Starting isn't as important as minutes played and finishing. Why would Rafer start over MJ? If he's better at getting Yao going he should start over MJ. Getting Yao into a rhythm should be our #1 priority each game. Once this happens, MJ can come in to add on-ball pressure and shooting. I see MJ's most important role as a finisher. Rafer made a lot of bad decisions late in tense games last year, even when he played decent in the first 3 quarters. I don't trust him when the game is on the line. When we absolutely must have a stop, MJ should be guarding the point, not Rafer. In between, if Rafer is playing well, MJ can play some SG to get his minutes. When Rafer is struggling early, MJ should get heavy time at PG and perhaps play 40+ mins. Whatever happens, MJ will end up getting more minutes than Rafer. If I was a betting person I'd put money on that. The Kenny Smith vs. Sam Cassell analogy applies here. When Kenny was on, he helped us tremendously. When he was jittery, Rudy would sometimes sit him down the entire 2nd half. Because he was a rookie, Sam didn't get the majority of minutes but he got important minutes. I see MJ getting both off the bench.
from what we have now, its alston tmac battier howard and yao. james comes off the bench and play 35 mins.
If James comes here, he should be starting and playing the same role Jason Terry plays for Dallas, while Alston plays a role similar to Devin Harris.
james comes off the bench as a 6th man sparkplug. he solidifies the bench and gives us some firepower when we need it.
The problem with your analogy is that Devin Harris is actually a scoring threat. As of yet, Alston hasn't shown too much offense so bringing Alston off the bench when we are resting TMac and Yao doesn't sound too promising. Bringing James off the bench with a tired TMac and Yao has a little more ring to it.
If he’s not a scoring threat, why would you want to put him on the floor with Yao and Mcgrady? Alston is most effective with the ball in his hands, creating open shots for others. He’ll rarely get a chance to do that playing in the starting lineup. The ball will always be in Yao and Mcgrady’s hands and Alston will essentially be a spot-up shooter, which is not a good role for him. I think he’d be a lot more comfortable leading the second unit and playing against the other teams bench players.
There is some validity to that statement but if we had two other guys that can hit shots (Juwan/Battier) then Alston's lack of scoring is lessoned particularly is Alston can create shots for others. Alston's assist #'s were good last season and that was with a deficient starting line-up. I'm curious to see how Rafer does with a legit cast around him ...I'm optimisic. 2nd unit scoring was our hamstring last season. James immediately addresses that.
If Rafer isn't a scoring threat, why do you want him on the floor with scrubs who can't score either? Our offense would be stagnant (see last season). He's primarily a passer who's #1 focus should be getting it into Yao. I also like Rafer on the floor with Tracy because he can relieve him of some of the ball-handling duties. When MJ comes in, his mentality will be more geared to putting the ball in the basket.
I think we will sign james but after that i really like jefferies he reminds me alot of boris diaw if we could sign both those guys our depth and versatility would be some of the best in the league!
Kenny Smith was the more experienced player So he was better than Cassell in that regard The 6th man is what it is. . the best of the 6th best players also . . . 5 best players . .AT THEIR POSITION If your 3 best players are all guards. . .well no they won't all start Rocket River
Hasn't everyone read Chris Bosh's comments about James and the PG position in the Toronto Star. Bosh said they need a "pass first" PG and not a shooting PG like MJ. What makes anybody think thats going to be any different here. We were horrible making the entry pass into Yao in the post when MJ was here. Alston can do that, he also has a better handle and handles the press better and is a better distributor. With all the injuries, last year he was forced to shoot more but next year he will shoot less and focus on setting up his teammates more. MJ will get his minutes but not as a starting PG.
Who was the last non-starter to make the all-star game? I think the recognition with starting is something MJames would want. Rocket River
Mike James near all star level? lol Mike James is a really good 6th man. He's an adequate starting point guard on a good team. He's best served coming off the bench. There's a reason for him playing at near all star level last year......there was NO ONE else on the team to score the points. Someone has to score the points ona team like Toronto, just so happened that Mike James was their best option. Take a look at the Raptors in 2005. Jalen Rose played at near all star level lol Why? Because he was the only guy on there worth a damn. Go back and look at the Cavs the year before they got Lebron. Ricky Davis looked like a future Hall of Famer on that team. He got 20.6 points, 5 boards, 5.5. assists, 1.6 steals.(James had 20.3, 3.3., 5.8, 0.9) Let's go head and start making his plaque for the Hall of Fame, or we could just figure out....there was no one else on that team, so Ricky had to score the points and get a lot of playing time. Mike James is a wonderful guy to have on the bench. He comes in against the other team's reserves and is better than them. We need someone to score the ball when McGrady is out. If you have James, TMAC and Yao all starting, then come second quarter at some point for a few minutes you got Alston, Head, Bowen, Howard and Mutombo in the game. Who is gouing to do the scoring right there. Mike James is the prototype 6th man. He's Vinnie Johnson all over again. There's never been a player closer to what Vinnie Johnson gave detroit than what Mike James is right now. Look at Jerry Stackhouse playing 6th man for Dallas last year. You stick him on a crappy team like Toronto and he averages 20 a game easy, it's just the nature of the league.
Our offense was stagnant last season because we ran a half court offense through Yao and all we had were players that don’t work well in a half court offense because they can’t shoot (Alston, Bogans, Bowen, etc.). With the move to add Battier, we’ll most likely be running the same half court offense we ran last year and an inefficient shooter like Alston just doesn’t fit. I would limit the amount of minutes Alston spends on the floor with Yao as much as possible. When Yao goes out of the game, that’s when I would put Alston on the floor so he can push the tempo. Alston is much more of an offensive threat playing a guard-friendly style than a big-man oriented offense. If you put Alston on the floor with four jump shooters (Howard, Novak, Head, T-Mac, Battier, James), he will get them plenty of open jumpers. If you put him on the floor with Yao and limit his responsibilities to basically just throwing the ball into Yao and spotting up for 3-pointers, he will become a huge liability offensively.
Rafer is our Mike Bibby, and Mike James is our Bobby Jackson, he is a better starter off the bench and Rafer averaged 6.8 assists per game the season, so why not start him.
