right, this is the one that makes me mad, I consider this a forced shot. He's more effective when he spot up or drive hard as long as he makes passing an option.
Agreed, his missed layups at least freesup Chuck/Luis/Bonzi/Yao to work for a put back. THe pull up is useless
Maybe, maybe not but he is much better at penetrating, finishing strong and drawing the foul. That alone opens up more opportunities in the offense. If shooting is the problem, then its time to attack the basket.
Let me try some statements that parallel this post in logic, structure, and applicability: Cheerios are the closest thing I've got to a Mercedes. Paper clips are the closet thing I've got to Dom Perignon. Horseradish is the closest thing we've got to Scarlett Johansson.
At this rate [emphasis stressed], Rafer is still serviceable if he is forced to cut his 3-pt shot attempts, but James is fast becoming a liability to the team. You can almost count on Rafer to do his job well outside of his (3-pt) shooting, but not so for James. MJ's shots have not been falling for quite some time, his defense is sub-par, and moreover, his ball handling and passing leave a whole lot to be desired.
Steve WAS the best in penetrating and finishing strong. If he can still do what he did before here, by all means I'm all for that.
If Adelman demands two things: 1) Rafer limits his 3-pt shooting; 2) MJ improves his FG%, OR, becomes a better ball handler/distributor; which one do you think can be implemented immediately? The answer is that not difficult.
Not sure where the complaint that Mike James is a bad ball handler comes from. Of the bad things he is doing (shooting)- turning the ball over a lot is not one of them and never has been.
No he is not. Rafer's shooting is atrocious, but he often finds other ways to contribute. I am certain that he is not starting because of his shooting prowess. Mike James however, doesn't seem to bring much to the table when he isn't shooting well. During the first few games they seemed to complement each other, with Rafer's weaknesses being James' strengths and vice versa, but now with James shooting as poorly as Rafer (and often times a lot more), the tandem just does not work well. James' best asset was his shooting, he seems to have lost that. Rafer's best assest was ball handling, he still does that pretty well. Oh really, although I agree that James' track record seems to indicate that his recent streak of poor shooting will change.
I think my point was missed. I'm referring to "bias" as in not being able to look at their performances objectively. I have always favored Mike James over Rafer Alston because of his superior ability to score and shoot effectively while still being able to initiate an offense like ours, and still do, but I'm not going to post something ridiculous like Mike James' 32% shooting right now has been a whole lot better than Rafer Alston's 31%. Without Mike James' strong performances in the first two games I don't believe the Rockets win ... at the same time, he's been a sore spot in the last two losses. Call 'em like I see 'em, regardless of who I think is the better option moving forward. (As for the rest of the Rafer stuff... not picking on you, but I actually think some people here would have fairly high praise for Rafer if he shot 0%. "True, he's missed 49 of 49 three-pointers so far, but who else is going to hand it to T-Mac?")
Why do we think James can bring his shooting percentage up when its 5-10% from where his career average is, but Rafer who is even further away from his career average cannot?? I will be very surprised if after 82 games Rafer is shooting 20% from 3 point range. Or if Battier isnt back approaching 39% and Luther isnt in mid to upper 30s as well.
Point taken. On occasion I have just felt that many here have been overly critical of Rafer, focusing on his deficiencies while ingoring what he does bring to the table (and blaming him for each and every loss). I like Mike James, but have always felt that his game was better suited to be an offensive burst of the bench. During the first few games that seemed to be the case. Let's hope he gets it back (and soon!) As for being a Rafer "fan", I am a Rockets fan and the trickle down makes me a Rafer fan, somewhat. But I try to remain objective with a focus on what I believe will give the Rockets the best chance at success. Right now neither of our points are fitting the bill so it may be time to give Francis a shot. Not because I am a Francis fan, but because I can't imagine that he could be much worse.
As Van Gundy mentioned, Rafer is all about confidence. He's not surprised Rafer's percentages dipped as he gets fewer minutes -- if I recall, wasn't Rafer's 3P% much better towards the end of the games? The thing I fear is MJ may be similar -- after all, his big season in Toronto was while he was getting 37 mpg. I'm curious as to what would happen if instead of the 24/24 we're basically seeing now, we got more of a 32/16 type of split....at the current performance rate, that 32/16 split may go to Francis/Brooks. Then again, I'm pretty sure Adelman ruins shooters and hates non-Euro rookies for their lies.
I imagine most fans here don't HATE Mike James or Steve Francis. They just have different expectations of what they bring to the table. The problem with the original post is that it acts as if Mike James playing better than his career averages for 2 games was proof that any one who was a critic of his short comings was wrong and crazy to even suggest he had flaws. Of course so far this season James hasn't had a good game since those first 2, and if anything has been worse than any one could have expected. Mike's shooting since the first 2 games: 22-76 for 28.94% from the field. The funny thing is Rafer is actually better over the same stretch, at 19/61 and 31.14%. Certainly both are bad, but it is amusing that Rafer is the only one who has pages of threads dedicated to his shooting woes. I expect James horrible shooting to improve up to around his career average, but likewise I didn't consider his early 50% 3 point shooting and 7 assist and zero turn over game to be "proof" of how he will play the rest of the year either. I also don't think James is Alston with better shooting. There is a marked improvement in ball movement and decision making when Rafer is playing compared to James. James is a primary scorer off the bench, which makes his bad shooting more of a problem and his lower assist totals not as important. He is supposed to be looking to score which plays to his strength assuming he is hitting. Rafer on the other hand, should never be more than 4th or 5th option, but absolutely needs to have good assist to turn over ratios and solid defense to justify his play time. We all know Rafer's shooting is horrible. If Alston continues to slump 20% from 3 over an extended period then he should be benched, but I expect him to improve back to his career average, which is adequate considering his role and the lack of better options. His FG % will always be low because he takes such a huge % of all his shots from 3, so his 3 pt % is really all I care about. Francis will probably get a chance over the next week. Hopefully he does well, but I think most of the fans have unrealistic expectations. Too many fans are so enthralled with scoring and high light plays that they over value them. Bottom line is none of our point guards are that good. No matter who we play we don't match up with any of the best PG's in the league. Rafer is a horrible shooter, James shoots you in or out of a game and keeps looking for his shot first regardless of what his % is. Francis was riding the bench for lottery bound NY, then bought out for $30 million by lottery bound Portland and played himself out of the rotation on a team that allegedly has the worst starting PG in the league, after coming into the season as the coaches choice to start. That doesn't exactly scream All Star unfairly being benched by a coach who hates him for no good reason to me. Hopefully as a group they can improve and be sufficient though.
