What i'm saying is, He inserted "guaranteed" in Alston's, which makes it look worse. Believe me it's the little words that catch the eyes
That really wasn't my intention. I was just doing for visual symmetry. I wrote words after James' contract and there I was looking at Rafer's and there was just nothing to add, so I just put "guaranteed". Funny though. I really would like to see a T-Wolves game though. I have nothing to go on in formulating my opinion other than the game recaps and stats, so it's nowhere near as an educated opinion as can be. But Mike James doesn't seem to be doing so bad as so many seem to claim (including himself). He's just not taking a big role in shooting at all. He's hitting 48.8% around the basket and 40.6% from 3pt land, so it's really his midrange jumper that has taken an early season drop. Hopefully, the more shots he's allowed to take, his percentages will go back up. But then again, it's not like those #'s are bad in the first place. I'd take him on the Rockets any day still. And it's not like Rafer is doing bad either. His career high 3pt% is great so far. He just needs to cut down on turnovers (which he has been cutting down on the last few games), and improve his layups/floater (this would make things so much easier on the Rockets). And he reaches too much on D sometimes, but it's not costing the team that much so far.
MJ must feel like the worst criminal tonight after laying the doughnut in 14 mins while his rookie backup smoked the Clips for 14 points during a 35-15 4th quarter comeback win. Sam had 31 but apparently ran out of gas in the last period.
Do you know what I would give to have Sam I Am on the Rockets if even for just a season with T-Mac and Yao?
im lovin it.. all that smack he was talking about bringing KG back to life.. more like driving KG insane.. noticed he didnt play too much tonight either..
Mike James wouldn't have a dilemma here in Houston. His role would be perfect. He wouldn't even HAVE to think about "PG duties". Tmac is our Half Court PG. James would just stand behind the 3pt line, and hit WIDE OPEN 3s. And then he could dribble/penetrate and FINISH at the basket as a 3rd scorer. He would play good PG defense in the half court. And when Tmac isn't in the game he could create for others, hit 3s etc. The role is tailor made! Foye is only going to get more minutes in Minny. If I am the Rockets I really work to see if they can make a trade for James. James just isn't a good fit in Minnesota with Foye, Ricky Davis, Hudson, Jaric etc. Too many guards looking to shoot.
I like Mike James and wouldn't mind getting him back at all, but he's not exactly finishing at the basket all that well this year. http://www.82games.com/0607/06MIN1A.HTM
Probably part and parcell to his overall play. It's all connected. Mike James isn't the magical answer. But when you consider his skill-set and our "PG" position with Tmac as the defacto PG on our half court offense, it's easy to see how impactful James could be.
We didn't 'chose to trade him.' He forced our hand. James CLEARLY said that he was "looking to get paid" in reference to his free agency status that summer. THAT is one of the main reasons we traded him. At that point, we'd be stuck without a PG. James is now playing back to his career averages after his CONTRACT season in Canada. Rafer and James are statistically similar players but Rafer is a better chemistry guy and he's locked up long term. James' future was uncertain with FAgency so we couldn't risk it. I liked it then ...I liked it last season ...and I like the Rafer/James trade even more now. James would NEVER average 20ppg here and if we got him back, you all would blame that on JVG.
Stop re-writing history man. Everybody knows CD stated publicly many times "we would not have traded Mike James if Bob Sura was not injured". It was a knee jerk reaction. Free Agency status may have had a bearing, but you can't state that as fact that it was the main reason, when public statements by CD say otherwise. So you are entitled to your opinion, and you can say CD was lying, but the evidence (CD's continued public statements) says that your opinion is wrong, that it was all about Bob Sura. As for the 20ppg think, I don't think Mike James would average that here either. And I don't blame JVG for anything, the Rockets are playing good ball. I just think James would be an upgrade for the Rockets over Rafer for the things the Rockets need most from their guards: 3pt shooting and defense. Rafer's D is the best it can be right now (average with a lot of reach in fouls-which doesn't hurt them too much, but it does hurt them non-the-less). Rafer's 3pt shooting is at a career high and it is imperative that it stay that way. And of course Rafer finishing at the rim is at a career low, so that can only get better. Rockets don't need Mike James for a 3rd scorer role. The Rockets need Mike James in the sense that he does what is essential for this team, but only better than Rafer. But if Rafer can maintain his career high 3pt shooting (oh please, I hope so), cut down on reach-in fouls, and improve his layup % (which I expect, for he's like at 30% right now), then Rafer will be exactly what this team needs.
Why does this absolute total BS continue to get posted? Had the Rockets not traded James they would have had his full Bird Rights and could have matched and exceeded almost ANY contract offer without touching their MLE. The only teams that the Rockets couldn't outbid were teams with cap space that showed absolutely ZERO interest this past summer...CHI, CHA and ATL. Given the rosters of those teams and the available draft talent pool, it was (and is) a no brainer that you could have kept James. The Rockets totally screwed up by trading for Alston and admitted as much by making James FA Target 1. And please don't bring up the weak argument of the trade kicker. He wouldn't have required it had they not shipped to TOR in the first place.
I'm glad MJ is gone. Good riddance. He helped us in '05. Trading him for Alston certainly didn't make us better last year, but the season was a washout anyway because of injuries. MJ's best days are behind him and it's downhill from now on. I'd rather him do that in Minnesota than here. If he ends up having a good year, good for him. If he doesn't, it's totally on him instead of everyone on the forum blaming JVG. Getting drilled by Sam for 31 points while scoring zero tells me all I need to know about MJ this season.
Come on A_3PO, you're a better analyst than that. Mike James barely played and you know Sam Cassell can jump shoot his way to 31 points on almost anyone. One can legitimately criticize his attitude and demeanor if it is not their liking, but don't say some rookie statement like "all I need to know about MJ this season" coming from half of a game. A_3PO, do you not agree with the statement that 3pt shooting and Defense are the 2 most important things for a PG in this Rockets system? And do you not agree that Rafer is meeting standards now, but if he dips in either category (mainly 3pt shooting), his minutes will go way down, and Rockets would look for an upgrade (either from within or by trade)?
the guy was gettin 20pts 5reb 5asst last season....i think...what the hell's going on this season....i drafted him in my fantasy league and i'm gettin screwed b/c of his a$$
Ok. But suppose he got offered a 6mil contract. At the time, we were flirting w/ the Lux Tax (which is why we cut Spoon). Had James got a 6mil deal, we probably wouldn't have matched it. Or we can trade him and ensure we have an equally servicable guy for <$. I'll take the latter, thanks. Wrong. We targeted him KNOWING that we already had Rafer in our pocket and KNOWING that James said he wanted to return. It was a no brainer to make James an offer. Making him an offer is an admission of NOTHING. It simply means we wanted to get another PG. We could have had Mike James without the trade. Or we could have had Mike James AND Rafer Alston with the trade (if James accepted the MLE). Yea, it is a weak argument. It was a weak argument that James used us to drive up his offers and then dump us when ANYBODY matched our offer. James obviously never intended to return to Houston. We got used.
OK, I greatly exaggerated because MJ has had more than one bad game this season, but the guy is a distraction that we don't need. The fans in Minny can enjoy it. He is more talented than Rafer, no doubt, but I'm tired of the act. As far as our needs at PG, I agree 3 point shooting and defense are very important and Rafer only contributes one of them while MJ can play defense also. But the last thing we need is some flake with a chip on his shoulder blabbing to the press about "cheating the fans". He should shut up and let his play do the talking and quit making HIMSELF the issue instead of the team. I will be surprised if the T-Wolves don't have serious Buyers Remorse about him during the season. He has scored 5, zero and zero points in 3 of the last 4 games. If Rafer did that, he would be burned in effigy by some here. MJ, thanks for going to Minnesota. It would have been better if you went to Dallas and messed them up but at least you didn't come here. Keep up the good shooting (0-9 the last two games). Talk is cheap but your play is worth less than that.
