I've been inundated with e-mails the last day or so claiming that I'm being overly harsh to Rafer Alston. Which surprises me because I actually said something nice about him on Wednesday. All kidding aside, yes, I know I'm harsh on him. Yet it's nothing new. The tone of this blog has always been to critique and criticize if/when appropriate - and often when it isn't. Rafer has always been our whipping boy. Ever since post #1.
Every single time we've tried to be nice to Rafer or give him credit for not being mediocre - he goes and shoots 3-18. Or has 7 turnovers. Or participates in the Philly Debacle. So I can't trust the guy. Consequently, I make over-the-top posts comparing him to Towelie, or Warren Harding, or I say that he would be beat by a chick-with-a-dick (which, by the way, got me directly linked by NBA.com).
The word we are looking for is "hyperbole".
hy·per·bo·le /haɪˈpɜrbəli/ [hahy-pur-buh-lee]
–noun
1. obvious and intentional exaggeration.
2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”
Has Rafer played better lately? Yes.
Has Rafer improved on his November/December performances? Very much yes.
Is Rafer the starting point guard for a team on a 20 freakin' game winning streak?!?! Oh, hell yes!!!
Is Rafer an All-Star? No.
Is Rafer a career 40% shooter? No.
Is Rafer going to ever catch a break from the writers of this blog? Probably not.
Do I have to be nice to Rafer? Uh, no. Sorry. Not going to happen. Not even if we win 37. In a row. Which would be a record or something.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Word of the day: "hyperbole"
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4 comments:
Well Alston really sucks... but lets admit it.. he's still the houston's top pg... they used to try to spell him out by signing francis and james but the two are nowhere near now....
http://basketballnonsense.blogspot.com/
My problem isn't really so much the criticism, especially if it's well deserved, than it is the appearance that you guys take outright joy in seeing Alston affirm your suspicions that he's not very good. Just strikes me as being rather malicious.
Keep it specific, I don't think I've ever rejoiced in Rafer playing poorly
I never want Rafer to play bad. I'm being facetious when I say it's the Best of Both Worlds (I just wanted to use the hermaphrodite comparison).
We *need* Rafer to play well to win. We also need Rafer to stop taking so many hurried shots early in the shot clock.
6-19 tonight... at least 6-7 of those shots were forced or wayyyyyy too early in the offense. 2-10 from 3 should never happen.
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