LOL - I agree. Also agree with rofflesaurus - we didn't have much outside of Yao and McGrady with players who could create their own shots. Now we've added 2 guys (along with some others) in James and Francis who can do that thus addressing a serious weakness with last year's team. Yet, some of you want to trade one of them right after we got them?? Are you high?? It doesn't work that way. Got a lot of armchair GMs on this board - thankfully, it is Morey that runs the team - thank the Lord on that one!
Like i said, there is no question that James and Francis are better at creating their own shot. The problem is that is all they are really good at offensively. They both play their best offensively when they dominate the ball and are looking to score first. So the question is, do you want that out of your starting pg when you have Yao and Tmac on the floor? Because both Francis and James are unquestionably better individual scorers than Rafer, but who cares? If they arent better scoring options than Tmac and Yao, then they shouldn't be dominating the ball. If they aren't dominating the ball, they aren't playing to their strengths... and at that point I would prefer to have someone who keeps his turn overs low and only shoots when he is wide open. Ideally we keep Francis, Alston and James til the season starts and see what happens. Because 2 of those 3 were on the bench for lottery teams last year.
Two years ago, Steve Francis was still putting up all-star calibur numbers. Rafer sucked last year and the year before that. At least james and francis had one good year out fo the last 2.
Actually 2 years ago he was benched in Orlando for Jameer Nelson and averaged 16 ppg on a lottery bound team in the east, then was traded to NY where he had the lowest scoring average of his career at 10 ppg. Last year he "improved" to 11 ppg, but played in only 44 games due to injury. Rafer only sucks as a scorer and really do we need our starting PG to be a primary scorer if we have capable scoring PG's coming off the bench? Contrary to popular belief, Rafer has a better career 3pt % than Francis. Don't get me wrong, Rafer is certainly not a top tier PG. But there is a reason we got James for Juwuan Howard and Portland paid Francis 30 million to not play for them, and it isn't because either of those teams considered them to be starting players on a contender.
umm there are no stats for spot up shooting, but trust me anyone can tell you mike james is the better spot up shooter and 3 point shooter.
I was saying to put him in the D-league and to keep Rafer, so he can play. If he is here, there is a chance he won't play that much. If we DO trade Rafer, like I think they will, then I would keep him on the roster.
That is why I would use all 3 slots we have for the D-league, put Brooks, Landry, and Butler or Harris in the D-league. Wait until we find a team that needs a PG make a move then bring Brooks back in.
Can we step back, and take a look at the situation before jump into any conclusion? First of all, you cannot trade Steve or James. In Steve, he won't sign with anyone else but the Rockets; in James, no other team wants him. So that leaves Alston as the only trade option, and maybe Head. Should we trade one of them, or both of them? What can we get back from the trade? Second, none of our back court players had any good years last season, all three of them are on the downside of their career. Can they play better than what they did last season, maybe, but you cannot count on it before you see it. What does this mean? It means we don't know if we have more or less talent for our back court, so we cannot trade anyone away before we can find that out. Third, there is a new coach and new system in the house. Steve didn't do well under JVG, but will he be better fit in RA's system, or can RA find a better role for Steve? The same thing for James and Alston. If you look back at Rick's coaching career, he had great success with two different style in Portland and Sac town, but not much success with the Warriors. What kind of system will he implement for the Rockets? Will it be customized to use the strength of our current players, or players have to change to fit the system? All of these need to be answered before we start talking about trading away any players.
Trade Mac for Kobe, trade Shane for Artest, and then trade Yao for Amare. Starters MJ Steve Kobe Artest Amare we have assembled the All- Me team
Because BallHog Sr & BallHog Jr (Mobley) dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and shot and etc etc etc ad nauseum.
some ppl on this board are crazy. mike james >>>>>>>>>>>> steve francis better shooter, better penetrator, better ball-handler, better leader, less pouty, less turnovers, more clutch, better defender. is there anything else? the ONLY thing francis might have on him is a vertical leap, and who knows after steve's knee injury. ppl forget how spectacular mike james was for us in the 2nd half of '05 and for the raptors. ppl also forget how 1999-2004 were the worst years of my life as a rockets fan. due mostly to one man...the so-called FRANCHISE.
No I agree, that is good depth...i was talking about the op.........people complain about not having enough depth with rafer...and? last year and then we add mj and sf and people still complain.......so I agree.....just did not explain well. I think rafer is on the way out...even though I like his heart
