<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Raptors point guard Rafer Alston said despite the turmoil surrounding himself and the team, he is still happy that he signed a multi-year deal with Toronto heading into the season. "I don't want to go anywhere," Alston said yesterday. "I signed long term because I told them I want to be here. I'm happy to be here." Alston did admit, however, that the season thus far as been a disappointment, as the Raptors are still fighting for a playoff spot. Alston added that he is ready to contribute more once the club returns from the all-star break, and that means staying out of coach Sam Mitchell's doghouse. </div> source: Toronto Sun
Uh.... YES!!! How is he doing compared to the other players on our team. The only bad thing is his problems with Mitchell which can be resolved. We have no other pg other than alston. Palacio, sure he can play good once or twice. But overall he has no shot whatsoever and is a backup pg for life. Alston is a solid dude, and we need him to do good.
im not convinced he's playing too well...his offense is streaky and too selfish for a point guard when its on. he needs to learn to give the ball to bosh more often and play within our offensive system, and not just try to get his whenever he feels its his turn to score
I really doubt things will work out here. They have gotten very heated in the past, I think there will be more run-ins and sooner or later he will be traded..
I don't want him to leave or anything, he's playing okay, though he's streaky, a little selfish at times, and his defense is only okay, he allows way too much penetration, but he's a good PG. If the right deal came along I wouldn't be opposed to trading him, but Babcock hasn't really made any good moves yet, so I'd rather keep him. Marshall needs to be traded though, we can get a lot for him [decent value].
I think we have to keep Rafer at this point. His value is not that high in the trade market due to the variety of problems he has had this season and he is still a good point guard at cost effective price. I can only hope that he and Mitchell can work out their differences but in the end we all know that we are waiting for draft day to see what other pieces we can fit around Bosh. Like og15 said above, we must trade Donyell as soon as possible or else we get nothing. Every day that passes is more pressure on Babcock to deal him and in turn the trade offers will get worse because they know our position.
ppl, u gotta be patience with trades, or else other gms will de-value the players value, i think the other teams should be the ones that should hurry, since all of them inquiring about marshall is ready to make a playoff run...or contenting for a championship....stay focus and be patience. the ones that we should really trade is marshall(since he has so much trade value), williamses that we got from the vince trade, and murry(coz i hate him), lol
I obviously want him to stay, he may be selfish at times, but he's good at point guard and I highly doubt any team is wuilling to trade for him right now anyways. I think things got bad , but not as basd as the media portrayed it to be. Marshall is the real urgent player to trade right now. However, if we trade Rafer(like og said) for the right players, I wouldn't be opposed to it.
hey everyone Yea I'm still keeping up with Raptors news some 12000 miles from my Canuckland Someone up there suggested a trade involving Marshall and Wright, but it won't work out 1-on-1 due to salary problems (Marshall earns close to $5 million and Wright only earns about $1 million), and I don't know if Riley wants to give up another player. We could add both Williamses to the mix because they will come off the trade restriction by midnight today (North American Time). Someone else suggested Eric Williams for Jerome Williams, and I'm not totally against it because Jerome Wlliams does bring the passion and that contagious give-it-all effort night in and night out. Aaron Williams is relatively tradeable to any team because he earns about $1.6 million this season and has a player option to opt-out after this season, so if we could get a young guard for him it'd be great. Lamond Murray needs to go. As for Bonner, if Marshall gets traded we shouldn't trade him because he can stretch the D in the similar manner as Marshall. Another point, Pape Sow doesn't only play the 4, he's more than capable of playing the 5, so given the playing time that Marshall trade will grant him he will be able to contribute, and yes, over Loren Woods. I don't know about Rose at this point because he is playing like he's capable of (offensively) and he does have that huge contract that will make him less attractable. I say keep Rose until the end of the season and see what we can do. Raptors Trade Assets: 1. Donyell Marshall 2. E.A. Williams 3. Lamond Murray Raptors' Needs to be Addressed via Trades: 1. Young guards with athleticism and decent perimeter D. 2. Draft picks to add pieces around Bosh. 3. If possible, a legit big man.
Maybe some second rounders, remember LA has their first. I don't think that trade can work out. Too many things you want. It's almost like a blockbuster with no star players.
We can get a first round pick if we give Marshall to some contending team [Miami, San Antonio, Phoenix], but obviously no team with a +20 pick will give it up for Marshall. Marshall can get us good value on a team that needs that extra player to put them over the top. Miami is still looking like a likely option because a mad three point shooting PF added to that lineup of Wade, Shaq and all the other 3 point shooters definately won't hurt.
Alston needs to Skip to his lou out of Toronto ASAP this franchise went to looking like it possibly could be a consitent playoff team with Vince to franchise that will be worse then the BOBCATS in 2 years!
Guys, Skip is a still the Raps backup PG....remember Alvin Williams?....Skips an amazing backup to say the least, his up tempo game, he can play good D...this guy fits right in here when he signed a deal...all yall were praising the man..now he blunders a bit u want his gone?...
Um... how were the Raps a playoff contending team with baby Vince. He never brought us close to the playoffs except for the 1 good year he had. Really we're better off without him. We need to trade Marshall before the deadline that's for sure...same with Eric Williams and Aaron. I want Skip to stay, we have noone else to play the point and I don't wanna use a pick on a pg if we alreayd have one in Rafer... we need to draft an able swingman with athletiscism.
BTW, can somebody change the god damn banner for the Toronto Raptors forum? Vince Carter is still there and it's quite humiliating to see him side to side with Bosh.
Anybody ever wonder how this team would do if Alvin was running the show and Skip was coming off the bench instead? Alvin brings that hard-work, defensive minded toughness to this team..and its apparent that we are missing that. He may not be the best PG, but he's a smart player and gets his team involved before he gets his. Skip needs to pass the ball more and shoot less. He's had a tendency to do that. He also needs to work on his midrange game. Everything for him is either right at the cup or behind the 3pt line.
^I don't know about that one. Alvin is a talented player but a pass first point guard? Not even close. He was more of a defensive score-first point guard than anything else. There was talk of moving him to shooting guard because of his ability to score. But getting his team involved first was not Alvin's forte. I really don't see why everyone is saying that Alston needs to pass the ball more. Sure he has bad tendacies like shooting the 3 too much and wanting to score on his man if he gets scored on....BUT he is #8 in assists per game in the NBA and 14th in assists per turnover. I don't know where everyone is getting this no-passing thing from. Alston is a good player, he just needs to acclimate himself in Toronto. I would much rather have him starting the pg position than Alvin and Palacio. People don't understand that despite all the drama, he is arguably the 2nd most productive Raptor behind Bosh. The numbers he is averaging this year compared to his salary is amazing compared to what some teams are paying their starting pg's. Sure if a good trade came our way that would improve this team I would support it but we gotta give this dude a chance. This is just his first year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting simplysic:</div><div class="quote_post">Guys, Skip is a still the Raps backup PG....remember Alvin Williams?....Skips an amazing backup to say the least, his up tempo game, he can play good D...this guy fits right in here when he signed a deal...all yall were praising the man..now he blunders a bit u want his gone?...</div> You don't give a guy a 6 year 24 million dollar deal if you expect him to be a backup.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mr.Wade:</div><div class="quote_post">Um... how were the Raps a playoff contending team with baby Vince. He never brought us close to the playoffs except for the 1 good year he had. Really we're better off without him. We need to trade Marshall before the deadline that's for sure...same with Eric Williams and Aaron. I want Skip to stay, we have noone else to play the point and I don't wanna use a pick on a pg if we alreayd have one in Rafer... we need to draft an able swingman with athletiscism.</div> Vince led the raps to the playoffs twice, and once they limped in with him on the DL. The first time we lost to the Knicks in 5, GREAT SERIES, then we lost to the Sixers in 7, great series, and if you forgot vince and AI traded 50 point nights, thats why vince got his massive contract. STOP TALKING, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING
