Interesting. You're going to have an unhappy Bonzi, with Alston being a cheerleader (groovy!), but not bad!
Didn't I read somewhere that Adelman was experimenting with Francis and Wells both at the SG and PG with T-Mac at the SF position? Bonzi at SF and some at SG?
...and I didn't even find a space for Head, whose reportedly been aces in this system at camp. We've really got to find a way to deal with this unbelievable overflow at guard. This roster is comprised of 11 guys that have been or should expect to be regular rotation players, and that's omitting Deke, Butler, and Brooks. I can't think of the last time I've seen a roster like this. You've got 240 player minutes per game. Let's say Yao and McGrady account for 70. Scola and Francis 50. Mike James and Battier 40. Hayes and Head 30. That leaves 50 minutes to be dished for Bonzi, Alston, Brooks, Butler, Deke, etc. And that's already a stretch - expecting Francis to be good with 25 mpg. Nobody expecting 30+ minutes a game is going to be happy. Yao + super smallball might be a possibility: Yao - McGrady/Battier - Bonzi/McGrady - Francis/James/Head - James/Alston/Brooks Evan
that the franchise has a pretty sick drive to the hoop? better than james and can create more shots for teammates with that skill on this team? at least as far as passing goes... as for defense, francis wins hands down with steals but that doesn't tell the whole story. i remember francis being a pretty good team/help defender. arguing who's better with stats? francis wins hands down, but it's not just stats. francis has proven himself the better player so far. even if the past few seasons were downers for him in NY/ORL. it's not like anyone knew who mike james was before he was like 28. francis is like 29 NOW. i dunno man, i watched alot of games with both players... francis is the better player. for one he has led his team to the playoffs before. mike james is more of an agressor, especially on offense. but who needs that with yao and mcgrady on the court? wouldn't we want to save that for the second unit? i mean they'll all play together during certain stretches of time... i just think francis is the more talented/proven player. and your starting 5 has to be your best 5 guys. EDIT: and if you saw the game against the hornets tonight, you'll realize MIKE JAMES DOESn'T EVEN PASS THE BALL for hells sake! so francis definately wins in that department...
it's not about your best 5 guys, it's about having the best chemistry on the court. a blind man can see that james and rafer complement t-mac much better than francis does.
maybe if you wouldve watched the game you wouldve seen james did very well with t-mac and yao. he only hogged it in garbage time when the scrubs were in.
Why not? James has shown in his short stint with us that he can play well starting or off the bench together with Tmac and Yao. So he likes to break some plays, so what? If you ask me, as great as Tmac played, if James hadn't come in and gunned down Jason Terry during the first game of the Dallas series, we wouldn't even have won it. At this point, I'd say Alston and James have shown that they can co-exist with 2 stars more than Francis has. Bear in mind that Francis couldn't even handle co-existing with 2nd-tier players like Marbury and Crawford, with a steady supply of backup minutes, who's to say he can defer to McGrady and all the other weapons we have on the floor now?
It was weird. It seemed like Alston and TMac almost froze Francis out when they were on the court together. Francis was only out there five minutes and he played the 2 while he was out there so I will withhold judgement. One thing is for sure, Francis still has his sick ups.
great post wingz0 a lot of people forget how great mike james played against dallas two years ago. he gave us HUGE buckets when we needed them.
Exactly. In the 2nd half with the Yao/Tracy/Shane glued to the bench, a lot of the cutting disappeared and the offense degenerated into post ups and isolations. The players often stood still and watched the ball instead of trying to get open. SF struggled while he was in there. I guess this is why things were quiet about him during training camp. The dunk was great. If he gets in the flow of things we have a major asset on our hands.
oh dont be so paranoid. noone was freezing anyone out. in fact alston passed it to a trailing francis on a fast break when he couldve easily had a layup. t-mac passes to open players, players who move and cut. if francis isnt getting the ball then hes not moving well enough.
Gonna take time to gel guys. I don't think Francis or any of them have gotten this new offense in a weeks time. That's expecting a bit much. Adelman is going to have his hands full on teaching this system to these guys and then actually implementing it so these guys are smooth and don't have to think too much and react by instinct. When it's all said and done it's going to be a thing of beauty
