Rafer Alston.
The return of Houston's point guard is probably the biggest reason the Rockets are hanging around for Friday's Game 6 with the Utah Jazz. He doesn't play the first two games and Utah wins twice in the Toyota Center. He returns, hits big 3-pointers to jump start Houston in Game 3 and 5, and suddenly the Jazz are clawing to survive.
Alston and his shot — Utah's kryptonite.
It wasn't always that deadly, according to Alston's coach at Fresno Community College, former BYU coach Steve Cleveland. FCC got Alston and Larry Abney, two players from the streets of New York, to stop off in his junior college program on their way to Jerry Tarkanian and Fresno State.
That's when I first saw Alston, Cleveland's starting point guard. My paper sent me to scout out BYU's newly hired coach in 1997 during the California State Championships on the campus of San Jose State. Fresno City College ended up losing in the semifinals to L.A. City College, but not before it etched out an impressive 32-2 record.
Also on that team were a pair of BYU recruits, Ron Selleaze — who ended up playing one season for the Cougars — and Michael Garrett, a player who came to Provo but left before he became eligible.
Abney's playing in Australia these days. And Alston's stuck in Utah's craw.
"I always blame myself for that loss," Cleveland said. "I was leaving the program and, as much as I didn't want it to be a distraction, it was a distraction and we had a horrible night shooting the ball in that game."
Cleveland keeps in contact with Alston and noted his familiar intensity and intelligence on a postgame interview on TNT after Game 3.
Alston's bombs in Game 3, his quick start shooting in Tuesday's Game 5, and his presence in the lineup has allowed the Rockets greater flexibility, something which was missing on both ends of the court when Alston missed games at the end of the regular season and the first two playoff contests with the Jazz.
With Alston back, backup point guard Bobby Jackson has come off the bench like the Incredible Hulk, fresh enough to play tougher defense and disrupt Utah's set plays.
Alston may be Utah's biggest nightmare in this series.
"When Rafer was playing for me, he always had an intense competitiveness about him and had very, very high expectations for himself and those he was playing with in terms of effort and degree of intelligence," Cleveland said.
Since his days in Fresno, Alston has elevated his range from dud to deadly.
"He's a much better 3-point shooter now than he was when he played with us," Cleveland said. "He's made himself into a very good shooter, but back then he was inconsistent from the perimeter. He could always pass it and run the team, but shooting from the outside wasn't exactly his strength."
Joy for the Jazz to know now.
Said Cleveland, "The thing I will always remember about Rafer is that he had an intense competitiveness about him and it didn't matter what we were doing — it could be a free-throw shooting contest or anything — he was so competitive and had great pride in playing with as much intelligence as possible."
No wonder Alston has returned to the lineup with a vengeance in this series.
"Any time you have a point guard who has the ability to shoot the 3 and stretch things, it puts pressure on other people," Cleveland said. "In talking to Rafer this season, when Yao Ming was playing, they could stretch people, and with Tracy McGrady, they can really stretch people. You can see how they went on that great (22-game) run, got it going, even without Yao on the floor, they continued to stretch people."
That ability to stretch is killing the Jazz.
Like it usually has.
Alston grew up playing street ball in Jamaica, across the bridge from New York City. His skills were evident from the start, a flag that got Tarkanian involved.
"He is fiercely competitive but also very cerebral. He knew the game at an early age when others around him were still trying to figure things out. He just understood," Cleveland said.
Now, the former BYU coach has no dog in this race, and he'd likely want to see Utah succeed as much as the Rockets. But when you have former players on a roster, your interest changes.
Cleveland just finished his third season at Fresno State, a school which almost received the death penalty by the NCAA for violations which occurred before he got there. He's had to work though some tough hurdles, restrictions and scholarship limitations.
"I knew what I was getting into for the most part," Cleveland said. "Most of it, I knew, some of it, I didn't. But we've got our work cut out for us for a few more years. We could be down two or three scholarship restrictions this coming year. But we'll turn this around."
Some of it's already started. Fresno State basketball will graduate six players this year, two more than that school's had in the past 15 years.
Back to Alston, the man.
Rafer Alston, his history, the genesis of his shot, and this Houston-Utah series?
Right now, Alston is the reason this series grinds on.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com