James is not a pass first pg, and he will get a big contract soon. It's impossible for rox to spend too much given TMac and YM's max. Alston will shine next season when tmac comes back healthy. We don't ask a lot for pg because tmac distributes the ball well, so bring the ball over to the other half court with less to, ok passing skill, and ideally, not bad at throwing 3s are on top of the list.
This argument about whether James or Alston is rather pointless because neither of them are the type of point guard that will make this team more competative in the West. That said, did anyone catch what Bill Walton had to say about Alston's mental makeup? If he's right then the Rockets will still need to look for a PG to go along with the other players they need to get in order to match up against the teams in the Western Conference.
Anyone who doesn't wait to see what a PG can do with an established, healthy team is making judgements w/ incomplete info. Rafer has shown that he can rack up assists with starters on the floor. He'll be great, imo. If we plan on having another season of Rockets HMO then yeah, James would be more effective, but we would never have paid him anyway so it's just a silly topic.
I don't know how injuries to other players cause Alston to clang open jumpers, miss lay-ups and play EZ-PASS defense.
actually in the February, the only month we were more-less healthy, Rafer averaged 10.6/3.8/8.2. i wouldn't go that far like saying he'll average double-double next season, but he could again be that 10/4/8 guy, and IMHO that's great. as for James, i'm really curious how will he play AFTER he signs his big contract.
I assume you are not aware of my debunk of Feb fallacy in another thread, since you are a rookie. Anyway, anyone want to bet RA averaging a double double, or even 10 ass per game next season, I'm willing to take on the bet. I'm not saying RA is a bad player. He's servicable, in certain situations. But he's not that all world pass-first, champ-caliber player.
no, i'm not aware... but i'm assuming it was about not-so-tough February schedule. but that doesn't change the fact that Rafer takes reasonable playmaking load off T-Mac, and that's something i like and think its neccessary for our success. and BTW i'm not aware of your 'debunk of Feb fallacy in another thread' b/c i don't read these forums in & out, not b/c i am a rookie. i've been more-less regular reader here for about a year now but i wasn't able to register b/c there's no Paypal here in Croatia. to convince you that i'm familiar with these forums, i'm just gonna list some stuff that i wouldn't possibly know of i was a 'true rookie': inknown commodities Sura faints tigermission1 vs pgabriel nobody said that, the point of this thread is James vs Alston, and IMHO Rafer is the guy for this team. of course there are better PGs, but we can't have it all...
Congratulations on your "most knowledgable rookie award". Actually people said that. Comparing him to all-star PGs and all. Actually, suggesting he will average double double is close to saying "he's that kickass PG". No, the trade talk is not just Alston vs James, It's also about if RA is THE PG, or just someone fairly replacable.
thank you sir, its an honour. sorry, i guess i should have said 'i didn't say that'. for the record, i'm not one of those who consider Rafer an all-star PG but i think he's a good fit for our team... IMHO we just need to add someone who is capable of giving us quality 20-25MPG since i don't think Rafer should be playing huge minutes. i'm thinking something like what Damon Jones played behind TJ Ford in Milwaukee during 03-04 season. okay, i was just strictly on topic.
Crna Gora (soon indipendet i hope!).I've been visiting this forum for a while but I couldn't register 'till now.How do you watch Rockets games?
sweet. hope you enjoyed European championships last summer, from what i heard from ppl who went to Podgorica, organization was great there. as for the games, well, at my uni occasionally i d/l some games off torrents guys post here. and channel 2 of Slovenian national TV usually runs one NBA game a week. so situation is not too rosy... BTW i hope you'll obtain your independency soon.
Mike James is a better defender and a better scorer. I also think he is better at attacking the rim. He is a threat offensively. He has a high motor and is mentally tough. Alston's biggest asset is his ability to pass the basketball and set up the offense for Yao and Tmac. My question, is this enough to make up for what we lost with James? Right now it is not. We'll see what the future holds.
It's funny how, while the cackling continues over here, Raptors fans are already sick and tired of Mike James. Guess what their chief complaint is? He hogs the ball too much, thinks he's a superstar and won't give the ball to Bosh and Villanueva. I wonder how many of you clamoring for him to be here would be whining if Yao was the victim of that today.
What relevance does this have? Just because you can find a bunch of whining raptors fans, how does that solve the fact that Alston can't shoot, can't run a break, and plays lazy defense? How does it reflect on the fact that this team has two primary "playmakers" and is in desperate need of shotmakers? Honestly, if that's what you guys are down to, finding a bunch of b****y Raptors BBS posters (let me guess, all of them spouting well-intentioned cliches about pass first point guards - how refreshing) in order to distract from his sh-tty performance - you might as well just give it up.
so now mike james is supposed to defer to villanueva? chris bosh is averaging six points higher this year, he averages three more shots than he did last season in two more minutes and he is shooting a better percentage. how is mike james holding him back exactly?
