<div align="center"><div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Perhaps Rafer Alston forgot he wasn't alone on the floor. Lofting a lazy breakaway layup during last night's Raptors-Pistons game, the speedy Toronto point guard was, at the last possible moment, run down and rejected by the telescopic right arm of Tayshaun Prince. For Prince and the Pistons, it was same-old, same-old. It was unrelenting defence creating offence, in this case a wide-open three-pointer after Prince dove into the Toronto bench to save the ball and ignite the break. But for Alston and the Raptors, it was history in the midst of repeating. Alston has spent this season following up his opponents' moments of brilliance with ill-headed attempts at retribution, and on the ensuing play he dribbled straight for the hoop, his head down, his aim transparent. In seeking revenge, he sprinted directly into the heart of one of the league's finest defences. The Pistons swarmed. The ball was lost. Tit-for-tat turned into tsk-tsk</div> Another Feschuk Yep-Yap</div>
Watched the game yesterday and Rafer kept throwing up shot after bad shot. He didn't even look to get his teammates involved, he was just looking out after himself. Yeah he got us back into the game with his little scoring spurt but he can't win the game by himself. By the time he cooled off, no one else was in the game. 2 assists is inexcusable. Now I understand why Jalen was so pissed at him last week. Jalen should have never apologized to him before last night's game because he was fully justified.
For once I agree with Feschuk, because his bashing this one is right on. Alston has had two assists in each of his last three games, which is pathetic. Even Bosh has more than him in that stretch. He took the second most shots and only made 40% of them. I'd have been happier if the ball had been in Bosh's, Rose's, Mo Pete's or even Araujo's hands. Hell, he went perfect from the field. I have never been a fan of Rafer's defense as well; Billups basically raped him with no resistance (pardon the analogy) on offense.
Didnt you guys see this all along? I saw it the whole season, Raefer is a good backup PG at best. Wait did I say PG? I meant SG.. if you guys notice the games where he ACTUALLY distributes the ball well, the Raps play very well and come up with the win. But when he decides to just start chucking it and goes 1 on 5 And1 style..everyone just ends up watching. We really need Alvin back to run the point and get others involved.
If Babcock is really executing that long term being-contender-few-seasons-down-the-road plan, Rafer CAN NOT, repeat CAN NOT, be our starting point guard, unless he goes through some major changes in his game and mentality. Hence the 6 Year deal, which is a result of bad evaluation on his part.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">If Babcock is really executing that long term being-contender-few-seasons-down-the-road plan, Rafer CAN NOT, repeat CAN NOT, be our starting point guard, unless he goes through some major changes in his game and mentality. Hence the 6 Year deal, which is a result of bad evaluation on his part.</div> Very true. I mean, let's look at it. Rafer is 29 years old, supposedly to be at his peak. His stats might look good, but he hurts the team in so many ways. What we needed was someone to become our floor leader, orchestrate the offense by passing the ball and being a steady ballhandler, and someone to hit the open three. Alston has not been a leader at all, his passing has waned off as the season wore on, becoming more and more selfish, been a turnover machine, and takes many ill-advised shots by going 1 on 5. Sadly, Milt Palacio has his limits and it's doubtable that Alvin Williams will ever return to what he was. And even more sad is the fact that Alston will most likely not be traded for at least another season, as Babcock has his own reputation to save and giving up on his first free agent protege of his GM career would basically say he was wrong. It's the same reason why Babcock never remotely criticized Araujo and never admitted that the Vince Carter trade is a horrible one. Why do we Toronto fans have to live with an useless GM's mistake?
The real question is why is everyone in Toronto so damn critical? We should be supporting, not bashing, our team. They try to win these games for us. The fans. I don't hear other NBA teams' fans criticizing their own teams. Right now, I don't blame Vince for leaving. You never know, it might be the criticism from the media and fans that's hurting the Raptors right now, not their roster.
Rafer has great skills and is a well above average point gaurd, but he doesnt use his head. Since he's such a bargain at 3million a year i KNOW the raps could get a good deal for him. Trade the guy for some picks or some young talent, then draft a starting PG in paul, felton or Williams. I dont want Alston on the Raptors next year. If he's here, he's just going to continue this and we're never going to develop any chemistry.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting raptors4life:</div><div class="quote_post">The real question is why is everyone in Toronto so damn critical? We should be supporting, not bashing, our team. They try to win these games for us. The fans. I don't hear other NBA teams' fans criticizing their own teams. Right now, I don't blame Vince for leaving. You never know, it might be the criticism from the media and fans that's hurting the Raptors right now, not their roster.</div>^I understand that the team is under a lot of criticism lately but most of it is well deserved. Especially this article. As much as I hate to admit it Feschuk is right about Rafer. Simply put he is not the prototypical point guard we need to lead us to victories. I'm not at all saying that he is not a talented player but he just doesn't play like a natural point guard. He would be better suited coming off the bench in the future for Toronto much like he did for Miami because of his erratic play. I agree with most that if the Raptors are serious about winning on a consistent basis, Rafer cannot be our starting point guard. I'm hoping to God that Babcock is able to (and smart enough) to pick a point guard in next years draft. Both Williams and Felton are great prospects that would fit in well with the Raptors system. My only concerns are their availability at our pick and Babcock's decisioning (which I find to be seriously flawed at this point).
True. But I just think that even though we think that about our team, we should at least try to support them. Not only that, but I also hate it when the audience boos the Raps on their own home court. That's just not cool at all. I think the reason why many players wanted out of TO is because they couldn't handle the criticism. Put yourself in their shoes. Would you rather be with a team who watches closely your every flaw and mistake or with a team that has a great bunch of fans who cheer them even when they're doing everything wrong?? And then, even when the player leaves Toronto, he is even criticized more. It's just too much sometimes.
^Have you heard of New York? I can see small market teams treat their players better but bigger markets such as New York, Chicago, LA, Boston etc.. are relentless in their criticism of sports teams. Toronto is the same. We are the biggest city in Canada and we expect nothing short of success for our teams. When we get a losing team such as the Jays and the Raptors the media will have no mercy. What makes it even worse is the most of the time the authours of the articles have as much basketball knowledge as the common fan in JBB. Thats what we get from being in a hockey town. People only see the losses but really do not understand the game to know exactly why we are losing.
I hate how people think Canada is all hockey . Ok that's enough for me. My fingers are tired. LOL (I'm a terrible typer)
I definitely think we're gonna have to draft a PG this draft to start next year. Alston needs some sort of competition to force him to play as a proper PG. I think the criticism of Alston is justified to a certain extent. But, I think Babcock doesn't deserve to be bashed as bad as he has been. When he signed Alson, there weren't many other PGs that would have done better. Fisher and Hudson were the main targets, who havn't performed this year. Even when he drafted Araujo, I don't think it was a bad pick as much as it was a desperation pick. I would like Iguodala on our team too, but can you imagine having to play Loren Woods this late in the season? Finally, the VC trade wasn't fair, but we wouldn't be having many discussions about the Raps draft and future if it weren't for those picks. It helped speed up our rebuilding process. If we can get a couple of 10-15 point scorers in this draft then we've evened the trade. And thats ignoring next years picks. I don't think Babcock has been a bad GM, he's just been stuck in a pretty difficult job. Give him this offseason to judge his decision-making.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting raptors4life:</div><div class="quote_post">I hate how people think Canada is all hockey . Ok that's enough for me. My fingers are tired. LOL (I'm a terrible typer)</div> Well its the sad truth is it not? If the NHL was still playing, do you think the media would focus so much attention on the Raptors? And add to the fact that they are in a losing situation they would definately be forgotten. In Canada, especially Toronto, Hockey > EVERYTHING. These people live, breathe and poop hockey. Ever watch any of the Canadian sports channels? There's no news to report on the NHL but yet they report every single footstep they make with the strike. They'll devote 25 mins out of a 30 min show to hockey. Its retarded and very annoying. As for Rafer, I would like to see him on the bench next year instead of starting. I do not want him to be our starting PG again next year. We'll be watching him play 1 on 5 all over again.
While I generally like Alston and think he has all the tools to do the job, I think he gets a little spazzed out at times and makes bad decisions over and over again Sometimes I think that if he ran the offense as well as he seems to run his mouth, the Barneys would be a 60-Win team Have fun..............
Not 60 win...maybe 50 it is true that we are a great and i mean GREAT basketball team when alston does decide to play like a pg
