Hate to say it but the MJ haters were right. Guy had a breakout year because he was playing for a contract. He would be an OK pickup for a backup but the Rox need to pick up a better scoring PG to start and move Rafer to the backup if we're going to get to the next level. No to MJ.
Anyone notice that Mike James' terrible season was still better than Rafer's "good" season (by his low standards) in 3P%, FG%, FT% and had a very similar assist-turnover ratio ... while 100% unselfish Rafer shot the ball the same number of times per 40 minutes as jack-a-holic, got-to-get-mine James? This offseason is going be fun
Compare "pass first" Rafer's 529 three point attempts in 2007, as a role player on a team with two superstars, one of whom is an MVP caliber perimeter player, AND also the league's best post player, as well as two of the league's top 3 point gunners (Head and Shane Battier) with Mike James "selfish" "ball hog" 2006 season, where as the only perimeter threat on the Raptors and their 2nd leading scorer he took 382 three point shots.
Despite being a poor shooter, Alston has the best +/- on this team, therefore he must have done something right I guess. Minni coaches and players feel the team is way too selfish. and I don't think it has nothing to do with PGs. I'm not sure if that's the biggest reason James got traded all the time. But if it is, I'm not surprised at all. Higher FG%, FT%,3p% doesn't mean more wins if the guy can't run the offense well enough. Otherwise Jason Kidd won't be considered one of the best PGs of all time.
His +/- is due to the insane amount of minutes he played, which skews these rating measurably. As a result he gets the benefit of playing on a winning team more than anybody on the roster. It only means that he was the best of an awful lot of pg's which contained two non-nba talents in Lucas and Spanoulis and also Head, who's a great player but can't run the point for sh-t.
Are you trying to say Rafer is selfish? Because that is horribly wrong. Rafer has no choice but to take those shots, JVG, Tracy, and Yao expect him to. Again it doesn't matter, he had to do SOMETHING right in order to have that high of a +/- rating. Everyone needs to lighten up on Rafer, people treat him like he is A-Rod.
529... staggering really. And he "improved" to being basically no more than a league-average three-point shooter on wide open shots -- In the 11 games without T-Mac, when the wide open shots dried up, he hit 25% from there. Yet, despite it all, he broke the franchise record for attempts held by a guy nicknamed "Mad". Looking back at all those who thought Rafer would see 8-10 assists and 2-3 three attempts a night on this team with T-Mac and Yao ... I mean, seriously: Could they have possibly been more wrong? I'm not laughing at you armyman because what you're saying is true, but to people like Sam and I, that's seriously hilarious to read ... not sure where to start really.
As I have said a million times before: Mike James is a bad fit for Minny, but a great fit in Houston. He made a dumbass decision to sign with Minny over Houston, and he knows it. His ego got the best of him and now he's paying for it. I think he deserves to suffer a bit, but what did we do to have to suffer through watching Rafer play on most nights? I don't care if we get Mike James back or not, my only point is that we NEED a point for next season, a STARTING point guard-calibre player, even if he doesn't actually start If not Mike James or Chucky Atkins or some other option out there, and if we're not getting Billups or Bibby, who else is out there? So let's be realistic here, who else is out there that we can sign/trade for next season to fill our void at the PG position? Any suggestions besides signing Chauncy Billups? If you have no other suggestions besides "Play V-Span", then I suggest you seek some professional help...
For MJ, I wouldn't trade anybody for him, not even low 1st round draft choice. He is not worth anybody on our team or any person we could potentially get, He is on the wrong side of 30, he had a chance to be with this team a season ago, but chose someone else (for MLE, could you blame him), and he is ball hog. James would be perfect for a team that has other strong players on it, like the Suns or the Spurs where he wouldn't be expected to do much or on a team like Knicks or Hawks that probably could use vet leadership. It is alright go after vets, but we need to keep every draft choice we get. This team will never be top-tier organization, because it doesn't draft well like the Spurs, Mavs, or etc. I don't think our organization spends money like other teams and rather just be good, instead of being better. Besides, we already have enough vets on our team, and we should focus more on getting stronger front court rebounder and more athletic players on the perimeter.
I couldn't agree more with that line. If there is someone else who fits the needs better, go for it ... but Mike James is going to be available for cheap. He is an excellent buy-low candidate for this team -- a way to bolster the team without giving up much of anything.
I think the problem with Mike James is a perception of attitude......the stats say he is not a selfish player, but it seems that a lot of his teamates think he is a selfish player. I think most of the MJ issues are simply ones of him rubbing his teamates the wrong way. DD
I never buy into any of that 'rep' stuff, and if we did we wouldn't have ever traded for Rafer because he was a crybaby back in Toronto. We already know how well Mike James can play next to Yao/T-Mac, we have already SEEN it so we don't have to keep guessing like we do with any other player. James has a moderate contract, he's not going to break the bank. He is a feisty guy and can bring a certain 'toughness' factor that I feel is lacking in this team with the loss of Sura and James in one off season. We need to get that 'edge' back, and although I don't think James is the only thing needed to get there he can be a valuable piece to the overall puzzle. Personally, I would much rather we trade for Bibby and take on his near-max contract, but that ain't too likely, is it now? The alternative? Getting a 'solid' player that can fill a role, not cost us too much, and isn't likely to flop :cough cough:: Bonzi, Swift)...the safest choice I can think of is Mike James. I already know how he fits.
recent buy-low players: bonzi DA ward stro (full MLE, but that was considered a good deal at the time) i'm hesitant to add more buy-low players. we do need a PG and we do need a scoring option off the bench. MJ kills 2 birds with one stone. could we get him for bob sura's contract which they could buy out or use his injury exception to sign someone. do you think he's worth sura and our first round pick?
There's always some risk involved... that's why it's buy-low. But don't forget Bob Sura, Mike James, Jon Barry, Dikembe Mutombo and Chuck Hayes. And unlike any of the above 4 players, we know what Mike James can do here. I don't have a good grip yet on the type of talent we could get with the 26th pick, but assuming JVG returns, do we really think he would play that rookie in the next year or maybe even two? Whether it's for Mike James or not, I would expect a JVG-coached team to try to trade that pick.
i agree with you about mike james. i'm for bringing him back but i become hesitant when i hear the term buy low or bargain deal. like i said, i think we can all agree that the rockets main 2 needs this summer is a PG and a 3rd scoring option. mike james brings both. i too expect our team to trade the pick. i think a first rounder with bob sura is a solid package (considering bob's contract status). mike james, anthony johnson, and maybe radmanovic would help.
I know what Mike James did here when he was 30......but he still has many years on his contract and he will be 33 next year.... Not good....not good. DD
