There's definitely two sides, and they are both valid: One thing that stands out... Sura is so effective with this offense, even if he isn't scoring, whereas I think James has to be hitting his shots to be effective. I love it... if you put them together, we probably have the most complete PG in the league. And if you put Yao and Deke together, that's probably the best center.
The only thing that matters is that Sura says healthy. If that means limiting his minutes, that's what we should do. Start or not. Just keep him heathy. Thank you Mike James for helping Bob! Like others have said above, this is a good problem to have: "James should start, no Sura should start, no James should start, Sura! James! Sura! James! Tastes great, less filling!" Nevertheless, a problem we should not want is having ONLY James. So, that's why Sura should rest his back and not get too many minutes. Not until the play-off start. Personally, if Sura didn't have back problems, I say to start him (he's a better setup man; PG). But *only* because he does have a sore back I prefer that James start; or at least start Sura, but cut back his minutes a bit. What I love about Sura compared to James is his ability to just slice through the defense! Did you see Nash chasing Sura around the whole game! It was hilarious!
Aren't we lucky to be able to even have this discusssion?!!! We've gone from a PG combo of Ward/Lue to Sura/James!! My vote would be to start Sura, but play whichever guard matches up better with the other team for most of the game. Overall, Sura should play more, but in the case of those run and gun teams like the Suns, we're lucky to also have the option of a quicker PG in James to matchup better. I'm so glad we got James because it gives us that option to matchup against the quick guards and teams in the league much better. Sura and James seem to have completely different styles of play, and both do their thing very well.
Sura's importance to this team was not really shown last night since the Suns were missing their best rebounder (Marion) and Yao was a madman on the boards, but trust me, on most nights we're going to NEED Sura on the floor to rebound the ball.
My vote is for Sura to start. I agree he seems to get the team in the offensive flow better. Mike James is a good energy guy and is better suited to come off the bench. If Sura came off the bench he would probably struggle a bit more because he's not an instant offense kind of a guy. So to get the best of both worlds and do what's best for the Rockets, Sura should start and James off the bench. A good dilemma to have.
Usually players when they come off of IR, they start from the bench. Why did JVG just insert him into the starting lineup? Sura needs to play the next 2 games off the bench so he can get his rhythm back.
I agree that this is a good dilemma to have, but I still think that Sura is the right guy to run with the first team. Let me 'splain. Sura has a much higher basketball IQ than James, particularly with this team. When Bob is on the floor, he is the floor general, the quarterback, and makes very good decisions. When we need rebounds, he tracks them down. When there are open men, he finds them. When Yao has good position, Sura gets him the ball. We have fantastic chemistry with Sura on the floor and, as evidenced by our pre-break winning streak, Sura is the guy who can get things done at the point. I will not say that James is not a great pickup, because he is (especially for what we traded) a great guard. However, until he learns more about having chemistry with this team, he needs to be our scoring threat off the bench. He showed that he has a lot of offensive ability in his first five games with the Rox, he proved that he is a deadly outside threat, and he has the ability to shoot the three and take it to the hole. These are talents that would be lost while Yao and TMac are getting the majority of the touches at the beginning of the game. James can come in off the bench and make up for us having to put in guys like Bowen with his energy and offense. They are both very good guards, but Sura fits in the starting lineup much more than James.
good points andy moon. but still there is the problem of spacing. but we just have to play it by ear every game and see how sura does IMO. and see if yao can withstand the doubles that come automatically when sura's man sags.
Wiilis, I mean't in terms energy off the bench. With the second unit he could be the slasher creating for folks like Padget, Barry and Wesley while also likely sparing Mac some minutes. In all, I agree with what majority of the contributors in this thread has said so far - it is indeed a good problem to have and maybe too early, like I hinted earlier, to really say for sure how things should break in terms of starting PG and whatnot. November 2004 all of a sudden seem like 10 years ago. Wow!
Without a doubt.....Sura is best suited for the starting lineup. When he is starting, his offense isnt really needed...we have Tmac,Yao , Wesley, and Howard for offensive production....Sura can just worry about getting the offense flowing an finding the open man. When Yao goes to the bench late in the first, we can go ahead and rest Sura by bringing in James...then James can be that offensive sparkplug that takes up the slack when we start sitting the starters. Sura couldnt realy be that effective last night...he was rusty and his timing was a little off....to be expected after being out for 3 weeks. But aint it great that we now have a good scorer and good defensive guard to relieve him with? Things are looking so bright, I gotta wear shades.
Well its a little thing called "Player Loyalty"... Sura was playing out of his mind beforet he All-Star break, you don't put him coming off the bench just because you made some trades for depth and he had a sore back. That type of crap will ruin team chemistry pretty damn quick. Mike James knows his role is the backup PG and he needs to accept it. JVG will play matchups when appropriate (like last night) and the players understand that this is the reason. Taking away Suras starting job would be a slap in the face (unless of course he was playing bad).
I very much doubt Sura will be relegated to the bench unless he really struggles. He really brought up the level of the team with his hussle, effort and leadership. His reward for this is a firm starting spot, which is his to lose. Mike James is his junior on the team as well as in age. Its not really an issue for him to come off the bench, especially if he is getting a lot of minutes. In contrast putting Sura on the bench could have a very bad effect on chemistry...
If you ask me it doesn't matter who starts that much. They are both going to get their minutes, some with Yao and Tmac, some without. Sura controls the offense better, but James did just get here and is learning the players and system right now. They can play both guard positions so they can play together on the court.
C'mon, people. We've been down this road before. Bob Sura is Kenny Smith and Mike James is Sam Cassell. Sura's the veteran who's earned his starting spot and James has shown the ability to be a terrific scorer and will close games(subject to change based on matchups).
good comparison.... but Kenny didnt have the fire that Sura has...he wsnt even in the same ballpark when it came to the toughness level of Bob Sura. but still...pretty good comparison as far as their roles.
But coming straight from the IR into the starting lineup showed signs that he was still rusty last night. I didn't say that he was going to lose his starting position, but to give him 1-2 games to get back in the groove before giving him the starting role.
Mike James reminds me of Kenny Smith. He's definitely a Rudy guy in the way that he creates spacing for other players. If the Rockets had someone at the 4 that could rebound, I would say start James. As the case is, Sura is needed to provide help on boards. I really want to see a James, Sura, McGrady, Howard, Yao lineup in the fourth.
I agree that Mike James is like Sam Cassell but disagree about Sura being Kenny. Kenny was a great outside shooter that doesn't rebound or play defense very well. Sura is a below average outside shooter that boards and plays defense well. I also agree that Sura should start since he has more chemistry with the other starters than James.
I wasn't trying to compare Sura to "The Jet" in terms of style of play. If anything, they're polar opposites in that regard. But Sura and Kenny are similar in the sense that they're both veterans who do a better job of running the offense(which is key when starting a game), whereas Mike James and Sam Cassell are both point guards with a scorer's mentality who are better served coming off the bench.
