I don't want to make stupid themes but it is interesting that Mike James and Steve Francis are overplayed by rookie. I one hand I'm very glad becauese of Aaron,in the other I'm very dissapointed in Steve Francis and Mike James especially. Steve got his money,and sitts there like he doesn't care,he started few games but obviously Rick lost his trust in him. Mike James? Rafer's twin brother? Brick Brothers? At least Rafer is showing he CAN LEAD offense unlikely like Mike who shoots horrible,is out of the rotation and did not show almost nothing since we acquired him. That trade seemed very good from that point of view, obviously Timberwolwes outsmarted us. I'm not too harsh, "only" 30 games are played,they have 50+ games left, but I can't describe how much I am dissapointed in guys that are supposed to be one of the main players on our team.
Related to another thread, both AB and the Rockets are best served, at least for now, with him developing off the bench. Personally, I believe that James and Francis still have too much potential and ability to be completely written off, or be reduced as mere components to the next major trade. However, even with that said, their less than stellar play has made it increasingly unclear, even to Adelman, what their real purpose and value are to this Rockets team.
Steve wants to play, Rick's just not playing him. In the 6 games where he played more than 20 min, I'd say he had 3 decent games (2nd Phoenix game, GSW, Tor), 2 average games (1st Phoenix and the Den), and one down right horrible game (Dallas) after which he was out of rotation again. In the 4 games where his playing time was limited, those are games where he started cold/bad and was benched after the half time. It would seem that Steve is on a very short leash, though with the "depth" at the guard position and his deteoriated play, it shouldn't be suprising. I'm just glad Aaron Brooks is stepping up and taking an advantage of the oppurtunity. That said, I'm not dissapointed in Francis, just the situation he was in and glad that we have a potential future piece in Brooks.
Similar to my analysis of Scola in other threads I think it's important to study how a player actually does when given significant minutes rather than focus on overall season averages which are scewed by Adelman's inconsistent, head-scratching rotations in which players can play heavy minutes for a stretch, get demoted to garbage-time and then get heavy minutes again. For Mike James he's been better than some people realize. In games that he has played at least 20 minutes his adjusted season averages are: 39% FG 34.7% 3PT 11.6 PPG 1.9 APG 2.5 RPG 1.0 SPG 1.5 TO 24 minutes per game average *20 minutes or more* I know I may be in the minority when I say this but I very much still believe that he is an important piece on this team. He's a sparkplug and as evidenced by games in which he's actually been given a fair chance to prove himself he has succeeded in that role. History suggests that his shooting percentages will improve and I love his ability and willingness to drive and attack rather than settling for jumpers like most of our other guards.
Man...words wan't descibe how much I want steve francis to play...but its not up to me...but I've been waiting for that 20 point game all season and I am yet waiting but I know he will get it. Mike James is good but Should play that 5-10 minutes,,hitting those threes when needed...but thats all. Aaron brooks is a rookie and needs those developing minutes and he seems to know what hes doing on the court,,He will be our future point guard or he will be traded for a Descent player....to me him and luther head has already stolen both francis and james's minutes....so I have given up on Steve Francis ATM...hhaha
imo Mike James and Luther Heads games are quite similar. James would be much better just coming off the bench and getting his instead of setting the table for others. We already have Luther for that. Play AB!!! Guy is more explosive then my bowels after drinking dirty water in a 3rd world country.
I am excited about what Brooks did too. But we all need to cool down a bit. Brooks is unknown comodity to the other teams. Nothing was designed to exploit his weakness on the floor... But with he plays like this, I am sure that will happen soon. I hope he can continue his progress.
At least Francis looks happy and is having fun out there. You can see him cheering on his teammates along with Deke the entire time. I don't know about Mike James though. I feel like hes going to burst any minute with that ego of his.
Rafer's numbers are just as bad as everyone's except AB, yet there is some sense that everyone think Rafer plays better. Given that he has started all games that he plays in and gets the majority of the minutes, I don't see what why the benefit of the doubt can't be given to other players as well. Rafer has had 26 games with over 31 minutes a game to show what he will do; if the last two seasons were not enough. Most people know that shooters get better with more playing time. Rafer is not a shooter. Player G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF TOT APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG Rafer Alston 26 26 31.1 .380 .291 .594 .30 2.80 3.10 5.0 1.12 .15 1.77 1.50 9.3 Mike James 27 1 18.1 .359 .333 .786 .40 1.30 1.70 1.8 .63 .07 .96 1.40 7.6 Steve Francis 10 3 19.9 .333 .235 .565 .80 1.50 2.30 3.0 .90 .50 1.40 2.50 5.5 Aaron Brooks 8 0 9.9 .471 .278 1.000 .30 .60 .90 1.9 .00 .13 1.00 1.30 5.1 created: 12/29/2007,02:06 AM
Assuming we actually make the playoffs... I am not sure Brooks will offer much. We need Francis/James to get into the rotation regardless of who is more efficient at this point.
Well said, sometimes I truly believe that Adelman has retired from the NBA and is just "hanging out" with the Rockets for something to do. At times he looks completely clueless.
Remember that one quit on a team and now also doesn't have a coaching job. And the other just got back into the NBA after being fired.
I think something's up with him. I don't know what his problem is, but it seems like he has an unwarranted HUGE ego. Every star that he's played with ends up hating him, and we've always heard rumblings of him and McGrady not getting along so that's no different. The only place he's really and truly thrived was in Toronto, where he was allowed to play like the gunner he is and he actually made shots.
the thing i love most about brooks is that he knows his role and keeps the big man involved. yao should be involved in every play; yet when rafer and james handle the ball, there are stretches when the big man doesn't even touch the ball.
