I disagree. How many times this season have we had only ONE player (or sometimes TWO players) that could score in a game in our 19 losses. Most of the time you need at least three players that can score to win. We haven't had that for most of the season. When Sura went down, we panicked and traded Mike James to get a 'pass first guard'. Since JVG's style involves few 'easy baskets', we end up with a lot of half court grind out possessions. Unless we're shooting lights out from the 3, most nights we we're down to TMAC being the only scorer, and only player that can create his own shot. He can't carry the team for 48 minutes every night. Rafer may yet turn out to be ok - but that remains to be seen. Mike James could shoot 3's, create his own shot, demonstrated toughness and was fearless. My hope is that between Luther and Rafer, (and maybe with some luck, a return of Sura), we get some of that back down the road...
So we traded him for a player with two last names. When you need a scorer, you need a James. When you need a playmaker and distributor, you need an Alston. We thought we had enough scorers. We were right in principle but wrong in practice: Our other scorers went cold or got injured. We thought we needed a playmaker and distributor. We were right, and Alston is doing that. Looking years down the road, he's the better fit.
That ain't my point. My point is, even if we suppose Rafer is the better player compared to James (which is very doubtful at this point), he played 11 games this season while Mike James played the whole season. Even if Rafer has TMac level talent (which he doesn't), he ain't worth **** unless he's on the court contributing.
I really liked MJ when he was here, that's for sure, and Alston shot like crap his first tour of duty before he was injured, but I think we should wait until the end of the season before we say who got the best of what. Obviously MJ is looking better, the dude is just what we needed in scoring with Yao and Tmac out, hell, he's got more guts than Alston does that's for sure. But the thought of MJ waving off tmac in the playoffs so he can get his own shot really rubbed me (and probably the coaching staff) the wrong way and ultimately lead to him being traded in my mind. Damn Yao and Sura, get back soon!
I bet thacabbage regret starting this thread prematurely after Alston played only two good games and before they played even head to head. I saw MJ playing quite a bit for Pistons, Bucks and Rox, and I know for sure he is a good shooter, he is quick and energetic. In the meantime I am just not sure about Alston. Right now the trade looks very bad. No matter how you want to spin it. JVG and some of you guys mistakenly think Rox scored too many points last season, thus trading a good shooter for a so called ball distributor is a good deal.
IMO, Rafer Still a Better Fit for Rockets Than James... Just my $0.02... I still think Rafer is the better fit for this team than James...Sure, it's easy to knock Rafer and say how we should have never traded James following this game, but we have to consider this: for what the team was made up of, Rafer is still a much better fit than MJ... James is a one-on-one, streaky, gifted offensive player...thats not what we needed when we made the trade...we had signed DA, re-signed JB, and even possibly had Luther, who if nothing, would have been a younger MJ (though he's turned out better, IMO)...so what we needed was a pure PG, which Alston has been...he doesnt turn the ball over (1.3 TO's in 32 mpg), and does a fine job of running the offense and knowing when and where to get guys the ball... I think once this team gets its full complement of players, we'll see Alston's true value...he's much more of an all-around talent than MJ (Rafer averages 9/4/4) and is also a better defender...the only thing MJ has over rafer is his offensive ability, which (once this team is at full health) will be of no issue... just thought I'd add my own thoughts on the issue...
I find myself wondering just how badly we really "needed" a "true point guard". Maybe Rafer will be able to show me just what that means, at some point. Right now, all I'm seeing is so-so scorers crapping their pants and dishing off the ball to someone else, sometimes passing up ridiculously wide open shots in the process. Right now, we don't need a "true point guard" so much as we need some players to sack up and take some damn shots. After all, you can't score if you don't shoot. In conclusion, passing is for corn and prunes. You win by scoring. Passing should not be an end in itself, except on the toilet.
What does that make Steve Nash? Phoenix wasn't so great until they signed Nash and Nash makes everyone around him look like an AS.
Nash's game is more than just passing. Sure, he puts up a crapload of assists... but that's also because he is surrounded by people who <b>aren't</b> afraid of taking shots. Let's also not lose sight of the fact that Nash's scoring is pretty darn impressive in its own right. The past five games, he's scored anywhere from 14 to 28 points, in addition to ringing up anywhere from 6 to 22 assists. Nash is also last season's MVP, and a likely candidate to be <b>this</b> season's MVP. He's the exception that proves the rule, in my opinion.
The point I'm trying to make, is it seems the Rockets suffer from too many passes... or, perhaps more accurately, too many useless passes. Nash's passes are effective; that's why they're on his box score as assists.
That's Van Gundy's fault. He tells the team to pass up a good shot to get a better shot. He tells them to wind the clock down. That results in ugly, unnatural basketball that injures players. Van Gundy is an evil force that corrupts and pollutes basketball, a free-flowing beautiful, athletic game, into a sludge monster wrestle match. His teams will always be less efficient than their talent.
Rafer Alston has more all-around talent than Mike James and the supporting evidence is his stat line of 8.3, 4.5 & 3.9? That's significantly better in what respect? An ancient David Wesley playing out of position without one or the other of TMac and Yao is putting up comparable numbers. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rafer_alston/index.html http://www.nba.com/playerfile/mike_james/index.html http://www.nba.com/playerfile/david_wesley/index.html You're entitled to your opinion but there is very little difference in their stats and James is unquestionably a better penetrator and scorer. Which is why I don't understand how you can say Alston is a better defender when James just torched him. The one and only argument of Alston being "a better fit" has yet to play out. I was never convinced that was a correct assumption from Day 1 of the trade. I'd like to be surprised by Alston..but I'm not optimistic.
I agree. Lets wait until Rafer has a chance to play with both Yao and Tracy before we start evaluating who got the better end of the deal. That's what we brought him here for. When we have both of our horses out there I think the trade will make more sense.
i think once yao ming comes back, we'll see how beneficial it is to have alston's passing game. right now we're a team of jump shooters, no one's posting up.
With a healthy Yao Ming... With Stro playing any where close to his potential... With TMac with a healthy body... With a healthy Sura and JB... [size=-2](you know, the stuff we were forseeing in the summer)[/size] ...we don't need a better penetrator and scorer. That's why we traded James because he was UNNATURALLY taking shots away from everybody else. If we get the whole team back together, AS IT WAS DESIGNED, then and only then will we see the benefit of Alston. Right now it looks like a bad trade because the Rockets desperately need another scorer. But with a healthy team, we can get our points and don't need James jacking up shots.
Too many useless passes. That is exactly why we need a real PG. Tracy is the only decent passer on the team and hopefully Alston will take some of the pressure off him. If Alston can pass the ball to others in effective scoring position (maybe 8-10 APG), with very few turnovers and score enough to keep teams honest, Mike James will be the forgotten man. MJ's play tough defense and is fiery, but his inconsistency on offense last year drove me crazy. 2-3 games in a row he would miss a bunch of wide open shots, the next game he is unstoppable. And while he was in the game, the flow of the offense for the other players was disrupted because he hogged the ball. Plus, MJ committed his share of boneheaded plays too. It's all up to Rafer. If he flounders around like early in the season, bad trade. If he plays like he's capable of, this trade is a no-brainer and it will be obvious. I still appreciate the effort, heart, intensity and toughness MJ gave us off the bench last year. He is a superb backup PG.
I like Mike James, not because he can score at some given night. I like him because he wants to be a rocket player and play for win. I think He was very upset for out of Rockets. He showed so much energy while playing against us. On other side, Alston obviously was not ready to show the coach whom he had trouble with last night. It's not necessary his fault. He is a point guard. His success depended on his teammates shots. Only concern is Alsoton did not show what he talked, with energy. I wish he showed the same energy as james did, even he score less. Our plan is not designed for alston's show. But energy level is desire from the bottom of heart. Bye the way, I agree, Alston is still better fit to Rockets than James. Sure,if we knew we woudl have so many injuries, James may bring a few more win whenT-mac or Yao is out,but for long run, Alston is better.
