Skip To My Lou has apparently skipped out of town.

Miami Heat point guard Rafer Alston (A.K.A. Skip To My Lou from Rucker Park, and AND1 Mix Tape fame) was suspended from the team for missing team practice on Friday and subsequently missing the team’s game last night against the Hawks. 

Seems like something a little fishy is going on to me though. 

Alston was signed by the Heat in early January to add some security and veteran leadership to the point guard position in Miami.  Miami had second-year player Lionel Chalmers at the point, and Alston seemed like a good, tested option.  After all, he was part of the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic’s playoff run last season.

Things started out OK between Skip and his new club.  He consistently received approximately 25 or more minutes on a nightly basis (and gave a predictable contribution of 6.6 ppg and 2.9 apg), up until earlier in the week.

All of a sudden, the Heat are playing Carlos Arroyo – and Alston is seemingly being phased out of their gameplan.  In Miami’s March 2 game against Golden State, Rafer started the game and played seven minutes early in the contest.  But Arroyo ended up seeing the floor for 34 minutes, and put up 14 points, 5 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals.  The next game – the national televised showdown with the Lakers – saw Arroyo play 42 minutes and doing his thing statistically as well (17 pts., 6-7 FG, 5 asts.).

So, what happened??

Carlos Arroyo definitely has some point guard skills.

Word has come out that Alston has been mulling retirement.  He only 33 years old, and playing the point guard position is very cerebral – so he could presumably have more years in the league.  From that perspective, the retirement talk seems a bit odd to me.

Seems like someone got double-crossed, and that the player and the team had differing expectations. 

Arroyo is a very aggressive, skilled player on the court.  He’s not necessarily a good leader, but he’s a good pick and roll point guard.  Arroyo has excellent touch on his mid-range jumpers, and is a little better than Alston in creating when the shot clock in winding down.

Alston is more of a natural floor general, but lacks a lot of the NBA creative abilities that Arroyo has.  Skip’s super-creative playground game has not converted well into the Association.  He’s not a consistent three-point shooter, but what he will do is knock down big threes in key situations.  But most importantly, Alston’s 53 career playoff games – including 23 last year in which he averaged over 12 points and 4 assists – are the stat that the Heat were coveting as we enter the home stretch of the regular season.

Something’s definitely amiss, and with Dwayne Wade’s free agent status on the horizon - and consequently the Heat’s future – Miami cannot tolerate many misses at all.