Rafer Likes It Here

Rafer Alston acted totally different than Courtney Lee did yesterday when he met the local media for the first time. Lee, you could tell, wasn't happy about being a Net. Rafer seemed downright giddy when we met with him today.

No joke. He ue. He was born in Queens, but he always wanted to play close to home. The Magic gave him the chance.

"I’m excited not only to be with the Nets but to be able to play in front of family and friends, and also the opportunity to help a franchise turn things around," Alston said.

"I was happy. I love the chance and the challenge of helping a team, a ballclub, turn things around. I had the opportunity to do it in Houston, though we were injured a lot. I went to Orlando, where I was called upon to help a team achieve and have some playoff success and go to the Finals. Now you come here to a team that wasn’t in the playoffs last year and that’s the first goal, to try to help this team get to the playoffs. And once you’re in, as you see in Orlando, anything can happen."

He grew up a Knicks' fan, but watched the Nets plenty. He started rattling off names from the teams of the early-mid '80s: Darwin Cook, Otis Birdsong, etc. He was 7 years old watching the Nets.

Now he gets to play for them.

And before you ask: he has no problem being Devin Harris' backup.

Alston actually could be the Nets' No. 3 point guard. We have to wait and see what happens with Keyon Dooling's rehab. But the Nets needed help last year at this position with Harris and Dooling suffering injuries and now they have it in a guy who joined a team in midstream, took over as the starting point guard and helped them get to the Finals.

"I’m coming into a situation where Devin’s our starting point guard," Alston said. "Dooling’s played well for this team. I’m here to do my part. Whatever coach Frank asks of me, I’m going to step in and play. But I will compete. Push each other, make each other better. And then whatever minutes I receive I’m going to play at 100 percent."

Comments

[Adam.y]

Well there's something I think we clearly did not expect......
This is definately great news.

[Mr. Dollar Bills]

At least his attitude is better than Lee, who is already starting off with the wrong mindset.

[Ari]

Nice to hear.

[JERZ]

I expected it.Why wouldn't he want to play close to home.And i think Lee is more mad at the Magic for trading him than us.We wanted him they didn't plain and simple.I hope he plays hard against them this season to show them what there missing.

[ni]

i personally love both alston and lee. lee shouldnt be mad because the nets i think should be a very good team after this season. he will get a lot of minutes this year and get better so he could really help in years to come when we are hopefully a much better team.

[Mike G.]

I been a Net fan from way back to the golden ABA days. After joining the NBA we have almost always been underdogs. We have had brief moments of almost getting to the top of the mountain but then we would slip way back down again. Being a Net fan is alittle like life itself. We all want to grasp that golden ring. Some do, others get close, many giveup. Being a Net fan is very special. We are very few in number, have little to show for it, and the future always is unsure.Try to keep a positive outlook and enjoy the ride. Lets go Nets!!!

[Paul]

We should be fine next year. We have a legitimate center in Lopez and he is the guy we need to build around. Lopez will be a a 20 and 10 and 3 blocks type of player for many years to come. The bench will be great this year with Dooling, Alston, hayes and all the bigs.
Yi has to go however. He is as passive as they come and he is one of those players that will never get it. He seems lost on the court. Need to get rid of him fast.....

[Nick]

Hey Al,

Not sure if you'll get this comment being that it's a week late on the article, but I just heard mention that Alston's contract is only partially guaranteed for about $2.5mil? If that's true, I can't see him sticking around in NJ, no matter how much he likes being here. Can you confirm or rebuke the partial guarantee? If it's fact, can you find out when it becomes fully guaranteed?