because rafer alston wasn't sticking to the game plan.
but what do i know? one of the BGOL's experts asserted that i was wrong and provided NO evidence to support that claim. so certainly s/he must be correct.
onward and upward.
a rafer alston "curse": is it real?
- Thread starter cranrab
- Start date
because rafer alston wasn't sticking to the game plan.
but what do i know? one of the BGOL's experts asserted that i was wrong and provided NO evidence to support that claim. so certainly s/he must be correct.
onward and upward.
Alston ‘shocked’ about being benched in 4th, OT
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ, Associated Press Writer 8 hours, 26 minutes ago
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Benched for the fourth quarter and overtime, Magic starting point guard Rafer Alston(notes) was upset with Stan Van Gundy’s decision to leave him out in the crucial minutes of Orlando’s 99-91 Game 4 loss to the Lakers on Thursday night.
Alston was replaced by All-Star Jameer Nelson(notes), who is still rusty and recovering from shoulder surgery. The decision didn’t go over well with Alston.
“I was shocked. I was shocked,” Alston said. “It’s tough. You’re thinking Coach will come back to you. The first two games I could understand, but again we were right there to win the game. As a player you would like to have your number called.”
Alston had 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting, two assists and one turnover in 27 minutes. Nelson had two points, three turnovers and three assists in 26 minutes.
Alston has been the team’s starting point guard since he was acquired from the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline. The move was made after Nelson went down from what was then-called season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.
Alston, who also expressed displeasure with his minutes after the Magic’s Game 1 loss, said he didn’t understand the decision.
“I wouldn’t have an explanation,” Alston said. “I wasn’t hurt. I ran through nine heat packs. I didn’t get the call.”
Van Gundy had a different take.
“I thought we had a very, very bad third quarter,” he said. “And then it wasn’t so much one guy over the other, it was just we had a unit in the fourth quarter that I thought was playing real well. And then you get down to the point where Rafer hasn’t played in 10 or 12 minutes, I thought it would be hard to bring him back.”
HONEST OPINION: Never one to shy away from a question, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy didn’t back down at all during his news conference before his team’s 99-91 Game 4 loss in overtime in the NBA finals on Thursday night.
Van Gundy called the NBA’s age-limit rule a “sham.” He said the NCAA is “the worst organization going,” and he told reporters he could predict what the story would be depending on the outcome against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Magic coach has always said he doesn’t like the NBA’s much-maligned rule that a player must be one-year removed from high school before he enters the league. That rule has only been magnified during the finals, with five of the 10 starters skipping college, including Orlando’s Dwight Howard(notes) and Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant(notes).
But Van Gundy added a new twist about an hour before the start of Game 4.
“To me, it’s a sham,” he said of the rule. “But I don’t want to get going in this press conference on the NCAA because I think that’s about the worst organization going.”
Van Gundy told writers he knew what he would be reading depending on who wins and loses. Asked what the story would be after Game 4, he gave reporters a lesson based on the Lakers’ 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“Well, this one, the Lakers are 6-0 coming off (losses), so if they come back and win tonight, basically the story is if they win tonight you guys are all going to write the series is over,” he said, sarcastically. “And if we win, it’s about our toughness and resilience, and you guys all knew this was going to be a series all along.”
ON THE BENCH: Magic backup point guard Anthony Johnson(notes) has suited up for every game in the NBA finals, waiting for coach Stan Van Gundy to signal that it’s his turn to play. That call might never come.
As reliable a reserve as there is in the league, Johnson only missed two regular-season games and saw time in every game in the playoffs before the finals as a backup.
All-Star Jameer Nelson returned for the finals after a shoulder injury kept him out since February, and with Rafer Alston starting, that pushed Johnson to the bench.
Johnson, in his 12th season in the NBA, hasn’t complained or pouted. He’s just cheered his team from the bench, but he admits it’s been tough to accept.
“Playing most of the way and not being able to finish it off has been very difficult, especially being a competitor and a contributing factor to us being here,” Johnson said. “But at the same time, we’re three wins away from achieving a championship. I’m just allowing that to be our focus right now and trying to put aside the fact that I’m not playing. Trying to be a supportive teammate, a good teammate.”
Van Gundy said as long as he’s going with the Alston-Nelson rotation, Johnson is “probably not” going to play. The lineup has shown no signs of changing, although teammates said they can sympathize with Johnson.
“We talked about it among ourselves,” Nelson said. “Whatever minutes are given to us are given to us. One thing we understand is coach is going to go with who’s got it going.”
By ANTONIO GONZALEZ, Associated Press Writer 8 hours, 26 minutes ago
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Benched for the fourth quarter and overtime, Magic starting point guard Rafer Alston(notes) was upset with Stan Van Gundy’s decision to leave him out in the crucial minutes of Orlando’s 99-91 Game 4 loss to the Lakers on Thursday night.
Alston was replaced by All-Star Jameer Nelson(notes), who is still rusty and recovering from shoulder surgery. The decision didn’t go over well with Alston.
“I was shocked. I was shocked,” Alston said. “It’s tough. You’re thinking Coach will come back to you. The first two games I could understand, but again we were right there to win the game. As a player you would like to have your number called.”
Alston had 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting, two assists and one turnover in 27 minutes. Nelson had two points, three turnovers and three assists in 26 minutes.
Alston has been the team’s starting point guard since he was acquired from the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline. The move was made after Nelson went down from what was then-called season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.
Alston, who also expressed displeasure with his minutes after the Magic’s Game 1 loss, said he didn’t understand the decision.
“I wouldn’t have an explanation,” Alston said. “I wasn’t hurt. I ran through nine heat packs. I didn’t get the call.”
Van Gundy had a different take.
“I thought we had a very, very bad third quarter,” he said. “And then it wasn’t so much one guy over the other, it was just we had a unit in the fourth quarter that I thought was playing real well. And then you get down to the point where Rafer hasn’t played in 10 or 12 minutes, I thought it would be hard to bring him back.”
HONEST OPINION: Never one to shy away from a question, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy didn’t back down at all during his news conference before his team’s 99-91 Game 4 loss in overtime in the NBA finals on Thursday night.
Van Gundy called the NBA’s age-limit rule a “sham.” He said the NCAA is “the worst organization going,” and he told reporters he could predict what the story would be depending on the outcome against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Magic coach has always said he doesn’t like the NBA’s much-maligned rule that a player must be one-year removed from high school before he enters the league. That rule has only been magnified during the finals, with five of the 10 starters skipping college, including Orlando’s Dwight Howard(notes) and Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant(notes).
But Van Gundy added a new twist about an hour before the start of Game 4.
“To me, it’s a sham,” he said of the rule. “But I don’t want to get going in this press conference on the NCAA because I think that’s about the worst organization going.”
Van Gundy told writers he knew what he would be reading depending on who wins and loses. Asked what the story would be after Game 4, he gave reporters a lesson based on the Lakers’ 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“Well, this one, the Lakers are 6-0 coming off (losses), so if they come back and win tonight, basically the story is if they win tonight you guys are all going to write the series is over,” he said, sarcastically. “And if we win, it’s about our toughness and resilience, and you guys all knew this was going to be a series all along.”
ON THE BENCH: Magic backup point guard Anthony Johnson(notes) has suited up for every game in the NBA finals, waiting for coach Stan Van Gundy to signal that it’s his turn to play. That call might never come.
As reliable a reserve as there is in the league, Johnson only missed two regular-season games and saw time in every game in the playoffs before the finals as a backup.
All-Star Jameer Nelson returned for the finals after a shoulder injury kept him out since February, and with Rafer Alston starting, that pushed Johnson to the bench.
Johnson, in his 12th season in the NBA, hasn’t complained or pouted. He’s just cheered his team from the bench, but he admits it’s been tough to accept.
“Playing most of the way and not being able to finish it off has been very difficult, especially being a competitor and a contributing factor to us being here,” Johnson said. “But at the same time, we’re three wins away from achieving a championship. I’m just allowing that to be our focus right now and trying to put aside the fact that I’m not playing. Trying to be a supportive teammate, a good teammate.”
Van Gundy said as long as he’s going with the Alston-Nelson rotation, Johnson is “probably not” going to play. The lineup has shown no signs of changing, although teammates said they can sympathize with Johnson.
“We talked about it among ourselves,” Nelson said. “Whatever minutes are given to us are given to us. One thing we understand is coach is going to go with who’s got it going.”
^
@ you going ghost during the ECF, then trying to come back when they're losing in the finals.
post what rafer alston contributed during the ECF.
@ BGOL having all these closet queen fanboys. you'd think at least 1 of them would have some basketball knowledge.and1 alston was shocked?
here's 3 things basketball fans should be shocked by.
1) PGs main job is NOT to shoot. rafer alston had 13 FGAs in 27 minutes. jameer nelson had 3 FGAs in 26 minutes. still shocked, rafer?
2) the media measures ALL positions by how many points they score or how many shots they take. if you watch the games, and can't understand what the coach is trying to accomplish, and why he is using specific players to do it, don't question the coach. the problem is you.
3) casual fans continue to fail to understand that successful basketball is necessarily mental. a collection of physical talent won't get the job done (ask coach howland). the and1 bullshit that infected rafer alston distorts his vision of the game. that type of basketball translates better to harlem globetrotters v. washington generals, not the NBA game.
post what rafer alston contributed during the ECF.
i'll help the dumb ass so everyone can see how stupid he is.
here is rafer alston's productivity during the ECF.
in 33+ minutes per game, rafer alston averaged 12.5 pts per game on 37% shooting.
compared with the regular season with orlando, rafer alston's shooting percentage went DOWN, while his number of FGAs went UP. NOT what any player or coach wants to see.
rafer alston averaged 2.3 rebounds per game and 1.6 steals per game in the ECF.
compared with the regular season with orlando, rafer alston's rebounds and steals went DOWN, while his minutes played went UP. NOT what any player or coach wants to see.
rafer alston averaged 3.8 assists per game and 2 TOs per game during the ECF.
not bad. a PG with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.9 is tolerable. except for 1 thing. compared with the regular season with orlando, rafer alston's A/TO ratio FELL from 2.8 to 1.9.
so once again, a bitch ass tried to front and got seriously owned.
dumb fucks still jump up to get beat down after all these years.
next!