Yetti, that's what I thought/think too. maybe we COULD use a fire-eater like that guy but seriously, did you hear that interview? WOW!! Nutbag...of course it depends on the perspective, I guess. I mean, sometimes you need a good nutbag. Weirdest interview I've heard.
we need ballas on this team and mj is a straight up balla. he has the fire that we're missing and he'd be great for this team.
MJ has been the media drama queen of the season. He has said a lot of selfish and interesting things the last couple month, but man did he put up the numbers to back that up. I loved MJ when he came last season and I still think he could be a big part of this team I wouldn't want (even if we could) to give him more than a MLE deal for 3-4 years. He is a good player that can score in a variety of ways, but he is still an aging PG that comes w/ some baggage.
i heard the interview on my way home. That guy is ****ing crazy. As a little kid, he was either hugged way too much, or not hugged enough. I think he has some mental issues or something like that. It seems as if he feels that he needs to be "the man" on the team. I think he's an exceptional role player and that's about it. If I wanted a nutcase on my team, I rather take Ron Artest.
Didn't Sam Cassell, when he was with the Rockets, have a tendency also to look for his own shot a bit too much? He was a talker. He was supremely confident in his abilities, and on occasion that hurt the team. But, more importantly, he had game and he wasn't afraid to take big shots in big moments. Did THAT hurt the chemistry? Now all of a sudden we need to look for quiet, submissive types for our role players. I don't get it. On balance, Mike James played great last year. I never understood the perspective that his offense was hurting the team. http://82games.com/04HOU4D.HTM Look at the Rockets offensive efficiency last year when he was on the court. Nearly 114 points per 100 possessions. That was better than any other Rocket. Was he taking away shots from Yao? http://82games.com/0405HOUP.HTM Not at all. Yao averaged 26.3 points per 40 minutes with Mike James on the court. He averaged 23.9 points/40 overall. You look at Toronto this season, and they were +3.7 pts/100poss with James on the court versus off the court on offense. And Chris Bosh was putting up virtually the same number of shots per minute (15.7 vs 15.8 per 40 minutes) with James on the court as off the court.
I know mike james is a nutcase but he said he wants to win games, and I bet he's willing to take the 6th man spot as long as he wins games. He wants to be a winner again, so lets get him, but through a sign-trade, i think we can use our MLE for like jay williams and maybe a PF that can shoot or some other role players that can help us. I can't wait till the real offseason starts.
Thanks for the heads up and I too am convinced that James is not the right fit for the Rockets (little or no intelligence and the 'me, me, and all me' attitude)
Unbelievable quickness. Very good perimeter defensive skills. Great shooter. He should be our top free agent priority. What are you guys thinking, we've got a pansy for a coach? You don't think Van Gundy can handle Mike James after he dealt with Latrell for all those years, after he came out and said he'd take 5 Ron Artests???? We're trying to beat Dallas, SA, and Phoenix here. Dallas has Jerry Stackhouse coming off the bench. You know why? He knows it is a good team and he's got a chance to win it all. Otherwise, he'd be screaming to get out of there so he could go back to starting. What in the world are you guys thinking that don't want him back? You act like you've got to be in love with all 12 guys because they are coming over for dinner and are dating your daughter. We need Mike James.
i heard the entire ting, was also surprised a thread wasn't posted right away or even beforehand. that interview was awesome, straight thug! mike james is the freakin man! disagree with the original poster. mike james' ego is no bigger than most other pro-ball players, he just chooses to let his hang out his zipper. so the guy is intense, so what? the dude is an animal with extremely high expectations of himself, and he likes to make it known. being cockstrong is why he is at the level he's at in the first place, you can't hate on him for that. i had no problem with it. very entertaining! is this the houston rockets, or the provo rockets? post-preview edit: ^what jopamc said
i get the feeling james is name-dropping houston as a preferred destination to try and secure a bigger (over the mle) contract elsewhere. the fact that mobley can get over 7 mil per year and there won't be much on offer this free agency surely james will get his pay day. rockets aren't and were never in the running to get james.
Ding ding ding! People here seem to think that a guy THIS wrapped up in getting a pay day and being THE MAN (league MVP for that matter) would actually take the MLE to play behind two players who are obviously going to be the bigger focus both on and off the court. I don't understand it. In my opinion he has got to be doing this as an attempt to drive up his price.
First of all, trading away Mike James was a major mistake. The guy plays hard, is a solid defender and can score/shoot. Secondly, how many of you dream of hitting the game winning shot of game 7 in the NBA finals or similar things in other sports. I know I do. Anyone who ever played competitive sports knows that you have to believe in yourself if you want to be successful at the higher levels of competition. Sure he is cocky/confident, but it's that attitude that makes him the player on the court he is today. How do you think these guys make it to the NBA. It's called self-confidence and that is what drives a ton of athletes. He just speaks off the cuff while others don't about it. Personally, I don't have a problem with a guy like James having lofty goals for himself. It means he has confidence in his own abilities and has the competitive fire to drive himself to get better. I'd be much more concerned if he was happy with being mediocre. If the Rockets could bring him back at the MLE, and failed to do so, they would be making the same mistake twice. They need his fire, toughness, scoring and defense to help Yao/T-Mac. They need a role player who they can trust to be productive night in/night out and a guy who can hit the open shots that Yao/T-Mac provide for him. He wasn't a problem on the court the last time he was here, so I fail to see why people assume he would be one this time around.
Based on his performance, I think he deserved the shots average he has had. 20 points off 15.5 shots in 37 mintues at 47 fg% and 44 3ptr% justifies the number of shots he took, and he had the mind to put up 6 assists. James took very nearly the same number of shots per minute on the Rockets and the Raptors. His so called "selfishness" didn't go up in form of shot counts per minute, despite his blastoff in confidence and performance last season. I don't think one can draw a conclusion on him being selfish based on his performance. On the other hand, it's wrong to accuse James of being a selfish player because he thinks he's important, his performance backs it up. Ranking at 42nd among NBA players on realgm.com backs that up too. People rag on Mike James because he was not drafted, was cut, was traded and is a late bloomer at age 30. If a No.1 pick at 24 years old puts up the numbers of Mike James and say the same thing, people would say that he's confident and he has potential. James was an important piece to our success, and he has gotten only better. Sadly, James is the kind of player who is at borderline all star level but has no recognition, because of his background, his lack of charisma and playing on a bad team. His big mouth doesn't help his case either.
i love how our two best players are great people and nice guys but you know it's probably somewhat of a problem that juwon howard seems to represent as our tough guy/enforcer. i'm not suggesting mike james would fill that role but his presence and his intensity is just the kick in the ass that particularly mcgrady needs. for example look at our team last season before bob sura came back and took charge. i'd like to hear the interview and see what kinds of things he actually said though i pretty much get his personality. i think he'd be a steal at the mle.
I heard the interveiw it was very wild; extremely out there! If it had been the Rome show it would have gone down as one of the most mocked interveiws in the show's history. But with that said, I am a fan of MIke's game, and would cheer for him from game one!
Well said. I agree with you. In sports, 99% of the time it's about the money. I'm willing to believe that he will take something higher than the MLE ($7-8 million) to a team that needs a point guard, like Minnesota or Atlanta. The one way that the rockets can get him is if the raptors decide to get some compensation and pull off a sign-and-trade, but then again who on the rockets can be considered valuable trade material other than Yao or T-Mac, who are untouchable?
So that's two insiders that agree that MJ gives a crazy interview, but also agree that he would be a good addition to the team. Don't delude yourself into thinking this team has a chance of winning the title without a significant talent upgrade. The NBA rules now favor teams with good guards, and our guard talent is among the worst in the league. We have only two realistic tools of adding impact talent this summer - the MLE and the #8 pick. We need to hit a home run with both to have a shot to beat any of the top five teams in the league (Dallas,Phoenix with Amare,SA,Miami, Detroit). MJ is the most talented player we can hope to get with the MLE. He would have been in line to earn more, probably, were it not for all the crazy things he has said. Still, it's not like he's Eddie Griffin, who half the people on this board wanted to give a 5th chance. He shot 44.2% last year from the 3pt line. TMac is a career 34.4% 3 point shooter. I would start courting him at 12:00 a.m. on the first day of free agency, to flatter his ego. I would offer him the full MLE for whatever amount of years he wanted to pick. But I would let him know upfront that he has to be serious about Houston being his no. 1 choice. I would give him only 24 hours to accept; otherwise, he's jerking us around, and we move on to plan B.
Look at this roster on CD's whiteboard and does anybody think MJ wouldn't fit or make the team better. Bring him back for the MLE, if Toronto doesn't re-sign him. I think people forget what a spark he was when we dumped Rod Strickland and brought him in, he was instant offense and made the team better. So what if he went off in a radio interview, I would be more concerned that he isn't as soft as a marshmallow or injury prone like Stro is and that he plays and practices hard than if he ranted like Ron Artest the second. There is a short list of teams that are under the cap and would want a 30 year old shooter like MJ so we have great shot at getting him.
