For all those who bashed rafer defense during our series with the Jazz. Plz look at the boxscore from lastnights game. And see how Deron torched Baron Davis. 31 pts 5 rebounds 8 assts on 11-21 shooting. Rafer couldn't shoot worth anything, but don't knock his D anymore cuz I think he did a good job in the series and over the entire season. He had to cover for Yao's shortcomings as well everytime they had a Pick and Role.
sometimes Yao and Juwan/Chuck had to pick up Rafer's man because he couldn't stay in front of him. Rafer's D isn't as bad as people make it seem, but don't think it's any good either.
The Warriors don't exactly play stellar defense. They try to outscore you. Thus the score of 116-112.
Deron Williams played well in our series too in case you didn't notice. He had a really good game yesterday, and I suppose the Warriors will pay a little more attention to him tomorrow.
You're just now figuring this out? The sensible posters who actually watched Rafer play instead of bashing him continually already knew this. Rafer played good D on Deron during the regular season also. He's not a GREAT defender by any means, but he brings the intensity every night. Rafer is a solid PG that has gotten a bad rap here because he was forced to expand his role by taking more jumpers. Once the management decides to bring in some REAL play-makers here to help out T-Mac, Rafer won't have to try to act like a SG. He can then just be himself... a nice PG with mad ball-handling skills... AKA Skip to my Lou!
This is because the Jazz were trying to match the warriors up-tempo gameplay. Deron Williams was looking to attack the rim more, and got a lot of wide open looks due to the fast pace offence. During the Rockets series, it was a different game plan. He was playing more conservative and looking for the pass first.
true Rafer is very solid in the playoff, and considering his price tag, he is such a bargain. Now...only if we can trade/develop a backup PG so that he doesn't have to play 45 min a game......
Thank you! The only thing Rafer can't do is shoot. That's what we need Stevie Francis for. Rafer can start, Steve can throw in his 15 points, and Rafer can come back to finish the game.
he still needs to learn how to face guard and not go for blocks...thats where he runs into trouble on the defensive end
Playing Rafer Alston 40 minutes is like dating Scarlett Johansson with a penis. Looks good here, looks good there... but at the end of the day, it ain't the right fit when you're trying to go all the way.
This is ridiculous. It's the other way around. Utah pick n rolled Yao to death because they knew he'd leave Rafer out to dry by not helping on the PNR. In pure isolations, Rafer rarely was beaten by Deron and his team defense was quite good playing the passing lanes, deflecting passes, and collecting steals.
He also can not break down his man. Rafer is a very limited offensive player. He is a good passer but without the threat of a jumper or dribble drive it's hard for him to use this asset, except in the open court. Problem is that the Rockets rarely run. Rafer's not a great fit on Houston. He definitely isnt a 40-42 MPG guy. He's a backup caliber player on a really good team.
Yeah his offense is suspect, he is capable of breakin down his defender, but he never makes the floater. But he is the better option. I still think he is better than Mike James who got benched by the timberwolves. He just needs a backup. I think power forward is our main concern over the offseason. I love chuck hayes, but he is more of a backup. And if anyone on this team sucks its JUWAN HOWARD!
Best post of the day...... I agree. Rafer's a good player. His negative qualities just get pointed out a lot cause we lost...
This is SO SO true...get a third scoring option that you can count on for 10-15 a night and Chuck and Shane and Rafer's offensive problems don't pose as big a problem. Why not move Shane to the PF...play Tmack at the 3, find a scoring 2....you can still use Chuck for bench energy....and Head for bench scoring... Or move Shane to the 6th man....and let Tmac play the 3...find a shooting 2 guard.
Shane would get killed playing the 4. He just isn't built to go up against the big bruising PF of the league. Picture Battier in the paint fighting for a rebound against the likes of KG, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, or Lamar Odom on half the plays. Trust me, it wouldn't be pretty. One of the main issues I see with Battier is that you should play him full time. Even though he's a role player, coming off the bench is not using him to his fullest potential. With that said, it pushes T-Mac to SG and necessitates that we have a PG that can slash and penetrate. So either we get a SG to slash and penetrate, put T-Mac at the 3, keep Alston at the 1, and have Battier come off the bench, or we get a PG that can slash/penetrate and have Alston come off the bench. Although I think T-Mac is better at the 3 than the 2, I like the latter is better since it keeps Battier starting and not on the bench.