Both are two very good point guards. I think that Rafer Alston is playing better though, ever since he joined the Rockets. Ford is producing well for the Raptors and it is great that he is back from a very bad injury to his back.
Both TJ and Rafer are great PGs. They can run and are hard to catch up with since they'll very quick. They are also both pass first rather then shoot first and are both having a break out year. Alston is playing like his days when he came back to Toronto for the 2nd time, while TJ is having a career best. His shooting averages are up and teams weren't sure if he was able to shoot the ball. But I would rather take TJ over Alston not because I'm a Raptors fan, but because he's younger and have way more potential
Rafer Alston? He plays in Houston by default because they don't have anybody else. He shoots 36% from the floor which is atrocious and he doesn't play defense not to mention makes dumb mistakes with the ball. This isn't even close. T.J. Ford.This topic is going to get ripped to shreds.
TJ Ford. Both fast, but Ford is quicker. Ford is also a better decision maker and takes a lot less shots than Rafer, who loves to shoot and does so at a horrrible percentage like BCB said...you never want that out of a PG. Neither play much defense, but TJ Ford wins this one easily.
TJ Ford, the only thing Rafer has on him is his elite ball handling skills, but he plays very much like Jason Williams style basketball, never liked his game, Rafer really needs to work on his finish as well. TJ Ford is quicker, better passer, better shooter, scorer and has a better endurance for the game. TJ could cash in 40-45 minutes easily a game. Alston how ever, never really played a huge bulk of minutes in Toronto. He also reminds me of Mike James. I will always take the pass first PG over an scoring PG, (including Baron Davis, Mike James, etc...) the PG position was created to distribute the ball, players like those abuse the advanatge of having the ball in their hands so much. Sure its a given that they sometimes are the only scoring option on their team, but making others better is all part of the job.
Dumbest topic ever. Rafer might be able to shoot threes, but he's a bad PG. His shot is inconsistent, he's way too flashy, makes bad decisions, not a great passer, etc...TJ Ford is the MUCH better passer, better scorer, quicker, his mid range is better.This is a dumb topic.
Yeah... What kind of comparasion is this? Ford owns Alston. Better passer, better shooter (Except 3 pointers) better playmaker. All Alston got on Ford is better handles.
Well as of right now I would have to go with Rafer Alston I mean he has been playing great so far this season for the Rockets and has been a pleasant surprise. T.J. Ford has done well in stretches this year but is far too inconsistent early on in his young career. He has been fighting injuries the whole year but in the future this guy should be a very good point guard.
I dont think it is AS wide of a margin as yall are making it out to be. Everytime I watch Rafer play, he does pretty dang good. He is a pretty good passer (even though he can be wild at times), and he is a better long range shooter than Ford as well. Although Ford is better at getting to the basket, and has a little bit better of a mid range game, there arent much more things that Ford does better than Alston. They are both pretty damn bad defenders as well.....And the way the Rockets are playing right now, I think you have to give some credit to Alston. He is the starting PG and the team is winning. Although alot of it is due to McGrady, you have to give Rafer some credit as well.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ballerman2112 @ Jan 30 2007, 01:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont think it is AS wide of a margin as yall are making it out to be. Everytime I watch Rafer play, he does pretty dang good. He is a pretty good passer (even though he can be wild at times), and he is a better long range shooter than Ford as well. Although Ford is better at getting to the basket, and has a little bit better of a mid range game, there arent much more things that Ford does better than Alston. They are both pretty damn bad defenders as well.....And the way the Rockets are playing right now, I think you have to give some credit to Alston. He is the starting PG and the team is winning. Although alot of it is due to McGrady, you have to give Rafer some credit as well.</div>Are you f*cking kidding me? You didn't even mention passing. Ford runs Alston out of the building passing wise. He gets like 8 assists a game, and plays almost 6 fewer minutes than all the other good PG's. He's 3rd in AP48M among starting points.
Fine, TJ plays less minutes, yet he still finds a way to average over 3.2 turnovers per game. You also have to remember that McGrady dominates the ball on the perimeter just as much as Alston does which would make it harder for him to accumulate more assists. TJ Ford, when in the game, dominates the ball out on the perimeter alot more than Alston does, because he doesn't have a guy like McGrady who can create for himself to that degree.I said that Ford was a better player, but he isnt THAT much better like yall are all saying.
just lookd at sum of the rockets box scores in their losing week (against dallas, phoenix and denver). t-mac was out in the phoenix game and rafer got 29 points (tied for his career high) on around 51% FG. for now like ballerman said, I dont think the margin is that big between him and TJ, since he's got 2 all stars on his team, we don't see rafer havin to do as much as he had to against phoenix.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ballerman2112 @ Jan 31 2007, 12:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Fine, TJ plays less minutes, yet he still finds a way to average over 3.2 turnovers per game. You also have to remember that McGrady dominates the ball on the perimeter just as much as Alston does which would make it harder for him to accumulate more assists. TJ Ford, when in the game, dominates the ball out on the perimeter alot more than Alston does, because he doesn't have a guy like McGrady who can create for himself to that degree.I said that Ford was a better player, but he isnt THAT much better like yall are all saying.</div>When Alston was with the Raptors, he still was a sh*tty passer. He had the ball all the time, yet he decided to shoot 3's instead of running the offense well. He is a very bad passer for a PG in my opinion. He got 6 assists when he had the ball ALL the time with the Raptors. That is pretty mediocre if you ask me for a starting PG who gets the ball alot. So you can't really use the McGrady excuse. Rafer still isn't effective passing the ball when he has it all the time. Whereas TJ is working magic with our offense, and he is doing a great job of passing on most days. He is the much better passer, better mid range, quicker, better scorer. He OWNS Rafer. It's not close.Plus, he has the handle that Rafer has too. Watch him completely destroy Mike James' ankles http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wppb6xuz1nU&...ted&search=
He is not a "very" bad passer for a PG what so ever. He is a mediocre passer for a PG and TJ is a little bit above average for a PG passing wise. Lets just compare numbers when Alston played on Toronto. He got over 14 a game, over 6 assists per game, and over 3.5 rebounds per game. TJ Ford isn't doing much better what so ever. And I will use the McGrady excuse and it makes sense as well. If you notice, McGrady didnt play that much last season, and Rafer almost averged 7 assists per game. And now that McGrady is back and he is dominating the ball and taking away touches from Rafer, notice his APG dropping by over 1.5 assists per game. Coincidence? I dont think so....I am not trying to make the arguement that Alston is a better player, but you are trying to say that TJ is lightyears ahead of him which isnt the case what so ever. TJ is better at alot of things than Alston, but not by that much. You are treating Ford like an All-Star PG when he isnt.EDIT: And stop acting like the Raptors are a championship bown team. They still have a losing record in one of the worst conferences that the NBA has seen in years.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ballerman2112 @ Jan 31 2007, 06:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He is not a "very" bad passer for a PG what so ever. He is a mediocre passer for a PG and TJ is a little bit above average for a PG passing wise. Lets just compare numbers when Alston played on Toronto. He got over 14 a game, over 6 assists per game, and over 3.5 rebounds per game. TJ Ford isn't doing much better what so ever. And I will use the McGrady excuse and it makes sense as well. If you notice, McGrady didnt play that much last season, and Rafer almost averged 7 assists per game. And now that McGrady is back and he is dominating the ball and taking away touches from Rafer, notice his APG dropping by over 1.5 assists per game. Coincidence? I dont think so....I am not trying to make the arguement that Alston is a better player, but you are trying to say that TJ is lightyears ahead of him which isnt the case what so ever. TJ is better at alot of things than Alston, but not by that much. You are treating Ford like an All-Star PG when he isnt.EDIT: And stop acting like the Raptors are a championship bown team. They still have a losing record in one of the worst conferences that the NBA has seen in years.</div>A little bit above average? Are you f*cking kidding me. TJ has amazing court vision when he feels like passing instead of scoring. He is so quick, and so capable of dropping dimes. He's 3rd in AP48M and you call him "a little bit above average". What a goddamn joke. Like I already said, TJ clearly beats Rafer in scoring and passing, and they are both terrible defenders. TJ is the easy choice, and he's only in his 3rd season.
There are a pretty decent amount of PG's in the league that are better passers, or just as good passers as TJ is. Brevin Knight (when healthy), Steve Nash, Andre Miller, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, Allen Iverson (around as good), Mike Bibby(around as good), Deron Williams is doing better than him this season, Chauncey Billups, Luke Ridnour (similar to Ford).Ford is a good passer, but he is not among the elite in the league...I am sorry. You need to stop being so damn biased all the time.TJ ford DOES NOT clearly beat Rafer in scoring....He averages like 2 more PPG than Rafer does....TJ is a better passer, but you are acting as if Rafer is Steve Nash or something like that.....Just look at the list of all the PG's that I mentioned. ALL of those players are as good as TJ at passing and most of them are better than him at it. TJ is better, I am not denying that, but he is not an All-Star PG like you are treating him.
