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With the NBA Finals starting Thursday, I couldn’t be happier for Orlando Magic guard Rafer Alston, who played for me at Fresno State.
Coming out of high school in New York City, he was way in the shadows of Stephon Marbury. Rafer wasn’t a good student in high school, so he really didn’t have that big a name.
He went to Ventura College, a juco in California, and my son George was coaching at Chaffee College about 40 miles outside of Los Angeles.
So in the state tournament, Chaffee has to play at Ventura. I went up with George’s team and didn’t even know who Rafer was. I sat in the stands and watched that game, and Rafer was really good.
Ventura knocked Chaffee out of the state tournament.
After the game, Rafer came up to me and introduced himself, and we started talking. I wasn’t coaching at the time. He didn’t go back to Ventura and I wondered what had happened to him. He might not have ben eligible.
Then I took the Fresno State job and my assistant, Johnny Welch, and I flew back to New York to watch Rafer play in that famous summer league at Rucker Park.
We went to the game and it was incredible. Richie Adams and Lloyd Daniels were there. It was great. I talked with both of them, but I was shocked at how old Richie looked.
Rafer played so well we recruited him. We got him to go to Fresno City College for one year, and he played for us for one season. He averaged 11 points and more than 7 assists.
He only shot 40 percent from the field, but he has always worked on improving his shot. Milwaukee drafted him and he bounced around in the minor leagues a bit, and he played for Miami and Houston.
What a great ballhandler! They nicknamed him “Skip to my Lou” in New York and he was a legend. He was always the first in the gym and the last to leave, and he was always working on that shot.
I’m happy to see that it’s paid off. I like him a lot. He’s a good guy and very competitive. He plays intense and he’s running the show in Orlando, making good plays and taking the open shot.
But he’s not forcing anything. He’s come a long way. When he went to Houston, I spent four days with the Rockets at their preseason camp. Their top assistant had been my assistant at San Antonio.
I spent a lot of time with Rafer. He did a great job in Houston and played well in Miami before that, but he’s doing an even better job in Orlando.
In Miami, Stan Van Gundy was an assistant coach. When Rafer went to Houston he played for Stan’s brother Jeff. Then Orlando lost Jameer Nelson, and Stan remembered Rafer. Jeff highly recommended him.
I love Rafer’s interviews. He knows basketball. He’s a junkie. He loves the game. But the Lakers are so good, I have to take Los Angeles in six games in the Finals.
I felt Denver could test the Lakers, but the Lakers played so well those last two games. They have so much talent. They can shove it in overdrive whenever they want.
I do like Orlando. Of course, they have Rafer. And Dwight Howard is getting better every day. The Magic played so well against Cleveland, but the Lakers have so damn much talent.
By far, the Lakers have the most talent in the league.
A lot will depend on what Dwight Howard can do. I do love that Mickael Pietrus guy. He’s a great defender. If he can slow down Kobe (Bryant) just a little bit, Orlando would have a shot.
Stan’s done a nice job and he thoroughly outcoached Cleveland boss Mike Brown, even though the Cavaliers had the home-court advantage.
I was shocked the Celtics took the Magic to seven games. That surprised me. I didn’t like that Celtics team at all without Kevin Garnett. I thought Paul Pierce was a lot slower than he was a year ago. And Ray Allen had a great series, then a bad series.
With the Lakers and Magic, and especially Rafer, I am really looking forward to the Finals. Have fun watching the games.
The Lakers and Magic. Wrong magic though, lol. Should be a great series.
Look forward to your next column, coach.
Lenny and others, feel free to submit a few off-season questions to coach. Hoops might be slowing down in a bit, but coach wants the topics to keep coming at a steady pace ... he says thanks.
Come on Coach!!! Go Magic!!!
Mee, where are you my son?
Here are some questions for coach:
From your perspective, how has NCAA Basketball changed since you were actively coaching?
What impact has the NBA "19 yr+, 1 yr out of high school" rule had on college BB recruiting? How does that change the strategy for coaches?
What considerations must a coach make when looking at a potential "1 and done" player? You recruited Rafer for a 1 and done season as a JC transfer.....many fans believe 1 and done players are a waste of a scholarship (I don't)....can you comment on that?
How did you pitch UNLV to prospective recruits? What did you believe was our biggest selling points? Do you believe those are still our biggest selling points? or are there new factors?
Thanks coach for all the memories and your willingness to continue to contribute to our community! Your comments are appreciated by this Rebel Fan!
S711
Question for the Shark - does he think the NBA age limit rule should be overturned allowing kids to skip directly to the League from high school?
questions for shark.. can we bad sinatra711. ha. j/k here we go.. watch his panties get in a bunch
Sinatra, first and foremost, great i.d.!!! Am a big Sinatra fan. Thanks for the questions. At least Rafer wasn't 'one and done' out of high school. I'll run those by him.
Thanks to all for the inquiries. Keep em coming ...
Well I know in Jerry tarkanian's book, he mentioned he had the "Power of the Pen!" with alot of the hotels in vegas. So I would like to see Tark talk more about that, and how much that had an impact on recruits coming to vegas.
Also, recently we have seen some recruiting violations from several big programs this year (Uconn-Nate Miles, Memphis-Derrick Rose and Robert Dozier SAT, and USC with O.J. Mayo). It seems that the NCAA hasn't taken as harsh of action as they tried to do here at UNLV, and Tark never did anything wrong! So I would like to know how Tark feels about the NCAA today? DO you feel they are catering to the big time programs more so now? I know this is kind of a tender subject, but it would be great to here Tark's opinion on this.
Tark I love these articles! You give us insight on not only your past UNLV experiences here, but also your opinions on things going on in the sporting world. Very entertaining to read. And thanks to the staff here at the Las Vegas Sun for providing the information.
Hahahaha, good story but Tark's memory must be 'short'.
George Tark despised Phil Matthews. Mainly because Phil pwnd the entire Cali JC system for about a decade, mainly by 'importing' (or recruiting) players from NYC like Rafer, Leo Parker, Lester Neal, etc. The VC program actually got the death penalty for 3-years a few years after this. Some in Ventura feel as if other Cali JC coaches ie George Tark had a lot to do with this.
Anyways, I bet George was happy to get Rafer away from Phil and Ventura College!
Hey Rob, I got to see The Finals Game 2 live...what an experience!
Both Tark & Coach K have former players (Alston & Reddick) playing on basketball's brightest stage. Maybe you could ask him how he feels about having another thing in common with Krzyzewski.
After seeing Rafer have a good game in game 3, and his big series against the Cavs, I'm convinced that Rafer is key to Orlando's chances of winning.
I think they are a better team with better chemistry with Rafer right now, than a rusty Jameer Nelson.
He keeps teams honest when trying to double Turkoglu and Lewis.
Hey Coach Tark...Chris Foster from the L.A. Times took a cheap shot atcha this morning. Sportscenter's Hannah Storm interviewed him about Tim Floyd's resignation and dragged your name through the mud a bit on national TV. I emailed him instantly to voice my displeasure.
Hope I get a star for today. LOL
If anyone wants to roast this guy, just find the thread at: www.rebel-net.com. You'll find his email and more on what was said.
Much love coach!
Oh yeah, when you get to rebel-net, click on the message board named "Tarkanian Court."
Steve, I agree with you. It's not too difficult to see that the Magic operates much better with Rafer at the point then with Jameer getting "test" minutes to see how he fares.
rebelfan, you're welcome. Coach really enjoys having this arena to keep in touch with his fans, and I'll try to make sure he addresses all these inquiries in his next columns.
Grayback, awesome! You were in Staples for Game 2. That top section of the arena is pretty high up there, eh? I've covered plenty of Lakers games there. Kudos to you.
I'll see what Tark says about your topic.
Hehehe, Rob how do you know I was up there?? Could've had those $60K seats courtside :-)
But yes, it is high up there. Ironically though, the court view was not bad at all!
Go Lake Show. It'd be cool if the Lakers had a relationship with Kruger and the Rebels like they did in the 80's with Tark...