Article from the Toronto Sun about Mike James, but had this tidbit: "There have also been reports Alston has had at least one run-in with Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy and was booted out of a practice." Don't know if this confirms any speculation about Alston's "injury" but it is interesting. http://torontosun.com/Sports/Basketball/2005/11/26/1324868-sun.html
It would be interesting to know if it really happened. I think at this point Luther Head has been so good that it would be hard to move him out of the starting line-up. I have not been impressed with Alston's running the offense or ball movement since the regular season started...two things that were suppose to be what he does better than most in the NBA. I guess in my line of thinking unless Luther gets hurt Rafer rides the pine as a back up. Head and Wesley in the back court for now. When T-Mac comes back I would like to see Head and Anderson in the back court. I miss Mike James.
I really don't know why some are really infatuated with Mike James. If anyone here watched the Raptors-Kings game, his ball hogging is the reason why they lost. I saw once again a 3 on 1 fastbreak and he just drove it himself instead of dishing the ball off to his teammates...He's good in offensive spurts but not the kind of guy you want to play in the last minutes of the game...
If Skip does not work out - JVG can blame CD. JVG has teflon coating. Skip caan play - no doubt. The coach should take some responsibility to help him run the offense. If Skip rides the pine @ multi mil per year this is at least 50% JVG responsibility to either mentor him or shine him up for a trade.
If things go sour, send Skip and Swift to the PG-hungry Atlanta Hawks for Al Harrington. I could see it working out well for both teams, honestly. Alston Johnson Childress Swift Pachulia and Wesley Head McGrady Harrington Yao Hawks get a true point guard and can move Johnson to his natural position of SG. With Alston running a wide open offense with Johnson/Childress/Swift/J.Smith running the floor in front of him, they could be a very nice fast breaking team. Rockets get younger, quicker, and more versatile in the frontcourt. Wesley has been good enough at the point and Head is really starting to break through at SG. Moving Harrington into the starting lineup allows us to come off the bench with Barry/DA/Bowen/Howard/Mutombo. That seems pretty nice to me. Oh look at me, turning this into a full-blown trade discussion Sorry, I got a bit carried away. Probably a safer place to say something like this anyway
Hmmmm I don't know. I would hope, if they try to ever get a new PF, the he could be the stud rebounder they need. Not sure Harrington gives them that. Outside of his age, would love if the Rockets could get their hands on PJ Brown, even if we didn't trade Howard or Swift in the process. Front court would look like: Yao/Swift/Mutombo Brown/Howard/Swift Gives them great depth and versatility, especially since Deke doesn't play that much anyway.
I wish now we would have traded Mo Taylor and a draft pick for PJ Brown. As it was we got nothing for Taylor. No doubt we still need help at the 4, the 3 backup, and point.
what'd I tell every single one of you hairline fracture = doghouse i mean give me a ****ing break, it takes what? 5-7 games to recover from a bruised thigh? RIGHT lol
Super quick, good defense and good offensive scorer. A great guy to have coming off of your bench. I wish the Rockets still had him. He was very valuable to us last season.
I think I posted a similar trade in another thread, same target. Swift is dumb as a rock. Alston can't play defense or shoot. Harrington is a decent, not great, nba player who played well in a defense-first system with the Indiana Pacers. One decent player is better than 2 below-average roster fillers. He's also young and can help for a while. I would play Harrington at the 3, and drop Tmac to the 2. Our backcourt has sucked, and that would give us size and defense on the wings from both Tmac and AH. They could attack, like Jordan and Pippen used to attack on D. Head and Wesley could play the point. I also said tank the year and draft LaMarcus Aldridge - the 6"11 245lb power forward from Texas. . Let Tmac sit most of the season out and heal. Experiment with Yao in the high post. Play Head. We could also jump in the Carlos Boozer sweeps, at or before the deadline. Howard and Wesley, perhaps. He is apparantly up for grabs for expirings +, as Minnesota is reportedly offering Kandi (expiring) and Hudson or Jaric. playing that out - : Yao Boozer Harrington Tmac Head All young, capable. Perfectly suited for the new coach to take a page from Phil Jackson's Jordan Bulls and run an attacking, pressing defense and a triangle offense. . 44 mil payroll - still room for draft pick Aldridge, DA, Bowen and Deke and we can pick up another point before we cap out at 55 mil. .
You realize the draft pick would have been Luther Head. I wanted PJ Brown also but now I'm glad we kept the pick.
Oh, so now people want that 3rd scorer? When i brought it up before the season, everyone thought it would take away shots from Ming and disrupt chemistry. Many on this board wanted Swift because of the highlights and not SAR because of his steadiness.
I think it has to be a legit injury. I don't think JVG would intentionally sit him with the problems we currently have with our backcourt. He's the one who brought him here, so it's his job to integrate him into the system.
"Everyone?" I've yelled for a clear 3rd scorer since last season ended. To help spread things out and to match up in today's NBA, it should be a perimeter player, not the PF.
