You admit it yourself, forced or not (I think its the latter) Rafer was a shoot first pg here. All he did was camp out at the 3 pt line and shoot 3's, relying on the "excuse" that an open shot was a good shot. If you don't believe me, why don't you look at his stint in Orlando? Despite being the 5th worst shooter on that team, he still took the 3rd highest attempts during their finals runs. How can he be a pass first pg when all he ever did was shoot the ball? Even when he drove in the lane he wasn't looking to pass, he would launch that god-awful teardrop of his instead of setting his teammates up.
My mom is better then Rafer Altson. Just thinking about Rafer in a Rockets uniform makes me wanna break my computer with my own head.
He went to being inactive for tonight's game (3/6/2010) with the Hawks, according to the short article from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Link-->http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-miami-heat-dorell-wright-s030610,0,3817300.story
Um, wow. ChrisMannixSI: http://twitter.com/ChrisMannixSI Rafer Alston has been suspended indefinitely by Heat. Alston has only been in contact with team via text message. SpearsNBAYahoo: http://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo while rafter alston has contacted heat via text message, he has been suspended indefinitely because he has been otherwise unavailable
Chris Mannix: NBA source tells SI.com that Alston is considering retirement. http://twitter.com/ChrisMannixSI Maybe he can get his job back with And1.
Link-->http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4972973 After reading that latest info concerning Rafer on ESPN, I wish that I could change the title of this thread to "Rafer Alston Considering Retirement". It's possible now that the game he played on March 2nd versus the Warriors might have been his very last one of his rather lengthy and mediocre career shooting stat wise. When you look at his career stats, you will all see that he was with the Rockets longer than he was with any other team in the league. I wonder how many members on this board really think that the Rockets kept him with the team too long? The one thing I'll keep in mind about Kyle Lowry is he being the one guy the Rockets managed to get in return for Rafer in that trade last season that has proven to really be of real good value for them.
That is so sad...Guy loses his starting job, and goes emo...guess there is no such thing as humility in this league anymore. Glad we got rid of him.
There is a big difference between a shoot-first PG and a forced to shoot-first PG. Rafer, with all his shortcomings (and there were plenty), cannot be accused of being a first-shoot PG. Especially during his stint with the Rockets. He did a good job controlling the tempo of the game, did a good job running the offense, and stood up for his teammates against punks like Tyson Chandler and CP3. We all know he couldn't hit the ocean with a rock if he was left open, but he did some good things during his Rockets stint. You just can't make some shoot good if he isn't a good shooter.
Nothing sad about it. Rafer was fortunate to play as long as he did in the NBA. Last season, he was especially lucky the Magic were able to make the NBA Finals with him starting at PG.
You could argue a little that he was a good passer and dished out assists during his years in Toronto... but even that was bleak. He's too full of himself now, we gave him too many starts (though we kinda needed to since we didn't have a better PG who ran the offense).
All those years starting in Houston made him think he is Allan Iverson. WTF is wrong with Alston, his contract is up and he throws a hissy fit. He all but guaranteed no one is going to pick up his sorry ass next season.
I wonder if there's a fall out between him and the coach. It's kind of strange how him going from being a starter to DNP all of a sudden.
It's been said many times before, but I guess it needs to be said at least once more. Rafer did not run the offense. Rafer dribbled the ball past half court and passed it to T-Mac. That's not the same thing.
You're being far too kind by calling his shooting mediocre. The guy was literally the worst shooter in the entire league for several years of his career. That's dreadful, not mediocre.
