Despite his terribly finish last night, and his career-long shooting slump inside the arc, Rafer is already a very good point guard. I understand and, in this case, agree with what Clyde was saying about him. I also completely agree with you that local media tends to inflate the perceived talent of many of their local players.

However, Rafer has several skills that alone would rank him among the elite point guards in the league. If you combine these strengths with his weaknesses, he becomes mediocre as an overall point guard. Rafer's ball handling, passing, turnover rate, steals, rebounding and three-point shooting are exceptional and among the best across all point guards in the league. However, his shot selection inside the arc as well as his confidence and mental consistency are among the worst in the league. If he was even slightly more stable in his own confidence and more judicious with his mid-range shots while abandoning 90% of the teardrops, he would easily be an all-star caliber point guard from a statistical standpoint. Caron Butler will be the first to tell you this year though that votes are more important than stats.

Tony Parker was a terrible shooter all over the court (FG%, 3PT shooting, FT%) for his first couple of years. Then, he worked on his jump shot and, more significantly, he had time and learned how to play within the Spurs system. This allowed him to improve his FG% to over 50% during the last couple of seasons while he is still barely adequate from the free throw line.

Rafer is better or much better than Parker in the many areas I mentioned above that are his strengths. Alston did not have the good fortune to play for one team his entire career and has barely played with the Rockets. He missed a good portion of last year and this season, his second as a Rocket, is only at the midpoint.

I understand that Rafer is 30 yrs old but he has much more raw talent than most point guards in the league and he is in great physical condition. He is a true point guard which is more than can be said of Steve Francis. If you offered me a 1-for-1 trade where we would give up Alston for Francis, I would not accept the deal.

I don't guarantee that Rafer will improve his glaring weaknesses but I will guarantee that it is worth at least this and next season to see if he is able to adapt to Van Gundy and the Rockets' style of play. His strengths are just way too significant to give up on him due to poor shot selection. His confidence and mental stability will only grow as he gets more games under his belt as our point guard.

Rafer is exceptionally gifted and could be an all-star caliber point guard, like Clyde pointed out in this case, if he can improve upon a couple of areas of his game which are definitely correctable, even for a 30 yr old point guard. Jason Kidd is well into his 30s and is playing exceptional basketball. Steve Nash went from good to great a couple of seasons ago when he headed to Phoenix which, if nothing else, shows that being a 30 yr old point guard has less significance than being a 30 yr old shooting guard.

As frustrated as I was last night watching Rafer make critical mistakes at the end of regulation and overtime, I still believe he can be a great point guard. He has a good chance of turning the corner with JVG at the helm and only time will tell if the Rockets' organization has the patience to see if Rafer can realize his enormous potential.

P.S. - Adam Everett is the highest rated shortstop defensively over the last three years. There was an interesting article in the Chronicle, I believe, about a reputable statistical analysis tool that was used to gather detailed statistics over the past three MLB seasons in order to analyze the defensive prowess all starting shortstops. Everett ranked first and Jeter was dead last on the list.

As in most sports, defensive value gets little recognition when compared to offensive production even though it has an equal, if not greater, impact on the success of a team. Despite his weak bat, any team in the league would love to have Everett's services. Everett is a very good shortstop entering his prime and he would be a great shortstop, or the best in the league, if he could hit with slightly more consistency. I think your comparison between Everett and Alston is terrific but I would compare the two in a much more positive way.