Top > Sport > 2006 > January > 2006-01-07

The Return of Skip to My lou

Skip to My lou, also known has Rafer Alson has shown vastly improvement over the course of the past few games. After enjoying break out season in Toronto a couple of years ago, Alston has failed to live up to expectations. However, this last stretch of games has given Rockets fans a lot of reasons to be happy about. Earlier this week, Alston returned to the Houston lineup against the Warriors, but looked very much like the disappointing player he was during November.

Last night was a big change from that. In fact, last night he looked marvelous. His jumper was falling, his passing was practically flawless, and his leadership helped get the Rockets a much-needed 123-111 win over the Warriors. He fouled out late, but by then he had amassed 17 points (7-11FG), 10 assists, and only one turnover. The best part of Rafer?s game, him being the point guard and all, is that he truly made the players around him better.

That?s not something we?ve seen from his this season. Juwan Howard can thank Alston for his stat line: 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Is this the Rafer Alston we?re going to see consistently? Is this the Stromile Swift we?re going to see consistently? If so, the Rockets should have no trouble burning through the lower ranks of the conference when Yao Ming returns.