Me too -- and the best news is tonight James was sharp and Minnesota still limited his minutes in favor of Foye (unlike the past two games when James was 0-fer). Perception is funny too. When James shoots 5-10 shots he's being laughed at ... when he shots more than that he's selfish. On the flip side, Rafer has games where he shoots more shots per minute than even Yao and T-Mac (such as the Wizards game), and this is all in the flow of the offense / what's given to him / unselfish. If Mike James at 42% from the field, 40% from the arc and 89% at the stripe is apologizing to the fans, what the hell does Rafer owe us?
but Mike James was expected to put up big numbers after his strong year in Toronto. Also, Minny is off to a bad start while we're off to a good start.
Hey, we can trade Alston for James and everyone would be happy! Seriously, the Wolves are disjointed because their backcourt is crowded. And they dont know who they want making the shots. And no question, the emergence of Foye is going to be key here. More and more the Wolves will go with Foye. I see James being available for the right price.
A hand job? Oh, if we go after him in a trade, make him waive the trade kicker to come here. Poetic justice ! DD
45% shooting, combined with a 18% 3point shooting it tells you that he's not the type of guy who's going to spot up and have a very high assisted FG% - at least from James. Most of his points come off 1-on-1 drives or pull-ups. Why not? If Minnesota needs the stereotypical "pass first PG" who only has to play limited minutes and will happily defer to Ricky Davis and Randy Foye as they shoot the roof off the place - then they need the previous incarnation of Rafer (not this year's Mad Bomber version). Since Houston apparently needs somebody who can take 10-12 shots a game from the PG role and be the third scoring option, and create his own shot when Yao and Tracy are out, we need James. Match made in heaven.
Per A 3P0: " Just think: We could have used our MLE on him so he could be doing the same thing here. Facing the PGs "dilemma" and playing poorly. And you know what: It would all be JVG's fault." I wish we we had signed Mike James, but we did not- I am happy with Rafer - he brings the ball downcourt fast and can dish. He works well with our players--- helping us develop chemistry. No competion for the ball with T-Mac- Rafer is unselfish IMO. My attitude is diplomatic now - win or lose. The Van Gundy reference is provocative. I support this team and this coach. Stop with the baiting.... __________________
You are right playing with that kind of person won't help his assist totals. He can do get better assist totals in Phoenix or Milwaukee. They have more shooters there.
Bouncing back perhaps? Mike James was 7-11 from the field tonight, 3-4 from long range. He's now at 42.9% from the field and 42.5% from three-point range, though in 15 games he's only put up 40 three-pointers (about the number that Rafer puts up in 6 games).
Isn't Rafer shooting something like 38% from the field? How can someone who takes nothing but WIDE OPEN JUMPERS shoot less than 40% from the field? I will continue to say it: we ain't never going to amount to much with Rafer as our starting PG. This team needs more reliable offensive options, specifically SHOOTERS at every spot around T-Mac and Yao. Otherwise, you have Yao consistently double and triple-teamed, fronted, and the lane clogged whereas our guards can't penetrate and get easy shots/create easy shots. EDIT: through 15 games, Rafer Alston is shooting 37.7% overall on WIDE OPEN JUMPERS! How can anyone continue to defend this guy? He's like Juwon Howard reincarnated...we now have two Juwanamans
Rafer's poor shooting % isn't just from WIDE OPEN JUMPERS. In fact, his wide open 3s are decent. He just misses a lot of layups, and close-range floaters/teardrops. The guy just can't finish.
I guarantee you the vast majority of his shots are on WIDE OPEN jumpers...there are a few drives mixed in, but he doesn't do that very often. The bulk of his missed shots is on jumpers.
Well, percentage wise, Rafer shoots the jump shot better than the layup or floater. It's just really weird. Take a look at his hotzones. He's almost a complete reversal from last year. The further away from the basket he is, the better he shoots. His 3pt shooting from the elbows this year is 15.8% (3/19) and 41.0% (32/78) from the elbows and straight away threes. Rafer's jumpshooting inside the arc is 61.1% (11/18)-this is from about 14 feet and out. Then for layups, Rafer is 34.2% (13/38) and for shots around the bucket that aren't layups he's 28.6% (4/14). It's just so weird, for last year the only things Rafer could make offensively were layups and the corner 3. The only consistency in terms of making shots that he has carried over is making the straight away 3.
From my memory of the season so far, Rafer's jumpshooting is borderline OK. His teardrops, layups and runners are complete garbage. Kim, your stats support my (usually faulty) memory. My contention for a while is we would need more than just jumpshooting. Missing 5 foot runners/teardrops and not being able to finish reverse layups, etc is Rafer's main problem. That is why he isn't a starting caliber PG. Of course, he could shoot jumpshots better since his 3 pointers and other jumpers are usually wiiiiide open.
James seems to be a poor fit for that team so far in this very young season. His +/- numbers bad at -7.1 per 100 possessions. One might explain that as Mike James playing fine but Randy Foye playing awesome. However, more worrying is the fact that the Wolves have not been "fine" when he's on court. They average 103.1 points per 100 possessions, but give up 107.7 per 100 possession. That's just not a good team, no matter whether they are good or not with Foye on there. We'll see if he turns it around, but I have a feeling that he is expendable.
