Im rooting for him and Orlando as well, i like that team alot...plenty of houston connections on that team... Chilcutt
Seems like he was really enjoying himself this game... he really doesn't have to do much at all considering all the firepower the Magic have offensively, which is where he thrives I guess. Then again if I was playing with Dwight, Hedo and Rashard I reckon I wouldn't do a much worse job than Rafer.
And they said, "No Rafer Alston led team can win a championship" Seen that in the GARM so many times... Well, at least he made it to the Finals...let's see what happens now.
It would be kind of awesome if Rafer somehow goes on one of his hot streaks with wins the Final MVP. In that event, the reaction on this BBS would be very entertaining.
God, talk about bitter. Judging by your moniker it seems like you're just mad that Rafer has already advanced 3 more rounds than Orlando's previous #1 jersey has in his entire career. I am happy for Rafer and looking forward to seeing him get in Vujacic's face again.
No Rafer Alston led team can win a championship. Fortunately, he doesn't have to be the leader. Most of the PG responsibilities are handled by Hedo. He does most of the creating and playmaking and led the team in assists, particularly in this last series. Gundy even took Rafer out of the game on multiple occasions in crunch time to let Hedo run the show. In other words, Rafer is not their leader. Having said all that, good luck to Rafer and the Magic. I definitely hope they pull off the upset. I would want any team out of the East to beat the Lakers.
I was agreeing with you until you said that. No need to take shots at tmac when he had Armstrong, Garrity, Gooden and Juwan Howard instead of Rahsard Lewis, Hedo, and Dwight Howard.
I agree. Although his offense often frustrated me, I never questioned his effort or desire to win. Its not his fault he was traded. I wish him the best and would love to see them beat Kobe and co.
Please do explain how he is leading the Magic. Magic have enough offense that if Rafer is on his frequent shooting slump, they still have a chance to win games. Magic will need Rafer to make his 3 pointers in order to beat the Lakers. Can they win it without him making his shots. Yeah, but not likely. Can Rafer go on a hot shooting streak in the IFnals. Yeah, but not likely. If you are a Magic fan, you hope that the in the 2 or so games that he does shoot well, they make sure to win those games. In the ones where he does not shoot well, hopefully it does not hurt them enough to lose those games. Also, as Brooksball as already mentioned, Hedo is the one who runs the pick and roll plays and creates for others on that team. Magic would not be where they are right now if they had Rafer playing heavy minutes and running the offense. Look at it this way.... Magic are pretty set with a 4th quarter lineup of Hedo-Lewis-Pietrus-Howard which leaves the PG... If Nelson was not injured, and based on how he was playing before the injury, I would have given the advantage to Magic over the Lakers. Nelson's shooting would have opened things up for each of those 4 players. With Rafer, the Magic will have to win despite of Rafer, not because of him. On a personal note.... Now that Rafer is gone, I have no problem with him winning somewhere else, unless of course his team plays the Rockets. His shooting has hurt the Rockets and I wanted him gone. I am glad we got rid of him. Not only that, but we got Lowry in return, whose game I really like. This is one of the few trades where it really did help both teams. Rockets got rid of Rafer's crutch shooting and got a young tough PG in return. Magic got a serviceable PG after losing one to injury.
Both the Rockets and Magic benefited from the trade. It's rare, but that's what happened. For those that are saying Rafer didn't "lead" the team. I think you guys are just grasping at straws. Of course, he's not the leader when you have Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard and Hedo. When people say Rafer couldn't lead the team, it meant Rafer would never be the starting PG for a championship team. Even when he was here T-Mac would often run the offense.
Fair enough. A team can come out on top in this year's 2009 Eastern Conference despite Rafer's mediocrity. And they haven't won a championship so they aren't a championship team. Most importantly, and this doesn't contradict anything you said, Lowry is better than Rafer. The Magic might have accomplished the same thing with Lowry in place of Rafer and they almost certainly would have done even better with Jameer in the lineup. I think the next series will be where missing Jameer's services finally catches up to them. I'm not even sure Jameer would have been able to put them over the top. In other words, I think the Lakers will win fairly easily. Hedo and Rashard won't create nearly as much of a defensive mismatch problem for the Lakers and I expect Rafer to have a very poor series, much like he did against the Celtics. Even if he outplays Fisher, Hedo and Rashard won't likely be as productive and the Lakers' frontcourt will do a better job with Howard, at the very minimum putting more pressure on him by doing more damage on the offensive end. I wouldn't be surprised to see Howard getting in serious foul trouble several times against LA and that being a talking point after the series is over.
Congrats to Rafer. Nevertheless, if Cavs had a tiny chance to win this one it was because of Rafer's shooting. He shoots too much. When Antony Car was in, it seamed that the game was run almoast better. Good D on Mo by Rafer though..
I really think Magic will give the Lakers a run for their money. I believe Magic beat the Lakers twice this season. The fact that Magic is in the NBA finals also consolidates Howard's position as the best center in the NBA. I love Yao, but in terms of achievement, Howard has already done far more than Yao and he deserves all the accolades. Good luck Rafer... go get 'em!
