I'm glad to see Rafer have some success. He never really did anything dis honorable as a Rocket, he was down to earth and he was an underdog. I forgive him for his valet parking exploit, I don't like the valets either. I like Rafer on that show AND1 Tour. Always keeping true to his roots.
The only thing about that is that was last season, one game, and Rafer was a better player last season than what we saw from him this season. Would he have been able to do that in each game in the series with the Lakers? Probably not. If its true that SVG would take him out of games in the 4th quarters so that teams don't get to double off of him and make him shoot, then what does that say about him as far as what he would have been doing in the Rockets' last series with the Lakers? So far, Rafer's shooting 39 percent from the floor while Aaron Brooks shooting percentage wound up being 45.3. With both Yao and T-Mac out in that series with the Lakers, I doubt it very much that Rafer would have done as well as Aaron did as far as carrying on the scoring load is concerned.
Ain't gonna lie. I wish Rafer fail, just to make myself feel better and also justify our midseason trade...
Just watched a replay of Game 1 and I was impressed with Alton's steady play. He was aggressive and very effective in the third quarter when the Magic made up most of the 15-point deficit. And it's amusing that he's doing it while wearing McGrady's number. I usually lose interest in the playoffs after the Rockets drop out, but I may just follow the Cavs-Magic series to cheer Rafer on.
the trade has already been justified with what Aaron Brooks was able to do against Portland and LA in the playoffs. i'm rooting for Rafer to do well. it's been a long journey to success in the NBA for him. whenever I see him play, I still feel like he's on the rockets and the rockets are playing.
It's good to see all the love for Rafer, I'm really pulling for the guy! He was a stand up guy that caught alot of crap. He fought for his job and never backed down and said what he meant. I do like the trade but glad he's having some success. I just hope he meets Kobe in the Finals and slaps him in back of the head and says thats for the Rockets Bxxtch! Pulling for Lewis too the hometown guy, we should have never let him slip thru our fingers. GO Orlando! BTW I Loved that he picked Tracy number in a dig at him!
I'm all for Rafer and Orlando. Don't want Kobe, Pau, and Phil to win. Don't want James winning either because we will never hear the end. This will probably move James to another team. Don't want Denver winning it either. No love for Melo here.
I have nothing against Alston. Although I was never a fan of the guy, I don't wish him any ill will. He tried the best he could and was put in a lot of helpless situations (like being our #2 scoring option, lol). However, there are 2 reasons why I cannot root for the Magic in this series: 1) LeBron James - I really like the guy, he is probably my favorite player that doesn't play for the Rockets 2) If the Magic win the Finals, hell even make it to the Finals, what does that say about the trade we did with them for McGrady? I mean here we all were saying how terrible the Magic were going to be because they got rid of McGrady and had to take Francis, Mobley, Cato, et. al. Then Francis and Mobley didn't last long with them and yet here they are. On the cusp of making the Finals while we FINALLY got out of the first round and that was with McGrady in street clothes. Do people here really want to see the Magic win a title before us as this will prove that stupid Magic GM, Weisbrod really knew what he was doing?? Seriously...
Hey, even though John Weisbrod is no longer with the Magic, when you consider the number of games T-Mac has missed during his last four seasons with the Rockets, he has still got to feel like a genius. There were members on www.Magicmadness.net who were thankful of John Weisbrod this season for having trading T-Mac away. Here's the link to the YouTube video concerning the T-Mac trade that took place five years ago. The most interesting part of it is located at the 3:45 mark where you would see John Weisbrod just go off on T-Mac and blast him, although there is some good things he said about him as well as it relates to how talented of a player he is. Link-->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sxa0mLPRhk When he goes to talking about the areas in which T-Mac has room for growth, one of those areas is leadership, and I find that still true today. Can we even call him a superstar if he has never really been a true leader for any team he played for? IMO, superstars are true leaders out on the floor, and since he never really has been one, I just look at him as a really talented player who really would be good playing in a supporting role for a really good team.
I'm rooting for the guy. Alston is a classy player as a Rockets, worked hard every game, tried his best, you just cannot ask more than that. Also root for the Magic, don't like any of the other three teams.
I never had a problem with Rafer. His only real issues was that he was a streaky shooter but as a point guard, he wasn't that bad.
As far as the outcome of tonight's game is concerned, all you Rafer supporters should be asking yourselves what might have been if he made at least a couple more of his shot attempts since he went 1 for 7 from the floor.
I was not against Rafer's trade, but his defense on Mo Williams played a big role there. True Rafer didn't make shots, but Mo Willamns was covered well by him and couldn't make shots too. Willamns couldn't make shots hurts Cavs much more than Rafer couldn't make shots. Magic still have Howard, Hedo, Lewis, Lee, Pietrus to score, Rafer is after thought. Willamns is Cav's 2nd scorer.
This is the team I'm rooting for now that the Rockets have gone fishing. To bad they lost to Lebron last second shot that would have put them up 2-0. <img src=http://eezweb.com/image-96E9_4A1794C7.gif> Hope these guys take out the Cavs and destroy the Fakers in the NBA finals.
