Congrats to Rafer Alston!!! Rafer show us a truth!!!! We used to play bad in playoff games, it's not Rafer's fault!!! He is a good starting guard!!! DM really did a bad trade!!! I even can't believe now that we trade Rafer for nothing!!!! whatever, Good Luck to Rafer Alston!!!!
lol @ how short some clutch fans memories are. rafer sucked when he played for us. now he is just surrounded by better role players. he didnt get better and he didnt get worse. HE IS THE SAME OLE RAFER
Rafer came up huge tonight with his 5-for-16, 2 assist effort. It was all Rafer. His 35% shooting in the playoffs has been clutch. It had nothing to do with Dwight Howard dominating the paint at both ends or Hedo and Rashard hitting clutch shots all series long.
Or Dwight Howard being an infinitely better target than Yao with infinitely better mobility and hands. They can't front Howard because he is too athletic. Yao is much easier to shut down. Not even to mention how many points Howard scores off putbacks by virtue of his sheer athleticism.
I think the height of the Magic shooters was the major problem. Hedo Turkoglu at 6'10 shooting over Delonte West is the same as him being wide open.
Two near 7-footers that can put the ball on the floor or drill the 3 combined with a super athletic 7-foot beast of a center that dominates the glass at both ends are the reasons the Magic won this series. The Magic would be even better with Jameer. I still believe Anthony Johnson could have given them the same thing as Rafer. Pietrus off the bench was a bigger factor than Rafer.
I don't think Rafer's success with the Magic has much to do with the tired Yao vs. Dwight argument. It is because the Magic are in the Eastern Conference. Say what you want, but IMO the top Eastern Conference teams are still weaker and less deep than the top Western teams (with the exception of last year's Celtics). This Cavaliers team is not that good other than LeBron. I would like to see how good Dwight and the Magic three-point shooters look against the Rockets' defense.
True, but that isn't what made the difference in this series by any stretch of the imagination. Rafer's post entry passes were not the difference. Dwight scores a ton of points off putbacks and when he does get the ball from a post entry pass, he is a much, much easier target because of his longer arms, better hands and better mobility. They can't front Howard because the lobs over the top will kill them.
I'm happy for Rafer. Didn't like him in the Rockets anymore but I never disliked the guy. Good luck Rafer.
Yes. Because when Rafer was in Houston, Yao was putting up 14-21fg and 12-16ft all the time. Rafer made Yao the player he is today. And without Rafer, Yao became a stiff.
