ok, i'm not a HUGE fan of rucker park basketball because i see it more as "entertainment" than "basketball". after all, when you don't call travelling, carrying, or double dribble, it kind of changes the nature of the game. that said, rafer alston would be a great pickup. he could easily take moochie's minutes and do a much better job. he is a pass first point guard with great - ok excellent - ball control. for whoever said he is the same as steve francis, you obviously have never seen rafer play...he will pass first, pass second, and only if necessary shoot the ball. additionally, he is a point guard that will definitely push the ball up court. i don't know if the rockets will sign him, though, since we have googobs of cash tied up with The Little Dribbler.
I agree with the previous poster that reminded folks about Tito Maddox... with Francis able to swing to SG having a taller PG that can defend SGs and having the height to distribute the ball better is a better direction then getting a smallish "pass-only" PG. I think the Rockets approached this past draft intelligently... they drafted a SF that can be developed and a PG whose past off-the-court dropped his value but whose size and style best fits their needs. Should both of these players develop, both will be big additions to next year's rotation...
You'd rather I go on 2-3 games, as opposed to 116? To be frank, a few decent performances on a team as brutal Toronto is right now means, well, not a lot, IMHO.
Let us give some playing time to Maddox. Let his learn as he goes then next season get rid of Moochie!
I picked up Skip in my fantasy league after his first game in Toronto. He is playing very well and is going to be signed by someone once his 10 day is up. He seems to distribute very well. I don't know if the Rocks have a real shot at him. There are going to be a few calls going in to his agent. Our only advantage is that we can make the case for being a contender. Our 3 gaurd lineup that Rudy used to like would be a hell of a lot stronger with Alston at the point. Alston, Franchise, Mobes, Griff, and Yao. Yikes! Alston would be better at getting the ball inside to Yao, I would imagine. He would not have the player loyalty that Steve has with Mobes, so would be looking more for the open man, than for his friend. OK, I have convinced myself. Lets make him an offer.
Hey, since our guards too often degenerate into streetball players, lets go out and sign a streetball player.
Is there really anything to lose by taking a shot at Rafer?? Pick him up (if he accepts the offer), give him a shot. If it works out, great!! If not, the Rocks still have Tito and Mooch and the Rocks are in the exact same spot as they are now. Some gambles aren't that big of risks. This is one of them. Roll the dice on this one instead of sitting on your hands CD.
Actually it means a lot when you see that toronto is 2-1 with him, AND THE ONLY REASON for those wins is that skip is distributing the ball. Watch him against milwaukee, it's not luck that a 8-28 team just went to 10-28 since rafer came in. Their only loss is to New Jersey, let's see how they do against milwaukee, maybe they will get beat, but i dun see them getting blown out as long as skip is in the side getting minutes. As to his previous games, i mention ben wallace, he was undrafted ans skipped from team to team, it took a unique blend of circumstances to bring the best out of him.
Skip is about to show Milwaukee what they are missing tonight. Free League Pass shows that the game between Toronto and the Bucks starts in 10-15 minutes. Rafer is fearless these days and wants to leave no doubt that he belongs on some teams roster and can contribute. From David Aldridge's ESPN Chat today: James (RIverside): SKip to my Lou what you think David Aldridge: Looked good against the Wiz. I can tell you this, nobody is asked about more on a weekly basis than Rafer. He's got the skills. Somebody just has to believe in him.
THANK YOU SLAND!! i mean i would loooove to have an all street balla squad. GET HOT SAUCE UP IN THIS BIOTCH!! thats my humble opinion, but this is what i am dying over... i just keep on laughing at how stupid the majority of the people are here. yall slam the players we got that are "so called street-ballas" and then suggest we sign the KING of modern ballas?? i got no problems wit' that, but yall is a bunch of dumbasses. you guys are stupid sh!ts if you think you would lose the dribbling! have you seen him play for real?? look, it's sooo predictible what yall do, yall hate on our guys for every little mistake they make, then run to sniff the jock of whoever has the hot hand that week. yall have no faith, no knowledge of anything, really, and just looove to play god, in your silly idea of how a pro basketball team is supposed to be! "look at me!! i would make a Grrreat GM!!" hell, we HAVE a team of rucker park ballas, where do you think cat, steve, moochie, & terrence play in the off season?? do you realize what i am saying?? a few good games does not make skip john stockton. yall would hate on him, just like yall hate on cuttino and franchise. he is playing for a contract, so he has "whi-", uhh "stifled" his game. he'll be back to the lou i know and love once he signs! yall just need to shut-up and watch the exact team we have now, play together for a few years.
Rafer's a fun guy to watch, and it looks like he's finally learned the NBA style game. I've seen Toronto's box scores recently, and it looks like he's doing well. But there's no reason why Moochie couldn't average those kinds of numbers in Toronto either. Remember, the Raptors have been playing without Vince. I'm pretty content with Moochie as the backup PG for now. Only problem is that he's grotesquely overpaid. His b*stard agent, Dan Fegan is a f'n hardass negotiator. Six yrs, $22 mill for a backup PG.
I' am not advocating signing Skip the "streetballa", i'm suggesting that we give skip the nba point guard a chance, if you watch the and1 mixtapes and watch toronto games, you'll see that the two players are totally different, skip the and1 player is a steve francis clone without the hops but with better handle, he invites double teams and gets to the basket for acrobatic layups or dish. Skip the Nba point guard DOES NOT overdribble the ball, he plays under control and always look to pass, in half court and in transition situations. His turnovers come about from been aggressive in his passing, most of them because other raptor players are stone handed and fumble the pass away. He rarely turns the ball over on the dribble. Best of all his bball iq would be significantly higher than any of the rockets guards. As i said he gets an unfair rep for being a streetball legend, but it didn't hurt jamaal tinsley's nba play, who's life uncannily resembles that of skip. "The reason", "gets buckets", "skip 2 my Lou" coming to a place near you. Sign him
let me say this slowly so you understand, " I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH SIGNING SKIP" my point is over the humorousness of that being propositioned on THIS board! i would LOOOOOVE to see that happen, but it would give more ammo to those b****es that would start cutting HIM down, like they do our all-star, possible mvp pointguard. it was more of a comment on the fickleness of some of the "fans" around here. but you did conveniently not quote the beginning, where i said i would like that pick-up, and the part where i said raefer is just playing it down, to get a contract. anyway, moot point. i just wanna see this team, in tact, play together now. if they stink it up, in a year or two sign ma brotha lou, and lets go!
Rafer had 14 points in 35 minutes with five assists -- a good game but not unworldly -- against the Bucks. Toronto lost.
