This is a great time to trade away Rafer. I've been high on Lowry since the Rudy Gay deal deal where I wanted Lowry to be included with Battier. He's a controlled PG, something Rafer never was (which can be disastrous under Adelman). He will start ahead of Brooks based on his defense and size alone, and is a very capable penetrator. Plus at the age of 22, this was a smart time for the Rockets to take advantage of the Magic PG situation. If you thought Rafer was a "playmaker", or played a game that correlated to winning, you do not understand NBA basketball. We have a lot of accountants like "34to11" in here using irrelevant analogies in an attempt to understand why this trade went down, it just doesn't work like that. "Orlando gets a starting point guard from a 55 win team. Houston gets a backup point guard from a 22 win team. A headscratcher for sure." According to Marc Gasol, the Grizzlies ran around like a "bunch of headless chickens" under Marc Iavaroni. They don't understand the concept of team basketball so I wouldn't expect any pass first PG who isn't a bonafide superstar to thrive on that team. Morey is a pretty shrewd guy when it comes to evaluating talent, he knew this was a trade the Rockets had to make to get past the flakiness of Alston and McGrady. To all the internet thugs who said Rafer was the heart of this team, why don't we build a team around Rafer, Iverson, Steve Francis, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby and see where all the wasted possessions take them? Poor shot selection and low basketball IQ just do not work in today's NBA, especially coming from the back court. This move was made to add stability on the court and give the team as a whole better control of possessions.
At first I was disappointed with this move. However, we have plenty of guards that we can find some time for now. Lowry seems like a nice dfensive player. And hopefully Aron Brooks can breakout like Nelson now. Also hope we can see Barry play some more.
All the people proclaiming this is a loss because we don't have Rafer's vocal leadership which, in reality, doesn't mean anything compared to efficiency and doing what the coach asks and not being an outspoken idiot.
look, lowry may become the kind of point we need in due time. But the fact is that until we see him play (tomorrow, i hope), he will still be the BACKUP PG from the doormat of the NBA that we got for a legit STARTER from a playoff bound team. The reactions from this board should not surprise you. We like to analyze everything from as many ways as possible. Some of us are half full and some of us are half empty guys. Some of us only post when we have something insightful to say and others say whatever comes to their mind. Some of us are very eloquent and some of us barely speak english. This is Clutchfans, love it!
i don't know Lowry much, i hold my oppinion for a second, but we have 28 games left, giving lowry's ability i doubt he will fill in well. Plus, AB has proven he got long way in term of controlling the game tempo. And you know what, Laker will thank us because we just did them a huge favor by giving tough game in playoff no matter who is 2seed in east. Orlando own us a huge favor, they're better return us one day, from what i see, Rafer is perfect for them. sorry, i just don't get the trade.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=163006&page=36&pp=20 Go through the 40 pages of this thread and look for the obvious signs. I'll probably be deemed as ignorant to the sensitive posters of the internet if I put up a list of characteristics to look for, since I don't "really know them". 1. The season is being sabotaged because we traded Rafer 2. Rafer had heart and spoke his mind, we needed his "mentality" 3. Rafer was the starting PG of a 55 win team 4. Rafer has been past the first round I mean the list goes on... and on... Here is an example for the sake of it:
this trade doesn't make sense if you want to give the reigns to Brooks. if anything his competition INCREASED with lowry coming in. Brooks got minutes with Rafer starting since he was a "change of pace" PG, but now Lowry is the "change of pace" PG.
How many vocal leaders have the Spurs had over the years? Your an idiot if you think vocal leadership, in any way, equates to success.
I have heard it said many times that Popovic loves Duncan because he helps coach the guys on the floor.
Hmm... would you honestly compare the influence Duncan can have to Rafer Alston? Here are some more gems from "Vinsanity" regarding the loss of Alston: What part of watching Alston over the last 3.5 years do you guys not remember?
None do I see claim "Rafer was the heart of this team", nor do I see any deserve to be called thug. They have a difference take than you. Duh.
Duncan isn't a loud-mouthed fool and saves his breath for when it's important , rather than simply saying what he feels like. He backs up what the coach says in a constructive manner. That is pretty much the antithesis of Rafer's style.
I honestly don't get the too much talking in the public thing. He didn't name names, he just said what the teams problem was. Is he suppose to not answer questions?
Fantastic thread. I don't understand this boards sudden e-boner for Alston either. IDK, maybe I was watching a different sup-par PG brick 3's and clank tear drops 2 feet from the rim.
