Rafer Alson out a week!!!!!!!!!!

[Rocketz973]

HERE We go......

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/player ... 657&id=565

[TMU]

What's more important is that he's expected to miss at least a part of the series.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spo ... 03992.html

Rockets starting point guard Rafer Alston will miss at least the first few games of the playoffs with a pulled right hamstring he suffered Sunday in Denver, the Rockets announced today.

After an MRI examination of the injury, Alston was declared out for at least another week after sitting out Monday's game against the Jazz, an absence that even at the minimum projected would force him to miss the first two games of a first-round playoff series to begin Saturday or Sunday.

Bobby Jackson, acquired in a trade deadline deal to provide a veteran backup at the position, came back after missing one game with strained left knee and calf and would continue to start with Alston out.

Alston has had some hamstring and groin strains during the season, but that was on his left leg. He averaged 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 rebounds this season, making 39.4 percent of his shots.

Jackson has averaged 8.5 points on 41.8 percent shooting in his 25 games with the Rockets. Rookie Aaron Brooks, who moved back into the Rockets' rotation when Alston missed three games this month with a strained groin injury, would likely become the primary backup point guard.

There goes our productive season down the drain.

[grond]

oh dear.

This means Brooks is going to be guarding one of Williams, Parker, or Nash for extended minutes in the 1st rnd.

(pause to work out which one of them will burn him the least)

...

[PocketRockets]

Hey I'll be honest. I don't expect to go deep in the playoffs this year, but despite the injuries that we've had all year, we have 50+ wins in a tough conference. There are how many 50+ win teams? 7 maybe 8 (Denver). That says tons about the degree of difficulty in the West. If somebody would of told me at the begining of the season we'd be #1 for any part of the season, I would have laughed (but we were). We've done decent with Yao/Mac out which says a lot also about our depth, which has been a huge problem in the past. We have a somewhat bright future with our young guys. Overall it's been one of the better seasons in recent years. As a longtime Rocket's fan, I'm happy for that.

[Amel]

that sucks, I hope brooks gets minimal minutes and the veteran plays at least 35+

[TMACFORMVP]

Horrible news, he's easily our best overall PG and Jackson is much more suited coming off the bench. We can't catch a break

[Tmac_125]

Things just keep going from bad to worse

[dream34]

Oh how things have changed. I bet at the beginning of the season, many people here would have paid Rafer to miss the first couple games of the playoffs.

[A.J.]

This sucks. Now Deron is gonna have a field day against our PGs.

[franchise73]

in that case i dont want home court, if were gonna lose with out him id rather lose away as apose to lose at home!!

[fnasser]

we werent gona advance anyway; this could help drive us to be better; hell we won 10 games with yao out. all we gota do is win half that with rafer out.
if we were to do any damage, and if there was any chance of us advancin past the first round, then its all on mcgrady to play the best basketball hes ever played in his career.

[RawTmacSkillz]

Damm that sucks...

I hope brooks can deliver some of his stellar play like back in his oregon ducks days..again that was back then..brooks needs to step up thats why we drafted him. Although i believe head if given more mins wont do a terrible job even tho he's TO prone at times.

[JStockLivesOn]

Does that mean Mike James will be starting?

Ouch. Sorry to hear that, guys.

[Texas Longhorns]

Yes! No more jack up shots and trash talking.

[TMACFORMVP]

Does that mean Mike James will be starting?

Ouch. Sorry to hear that, guys.

We traded James in the deal for Bobby Jackson. It'd likely be B-Jax starting with Brooks backing him up.

[Texas Longhorns]

Does that mean Mike James will be starting?

Ouch. Sorry to hear that, guys.

It doesn't matter, anyone one our team defends Williams better than Rafer. I am glad Rafer is gone, I think that favors us more than you guys IMO. This man likes to challenge 1 on 1 during an NBA game. He acts like a fool by trash talking to players that are better than him then getting owned by them. I am seriously glad he will be out for the first 1-2 games. I hope he doesn't start when he gets back, ESPECIALLY IF WE HAVE WON THE FIRST 1-2 GAMES. We have to continue the chemistry.

[PhatPat23]

Oh how things have changed. I bet at the beginning of the season, many people here would have paid Rafer to miss the first couple games of the playoffs.

true

[midnight]

i like our chance w/ bobby jack starting
seriously, when was the last time rafer played well in the playoffs?
i hope he won't come back in the middle of a series, and brooks will step up

[tha_rock220]

Well at the beginning of the season I was hoping Rafer would keep his starting job because I figured he was the best pg we had. I'm still wondering if that's true. BJax and Brookes can actually put passes where they need to be unlike Francis and James. I don't know how many times I saw MJ try to force a pass to someone and get it poked away.

[Iggyemu]

Yea some how I don't see that as a big loss. Our room for error in these games is so small. All we need is a PG to bring the ball up get to the McGrady and make an open shot. The open shot part being the most important thing. Brooks and Jax do that better than Alston. Plus I like the way Brooks pushes and gets into the lane.

We'll miss his defense but look at it this way. Did you really expect Rafer to shut down Deron or Nash or Parker? No...me neither.