When we got rid of Rafer Airballston, many posters on this board said that we were tanking the rest of the season because we lost TMac. On the contrary, we got a much better PG in Lowry. Now look at where we are and where Airballston is. He is still a bottom 1/3 PG but now on the league's worst team. He still can't shoot, can't finish and gets lost on D. Oh, but posters said he's better and "running the offense." BS! Both Brooks and Lowry >> Airballston. Where are the Airballston lovers now?
Is this really necessary? Alston played hard every night and even when he was being pushed aside to make room for Brooks' growth, you didn't hear him b****ing and moaning about it. He was not the player we needed him to be, but it wasn't because of a lack of effort. Don't know where all this hate is coming from.
The few positive things that Rafer brought to this team 1.) leadership (tempo control) 2.) above average defense 3.) hmm.. can't think of anymore The ONE major NEGATIVE thing that Rafer brought to this club 1.) MAKING THE ROCKETS PLAY 4 V 5 ON OFFENSE THROUGH 90MINS BY HAVING OFF NIGHT 14/15 NIGHTS. WHICH MAKE DOUBLE TEAMMING MUCH EASIER BECAUSE HE WAS LEFT WIDE OPEN 99% OF THE TIME.
It's not hate, it was just pure facts. We all witnessed how he earned his nick name airballston while he was wearing red.
I have no problem with the OP. It doesn't sound like a shot at Rafer but a shot at those blind Rafer fans that were so pissed when we traded him to Orlando and AB the keys to the car.
but then it's not really necessary to bring it up because Kyle's his replacement and we have no complaint. MOrey's a GGGGGGGGenius
Agreed. And Alston did fine last season filling in for Jameer Nelson in Orlando (though IMO he did grumble too publicly about playing time during the playoffs). He can't help being stuck on an injury-riddled, talent deficient team right now.
AB is an offensive weapon. Alston was a distributor. It was always hard when the other team forced Alston to shoot all the clutch shots at the end of games. /discussion Wishing Alston the best wherever he plays. (Wishing some of the board could pick up something from how most of the players on the team talk about issues. Very diplomatic. Not dramatic. With a little wit and forethought sometimes. Taking pains not to sound like they are namecalling or just bashing. See AB's most recent interview on NBA TV).
Indeed. Alston didn't do anything wrong. He can't help it if he (A) sucks and (B) has to jack up shots because our opponents refuse to guard him. But to me, the whole Rafer love has to do with this blind assertion that being a starter on a good team somehow makes you good. While being a backup on a bad team makes you bad. I mean, Derek freaking Fisher is the starting PG for the defending champs. And there are at least a dozen backup PGs in this league better than him.
He was also the starting pg for the jazz. Man the way he played he should've just retired in the j*zz.
The problem is that Alston shot the ball as if he thought he was an offensive weapon. Sure teams were leaving him open...but because they knew he was an inefficient scorer and would jack up a lot of shots. I think Alston was actually a good guy and a good locker room presence but just had too many deficiencies in his game to be on the team. AB is showing why he is so superior to Rafer.
If you actually watched the games when he played, you probably wouldn't have typed that as civil as you have.
Rafer had his moments especially when he was on, but there was a reason even an average PG would be a big improvement on those teams. A lot of us missed him is because his replacements were that awful.
Man I took a lot of heat from people by saying Brooks was the answer......and Rafer needed to go. Kind of reminds me of what is going on with another Rockets nowadays. DD
How can the truth be taking a shot? The guy flat out sucks at shooting....and was a rally killer in a Rocket uniform. DD
