[Chronicle] "James thinks he's right for Rockets"

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3861692.html

James thinks he's right for Rockets

Free agent wants to return to where he now calls home

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

DALLAS - When the Rockets weigh their free-agent options, one will stand out.

He is not the perfect fit. He might not be the first choice. But he is in the books as the first to make his preference clear.

Mike James, whom the Rockets sent to Toronto before last season to get the more traditional point play of Rafer Alston and because they did not want to lose James this summer as a free agent, wants to come back. More than that, he believes the Rockets should want him as much as he wants them.

"Houston is my first choice," James said. "Seriously, Houston is home. My wife is from Houston. We just bought our house in Houston. I want to go home."

James can even argue he would be a good fit, believing his shooting range and ballhandling would be ideal to take defenders away from Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and pressure off Alston.

"I definitely could see myself on the court with Rafer," James said. "I think I could help him out a lot. And could you see me, Rafer, Juwan (Howard), Yao and Tracy on the court together? Teams could not double off anyone.

"Everybody talks about my point-guard play, says I'm not a pass-first player. I'm not. I'm a make-the-play player. Whatever it takes to make the play, that's what I'm going to do. Whether it's scoring or passing, I'm going to make the play."

Though the Raptors were among the league's worst teams, individually, James had a career year, averaging 20.3 points and 5.8 assists. He was fourth in the NBA in 3-point shooting, making 44.2 percent.

That, however, could make him a hot commodity in an offseason short on point guards. Atlanta, in particular, has money to spend and a need for a point guard. The Rockets have a mid-level exception, likely worth about $5.4 million to start, but James will be 31 next season. This could be his last contract. He will look for more than mid-level.

The Rockets, if they are to give their mid-level to one player, rather than split it among several (perhaps in a run at younger former second-round pick Vassilis Spanoulis) would likely look for younger and bigger help than James. But he made it clear who he believes would be the right choice.

"I would love to go straight from my home to the arena," James said. "If I can do that the rest of my career, that's what I want to do.

"I'm back in the gym already. I'm back working out with John Lucas already. I know if I want something better, I can't do the same things to get different results. I have to do different things to get different results. Now I'm boxing this summer. I'm training in different ways because I want to be better.

"This season, every part of my game got better. Now, my main focus is coming back to H-Town."

Suns are in Thomas' eyes
Now that Tim Thomas saved the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 in Los Angeles and became a key to their playoff chances, he might have gone from a relative waste of talent to one of the more coveted free agents this summer. He absolutely would be the sort of perimeter shooter the Rockets would love to put between Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

Thomas, however, does not sound as if he is looking for a free-agent score, having gone that route. After pulling down $14 million in the final year of a six-year, $67 million contract, he said he's earned but has not won enough.

"I don't need money. I've already seen over $100 million," Thomas said. "I'm not thinking past that right now, but my mind is fixed on doing whatever it takes to stay here."

The Suns will be loaded inside next season when Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas are back with Shawn Marion and Boris Diaw. They are not likely to get into a bidding war for a backup. But they might not need to.

"I don't need to be a starter or a 20-point scorer or all that," Thomas said. "I need to be a winner. It's foremost in my mind, and I think this team is an elite team with a great future ahead of it.

"This style is great; it's like playing in a video game. Just imagine Kurt, Stat (Stoudemire), Shawn, Boris, Raja (Bell), Steve (Nash) all together. A coach can do so many things, go so many ways. Why would I want to go anywhere else?

"People say you can never have too much money. Well I've made my share. Money's not what I'm missing. Being in the chase, on a great team with a great group is what I was missing. And I'm going to make sure I do all I can from my end to make sure it lasts."

Patching up the playoffs
David Stern waited until it was obvious to admit that the seeding process was a mess, but at least he admitted that, and that rushing the San Antonio Spurs to the second round a few hours after finishing the first was a mistake.

After the Los Angeles Clippers benefited so obviously from losing their way to a first-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets rather than the Dallas Mavericks, the league likely will seed playoff teams based on record. But before facing the Mavericks a round earlier than he should have, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich took one more shot.

"Who knows what the playoff format will be like next year?" Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News. "It's been so well thought out this year. It may be even more amazing to behold next year."

A hitch in the process
Chris Paul's selection as NBA Rookie of the Year was one vote short of unanimous. Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams received the other first-place vote from Ron Boone, a former Jazz player now working for the Jazz as an analyst on KJZZ.

"I thought Deron finished stronger than Chris Paul," Boone said. "After the All-Star break, I just thought Deron played better, and the Jazz certainly played better. I'm surprised I was the only one, but it doesn't change how I feel."

Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own players in the balloting for All-Star reserves or All-Defensive team. But while Boone insisted he had his reasons and might have been sincere, he mostly demonstrated how inappropriate it is to have broadcasters paid by the teams voting for players on those teams.

Knows his limitations
While so many others have said Andres Nocioni's performance against the Miami Heat was a breakthrough — he averaged 22.3 points and 8.8 rebounds, while shooting 56 percent from the field — he did not. But rather than the usual claims that he was merely doing what he can, Nocioni said he should not be expected to be that good again.

"For a whole season? It's impossible," he said. "I am the role player. I know I play great the last month, but I try to work for the team. I am no star on this team.

"For some reason in this series, I need to take more shots, play more offender than defender. I know who I am."

Predetermined decision
There were times Rick Adelman was able to consider the possibility that Sacramento Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof had not decided this would be his last season before it began.

They had made a run at Phil Jackson and then let him go into the final, but it was perhaps possible they would allow the job he did have something to do with whether he would still have a job.

Then he fooled them and did too good a job. The Kings were remade more than halfway through the season with the addition of Ron Artest, move of Kenny Thomas into the starting lineup and return of Bonzi Wells from injury. By the season's end, they were among the top six to eight teams in the NBA, though their record before the changes forced them to a first-round match up with defending champion San Antonio.

The Maloofs, however, demonstrated that their minds were already set, seeming only to have grown tired of the coach they had for eight seasons.

The usual postseason evaluations lasted five minutes.

"I think we wanted some resolution, and then (Joe Maloof) says they'll talk about it and get back to me," Adelman told the Sacramento Bee.

Three hours later president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie called and told Adelman that he would not be back.

"I got my resolution real quick," Adelman said.

The party line is that the Maloofs wanted more of a defensive-oriented coach. Adelman suggested if that was what they wanted, they should have given him more defensive-minded players.

"We didn't have defensive players," Adelman said. "It's as simple as that. We haven't had defensive players the last two or three years. If you want a defensive team, then go trade for defensive players. Go get (players) like San Antonio has or Detroit has. I don't apologize for any of that. That team we had (in 2002-03) with Jimmy Jackson, Hedo (Turkoglu), Peja (Stojakovic), we had a lot of (defensive) flexibility on that team and we had the best (opponents field-goal percentage) in the league. And we just didn't decide to go away from that."

Van Gundy moves up list
With Rick Adelman out as Kings coach, the Rockets' Jeff Van Gundy has the third-longest tenure of any coach in the NBA. Van Gundy has been with the Rockets for three seasons.

Utah's Jerry Sloan and San Antonio's Gregg Popovich have lapped the field. Van Gundy, Eddie Jordan, Mike Dunleavy and Rick Carlisle all began their current gigs in the 2003-04 season.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com
Rant of the week: Treat Cuban same as staffer or fan

After he was hit with a pair of $100,000 fines last week, Mavs owner Mark Cuban let it be known the NBA cannot stop him that way. Never has. Never will.

We're still not sure what Cuban did to earn the fine for criticism of officials. He had written a blog item calling for a change in the selection process for choosing playoff officials. There was no specific criticism. The league way overreacted.

But the other fine and the action that brought it — Cuban went on the court during a timeout when an eight-second violation was not called — demonstrated what should be changed.

During games, Cuban should be considered part of the basketball staff or just another fan. If he is ranting on the court, he should be hit with a technical foul or taken from the building.