Official Rafer "Skip to My Lou" Alston Appreciation Thread

[TMU]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spo ... 24062.html

“I elevate my game for those guys,” Alston said.

Getting up for the big boys is a reason players around the league respect Alston. He knows that not getting up for everyone else is why he doesn’t get more recognition.

“It has a lot to do with consistency,” Alston said. “I’m so inconsistent at times. I’ve always proved, especially on this team, that I can get it done and I can be one tough ballplayer, especially when one of our main guys is out. I understand then that I have to step up my scoring and step up my all-around play.”

I think this thread is well-deserved.

[moofs]

Ahhh but Rafer Alston has higher theatrical value. Imagine the Rafer Alston drinking game. You either walk away still legally able to drive, or you are completely and utterly sloshed. Who else jumps around his mean production numbers in quantas of two or three standard deviations from the norm like that? It's just fun. You never know what you're gonna get.

*hic* *thud*

[moofs]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6224062.html

“I elevate my game for those guys,” Alston said.

Getting up for the big boys is a reason players around the league respect Alston. He knows that not getting up for everyone else is why he doesn’t get more recognition.

“It has a lot to do with consistency,” Alston said. “I’m so inconsistent at times. I’ve always proved, especially on this team, that I can get it done and I can be one tough ballplayer, especially when one of our main guys is out. I understand then that I have to step up my scoring and step up my all-around play.”

I think this thread is well-deserved.

Nice.

Btw spolgar and TMU, nice stats digging/interpretation. Haven't seen much of that since KevC vanished. (Said it before, but I still don't get most of the extended categories, gotta work on that....)

[spolgar]

Re: The Chron Article.

I remember Coach Thompson commentating with Ray Allen a long time ago on a Miami game, and remarking how smooth the offense looked when Dwayne Wade was playing off the ball whilst Skip was running the offense.

Raggedly? Funky? Skip has a haphazard style that is blessed by Eris herself. We should just photoshop in golden apple earings on Rafer Alston

[Iggyemu]

Our boy Skip is on a hot streak. Could you guys imagine the amount of teams we would roll over if Skip played like he is playing now 80% of the time instead of 20% of the time?

The guy gives us these nice flashes of how good our offense can be when that position is making shots. The mere fact that he can't keep it up for long is what bothers me.

Still....this little hot streak of his couldn't have come at a better time.

[T-Wack]

Don't get too high on him. Remember, this is the reason so many people hate him. He is anti-consistency. He'll either play really great, like these last five games, or really poor, like the previous thirty five. There is no in between.

[moofs]

http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/20 ... _jazz.html

Whoa, Blinebury wrote something I agree with.

...

Help I'm scared.

[ShaY]

Our boy Skip is on a hot streak. Could you guys imagine the amount of teams we would roll over if Skip played like he is playing now 80% of the time instead of 20% of the time?

The guy gives us these nice flashes of how good our offense can be when that position is making shots. The mere fact that he can't keep it up for long is what bothers me.

Still....this little hot streak of his couldn't have come at a better time.

A big thing with him is what he said , he has no rythm with both Yao and T-Mac together.

Thats the reason he always steps out when one of them is out , because he gets to do more and create more and is in a better rythm , even though that with both T-Mac and Yao all of his shots are wide open.

You can also see it in the playoffs , in 06/07 he sucked and last year he was very good because we had only T-Mac.

Spotting up for 3's is definetly not his strength and thats all the offense he gets when both T-Mac and Yao are playing and drawing double teams.

[tisbee]

T-Mac United,
No offence taken.
Nelson is having a great yr and deserves all the credit he gets. But,I'd still prefer Rafer. I know,logic and numbers be damned!

Overlooked in the PG debate is what the Rocket brain trust believes. They believe in Rafer,for whatever reason. Before camp started the Rockets were very unhappy w/Brooks' PG play in Summer League. Morey stated that Alston's recovery was the one he really worried about as they had no idea whether Rafer could come back 100%. Yet the team made no real move to pick up another PG,even trading away Jackson. When it came down to Strawberry,who could play the point,or Wafer who's strictly a SG they kept the pure SG.
Look at what Morey and Co. have done when they identified a problem. Poor PFs? Scola,Landry,and Dorsey. Another scoring option? Artest,Barry,Wafer. Inexperienced back-up PG and approaching the Playoffs? Bobby Jackson. Uncertain about the PG last yr? James,Francis and Brooks.
If the Rockets were worried about their PGs,why'd they draft Greene and Dorsey when Hill,Chalmers were available?
The Rockets seem very comfortable going thru the season w/Alston and Brooks as their points. Since they're trying to win now,they certainly seem to believe that Alston and Brooks are at a minimum adequate enough to win a title with.
(As to Rafers shooting %,just how good an outside shooter was/is Rajon Rondo?)

[TMU]

T-Mac United,
No offence taken.
Nelson is having a great yr and deserves all the credit he gets. But,I'd still prefer Rafer. I know,logic and numbers be damned!

Overlooked in the PG debate is what the Rocket brain trust believes. They believe in Rafer,for whatever reason. Before camp started the Rockets were very unhappy w/Brooks' PG play in Summer League. Morey stated that Alston's recovery was the one he really worried about as they had no idea whether Rafer could come back 100%. Yet the team made no real move to pick up another PG,even trading away Jackson. When it came down to Strawberry,who could play the point,or Wafer who's strictly a SG they kept the pure SG.
Look at what Morey and Co. have done when they identified a problem. Poor PFs? Scola,Landry,and Dorsey. Another scoring option? Artest,Barry,Wafer. Inexperienced back-up PG and approaching the Playoffs? Bobby Jackson. Uncertain about the PG last yr? James,Francis and Brooks.
If the Rockets were worried about their PGs,why'd they draft Greene and Dorsey when Hill,Chalmers were available?
The Rockets seem very comfortable going thru the season w/Alston and Brooks as their points. Since they're trying to win now,they certainly seem to believe that Alston and Brooks are at a minimum adequate enough to win a title with.
(As to Rafers shooting %,just how good an outside shooter was/is Rajon Rondo?)

My argument for Nelson had no hidden agenda. It was simply for the sake of making a counterargument against your claim which I disagree with (and got a little too carried away). But fair enough tisbee, your support for Rafer is genuine and I shall let this one go.

I acknowledge Rafer's mental toughness, and his strong desire to compete. In fact he might be the only guy who can play all 48 minutes. My complaint about Rafer is very minimum: his shooting; and our board has beaten this discussion to death.

p.s.: Nice analysis on Morey's confidence with his PGs. I'm sure not everyone has thought about that.

[spolgar]

Well when in doubt, trust Morey.

[MaxRider]

you guys just jinx Alston
watch him go 1-17 for tonight's game

[spolgar]

His stat sheet on espn seems to say he did okay at Indy. Turnover heavy though, must've been taking risks over the course of the game to make up for the fact that the big three were not on the court for the remainder of the game. Didn't watch the game, but whoever has him on their fantasy team in the last month must feel a bit giddy.

I'll grep through the game thread now to see if anyone has been mouthing abotu Skip

[Iggyemu]

Rafer had a good game today. But man he took some bad shots down the stretch. There were a few times where he completely ignored McGrady and Artest and went and shot it. He of course missed. See this is the problem with Rafer. He doesn't know his place. Doris Burke was just shocked he took the shots he did down the stretch with McGrady and Artest on the floor.

He helped us build that big lead in the 4th. But man did he help give it right back with poor shot selection. When Rafer makes a few shots in a row he feels he is the best player on the team. And thats another big problem with him.

[moofs]

Rafer had a good game today. But man he took some bad shots down the stretch. There were a few times where he completely ignored McGrady and Artest and went and shot it. He of course missed. See this is the problem with Rafer. He doesn't know his place. Doris Burke was just shocked he took the shots he did down the stretch with McGrady and Artest on the floor.

I read some people in the game thread wondering why Iverson wasn't taking the Pistons' shots. Dude's shooting .420/.295. He's "clutch"? We had this argument before, hitting shots at the end of games doesn't make you clutch any more than it makes Luther Head and Moochie Norris valuable NBA players. Regardless what you said about Bryant, I don't believe in "clutch" any more than I believe in Santa Claus. (though I do believe in anti-clutch or choking. Kinda like how there's really no such tangible thing as "cold")

Alston, while I don't really want him taking end of game shots myself, is shooting every bit as good as the other two. I'd still rather McGrady take the shot, just by a far smaller margin so far this year.

Edit: "good coaching/well-designed play" is a valid explanation for "clutch"