Mike James

if he doesn't, then all of you are right who wanted to keep MJ. If he gets more than the full MLE, then all of us were right since we wouldn't have been able to spend that much. Can we just agree on that and kill this till later ? It's stupid to debate because it always comes down to that..

 

MJ lovers love MJ because he is a scoring/driving/shooting guard. HE IS NOT A PG. HE IS NOT A PG. AGAIN HE IS NOT A PG.

Rafer lovers love Rafer because he is a passing/emotional guard. Kinda like Sura last year with more assists. Remember Sura wasn't a great 3 pt shooter but we still loved him.

My point once again that if you are a fan who likes shooting/driving then you will love SGs better, and if you like to see ball movement then you would love PGs.

So you see we are comparing apples and oranges. MJ is a SG, and RA is a PG. Last year we had Sura, and this year Sura was replaced by Rafer. So the MJ/Rafer trade was a SG/PG trade. THAT IS THE REASON WE NEED A SG.

Now the best part is that we don't have to worry about a PG and we should look for a SG similar to MJ (with height) in the offseason. We clearly needed help at the SG position. That is where most of the role player points should have come from.

In conclusion, simply put that we traded away a SG and we didn't find a good replacement for that SG.

 

Mike James can score a bunch.

He also sucks **** through a straw as a PG.

We have superstars at SF and C. In other words, we have no place for another guy who wants to score 20 a game. Mike James wants to score 20 a game.

On a losing team, he does look great. He'd .look great on the Rockets right now, for just that reason. But until he realizes that he's a role player on any team that doesn't suck, he won't be worth having.

 

MJ sucks as a PG because he is not a PG. He is a SG and we need exactly that of MJ. His 20 a game and shooting would help us big time. Please CD find a SG this offseson, or just bring MJ back.

 

WHOA....keyboard thuggery.

LOL.....looks like i touched nerve!!!...lol...

okay, I know you are Napolean Dynamite's brother..it's cool...keep it gangsta, homey...lol

 

bet...I catagorized the other members crying as uneducated.

I should know better. Anyone using "incidentally" and atteneded an accredited university obviously knows what the hell they are doing. Just ask Carroll Dawson. Baylor Bears, Stand UP!!!! Damn, he played for them too, right?

you are right though....I didnt mean to call names, and the uneducated part wasnt directed to you. I mean that for real. That was more directed to the OTHER tunnel vision people on this board.

you have
a) broke down body, with great heart.
b) Ball hog, but a great scorer. Not a team player, but tough.
c) broke down body, with great heart.
d) bullard, jr, who rebounds a lil better.

those are role players who can compete with the rest of the league?
yeah, maybe 2 years ago, but even then not for a full season.

ease up, ya'll...it aint that serious....

 

Eh? Except he wouldn't score 20 a game for us. He's score 12, shoot rather than pass to players who are much better than he is, and fail to play D. Or, alternatively, he'd only play when Yao and McGrady were on the bench...and then he'd b**** about playing time.

Mike James is a good player. But until he realizes his limitations, he'll be a liability to a non-****ty team.

 

Actually what i was trying to say is that we need atleast 20 pts from the SG position to be successful. Last year it was MJ/Wesley/J.Barry, they all played very well last year. Notice they all are great 3 pt shooters. This year we only had Wesley, and thats why this trade feels like a failure. We gave Raptors a SG and we were asking a PG to play SG. If we would have had a good SG this year then we would not had problems scoring. My point is that we should try to pick up a Guard who can put up points from behind the arc and is an above average penetrator. Someone like Mobley, Mo pete, Magette, Q Rich or even MJ.

 

I understand that Mike James should pass to players better than him but you wouldn't expect Tracy to be handling ball every possession. You would not want tracy to be penetrating every time he gets a ball. The Purpose of a SG in this team is when T-mac or Yao create for you, you shoot the dam ball and if you have a lane than penetrate and finish it up. I would not expect a SG to pass open shots or open lanes, i would expect them to be aggressive. I saw Mike James did exactly that when he was with us.

Let me say this that i am not hoping for MJ to come back. I would not want MJ as our SG. He gives up height and i wouldn't want him playing LBJ, Kobe e.t.c All i am trying to say is that this trade comparison is not valid.

 

Right on dude. But the problem with MJ is he is another Wesley at the SG slot. He would be way less effective than DW because he lacks DW's bulk and he is short.

James is a PG. He's just not a tremendous passer. But he is most definitely a playmaker. He's as much a PG as AI is.

There is nothing wrong with the PG being a scorer if that is the way the offensive system is built. The league is full of scorers at the point and one of the leading MVP candidates (Billups) on the current champion team is a scorer that dominates the game by exploiting his mismatch with his defender, either with the post up game, or with the jumper or the drive and slash. Most of Detroit's offense comes this way.

Rafer will look great here when we get and maintain deadly shooters around him. Put him on the floor with Yao, McGrady, a good shooting SG and a decent shooting PF and he will make the offense run very well.

Mike James brings the spectacular. James can stand at the top, and dribble juke, break his man into a thousand little pieces and then either can the jumper (which Rafer more often than not won't even attempt because he knows he is a low percentage shooter) or finish at the rim (which Rafer is not a great finisher) or as a last resort pass out to a teammate after he has sucked the defense in (Rafer does this ad nauseum, so much so that the pass isn't as effective because the defense is looking for the pass out). And

Mike James brings a lot of attitude to the floor. (More attitude than I've seen from Rafer.) Those are the reasons people like him.

Now, the downside to James are the exact same things that make him spectacular. An offense can get bogged down just watching him create. He's got the same problem AI does. On some nights, those poor Philly guys, why run around all over the floor just to watch AI jack one up. The rest of the guys quit moving and the offense can bog down. He's got to have the ball and dribble mania ensues. What separates James from a player like Billups is Billups is smart enough to realize when this is happening and he starts moving the ball around and making sure RIP and everybody else is getting off shots and Billups is unselfish enough to go to the high percentage matchup on the floor and milk whatever is most efficient or whichever shooter is hot. James simply thinks he is the best option most of the time. (I'm wondering if that will change with a longer term contract that gives him financial security. Or will he revert to under underachieving like a lot of overpaid, financially secure athletes do?)

And then during the heat of the moment, with all the pressure coming down to a seventh game of a playoff series, James' attitude which can be such a positive momentum shifter can become an extreme negative if things don't go just right.

In hindsight, since James has blown up even more this year in Toronto, it would have been nice if somehow TMac, Van Gundy, and him could have made it work and continued his development here. He was unquestionably much better defensively than Rafer. Rafer's defense has improved though incremental. Hopefully that improvement will continue at least a little bit.

And hopefully, we get another high energy scorer to put on the floor with Yao and Tracy who doesn't mind being the 3rd straw but brings the attitude, energy, and intensity that we sorely missed from players like Sura, James, and Barry this season.

 

People,

Stop comparing James to Billups, Parker and now AI?

James ain't close to those guys.

So if you aren't a stud scoring machine, you better be good at running the point ...and he's not. Why? Cause he's a better SG. ...and we already had a SG (Wesley) but no legit PG. That's why we traded him.

 

Except the rules regarding defenses have changed. Even Hakeem/Smith/Cassell wouldn't be as successful in that system now.

 

Interesting. Several years ago, I said that we needed to go back to the Rudy type offense, where the ball went inside to the big man and then was swung around the perimeter to the spot up shooters. At that time, all the people who were infatuated with Francis said that offensive system was passe, a thing of the past. You're right, it is classic Rockets basketball, the classiest Rockets basketball ever. If we could somehow combine the elements of Rudy's offense with Van Gundy's hard nosed defense, we'd have a dynasty on our hands.

 

Ahhhh, you are finally back I see. After that great string of games from your main man, Juwan.

By the way, James is outscoring, outrebounding, shooting a higher precentage from the field, and shooting a higher 3 point percentage than Chauncey Billups this season. The only place Chauncey's game shines above MJ's is passing. He gets around 3 more assists per game. Some of that could be due to who he is throwing the ball to.

LOL, now back to that Juwan/Stro comparison...........................

 

doesn't work with current defensive rules

 

dont see why not,put him and howard coming off the bench for some offensive punch. let swift and rafer start, or if wesley comes back have james and rafer start

 

Muwahaha

 

Weren't Billups and James teammates the year the Pistons won? Who got the PT? Who was the MVP?

Thanks.

Who is putting up big #'s in a career year on a crappy team?
...and who is playing on a contender?

Thanks.

Give me all the stats you want. I'll watch them play.

Lets stop the Billups and James comparisons. James ain't no Billups.

Yea yea...my kid got sick...I haven't even watched much of the games recently. (I didn't miss much) I still have the game on Tivo. You want me to give you the play-by-play now?

I don't care about Zboy because he is incapable of engaging in a rational discussion. He just picks somebody to hate.

 

whoa napolean dynamite? dude come on now no one is that bad of an actor i wouldnt even call u that