Spot on. You really can never have enough shooters especially if you're a team like the Rox with two big individual threats.
This part is key. It's paradoxical due to Van Gundy's reputation, but we saw from last year that this team is at it's absolute best when they are playing at a reckless uptempo pace. When Tracy McGrady is allowed to come down on the break and shoot 3's with no regard for the shot clock, this team and offense thrives. All of the peices fit. McGrady is the most explosive scorer in the league. Yao cannot carry an offense on his own. In this style of offense, he is allowed to stay away from the play and then sneak in underneath the hoop as the beneficiary of a pass from McGrady. Alston pushes the break where Sura did last year and shoots the spot up '3' where Sura was a liability last year. These three players (Yao, McGrady, Alston) complement each other's talents perfectly. We cannot give up on this team. We saw what they did with a healthy McGrady and Yao going 5-1 on a tough road trip and we saw what Alston was able to do in the 2 game winning streak. The concern is whether it will be too late once Yao comes back, but it will be there. The challenge now is to find an athletic swingman and a physical power forward. Derek Anderson is a stop gap and Stromile Swift is not the answer. I have given up on Stromile Swift. They simply cannot allow the expiring contracts of Norris and Wesley to go unused if an opportunity to add some younger legs arises. It was foolhardy to think that players with such age like Sura, Barry, Mutombo, Wesley, Howard, and Anderson could stay healthy and play pivotal roles this year. I have no doubt that Alston can fill the point guard spot. He got his ass handed to him, but he fits this offense perfectly.
I would add in that I don't think the board has been so polarized on an issue since the Mobley-Dickerson debates.
This is nothing at all. You should see the Vince and David Carr debates. It's brutal. I have never seen so many absolute statements in my lfie.
Alston was brought in to be a more controlled playmaker much like Sura was. Alston has recently started doing that. In exchange for that the Rockets gave up a guard who looks to create his own shot as much if not more than for his teammates. But what I don't think anyone realized was that Sura's spark, energy and leadership would be missed more than his playmaking or being efficient at running the x's and o's. Mike James was someone who could fill that part of Sura's game, which on our team turned out to be the more valuable part. In the Toronto game, David Wesley was trying hard, putting in a lot effort, but the second team's energy didn't really receive the same lift it does when Sura, or James is in there sparking things. It is true that James might not compliment T-mac's game as well, but he could be that spark that is missing when T-Mac is on the bench or injured. I agree a lot with what Clutch, and Gater already posted, so I won't go into it more. I just think spark and inspiration or what we miss most from Sura. It isn't his shot, passing, defense, or anything else. Mike James was better able to carry that load for an injured Sura, than Alston is.
The last year of Rafer's contract is a team option, so if he isn't living up to the status of a $5.25M player in '09 they don't have to bring him back. 05-06 - $3,850,000 06-07 - $4,200,000 07-08 - $4,550,000 08-09 - $4,900,000 09-10 - $5,250,000 [Team Option] 5 yrs - $22,750,000
In my opinion, this trade was made for two reasons. The first was management simply panicking due to Sura's rather unexpected injury. The second being this elusive search we've had for a "true PG" to run our offense with the thought Alston might be a damaged goods/unmaximized potential type of natural PG that could be acquired relatively cheap. They probably reasoned that James, despite being the better player, was too much of a scorer rather than playmaker which wasn't an ideal situation to have with Sura out for an extended period of time. Also, let me point out the flip side to this argument before I get accused of using flawed logic. I do realize how ironic this is considering Sura isn't a natural PG either. But it certainly goes without saying how much better this team was with Sura in the lineup. He was more than efficient and played like a poor man's Jason Kidd. So in a nutshell, I think management made this trade in the hopes that Alston could pick up where Sura left but to also add a new dimension this team isn't used to having---a natural PG. Somebody with great court vision, a top notch handle and the quickness to add a new element to this offense we haven't had. ....and although I remain partial to James (same alma mater and one of my favorite players) I fully intend on giving Alston a fair shake before I start running & screaming for the hills. We'll just have to see what happens.
Here's my .02: CD was quoted to say that they did not look to trade James until Sura went down. So taking CD's words at face value (I don't know if we can ever do that ), this was a sort of a quick fix scramble. So we shouldn't expect it to be some premeditated grand scheme to make the team better long term. What's funny is that James was Sura's backup. Your starter is down, and you trade away his backup? The obvious answer is that they felt that James was not a playmaker. Alston filled a need that James could not fill. We already had a truck load of shooting guards (Wesley, Barry, Anderson, Head). What we needed was a "true PG" to lighten the playmaking burden of TMac. This sounded reasonable to me. What they didn't see was the injuries to Barry and Anderson. So trading for a playmaker was not a mistake. While it is true that we can never have too many shooters in light of the two stars we have, James is more of a scorer than shooter. We also thought that with Anderson onboard, we should have enough scoring power. (BTW, I still hate the preference of Bowen over Padgett in the summer signing.) And James was the most tradeable piece we had apart from Yao and McGrady. I didn't like the trade when it happened because I felt that we could do better. Alston had issues with his coach and had a long contract. It'd be very hard to trade him if he didn't work out. Besides, I am always skeptical about And-1 players coming to play the "real game" of NBA. I was warmed to Alston in the preseason because I saw flashes of what he could do to the team. He didn't do very well once the season started. But in the two games he came back, he did well again. In summary, I think the move for a playmaking PG was understandable. Whether the trade is a good one, we just have to wait for Alston to play more and the other injuries to heal up.
can we stop saying we traded him for this reason, or that reason, FACT IS HAD WE NOT MADE THAT TRADE (AND YES I KNOW MAYBE LOSE AT SEASONS END) WE WOULD BE A LOT BETTER OFF THAN WE CURRENTLY ARE. while he is being consistently putting up solid numbers, we are working with a handful of shobby guards. Having mike james wouldve helped us still compete despite the injuries to Tmac/Yao. THus far looks like a horrible trade, we can only hope that alston will prove that wrong but that's doubtful. no need to post on this topic anymore, people who bash james for ridicolous reasons when he is more productive than half our roster......and another 24,7,7 game for him today vs the nets.
Even with those great numbers, I don't see how he can help us compete. He can't even help Toronto compete after trading away alston. They have lost 23 games.
I questioned the trade when it happened but i won't disregard the reasons for the trade like Stunna and others do. For the love of puppies, quit living in the past. It's over and done with so why care what Mike James's numbers are. It's not going to bring him back or restructure his contract into a team option instead of a player option for next year. To those posting Mike James's numbers, where were your post when Alston was scoring and dishing in the Cleveland and Washington games? My Gosh a player has a bad game and some of you smell blood.
