16 Games Into The Season - What's a Mike James Lover To Do?

Mike wasn't chucking shots tonight. He played within the offense, gave us another quick guard to throw at the Suns with the small ball lineup, played some D, didn't turn it over, and shot 50%. I'm damned glad we have him.

 

Hmm... I thought Mike did fine tonight in limited minutes.

As long as Steve, Mike, and Rafer each do their job as they did today and they are OK with playing somewhat limted minutes without demanding a trade, I don't see a reason why the Rockets need to get rid of any of them.

 

Thats where you jump off track buddy...he's shooting like Rafer did all of last season. There is more to the game than shooting, sooner or later I would think you guys would get this point! Its similar to having Andre Miller and Jamal Crawford...if both of them shot the same % which would you rather have? I'm hoping Miller is the answer b'c he can run an offense and bring stability to the floor without hitting shots while Crawford brings nothing else to the table if he can't score.

Just accept skip for what he is, a mediocre 3 pt shooter who runs a smooth offense. James is a scoring point who can heat up quickly and give you a boost off the bench. James will probably win you more games singlehandedly but will also lose a couple solely b'c of an inability to hit jumpers.

Back to the original point, MJ not hitting jumpers is NOT a better player for the Rockets than Skip not shooting well. Period.

 

Mike James is a streaky shooter and a good perimeter defender. He's a good role player to have on our team.

 

I think you're missing the point of this thread:

Brock just wants to prove to Clutch that MJ would have not been the catalyst that propelled us out of the first round last year.

Uh, right?

 

Haha you're probably right, thats about like trying to convince Brittney Spears to put down the icecream cone right now. I love having Mike and Rafer together, one w/o the other is asking for trouble IMO. I think if we replace Yao with Dwight Howard we win that series as well...does that mean DH is better than Yao, by no means, all an issue of matchups.

 

James is still our best 3pt shooter. He has his value here. I do think some people here love him not because of how good he is but because of how bad Rafer is. In that they are right. James's presence, as poorly as he is shooting, let us play Rafer a lot less. But some "lovers" here have gone overboard, thinking James is really as good as he thinks himself to be.

I've said it before. James is nothing more than a career 12/4 pg. He is good to have as a role player for better depth. He is nothing special.

Believe it or not, what disappoints me most is not his shooting. I believe his shot will come back sooner or later. What bugs me is his passing. I have defended him against those who thought he was a ballhog. He was never as good a passer as Alston. But I thought he was okay. Now I am not so sure. He is just looking to create for himself. Look at his crappy assist number.

Anyways, I am pretty sure SamFisher jinxed his shot after two good shooting games.

 

No, but you hate on Novak as much as anyone on the board. Like a wannabe bully in a school class who looks for the one guy that might be even lower in the food chain than he is and then terrorizes that kid.

 

Oh, he definitely played better tonight ... much better than he has done recently.

 

But Luther does not have the scorers mentality that James does. On this team that can be a valueable asset.

I agree.

My thoughts exactly.

Everything else I wanted to say in this thread, you have already said.
Well Done.

 

LOL what goes around comes around, where was the guy who created that "what would a MJ hater do after 2 games blah blah" thread?

as an alegedly hater I know what I'd do, dont say nothing funny. When MJ was doing well I questioned if he's just a ballhog, and I was downgraded to a rookie... now he's playing like crap if I dare rub salt into wound I figure I 'd get banned...

 

We need players with different characteristics. James is the kind of guy who's not fear of pressure when crunch comes. He can shoot long-range and dribble to the rim while playing tougher defense on the other end. But his flaws may also cost us hard too. His passing just stinks and he may turn into a ballhog when he feels overconfident. If we can utilize his talent well and meanwhile restrict his freedom by letting other guards control the ball, he is good reserve on the bench.

 

Perhaps he's just poking fun at another thread starter.

6 Games Into The Season - What's a Mike James Hater To Do?

 

I only watched Mike James at the beginning of the year last year, and he was much better than he has been so far. When he did play in Minny at the end of the year, how did he do? I thought that he would have been the catalyst (off the bench of course, he's never been a good starter) to get the rockets to the WCF last year. If he was playing last year like he is now, I was wrong. He either would never have left the bench, or he would have hurt the team.

I also questioned the wisdom of signing Francis after trading for James. That was stupid as well. Stevie is better at every part of the game than James.

 

wow, i'm all in for this trade.

 

Mike James could have easily been the difference maker that we needed last year, and he could be again this year, but that seems less likely unless Rafer gets traded and Francis is made the starter. I love Mike James off the bench, and most people here do to. The main reason why some people want Mike James to start is because they want to send Alston back to the And1 mixtape tour.

 

MJ is a great addition to the team, but he can't replace Rafer. He just doesn't have enough pont guard in his system. And I enjoy MJ's impact on other team's benches.

Surprisingly, after some heady plays by Steve last night he's the biggest threat to Rafer's starting. I thought Steve was going to pass-out last night, so it will be interesting as his wind improves. I was very concerned about his ability to lead the offense, but it appears that he ready, willing and likely capable to take it on.

 

It's interesting that MJ is at the bottom of the 1-man lenovo for the season:

http://www.nba.com/statistics/lenovo/lenovo_sort.jsp?pcomb=1&season=22007&split=9&team=Rockets

Even with his shooting, Alston is consistently at or near the top.


Again, I like MJ for what he does, I dislike Alston's shooting but like 2 very good coaches can appreciate his contributions to the team. It's childish that the folks who apparently 'hate' Rafer ... who are apparently only focusing on his shooting ... think that those with a more balanced appraisal are interested in Rafer's 'jock'.

 

Lenovo is almost entirely dependent on who is out there with you. You play with Yao and Tracy your Lenovo is up. You play on the bench brigade with Bonzi and your Lenovo is awful. By Lenovo rankings, Rafer was one of the league's very best PG's last year - because he played the vast majority of hte minutes for onee of th best teams in the league. We know that this wasn't true.

Also, I know you didn't say this, but others have - it's very disappointing that James thus far is shooting about the same as Rafer last year. It's also extremely disappointing that even with the last 2-3 games of good performances, Rafer is shooting worse than Rafer last year.