Does Twolve's owner think Mike James a chemistry killer?

I guess Mike James was their chemistry problem when they won 33 the year before he got there. Not saying he helped, but there are plenty of other things wrong with that team and he should not be a scapegoat for their failures. Mike James was on two relatively recent teams with great chemistry, the Det NBA championship team and the Rockets of 2 years ago--that might be why he was our organization's 1st choice this offseason.

 

They were doomed from the start. They wanted to add Mike James to a backcourt that already had T-Hud, Jaric, McCants, Hassell and they just drafted Randy Foye. So with all of those guards, they wanted to add ANOTHER guard to the mix. Yeah, chemistry was a problem. From the get-go their roster was unbalanced. I dont think James was a chemistry problem in Houston or in Detroit when he was on a playoff team where roles were more defined.

T'Wolves created their own mess with their roster inbalance.

 

I thought KG and MJ were supposed to form one of the most feared 1-2 punches in the Northwest Division. Oh well.

 

Why is it so hard for people to understand that a player like MJ is best suited off of the bench? Starting him in Minnesota was a mistake from the start.

He's an instant offense sparkplug. When you take a player like that, start him and ask him to defer to all those losers like KG, Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, etc...what do you expect?! Instead of looking for his own shot he was forced to set up others and consequently his game suffered.

 

yeah, but when you go out and spend like they did, you would expect to get alot better than what they did this year. disappointing season for the twolves

 

Ricky Davis seems to be the cancer, not Mike James. Minnesota mgmt. is probably one of the dumbest out there, and now they are blaming their problems on Mike James when the real problem is scrubs like Davis.

 

Come on now! Stop talking truth and common sense!

MJ can be instant offense or instant defense off the bench. He can give a team 10-20 minutes a night of high intensity play. When his shot is falling, keep him in longer. Like so many, MJ had his career year when his contract was coming up and he cashed in on it. If MJ could just see himself for what he's best suited for, the guy would be a superb 6th man, high energy player. When a team is sluggish to start a game or a 3rd quarter, put in Mr. Attitude to give your team a jolt.

Problem is, Mr. Flako thinks way too much of himself and trips over his personality excesses.

 

As any GM worth their salt knows, they would not touch Ricky Davis. I'm a Cavs fan. I'll remind people what Ricky said when we had him and drafted Lebron, it was along the line of "I'm glad we'll get someone who can help ME out". Yes, Ricky thought Lebron would be the Robin to his Batman. This is the same guy who tried to shoot against his own basket to get his triple double (afterwards the NBA pointed out you don't get a rb on your stat line if your own team shoots against your basket).

If you pick players strictly on their stat sheet you're in big trouble. I still think Mike James had his own agenda, but Ricky Davis is a truck sized tumor. Sprewell was a questionable person to sign. After all these years Minnesota might finally be learning their lesson. KG deserves better.

 

I hope so, it will make the price the Rox pay to acquire him that much less.

wow, you really thought that? You'd take James/Garnett over Boozer/Williams, or any combo of Iverson/Anthony/Camby? Man you sell low. What are you smokin? There's a reason why James makes the MLE and not the max.

 

I would happily take Mr. Flako on my team if we can't work anything else out this off season.

Enough Bonzi and Swift experiments, we're screwing up every off season now with stupid moves like that. We need to get guys that we KNOW will work out, 'safe' picks if you will.

The way I look at it is that if anything, James' little derailment in Minny might have humbled him a bit, although you don't want the guy to completely lose that 'edge' which makes him effective on the court. I love his passion and his energy, he just needs to channel it the right way.

Oh, and as Sam already pointed out, this can only be good news (if it is in fact James) for the Rockets because it means that his price is dropping and it should be easier to get him.

Unless Le$ is willing to take on Bibby's contract, he's the best option out there for the Rockets.

 

I think alot of people forget that the reason Mike James even earned the contract he has is due to his stellar play in Toronto. Granted they were a lottery bound team but it goes to show what many have already pointed out.

If you put Mike James on the floor and 4 guys that only pass to Mike James, he's gonna look damn good. Which makes him great off the bench.

If you put him in a starting line up, he'll still look for his shots, which hurts team chemistry if you already have "set" stars.

 

what exactly did they spend? Just the MLE, and that doesn't buy much.

 

Even though i'm one of MJ's biggest fans, your point is legitimate. After his breakout year in Toronto he did mention how he wanted to go and start for a contender. The catch is obviously that any contender he could have joined would have already had their core in place -- no room for a player like him to come in and score 15-20 PPG.

His success in Toronto, while admirable and noteworthy, was more or less him taking advantage of a bad situation where there was only one player on the whole team actually better than him (Bosh). Consequently, he had his breakout year and somehow developed the mistaken presumption that he would be able to go somewhere else and duplicate that success. Instead of aiming for a role that best suits his strengths, he wanted to start for a team in Minnesota where he was automatically the 3rd, sometimes 4th or hell, even 5th option at times and paid for it.

Now, he supposedly wants out and you're absolutely kidding yourself if you don't believe the Rockets will take yet another serious look at adding him this offseason.

 

Mike James's offensive production is pretty much on key with what he produced in Houston. The worrying thing is his defense. Maybe it's just because another year older another step slower? Whatever the case he's gotten to the point of being JHo-aged JHo-salaried.

If he was making the LLE sure it'd be a good risk but he isn't. I don't want to see 2006 happen again, ie sticking with vets that stayed one season too long.

 

He isn't injury prone, he's still athletic and pretty quick, he's a good defender but he is somewhat 'selective' with it based on his mood, and he's making roughly market value money for a player of his caliber.

He isn't over-paid. That's a pretty good bang for the buck there. Compare him to other players around the league and you will see that.

Moreover, it sounds like he could be had for some expirings/picks or some combination thereof.

In our case, beggars can't be choosers. We have a huge need at the PG position and based on our options James would be a pretty good re-acquisition.

 

Memphis- You are looking for another Head Coach, to coach your young talent.
Blending this talent and developing it over severel seasons to become a leader in the NBA- is that right? YES!
I beg to ask the question why are you talking to Larry Brown?
Larry Brown is not a Coach to develop young talent- quite the opposite!
Larry Brown is expensive, he will want a big contract and will walk out on you half way through it-- just look at his record!
By going this route you are showing that you are not serious about championship basketball, because you are just looking for a big name Coach. How can you ever expect to build respect from the basketball community by making such bad judgement. If this shinanikin continues, soon players won't want to sign with such a crazy ownership.

 

Don't be silly!! It must be obvious , by now, that Mike James has no place on the Houston Rockets. He is a shooting guard on the decline, certainly not a Playmaker, which is needed by the Rockets. The Rockets should be looking to upgrade the team not drag it backwards to its previous seasons.

 

Kevin McHale has lost it. I don't know why he fell in love with undersized SG. They drafted McCants two years ago, drafted Foye instead of Roy last year, and then signed Mike James. That's two 1st rd picks, including a lottery pick, and a MLE with a trade kick for three 6'3"-6'4" two guard. He is absolutely clueless.

 

MJ was fine for the Rockets chemistry when he was in Houston.

MJ seems to be a rather insecure about never "finding a home" (his own words, I belive) in the NBA. I am just not sure if that Minny team offered the kind of supportive atomphere to quell his insecurities. More than minutes or shots, he needs teammates to wave the towel for him, pad him on the ass, and tell him how much he's needed, a coach that give him a definitive role. I have a feeling that Minny team didn't exactly have that, their coaches were too worried about their own jobs, Garnett didn't seem to exactly like him, and Blount and Davis both don't have reputations as sterling teammates. The team was disfunctional before MJ got there.