The guy is shooting .357 from the field and takes almost 11 shots a game. How can adleman not see the problem here? In baseball, they have the Mendoza line, which is below .200 batting average. In the NBA, below .4 is the mendoza line. I can see if he racks up a lot of assists or gets to the foul line, but he needs to be benched. I think the reason why Brooks has been struggling lately is because the ball has been out of his hands and been in either Alston or Mcgrady's. Brooks needs the ball to be effective. Bottom line, its time to bench Rafer. Im not saying trade him...yet...but time try some new blood at the point. If I have to see his teardrop clang off the front of the rim again, I am going to vomit.
His teardrop is a running push shot....I wonder if he practices that because he keeps doing it ....its terrible.....he should use the backboard....its glass Rafer man ....I promise even you couldnt break it
Watching the game, I couldnt believe how many pick and rolls were being called for Alston. I mean, seriously, is that a better play than Yao posting up or Brooks penetrating? I like Rafer's confidence, but sometimes it is his detriment too.
I tried to find his shooting percentage rank on this link: http://www.nba.com/statistics/playe...itScope=GAME&qualified=Y&yearsExp=-1&splitDD= But it is so bad, its not even listed.
Rafer isn't a terrible 3-point shooter. But amongst players who've played at least 1000 minutes this year, he is second to last (85th out of 86 players) in field goal percentage on 2-pointers. You know what the sad thing is? The guy who's dead last in that category happens to be Ron Artest.
tmac is the weakest link. Rafer is bad, don't get me wrong, but he is not the weakest link on the team.
Artest has injuries to blame... an important factor for both guys is that when they take 2 point shots, it is often with the offense not producing a good shot... so Rafer or Ron had to throw one up.
Good point, but Artest has a history of being a good offensive player. Rafer, uh...he has a history of this- http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=11
Rafer misses a ton of wide open floaters and midrange jumpers, and Artest is his own worst enemy when it comes to not getting quality shots out of the offense.
Intereting thing... Ron Artest has shot under 40% whenever he's played for Adelman. More than anything, it probably is because he was injured this season and out of shape when he first played for Rick. I also don't know if he's a natural fit for Rick's preferre doffense... Artest can be a ball stopper.
The only shot Rafer is decent at is the spot up 3. Everything else is terrible. As for Artest, he is as bad as T-Mac in terms of forcing shots, and without T-Mac's talent. He has never been a high percentage shooter. So with Rafer, Ron, and Tracy, we have the "big three" shot-missers.
I watched Airballston before the Philly game in the pregame shoot around. Most players (including TMac) made around 75% of their jumpers. Alston shot about 40% and missed a bunch of layups in the layup drill. The guy is HORRIBLE. Unguarded with no pressure, he only hits about 40 to 50%. That is inexcusable for a starting PG in the NBA.
I'll probably be branded a Rafer apologist for this, but is Alston completely back from his injury? Since coming back, I believe he had that one great game in Cleveland before going into his funk.
When you have your weakest & 2nd weakest links as your starting back-court, there's a BIG problem. Actually, given the fact that the Tmac situation can't be unloaded easily, Rafer is becoming an outstanding problem to be solved. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Rafer hater. I just don't think he's capable of playing good consistently with the current Tmac. Rafer has been the weakest link EXPOSED since the Tmac issue.
You already forgot those 3s he made in crunch time. Besides, he is the only playmaker on court when Tracy is out.
Lets face it, we only have 2 players who can bring the ball up to the half court (since t-mac is injured i wouldn't count him in, what if his leg starts acting up when he brings it half way u know >< and i could bb out too simply coz he's too old) They are alston and ab. Let me break it down for these 2 and first Air Ballston Strength -Able to bring the ball up to the half court (u might ask "who else can't do that? even i can do that! but then do u really trust Head with his dribble? ughh i don't think so) -above avg defense (he has 1.2 steals per game, which is ughh not bad) -able to run the offense quite well (he has been the starting pg for the rockets and he's quite familiar with the players and the plays from the book) Weakness -mediocre shooting (whenever he shoots, it takes more than a prayer for it to sink through the net. Whenever he made a shot, i always feel that the ball only went in because of all the good deeds we planted from our life. GO ROX FANS! RED ROWDIESS!!!) -bad shot selection (by that i meant STOP SHOOTING THE GAWDAWFUL TEARDROPS! daymn it, watch him doing is like shooting pool with blindfolds. Actually i think i have a higher percentage making the pocket with blindfolds than his teardrops) Conclusion: Rockets got what they paid for. A less than avg pg who can bring the ball up to the half court and pass to the right guys. He can gives u some assist here and there but it rarely breaks the double digit marks. He can defend quite well and it all depends on who he's guarding. (I know ><. It's quite situational) So there's Rafer Alston, an nba player with slightly above avg defensive skills with a mediocre shooting percentage. Aaron Brooks Strength -quickness which allows him to break down the defense in .5 sec and blows by any defender at will to shoot a jumper or straight to the hoop. It also helps him to overcome bigger guards by staying in front of them instead of getting blow by (uhhh hmmpp Rafer.. your day as a starter will come to an end soon) -above avg 3 pt shooting (he was quite good early the season where he shot over 40% after 100+ attempts then he came to the recent slump when it dropped to 37% but i believe he will pick it up) -potential (he can be great, i will be so glad if he can be 3/4 of AI in the future) Conclusion: Aaron Brooks, he has the speed of AI which freezes many defenders' steps. He is an above avg shooter. The only problem is his size but he somehow manages to cover it by his speed. From time to time he had contained the elite class of pg in nba such as CP3 and the Big Shot. He has also shown some of his brilliance in his passing game. (The Biggest pass of the season so far was probably the one that he passed to wafer in the corner for 3 in Boston just couple hours ago) He's a better player in the position but rafer is still better in running the half court offense. If he can further develops his passing skills then he will be a top 10pg in the nba with his one of a kind quickness.
