I was just wondering, what happens if we pick up Damon Stoudamire with the loaded pg spot. It seems that Luther Head will probably won't get playing time or not make the team. I'm guessing: Stoudamire/James Sura/Barry/Wesley T-Mac/Sura Howard/Swift/Spoon Yao/Mutumbo I'm excited if we can pick him up. Can you imagine the attention that Yao and T-Mac demands and how I can see swift getting easy dunks and rebounds because of it. Also, how guys like Stoudamire and others will get open shots. It's awesome. 2006 season here we come!!!
head makes the team and probably doesn't get much time except mop-up until an injury hits. Kinda like Cassell didn't play much the 1st half of his rookie season. If you have it, it'll come out..
we have to do a S&T for damon. there is no way we end up with all of those guards. most likely it will we wesley.
I may be in the minority, but i dont think the rox will do much to get a pg on this team. Why? Think about this, the Sura/James combo added up to 23ppg and 8asst. I mean we dont know yet, but thats what the cassell/smith combo did for us. each bring a unique style that helps the team plus it had a 2:1 to ratio. I think the guy who gets moved is probably Wesley and Barry gets resign to play behind maybe a younger slashing type guy while Barry provides the spark and savvy off the bench. What the rox did with their combo last yr was cut the to's from the the fracis mobley era down from 15 to 13 which gave us more shot attempts and won closer ball games. I think the Rox would maybe like to get Damon, but i think they will feel comfortable with the Sura/James combo.
I think Jeff Van Gundy made it clear that the back court needed to get more athletic. The backcourt will be changed a bit!!! Either Sura, Wesley, and or James are about to be traded. The only guy in the backcourt who does not have to look over his shoulder to see if he is going to be a Rocket next year is Head. Sura - too injury prone. His gritiness was AWSOME!!! Wesley - too short for a SG & when his shot left him, it hurt the Rockets James - too trigger happy, a "no no" with Yao and McGrady. Yao is often too happy letting someone shoot the ball. James NEEDS to get traded!!!
I think we need to get rid of 2 of those 3 players. I hope Wesley is one and either Sura or James. If Sura was 100% and 3 years younger i might be more inclined to keep him.
I agree. Personally, among Sura, James and Wesley, I want two of them back along with Barry. All these guys played well for us last year. I would like to bring in Damon S for Wesley, and move Sura to the SG. I am less include to move Sura because he is the most versitle and biggest of our guards (and has a lot of intangibles). James, Head, Barry and maybe Glover bring lots of good qualities collectively off the bench. As for getting the backcourt more athletic, Head and maybe signing Dion do that. Bringing in the quick Stoudamire helps that too. It doesn't have to be radical change, just a little more size or quickness mixed in with out vets from last year. It is tiring to hear all the whineyness about James (ewhee, he waved off the god tmac one time, ewhee). Mike James came here and did his job well for us. Yeah he has warts, all of last year's guards have warts, but he brought intensity, toughness, scoring punch and defense--all things you want in an off the bench PG to compliment a Sura or Stoudamire. If the right deal comes around, yes he is gone, but otherwise he will be a good bench player for the Rockets next year, get freaken used to it.
Whatever James is our version of "the Microwave" and we need a player with the potential to light it up when no one else can. Just say no to trading James.
But he already said he would opt-out after next season, is he worth much more than he gets now? Plus, as others said he always tried to create his own shots first, that can't be good for the offense flow. He is only good for a few minutes a game, nothing more.
I guess no on complained when James went 13-20 in games 5&6. I really like the combo and i still think when he means more atheletic, i thinks its the 2 rather than pg. James is like Bobby jackson. He's tough and a fierce competitor along with Sura. I guess people also forgot in game 6 Ming had 8pts. If not for James and barry, where would the Rox have been. I just think the 2 can be upgraded, but the way Glover is playing, maybe he might be the answer.
One thing about James that I think a lot of people overlook is his potential to get better. He really has little NBA experience. He played his way onto a roster without the benefit of a 1st round guaranteed contract. He hasn't been through a Van Gundy training camp. He is very quick, very fast, very strong and very explosive when he is on. There are about 7 or 8 guys on last year's roster that I don't want to lose and James is definitely one of them.
i'll never understand how so many people are adament about trading mike james. he's the only guy we have at the PG position who has speed and can defend. he's a much better shooter than sura and much quicker. i think if the rockets keep anyone in the backcourt it should be james who is a terrific backup to come in and change pace. every team needs players off the bench who can make an immediate impact in the game, james does that. i like wesley and sura but wesley is simply too small to guard other SG's, ie jerry stackhouse destroying us in the playoffs. sura is a gritty player and one of the leaders of the team and should probably stay but his injuries and lack athleticism at the PG position hurts us. i think wesley has decent trade value and should be the guy to go considering we should have keep Jim Jackson to begin with.
Got to agree 99%. I am still fine with the JJ-DW deal, but the rest got to agree. If we pick up another PG (Like Stoud) Sura gets more minutes at the 2 than the 1--but we keep his total minutes down. Sura has been an SG 1st, PG 2nd, most of his career.
