If we get Mike Jame . . . do you think he will do so without some assurances of Starting? Why would he come here to be on the bench? Play behind Rafer 'frickin' Alston I don't beleive in folx playing behind players they are better than You start your 5 best in the position Why would you have your bes guard coming off the bench? Rocket River
If the Rockets sign Mike James, and I think they will, Mike James will be starting. Either at SG with Alston at the PG, or James will be the PG with someone else at the 2. You can BANK on Mike James starting. He is not coming here to be a 6th man (even though in 'theory' he would flourish in that role). Ultimately we need to sign MJ to be the PG and then look for a taller SG. Alston is a backup PG.
i think this will be the projected starting lineup PG - Rafer SG - James Center - Yao SF - Tmac PF - Battier
If we sign James, our lineup is full of combo players (James, TMac and Battier). I say our starting lineup is: Rafer, TMac, Battier, Juwan and Yao (assuming we don't sign any other starters) ...and our closing lineup is: James, TMac, Battier, Juwan and Yao OR Rafer, James, TMac, Battier and Yao James would get a crap load of minutes and would close the half and game most games. I think James would be happy coming off the bench if he is assured that he will get starters minutes.
Rocket River, if that is true, then why is there a Sixth Man Award in the NBA? Do you honestly believe that every team starts their five best players? Arguably, teams are better served NOT starting their five best players. In 1996, it was CLEAR that Sam Cassell was a better player than Kenny Smith. But Rudy knew what every other coach in the league knew: It doesn't matter who starts the game; it matter who FINISHES the game. While Mike James obviously wants to start--he'll have a hell of a better chance starting here than in Dallas--teams can't "guarantee" a player starting. From a purely strategic perspective, the Rockets would be best served with Alston starting alongside a taller, athletic, defensive-minded shooting guard. James could come off the bench as the primary scorer when our stars are resting. Of course, James would be on the floor with T-Mac, Yao and Battier at the end of games, maybe even alongside Alston. But the Rockets would definitely be better off with Alston starting and James coming off the bench than the other way around. Just my two cents.
Actually I think he would start as our SG and play backup PG, and we would try to pick up a big SG as a backup to James.
Completely agree with this view. James may be a "better" player than rafer, but they play the position two different ways. Rafer is a pass first pg who I would like to see play w/ the 1st team as a setup man. We don't need scoring from the PG w/ Yao, Tmac, and to a lesser extent Battier on the floor. James is a scoring pg, what some would call a tweener. Coming off the bench, he would provide the offensive firewpower when Yao or Tmac or both come off the court. I don't see why James would mind coming off the bench because he would still get starter type minutes splitting time at the guard positions, and he would get license to score instead of deffering (sp?) to our two superstars.
james should not start...his offense comes and goes and is a spark that needs to come off the bench...
Only problem with this logic is that means Battier gets benched. If you think Houston fans were pissed after the Rudy Gay trade, just wait until how everybody feels that we traded Gay for a bench player. I think TMac moves to SG and Battier plays SF. That means James and Rafer duke it out for the starting spot at PG. Either way, James will play big mintues at SG. But I don't see us benching Battier.
That would be a very small lineup if both James and Alston were starting. Also, what do you do about Battier? If you have James at the 2, and Battier at the 4, they will get destroyed on the boards.
the way i see it is if james doesnt start at the 2, then he should or would come off the bench. reasong being that we would have enough offensive fire power in the starting line up already and alston is the pass first guy that wuold yield the ball to yao and tmac like the van gundy wanted. i do like the idea having rafer start and james close though. but in all, i favor starting james and alston together because we still dont have a 2 minus james that could start.
James is not a PG, at least a true PG. He is just an undersized SG, similar to Francis. Logic would states that he will start in place of Wesley at SG, with HOPEFULLY HOWARD moved to the bench (but what does that do for Hayes, who needs the backup PF minutes - not Howard).
The reason Mike James SHOULD be coming off the bench is because the last time he was on this team Yao barely touched the ball when James was at point. He has selfish spurts. Despite his high percentages you cant have his mentality with T-Mac and Yao on the floor. But he is the perfect high energy off the bench scoring impact we covet.
Mike James will be a starter, whether he starts at PG or SG is the question. Didn't JVG say something about running a 2 or 3 PG set? Lineup #1 Mike James-Rafer Alston TMac-Luther Head Battier-Bowen Howard-Hayes Yao-Deke I like offensive potential w/ this lineup. Nobody is having to play out of position and everyone seems to have a decent backup. Only thing is moving TMac back to SG is worrisome IMO, especially after coming back from injuries. Lineup #2 Alston-JL3/Spanoullis? James-Head TMac-Bowen Battier-Howard Yao-Deke I expect to see this lineup quite a bit next season IF we get MJ. I have no problem with Mike James playing SG for us but I'm not sold on Battier playing PF. While people say he can, he's never played PF before (because of Gasol) but really doesn't have the bulk, rebounding, or the defensive capabilities to play PF IMO. We're also left w/o a legit backup for Rafer.
I see MJ coming off the bench as the 6th man at both PG and SG, he should be able to get 30 minutes a game doing that. I think his minutes should be more important to him, running the point with McGrady on the floor and being the second option for Alston when McGrady is resting on the bench. I mean there is a reason that Atlanta wanted Speedy Claxton more than they wanted MJ and it wasn't about money, MJ is not a classic pass first PG, creating offense for others, he is a shooter. Alston is the better player for creating offense for others.
He isn't for sure here yet: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (registration required): "Duffy said that because all the teams pursuing James are over the salary cap, a sign-and-trade scenario is a possibility. The Mavs are willing to offer Marquis Daniels in such a deal, but the Raptors might not want Daniels and the $26.46 million remaining on his contract."
Houston's 2004-2005 Player Pair Stats Yao was not only better when he played with Mike James, but he got more FGAs and points per minute when they played together. It would be a folly to sign a player like Mike James, who played at a near All-Star level this season, only to limit his minutes on an already offensively weak team. The current Mavs have a lineup full of scorers without a passing PG, and it would be an understatement to say that they did just fine without one.
this definetly would be a speed lineup. we can still dump the ball to yao and have shooters on the wings too. this is actually a good lineup when facing speedier teams. we still need a real PF who can run the floor, block shots, and play D. too bad Ben Wallace signed with the bulls!
james should start at pg............. pg james sg tracy sf battier pf ? c yao we need to grab a new pf from free agency, juwan isn't the answer and i think battier is too small to play pf against the big guys in the west.
