In the end, it was a trade kicker

Mike james is not the answer. He's a selfish player and couldn't even get off the Wolves' bench this season. I want Steve Francis back. He's a player that has some fire in him.

 

But my argument would be that if Mike James is just that good, why wouldn't he be starting over anyone? I mean if he's as good as everyone says, shouldn't he and KG be taking the T-Wolves to the playoffs?

 

J-ho makes $7 Mil per season....in the regular season he plays about 27 minutes a game and averages just under 10 points per game...most of those during the time Yao was out earlier this season...

In this series he played 22.5 minutes a game...scored 5 pts a game and under .400 shooting percentage....

He's our top reserve guy? $7 mil for 5 pts? yeah...its all on Rafer.

 

Steve Francis makes $16 + million a year....Mike James makes $5.6 Million....which part of SALARY CAP do you not get?

 

While I believe we would be better off with James I don't believe that Rafer was even a close reason why we lost the series. Defensive mismatches and lack of shooters is what lost it.

 

Rafer Alston did not shoot 50% a single game the entire series despite wide open looks!

Deron Williams quickness vs Rafer Alston was one of our mismatches on defense!

Deron Williams- 2nd year player, 22 years old!

What would Baron Davis or Steve Nash have done against us?

 

We are asking James to be a 3rd option. You are pretty much asking him to be a 2nd option (by the way you just phrased that post). You have to also take into account that Minnesota is not well ran and, after they fired Casey, is not well coached either. They have more combo guards than an And1 Tour Bus. Troy Hudson, Mike James, Randy Foye? Then you have Jaric fighting for PG duty. You basically have four players fighting for minutes at one position and that, of course, never bodes well for individual statistics.

 

well, JVG and CD did not sign off of the trade between kleizas and i think combo of something with lucas. and jho going to minny for james. citing chemistry was good.

at least from newspaper reports from chron, the trade would have been done...

in hindsight, maybe it would have been prudent to trade jho away because he looked tired this series...

heard barry on spr610. he said what james is is a shoot first PG mentality. rox were not willing to give him more than 5 or 6 shots per game. james didn't accept that, and so this was a reason why he was traded away in the first place.

i know clutch has been calling for this from day one, but james knew as good as anyone what his role was going to be, and he was not going to be a focal point in this offense. and this is my point, james would have come up with more r****dED EXCUSES to up the ante for the rox just so he can stick it to the rox. He doesn't care about the rox, he cares about getting HIS. May it b money, time on the court, possessions for HIMSELF, whatever...

SURE, in a perfect world, james would fit, but does mike james want to fit in van gundy's offensive scheme???? NO

 

Not a lapdog at all. He went out looking for players his team and coach could/would use. Doubt his efficiency, expertise or whatever but if you don't know CD has always tried to get what the head coach wants, then you're an idiot.

When JVG's signed off it's been a complete disaster. So it's time for JVG aplogists to "grow some" or point some fingers where they belong.

So far the Clutch Crew is on the fence (apparently), but you can't possibly say JVG doesn't have his fingerprints all over this team.

His idol (Parcells) resigned and I expect JVG to essentially do the same. I am happy for him that he's realized Houston is a wonderful place to live.

 

Thanks Clutch.

make sure you drop by every hater's house and drive the bus. Cause you just took them to school.

 

Amen.

 

Sam was fearless and showed heart.
that guy would have closed out this Jazz team with his arms tied behind his back.

 

I would agree Shane Battier is a Jeff Van Gundy guy but I certainly wouldn't say that was a bad deal. Somehow I don't think his fingerprints are that bad. However I can't possibly see Jeff lobbying for a Euro from Greece whose specialty lies in penetration and fan empathy.

 

My enlightened thoughts on tonight's happenings:

1.) Yes T-mac played a damn good tonight, but that doesn't eliminate him from criticism. He still was 5-9 from the free throw line, an area that's plagued him all season long and it came back to bite him again. He shot a good percentage 12-25, but most of his makes came from layups and close shots. His jumper tonight was terrible. His inconsistent jump shooting throughout the season once again came to bite us.

And let's not just look at tonight. Let's look at the entire series overall. T-mac shot in the high 30's FG%. His passing and playmaking was great, but it's not asking too much of your superstar to shoot at least in the low 40's. What about his seemingly disinterested play in Utah? The point is that the entire series should not be defined by just tonight's game. We should look at the series overall. T-mac just does not have whatever the hell it is that you need to have in order to close people out. For someone of his talent level to go 0-6 in first round matchups is pretty unfathomable, especially since he's been in series where he's been up 3-1 and 2-0. Instead of coming out and stamping his imprint on the game in Utah, he shoots 9-23 and then 6-18 in games 3 and 4. If he just came out like a freakin winner and imposed his will on the game, we could have won a game in Utah. And really, all we needed was just 1 road victory and we would have had this series.

2.) Whether JVG is to blame or Bonzi, the bottomline is that Bonzi was not there helping the team when we really needed it. Hell I don't mind ****** Bonzi playing a few minutes every game to get back into game shape. It might have hurt us early on in the season, but it sure would have paid huge dividends in the playoffs if JVG had actually allowed him to play and get comfortable and become a part of the team early on. Once again, JVG's stubborn nature hampered the team's long term hopes. A physical guy like Bonzi would have been so money in this series, except JVG's refusal to play him (even just a little bit) set the relationship on the path that it ended up at today.

3.) Utah's two stars outplayed our two "superstars."

4.) Our offense the entire series has been pretty pathetic. You'd think with a team with 2 offensive talents like Yao/Mcgrady, that it could be a little easier to score. At this point I'm in favor of getting rid of JVG. It's not that he's a bad coach, it's just that I feel like the team just needs a fresh start and you're not really gonna get rid of Yao or Mcgrady. Plus the team's defense and rebounding weren't all that great this series either. What good is having a team that prides itself on its defense if it can't get the job done when it counts?

5.) Maybe we are overestimating the abilities of both Yao and Tracy. I must say that I've been disappointed by Yao during this series. He's still probably the best center in the league, but he did not really impose his will at all. His slow movements and lack of athletic ability have really humanized him. Tracy is a fantastic playmaker, but is so inconsistent with his jumpshot, and either doesn't have the motivation or athletic ability to always drive anymore. If this is the case, then we really can't afford to have a bunch of scrubs around them anymore. Kobe and Shaq never really had any other creators on the team, but they were both pretty much close to their respective primes. Shaq was in his prime, and Shaq in his prime is way better than Yao in his prime. Kobe hadn't reached his prime yet, but was still damned good and probably equal to Mcgrady. They were so good and consistent that they didn't need other offensive creators out there. I'm beginning to think nowadays that T-mac and Yao just aren't good enough to play the role that Shaq and Kobe played. They simply need more creators around them, or a better offensive concept. Whatever happened to Yao in the high post?

 

So we would limit James to 5 or 6 shots a game and let Rafer bomb away
to the tune of about 12 to 13 shots a game? What sense does that make?

 

Fair enough. V-span is only a symptom of what I think is JVG-itis, but I also believe his idea of a pg is particularly gut-wrenching.

If we're stuck in the 90's because of Yao, then we should dump him. But not only is that not going to happen, how many here are willing to give JVG a multi-year deal after what 99% of us have posted?

If anyone thinks JVG hasn't had any control over personnel, despite the fact he doesn't want control and avows complete ignorance and disinterest in the draft should really want him back.

I've said it for 5 years: "Win Now" is going to bite us in the butt, but I never would have believed it could be this spectacular.

If Battier is all we have to show for 3 years then fine, unless he's not.

God bless us, everyone.

 

I think you're right for the most part. Jeff does have influence, no doubt about it. But you can't lap every personnel move into his lap. Carroll has done a great service to this city and organization so I'm not trying to be a Grinch here. I just think that there is some culpability to be shared by all.

Although I will say, the Bob Sura signing was one of the greatest acquisitions we'll never see through the way it was intended. That was my favorite these last few seasons.

 

News flash: Talk around the league about Steve Francis being bought out.

Now, welcome to the world outside the bubble. How was your stay underneath your rock?

 

Rafer is one of the worst starting PGs in the league. Probably the worst in the playoffs. But Mike James?! Ya... He would of saved us. Whatever... Bashing Rafer is understandable, trying to tell me James would be the difference? Sorry Clutch. Im not biting.