Rafer out (injured groin); Francis to start

Ya BUT and this is a big BUT! Give Steve time to learn the offense and get into shape and watch! Right now I think he might be still a bit too green to get this offense.

 

And four or five of those offensive boards came on a single possession which didn't even result in a score. Pathetic.

 

How does he have a scorer mentality if he only attempted 4 shot FG in 31 minutes? If anything, he was hesitant to shoot tonight.

 

Rockets had great energy to open the game... and just got out-quicked and out-hustled for almost the entirety of the rest of the game. Even Chuck Hayes wasn't getting his hands on lose balls like he usually does. Totally out of character. Chuck was trying, I think, but just wasn't getting no results.

In any case... I think that while Scola struggles through his rookie trials and errors (And the same with Landry) and Chuck deals with customary foul problem, it would be best if the Rockets have a veteran big man who can fill in those minutes-- A Kurt Thomas/Eduardo Najera type who knows how to properly rotate, how to defend and rebound without committing rookie errors and fouls.

Scola will eventually be more consistent, but now he's up and down way too much... and that's hurts when the rest of the team is still trying to establish any kind of consistency.

 

what now Rafer haters?
this just shows you the value of Rafer.....he doesn't shoot well, but he does know how to set up the offense

 

I doubt many if any of us are really "Rafer lovers". I mean I don't watch Rockets games so I can see Alston play. I'm not going to start chanting "fire Adelman" if Rafer is benched. I cringe as much as anyone when Rafer takes a wide open shot that doesn't even hit rim. Then I remind myself that a miss is a miss, regardless of how ugly it is, and none of our other guards are shooting significantly better, even if their misses don't look as ugly. "Rafer backers" are just posters who don't value him as "worthless" or disagree with blaming him for every loss and problem the Rockets have. I consider him the best of several flawed options at PG at this point, and part of that is because the coach thinks Rafer is the best option. That certainly doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see someone out perform Rafer, or that I would be anything less than thrilled to see the Rocket's trade for a better PG. Unlike some of the "fans" who are happy Rafer is hurt, I want Steve to do well when he is in there. I want us to win, regardless of who is playing.

It was one game, so it's hardly fair to say that Steve should never start because of this, or that Rafer would have won the game for us. All it shows is that in one game against an opponent we should have beaten, the "no brainer" of starting Francis didn't result in a win or the huge offensive upgrade that many "Rafer haters" presume would be the case. I doubt Rafer's groin injury will recover in a day, so expect Steve to get another start tomorrow night. Hopefully the whole team does better.

 

wow everyone stop jumping to the conclusion that steve francis doesnt deserve the starting position. how many times has he start this season ? how many times has he been the starting PG? when was the last time he started for this team?? the answers to those questions should be enough to hold off haters rafer lovers. i have to admit though rafer was shooting okay the last game or two. kind of disappointing that we didnt win today though. =/

 

I don't think anyone doubted that Rafer was the best POINT GUARD on the team...but, this game showed that Francis is nowhere near ready to run the team, and James is a foregone conclusion if he gets only 16 minutes with the starting PG out.

Trade James, bring Brooks up as the third PG, and have Stevie backup Rafer just for change of pace.

 

Yao + Rafer >>> Yao + SF3

 

Denial.

 

EXACTLY. Why do people here jump into conclusions after 1 game? The rockets as a TEAM sucked tonight. You think rafer would've made a different when tmac kept jacking shots, or yao being passive and not doing well vs the double teams?

 

Then you don't understand the value of having a good PG.

 

Where are all the people that were celebrating Rafer's injury and others believing it was a fake injury?

I guess everyone's just going to look the other way at the fact that Rafer is by far the best PG on the team and should be starting permanently.

 

Then you are just another gullable fan who thinks Rafer could've solved the problem tonight.

 

Why both JDG and Adelman start Rafer?! Some fans think they are better than those two coaches!

 

Which is the saddest part of this whole situation.

 

I can't believe some of you actually think we would have won with Rafer

 

If SF3 is still able to start at a WC playoff team, why was he bought out? Do you think new york and portland are both stupids?

 

Rafer strength is controlling the pace. Whatever the game brings, he can play half-court offense or he can play fast break. He is the one who creates plays, believe it or not. He won't makes the creative flashy plays and passes like a Jason Kidd or Steve Nash. But if you watch his game closely he makes the good pass and makes the right decision (shooting is another story though).

Adelmen was quoted as saying "Rafer is the best at getting us into our plays". Or something like that.

 

Indeed. Take away the two stars, and we don't have enough value to trade for a good PG. Because of our two stars, we'll never be bad enough to draft a good PG.

But I think we CAN win with Alston/James/Francis. We need Scola to become a consistent force offensively. It's good to see Bonzi stepping up his game. Once everyone gets completely comfortable with the motion offense, I still think we CAN beat many of these teams in a 7 game series.