exactly. There is something to be said for letting yao and tmac get off early and starting the game in a more controlled way. Plus, how can you not appreciate that extra spark MJ brings when he comes in later in the quarter? It just works, and works very well.
Not reading beyond this post because of time: Boiling this down, I get that you feel Rafer shouldn't be playing because of his missed shots/lost opportunities and that James is a better option for starting as PG. While I am not going to judge if Mike is a better player than Rafer, I will counter with some reasons that you could consider Rafer worthwhile starting: 1. Starting does not establish who gets more minutes or who finishes. Out of those three things, starting is the least important. Maybe you could consider this to be a situation like when we had Kenny and Sam. -->mpg: Rafer 25.7, MJ 25.0 2. Bricks: Rafer has missed 13 shots in 3 games, Mike has missed 17. Last night RA was 4-9, and MJ 5-14. Rafer is shooting a lower FG% for the year, but he's wisely taking less shots than he did last year. That hurts us a lot less. I agree that it's painful watching him badly brick wide open set shots. 3. Why Rafer: unlike Sticky Fingaz James, RA is a strong ball distributer. 5 apg in similar minutes to James' 3 apg. Just watch last night's game tape. Rafer found guys in good spots during the first half, and Mike rarely if ever looked at anything but the basket. He doesn't even consider passing the bulk of the time he has the ball - only when he brings the ball up can you expect him to give it up. This is the point guard role we're talking about. Scoring should never be how you define this position. Again, I'm not trying to say RA should get all the minutes - I like that they're splitting the position. But they both have limitations. One has a miserable shot, the other slights the team concept to jack up shots. Mix them up and you get some balance. Evan
Completely with you. And is of what great reality when you chose not to concern the personal/sentimental interests of Francis and his loyal fans.
3-0 That's all I gotta say 'bout that. Actually, no, it isn't, haha. I mean if it ain't broke don't fix it right? I mean we have even tougher games up ahead. So let's keep it going, and adjust as needed.
I hope Morey still trades Rafer. I don't care if we are 3 - 0. If Rafer is the starting PG come playoff time, we are still 1 and done.
Trade him for... who? A better point guard? Because another team will happily make that exchange just to help the Rockets out, of course. Alston isn't going anywhere.
Yep, cuz his trade value is ZERO. No other NBA team would ever consider Alston for a starting PG position. Trade him for anything, player, money or pick. We don't need him or his contract. He's holding this team back. Everytime he starts against decent teams we are in a hole early. MJ is forced to get us back to even. Laker game 14 pt hole, Jazz game 12pt hole. Alston brings no offense, just pushes the ball up quickly... ANY of the other PGs can do the same thing. Brooks can even do it at a discount of millions of dollars. I want to see this offense with starting PG that can score as well as push the ball up the court. With MJ or SF at point, Yao and T-Mac get better.
Listen to the fans Rick. Put stevie in. Everytime I see Rafer do that sky high tear drop of his and makes a loud "Thunk" on the rim, I cringe at the sight and lose interest in watching basketball.
Bollocks. MJ and SF have historically looked for their shot first. Alston isn't a top 10 PG, but he's looking to pass first, and as demonstrated against the Blazers when he waved off McGrady on the 2-on-2 break in the 1st quarter, he generally makes smart decisions. No one's saying that Alston is the greatest point guard the Rockets ever had. He has his deficiencies, particularly his inability to finish at the rim. But that was exposed when he had to play 36+ minutes a game because he was the only PG the team had. Now he's splitting time with Mike James, a guy who can finish inside (and shoots about the same % from downtown), so that masks his weaknesses a little. Make no mistake: Rafer Alston, Mike James and Steve Francis are flawed point guards. Alston can't finish in traffic, James rarely looks to pass, and Francis overdribbles. I don't think you can win championships with any of them on their own. But you can use them alternately in different situations, utilising their strengths and hiding their flaws as dictated by the game. That goes a long way.
That's because the coaches always think that they are clever than the others.So they have to do something different to show that.
Rafer should be the starter because with need production off the bench. However I would limit his minutes to about 15 minutes and Let Francis take some of his shots. Sorry but Rafer should not take any shots. His 3 pointer is off and aside from the tear drop, he has no other weapon. He stands there waiting for a bone to be thrown his way. I would rather see someone else take the shot.
That's because Rafer isn't in the game for his shooting. Rafer has been horrible from 3 pt range so far, weighing in at a pathetic 18.2%, while James has been on fire shooting 53.8% from 3. Neither is likely to be the case as the season goes on, as Rafer's career 3 pt % is 35.7% and James is slightly better at 38.4%. The career numbers are much more realistic expectations as to how both of them will shoot by season's end.
The fact that JVG and RA have both independently decided that Rafer is going to start should be enough to stop these threads. Considering both coaches have different philosophies and that both times Rafer is the man for the job, that should tell you something. Plus, both Alston and James are getting about equal minutes, so it really isn't that important who actually starts the games. I love James off the bench.. provides energy and his scoring is more important with the bench players. Rafer has his own strengths, and no.. shooting is not one of them - but the starters don't rely on him for scoring. He is a good distributor. So they both do well in their respective roles. 3-0 anyone?
The person who's role is most guaranteed is Mike James. He is EXACTLY where he needs to be, as energy and scoring off the bench. He fits so well in his position that to think about him doing anything else is nonsensical. As far as Rafer is concerned, I hope that they look into it harder after this 12-game stretch of death about giving Steve a try in the starting PG role. Steve is a guy I think who maybe is a guy who plays up or down into his role. Off the bench in New York he was bad because he wasn't asked to do more, but he got better late last year when a spot opened up for playing time. Maybe if he were on the court at the same time as Yao and T-Mac he could manage to do the same things Rafer does (run the ball up the court, make passes in to Yao) as well as some thing Rafer is just showing time and time again that he cannot do (dribble drive, finish with any kind of decent % w/in 5ft of the basket).
Basically my point of this thread was to find out if there would be a better combo of starters and or bench. I am curious as to why it didnt change from last year. I expect it will change in a month or so. TRUE we are running very well like this and it also provides us with a good bench, but there has to be something better we can do about this. I wish we got rid of rafer in the offseason and we had 1 more worthy pg, if only sf could live up to the hype!
This is sooo true. When i see rafer do his leap into the lane and the ball go up............... I 100% completely ....................... disagree. U R WAY TOO OLD TO BE ON CLUTCHFANS 24/7
Wow, a "rookie" making a post that makes some sense. Props to you. Not playing any favorites, and just calling it how you see it.
