we lead the league in defense and rafer alston is dead-ass last in field goal percentage out of the entire league and what we need is defense and rebounding and not shooting? and adeels, i realize if mike james played for the rockets and shot 90% from the 3 point line, scored 30 ppg, led us to a title with a finals mvp performance, and cured AIDS in his spare time you would still hate him and complain that he looked at tmac awkwardly in practice one time, but saying we're pretty decent at backup pg is ridiculous. that's like saying we're getting mvp play out of the power forward position or something. our "backup pg" can't even dribble a basketball. and it's amazing how groupthink sets in for most sports fans on a topic. the rockets improve when mike james plays for us, he plays well for us, but someone sees him wave tmac off one time and he's a selfish ballhog who will kill any team he goes to and then it just gets parroted by the masses until they all convince themselves it must be true and then they've got themselves saying how it's good that we got alston b/c he's pass first and helps chemistry despite the fact anyone with half a brain knows we run the offense through tmac and yao and just need a pg who can hit an open 3 and anyone else who can be a 3rd scorer. but since "pass-first pg" is the conventional, old school wisdom, that must be what we need! that's why it's frustrating to talk bball sometimes, b/c so few are willing to dig any deeper than some bs superficial analysis of any situation, using any tried and true cliche or truism to talk about ball instead of what's actually happening on the court. and none of that is to say that hayes for james would've been perfect b/c it would've just weakened the pf position, but the idea that mike james is the anti-christ just seems hilarious to me when most of you don't even know why you think that way, it's just what everyone else says so it must be true.
Thank goodness it didn't go through. It would have been a bad deal for the Rockets. Regardless of what Alston's fg% is, he does a good job running the team offense. His 3pt % isn't bad, and We need Hayes' rebounding in addition to the fact that Hayes alos allows others to get boards by good box outs. In addition Hayes sets some of the best picks on the team. He doesn't have an ego, and doesn't need playes called for him. I would much rather have Chuck Hayes on our team.
Thank god this STUPID TRADE did not go through! We need a pass first PG to set the table for Yao and Tmac, not a scoring PG that will look to score.
I don't see why we couldn't have pulled off Sura for James. Don't their salaries come very close to matching? And I would think Minnesota (who is obviously heading into a rebuilding stage) would be very interested in Sura's contract.
Mike James isn't worth giving up Chuck for. Not that I don't like Mike's crazy ass... I really don't get the impression that he was bad for "chemistry" as some people make him out to be. The Rockets generally played fine with him on the court. And I think his crazy quotes are entertaining. But Chuck Hayes is amazing. He was the perfect complement to Yao. He completes Yao. His rebounding gives the Rockets second chances after missing shots. Every team needs great rebounders. He is also a pretty good defender despite being short.
If it was purely on talent, I would do this trade in a second. Its usually pretty easy to find cheap, hustle player with no offensive game like Chuck. The problem is that Mike James would probably feel disrespected if he was traded back to the team that he turned down, much like Stro Swift. That, and he went to Duquesne. Who wants a player from Duquesne??
ummmm your saying that chucky has contributed greatly since yao has went out........i beg to differ. chucky was good before yao went down, ever since he got nixed out of the starting line up and yao going out his stock has fallen. even in the fantasy league.
After being excited about almost getting Mike James about 4 dozen times... I don't want him any longer.....His contract is too long and his game has gone south very fast. I would rather develop younger players.... DD
