plays. Even if Rafer isn't a great point guard (or I'm sure many would argue he's not even a good point guard) I still think he's out best option to start. Mike has been a bit of a disappointment as of late, although he has had a few sporadic high scoring games. Steve may be the starting point guard later on, but honestly I like the firepower he provides off the bench - even if he does outplay Rafer, I kind of want Steve coming off the bench (but perhaps he'll play more minutes). Luther just shouldn't play point period - I think we saw how well that went. And Aaron Brooks...well, I'm sure many disagree, but I'm happy that he's going to the D-leauge for a while. Rafer may not be great or good, but he's the best starter we've got at point.
"Setting up the offense" seems vastly overrated to me. He isn't any good at post-entry passes (seems like only TMac is any good at that), and he does little else, since we usually have the PG bring it up the court and then give it the big man in the high post or Tmac on an elbow isolation if we're not running a low post play for Yao. His D may be better, but it ain't like he's a "stopper" in any sense. And he CANNOT shoot. I mean it's no surprise that ball always finds it way into his hands, because no one bothers guarding him. He sure as hell isn't a slasher either, and that floater...my God lets not talk about it. I think Francis needs a chance to start and soon. I don't like James and Francis both coming off the bench as "sparks." I'd really like to see more of Francis, Yao and McGrady at the same time...something tells me that'll pay big dividends. I know James can be selfish, so I'd advocate that RA keep him on a short leash. If he's got it going (which he really hasn't much since the beginning of the season) keep him in, if not yank him b/c usually if he isn't scoring, he ain't doing much. I agree with you about Luther and AB, though.
I WISH I COULD HAVE VOTED THREE TIMES TO PICK ALL OF THE LAST THREE OPTIONS! Rafer Wafer sucks. Rick the twisted Adelman sucks. There it is in black and white. But honestly, Wafer is not longer our biggest problem. It's the coach that still thinks he is our best chance to wins games and make a championship run that is the BIGGER PROBLEM! IDIOT! How much longer will Les and Morey tolerate RA not starting Steve and Scola for sure...and Bonzi obviously in the starting lineup with these two and Tmac and Yao poses unbelievable defensive challanges for other teams. Who can match up then? Read my lips Adelman: "youre on the way out of here if you don't change...and SOON!"
Well, the reason WHY Rafer Alston got that many play minutes was SIMPLE. Efficiency wise, he is the TOP in plus/minus amongst all Rockets players !! http://www.nba.com/statistics/lenovo/lenovo_sort.jsp?pcomb=1&season=22007&split=9&team=Rockets
I think its because Rafer is quicker than Francis and James at this point in time. He is able to get up the court much quicker and make the correct passes better than any of our other PGs. His offense is the worst out of all the PGs by far, but so far James and Francis's deficiencies seem to outweigh Rafer's offensive flaws. I think Francis and James can both become more adequate defenders as the season progresses (especially Francis) and potentially become the 3d scoring option this team desperately needs. If Adelman were looking towards the future, he would invest time in either Francis or James, giving much bigger minutes. Rafer although our best option at point at many aspects of the game, is just too bad offensively for us to compete with the high octane offensive powers of the elite teams, especially when you're also starting Hayes and Battier.
I agree. I don't understand this. Rafer is the not the guy that sets up the offense, its Tmac for christ sake. All rafer do majority of the time is bring the ball up the court and then GIVE IT to Tmac. Francis can do the same damn thing. I know it'll take time for francis to get in shape and into adelman's system, but if by all-star break, rafer is still our starting point guard, alot of people will be pissed.
LOL funny how Mike James is the worst. That's what happens when u have a trigger happy undersized SG jacking up shots and shooting .371%.
I agree with your analysis except for the bit about Kidd and Miller. I would much rather make a move for Andre Miller, because it will be more realistic and he is much younger. And YES!!! he would be a huge upgrade over Rafer at the PG position. Andre Miller can run an offense, AND score, AND play defense. He would be a huge pick up, althought there are several other attainable PG's that would work as well. Suffice it to say, our current PG situation is not working and we need to make a move. I wish Adelman would have the nuts to give Steve 30 minutes a night to see what happens. It seems like every time Steve gets 20 plus minutes we win.
I'm hoping it's because they hope he'll play himself to a better shooting percentage and become trade material. But, unfortunately, I think it's because nobody is playing any better, or the team still plays better with him at the helm than anyone else ... and that really sucks.
It's been reported ad nauseum that Adelman's offense takes a lot to get used to and a lot of BBall IQ to begin with. Rafer probably does better with defensive coverages and makes crisper passes in the flow of the offense. There's some merit to this given JVG and Adelman's decisions to start the guy despite his lethally painful shooting %.
Adelman has pretty much spelled out his reasons. He feels Rafer is the best defender of the three, and that he gets the team into the offense the best. We may disagree, but that's apparently what the coach thinks.
The whole rafer runs the offense thing better is a myth.rafer brings the ball up the court really quick then gives it to Yao then misses the wide open three. Steve brings the ball up passes the ball around and when he gets the ball back he penetrates and make things happen. I also notice that Steve gets the ball to Yao in better positions to score. Steve is the best point guard out of the 2.
