[I laughed out loud when I read this snippet...] http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=Aq.v.SfHgy.U6O6Ige76B0C8vLYF?gid=2006020528 Toronto's Mike James ran into a screen, allowing Cassell to tie it with a wide open 3-pointer with 7.8 seconds left in regulation. "I couldn't believe I was that wide open," Cassell said. James claimed he was grabbed by Brand. TV replays showed he just ran into a screen. "Elton Brand grabbed me and hugged and basically just wouldn't let me go until Sam Cassell got the ball," James said. "I thought that maybe somebody might see the play but nobody saw it."
lol no need to put this in the GARM, but funny little story haha i also found this Notes James castigated himself in the first half by saying "'Come on Mike James! Get your mind right!"' He was 2-for-8 from the field at the time. He finished 5-for-20 and had 20 points.
This is from a couple nights back. Dude is coming off as a major jerk. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2006020128 "James glared at the Wizards bench after the shot. "I love the look on the other teams face when you hit a big shot," James said. "Just that discouragement on their face, it kind of excites me." "
You're saying if we had James instead of Rafer we'd be in the playoff race at this moment? I'm sorry, Yao Tmac Barry Sura DA Swift being injured would still have us down here or close to it..
As injury plagued as they've been, 12 of the Rockets' losses have been by 6 points or less. James already knew the offense, hasn't been injured 1 game all season, can get his own shot and plays better defense. I'd have to agree with SF.
Mike James would have been the second or the only viable scoring option for us on the court in many, many games. Plus a much better defender than Rafer or Moochie. I'd cut DA or Rafer for him in a heartbeat. So yeah - 2-5 more victories and 2-5 less losses puts us in or around the 8th seed trying to move up.
I agree it would have been nice to still have Mike James to at least slow down our free fall. But for the record, he has missed two games this year. Ironically, the last one he missed against the Knicks was due to back spasms. I watched that game and when they showed him on the bench in a suit saying he had back problems, I remember thinking wow, imagine if he was still with the Rockets, and both he and Tracy were out at the same time with back spasms? Can you say "cursed"?
calm down dude, I'm just saying anything this guy says is gonna get hated on. athletes say that stuff everyday.
To say that a player like Mike James would have a 2-5 game impact on an entire season is absurd. I understand that he creates his own offense, something that (when T-Mac isn't on the court) the Rockets sorely need, but there are plenty of times when Mike James also holds an offense up (i.e. when he's a blackhole with the basketball....no flow, no ball movement). Also, even if Mike James WERE to have a 2-5 game impact, what about the games that we have won because we actually HAVE A TRUE PG (the games that we are winning NOW, because of what Rafer does within the offense). Look at Rafer's lines during the games that we have won....he does a lot more than just score, it's the other things that he does that keep the offense going, which then allows T-Mac and Yao to do their thing. I would say that Rafer has just as much of an impact as Mike James, and with Rafer, we have the point guard that we have so badly needed the last 2 seasons. I think the Rafer vs. Mike discussion needs to be put to a rest once and for all. With Rafer, we are set for the future....with Mike, we all know he would have bolted at the end of this season anyways....
Definitely agree, with the only exception being the fact that Mike has only missed the 2 games where Rafer has missed what, 19 or so. But other than that...well said!
With Mike James leading a team that was without TMac, Yao, Swift, DA, Sura, Barry, it would end up being a team with a stagnant offense. James's shooting fed off others. He couldn't create for another player and could and probably would have been disasterous to any ball movement on the court in those regards. He's the perfect sixth man in our scenario last year due to him being some sort of a offensive spark plug, a la Bobby Jackson, but to expect him to lead a team to a win, much less 2-5 extra wins, would be overly ridiculous.
Did you watch any of the games where one/both of Tmac/Yao were out? - we WERE a stagnant offense - even with such fantastic offensive threats like D.Anderson and Swift. That is the point we are making here. Putting in a guy who can 1. score on his own by penetrating from the perimiter , 2. nail jumpers, and 3. defend, as well as 4. run the break - on a moderately consistent basis - would only have helped us. Disastrous ball movement? You should have been at the T-Center when Tracy left when his wife went into labor. Now THAT was a total sh-t show. My god - nobody wanted to take a shot - I think tracy's newborn had already started teething before we got a field goal in the 3rd period. Several other games weren't too much different. This is a pretty simple equation - you add in a decent player like james when your squad is so thin it's running out rejects like Bowen, Norris, Stephen Graham, etc, and even the shot-challenged Alston - you're going to have a better chance to win games. Anybody who says otherwise is kidding themselves.
Especially considering the Raptors are a better team than the Rockets if the Rockets are without McGrady/Yao and they still have a worse record than us. Heck, they beat us head-to-head twice in a row with McGrady in the lineup, and they still have a better record. So why isn't Mike James leading them to more wins?
