As fans the more talent in the team the better. As someone said it was a good problem to have. But a good problem is a problem, chemistry wise, cap wise. Rox has 7 players (Rafer, Steve, MJ, Brooks, Head, Snyder, JLIII) who will compete for the 1-2 guards position, the number need to drop to 5, so who's going to be cut or traded? In addition to talent, I think three factors will be important for deciding who to move before the beginning of the season: team chemistry, cap space, and trade value. JLIII is a goner, as was openly requested by himself. Head and Steve Francis (3 million per year is an absolute steal) have the most trade value, so they can be traded any time if there are a significant player available. Therefore, Head and Steve are keepers. Trade or cut Snyder or Brooks won't help much to either team chemistry or cap space. Guys do not earn too much, and will ride pine probably all the season. So it's not urgent to move them. So the question is essentially who to move, MJ or Rafer? Both have been proved difficult to trade: Rox was shopping Rafer all summer with no avail; MJ 's trade value was equal to JHo's. Both have a big contract. It seemed that Rafer would not be a Rox again all summer long. It really surprised me how well Rafer played for the first two preseason games. No doubt Rafer runs the best offense than any other guard in the team. And he is the only pass-first guard in the team. Shouldn't Rafer be kept? MJ on the other hand, has not been very impressive. A ball-hog. With a lot of talented scorer in the lineup, a ball-hog is the last thing the team needs. Yes. MJ can drive, but Steve Francis can drive, too, even Brooks has some drive. Yes. MJ can shoot 3 ball, aren't there too many 3 ball shooters in the team. After all, if Steve Francis signed first, would Rox trade for MJ? My conclusion is, MJ should be traded. There must be reasons that he could not stay in any team for more than 1 year in recent years. I know it is too early, the season has not even started. But if chemistry issues arise and some one is put on the inactivated list, he would not be worth a dime.
Mike James would be PISSED!!! The guards we have now are great. We don't know how Francis/Brooks will work out for us so I don't see why the rush to trade away one of our guards
Pretty much a knee-jerk reaction thread. James' second stint as a Rocket is only two preseason games old. I'd wait a bit before I drop the hammer on MJ.
I wouldn't do that, right now the best thing is just keep all MJ, SF, and Rafer. I feel bad about how I said some bad things about Rafer earlier, tho I was with a playful attitude. Rafer really worked hard this summer and lvled up his game, I respect that.
The Rockets watched two years of Rafer Alston and concluded that they needed to bring in 2-3 additional point guards... ... and now you're thinking they're going to give that up after two preseason games?
Its pre-season, you can't judge a team based on pre-season solely. It is not a very good example of how teams are going to perform in the real season. For example Spurs and Suns, elite teams but are terrible in pre-season in recent years, as it's just practice. Rafer was playing not the best of teams, and he felt he had something to prove. I may be wrong, but in the regular season with not much to prove, could he be that great? Can't say, he is much of an inspiration, or a motivater, can he even motivate him self? Look what he did in the off-season?
Rafer has shot under 39 percent for his 8 year career and you guys want to drop MJ after two preseason games. What happens next year when Francis wants to bolt because of PT or money.
Did you even watch the game tonight?. james looked pretty good. very controlled and smooth. the offense was at it's most fluid when he was in there. mike james is a keeper. he looks far more controlled then he's last stint here. Francis, james and rafer give us 3 different type of Options. james a very, very good scoring combo guard. francis like james is another combo guard who can score, but he can also beat people off the dribble and put teams into foul trouble. Rafer gives us a very good "pure" point guard who can run the team wihout having to force the issue. i would put rafer in there with tracy and yao because he is such a great passer who can hit the players who are cutting off the ball. francis is best served to come off the bench and dominate the ball and be the 1st option off the bench. James gives us a long range bomber who can help punish teams who double on tracy or yao. This thread is pure nonsense....
I agree with you that the Rox won't give up MJ and keep Rafer for just two preseason games, but sooner or later, one out of Rafer, MJ and SF would have to be moved for the system to work. It was the prime reason why the Rox was desperately shopping Rafer. It seemed to me that Rafer's role can not be covered by any other in the team, while MJ's role overlaps significantly with SF's. If both Rafer and MJ keep playing the way they are playing, I do not see the reason of keeping MJ. Coach will have a tough job assigning minutes between Rafer, MJ and SF. I wish chemistry issue won't rise soon.
Up to this point, I think they still dont know which one of the 3 guards will fit their new offense system best, I think just like RA said, let them play out.
Obviously! The whole board can tell who's going to start, who should be traded, how bad Yao will suck in the high post and how many games TMac will miss because of injury. Hell, I can tell you how many wins they'll have, the number of technical fouls Steve Francis will get this year and the color of each and every sweater Keith Jones wears this season. I might even be able to tell you the exact Dow Jones average on the first day of the postseason. THAT is how powerful the first two games were.
we will trade away luther since MJ is just as good at long range and is a much better ball handler and defender.
Mike James is the best defender among all our point guards. He has the most energy among all our guards, and while Brooks did show some good quickness in being able to stop the post today, real NBA guards will be much stronger than that and we'll see that he is just overmatched still against the elite points in the league. We are going to be EXTREMELY glad we regained Mike James by midseason, just be patient. I couldn't have been happier with all our moves, up until we signed Francis, because now it's giving rise to stupid threads like these. Honestly, besides greater ticket sales, what does he bring to the table on our team? What can he do better than anyone else? The ONLY thing that is even debatable at this point, his dribble penetration, at best is slightly better than the ability of Mike James and Brooks, whereas his other typical PG skills are severely lacking (outside shooting and ball-handling). So we're left with this quandary. I wonder if Morey has the cojones to do the right thing.
MIke James won't be cut or traded since they paid that huge trade kicker to get him. Kinda funny actually, he didn't sign with us because he wanted a trade kicker, yet we traded for him and paid the trade kicker anyway. Besides, this thread is dumb.
You mean they watched two years of Rafer "under Van Gundy's inept offensive scheme" ..... Skip under a more free flowing offense would be 10x the player of the last two years.
Rafer looked pretty good under JVG's inept offensive scheme in last year's preseason also. Mike is a far more reliable scorer, and he can penetrate and dish just fine. Plus, the guy plays with intensity and fire. He's a great addition.
Two years UNDER VAN GUNDY. That is worth noting. And exactly how long was Mike James here before they decided to trade him (for Rafer) rather than go into the season with him as the starting point guard?
