Rafer Admits He's A Goner

It surprises me that all of the Rafer bleeding hearts are doubting Mike James can contribute to a championship calibur team when he helped Detroit along with another scoring guard in Lindsey Hunter win a championship.

 

Deep breaths, gang.

Rafer's not gone yet. Let's wait and see if Morey continues pulling rabbits out of hats.

 

That was always the most amusing James-hater argument "he can't be a role player on a championship team!"

After being confronted by this knowledge, and intially being flustered, the argument of the hardcore James hater is shifted to "Well he didn't play much in the finals!" Well duh, he was playing behind NBA finals MVP Chauncey Billups, after all.

 

i'm glad it only took two years to realize how bad Rafer is

 

You must be kidding me. Head is one of our best offensive players?? I do not know about that. Tmac, Yao, Bonzi, MJ and SF.

 

yes, if SF works out well, trade JM. They looks like identical twin on PG.

 

There are things Chuck Hayes can do that Foster cannot.

 

He had a smokin' April to be sure, but his playoff performance was fairly dismal. I'm hoping that's just a case of having to get accustomed to the Jazz' dirty play.

 

Me personally? A little. I think that Morey is on a roll, so if he thinks someone is better than Chuck its possible that they do a sign and trade.

The Francis signing suddenly opens a lot of doors for Morey trade wise. I think a lot of GM's around the league are going to be calling to try and see what sort of deals they can get from him.

I don't think Chuck will be forced to the D-league again. He has proven to most of the NBA that he has value if only off the bench. I think chances are he will be in a Rockets uniform next season, but at this point, let's just say I wouldn't bet on it as a sure thing.

 

If we can get someone who's significantly better (such as a Troy Murphy or a starting PF), it makes sense. But trading rafer for someone like, say, Mobley is idiotic. If Rafer can't help get you the legit, starting PF you desperately need, then keep him. Like others have said, the idea of Francis and James passing is a funny one.

It would help greatly to keep a pure PG around. Rafer runs a team much better than either Francis or James, and he's a better distrubutor and keeps the TOs down. James and Francis are more in the 2-guard mold anyway. If Rafer's traded, we're essentially going with shoot-first, shoot-second "point guards", and that's not very attractive when you have greater options in Yao, TMac and Bonzi.

 

Alston for Foster

Indiana needs a point & we need another PF just in case.

 

LEt me ask ya a question Sam.

I prefer to keep Rafer around unless a cant miss deal comes along, but I also think Mike James's talents are useful.

Does it always follow that a "rafer bleeding heart" fan must hate James?

I only ask so I can keep track of how different I am from most of the people on this board.

 

Here's what I'm wondering: can Steve Francis actually play the 2? From what I've seen over the years, Stevie needs to have the ball in his hands to be effective. It seemed like part of the reason that he struggled in NY was that he played the off guard. IF Steve Francis can play the 2, then I'm all aboard with this signing. If Rafer leaves, I'm feeling much more anxious about ball movement and post passing to Yao. These were two thing that were lacking in Francis' prior tenure with the Rockets, and that I haven't seen change.

I'm still a fan of the James/Alston duo at the point, and if Steve can play the 2, I don't see why Rafer has to hit the door yet. Rafer in 15-20 minutes gives you what you need (passing, ball-handling) and limits what you don't need (the floater of doom, and 4/15 shooting nights).

Right now, I'm shocked and awed by the trade, but I just don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling about a James/Francis point guard duo.

 

If rafer was traded, I will say 'good luck'

anyhow, he did what he should do in houston

 

i'd rather have chuck hayes then foster but i'm all for building depth in the front court which jeff could bring. we have a surplus in the backcourt so trading alston or head for another pf brings a little more balance to the roster.

 

Clutch must be off popping the cork on a bottle of champagne.

 

If rafer is traded, it'll only take a dozen games to realize how bad our offense is without him.

 

He's also a pretty nice backup center and has a knack for getting offensive rebounds.