Will someone explain to me the Rafer Alston love affair?

As I've said before, Rafer Alston might not be a good starting PG, or even a rotation player for this team, but he does have positive value. Who's to say that neither James nor Francis will implode/get injured during the season? Then what? Rely on Brooks or Head as the backup point? Alston, at the very least, is insurance policy in case something happens to Francis or James.

The point is that we can't just "get rid of" Alston. He can't just magically disappear off the Rockets books for nothing. Therefore, if we can get PF depth or a semi-quality swingman for him, then I'd be happy to see that trade go down. If he's only traded for a benchwarmer and a 2nd round pick... then I'd have some problems.

 

They took turns, which was cool...

but the "rafer era" is the first time in a long time I haven't cringed in fear everytime we're pressed in the full court. His field goal percentage is terrible. His three percentage isn't great, but it isn't terrible. A big problem was constantly having two starters who were basically offensively inept (although to Hayes credit he can mostly finish around the rim). Having Rafer on the court is still a liability if he isn't hitting his threes - but having depth at that position instead of relying on David Wesley or Moochi Norris to play minutes is a blessing.

Say what you will, but Rafer is worth about what he's paid.

 

Steve Francis does nothing required of the PG position, or a good role player around T-Mac and Yao. He's a great rebounder and hits a good % of his FT's. However, he doesn't get to the line often, he's a poor 3pt shooter, turns the ball over too much, and doesn't get enough assists. To top it all off, he's not better than Rafer defensively.

He is in essence the equivalent of a big man who can't rebound, can't block shots, can't hit any shots outside of 4 feet from the basket, isn't a great defender but hits a decent FT% (but doesn't go to the line enough) and is one of the best passers for his position.

Now, I'm pulling for this team to succeed. I'm hoping that the staff will encourage him to attack the basket ruthlessly despite less playing time, and that the new system will help him achieve that without having the ball in his hands. He has been unable to do this throughout his career and he's 30 years old now.

Excuse me if I'm a bit pessimistic. But here's what we're deciding between:

- Rafer is a terriffic passer. Throughout his career, his asst/to has been at least good and usually stellar. That is his greatest attribute and he doesn't do anything else particularly well.

- Steve can rebound the ball better than any PG in the league. He has consistently been among the top 2 or 3 rebounding guards in the league on a per-minute basis. He used to be good at getting to the basket, but that's contingent upon him still being as quick as he was and having the ball in his hands. He does nothing else worth mentioning.


If I'm deciding between these two for my PG position, I go with Rafer. If I'm deciding between these two for a Forward or C position, then rebounding is more important and I take Francis.

However, the best case scenario is that we are able to package Rafer for depth at the 4/5 and Francis is capable of being a pretty good PG who plays 30 minutes or less. With the addition of James and Brooks, it's an excellent risk to take signing Francis, and if we get depth at the 4/5 by trading Rafer, it's a great deal.

 

I agree with the original post...

Rafer is effing terrible. Get rid of him as soon as possible.

 

I didn't know what to think about this Francis thing. I'm still not quite convinced I didn't accidentally wake up in a time warp today.

But after much thought I think his rebounding might end up being a big plus for this team. I'm interested to see how all of this ends up working and who plays what where.

and who's on the team when the dust finally clears.

damn, this has been great. If we can keep **** like this going on until October this off season might not be so long after all.

 

Anyone who thinks this BBS has a love affair with Rafer Alston is most likely mentally r****ded in some way.

 

I agree. I would keep him as a safety net. But we're already so stacked with guards, we shouldn't need a safety net. Therefore, keeping him is only a desirable. If a PG desparate team comes along and is willing to get ripped off, I'd happily oblidge them with Rafer. Otherwise keep Rafer.

 

Mike James couldn't. Bobby Sura couldn't. Moochie couldn't. Lucas couldn't. Spanoulis couldn't. David Wesley couldn't. Steve Francis couldn't. Do I need to go on? (Oddly enough, Flyin' Ryan was pretty good at the entry pass.)

One of the most underrated skills in basketball.

 

Man, I have no idea where you have been... But I will just say I don't agree...

 

No kidding! Since when did Steve Francis become proficient at making an entry pass?

 

of course we are going to trade him for a some good value as return.
Did you guys think we gonna just cut Alston?

 

You must of either not watched or forgot what our team looked like when any other one of our pg's from last year wa sin the game.. We were totally lost, then Alston would come back in and we would look like a team again, even if he couldn't hit a shot. He set our plays up and did a great job, his defense also wasnt to shabby, it wasnt great but also not to shabby

 

Rafer is the master at dribbling...that's why he's called Skip to My Lou....there is no question he's the best at handling the ball, better than everyone on this team. But the problem i have is his size....he's undersize and he doesn't have the size to attack the basket and also as much as people say about him play good defense...i don't buy into that ....i think he's undersize as well when it comes to play defense...even though James and Francis are not as good as Rafer when it comes to dribbling and fast breaking...they have the size to play good defense and attack the basket...something the Rockets don't have in a long time. And about shooting...both are just as good as Rafer imo.

 

which is more, Love Alston or hate SF?
pretty sensational stuff.

 

yes, Alston is better than Head at PG. So?

Rockets would look even worse if Deke plays at PG.

Alston > Head at PG --------> mean nothing.

 

just what i was going to post. no one loves rafer alston, but he does have value in this league, possibly this team. he's judt not a 40 minute player or even a 30 minute player.

 

If we could trade Alston and any combination of head, snyder, Novak, landry, or JLIII for Haslem, I would do it in a second. It would give us great depth at every position.

Francis/James/Brooks
T-Mac/Wells/Francis
Battier/T-Mac/Wells
Haslem/Scola/Landry
Yao/Butler/Deke

That is one well balanced team, with some scoring from 10 out of 12 players.

 

Please dont forget about chemistry and trying to trade for all these players, I would try to trade for future, high draft picks. Right now, we need to be concerned with Chemistry and not adding additional players.

 

Easy question to answer. Many people see Alston as the stablility to outbalance the wildness and fire of Mike James and Steve Francis (who was never known for his brains). If we had a whole team of hotheads, everybody would be in jail by the all-star break, so there has to be some yin to some yang.