since when has anyone said they "love" mike james? he can somewhat create his own shot (which is in short supply on this team), he is an average to above average 3 point shooter, and he brings some athleticism to the backcourt (which is also in short supply). he also only makes a few million a year and is locked in for two more years. does he dribble too much on occasion? yes. does he look to shoot more than pass? yes. but if you're expecting a pass-first pg with the greatest decision making in the world, don't look to mike james. and if you're hoping he's going to be your "3rd scorer" then you're out of luck. he can bring it some nights and not have it others. that's why he's mike james and not mike jordan. he's a role player and i would say he's a better backup pg than most have and he comes fairly cheap. we could do worse than to keep him in that role next season. as for what happens to the team when he's on the court? well, i don't know the specifics, but the rockets are +11.9 when he's on the court and +2.3 when he's off. that's a +9.6 net plus/minus, good for second on the team. based on getting that for a few million, maybe we should love him.
Agreed, so what if he's not that much better then Sura - then why the love affair with Sura? For a meager salary plus the cost of a paltry second round pick - what's not to like, if not love.
I don't mind James too much, as I think he's playing (or i should say played) the kind of basketball that the team was desperately in search of, that being athletic attack-the-rim basketball. There is one thing I would like to ask those of you that know more about basketball than I, which is probably the majority of the members: I've seen James play around 2-3 times before he became a Rocket, so I had no idea, but how come everyone was saying FINALLY, A TRUE POINT GUARD! True point guard? What?
Mike tried to do too much in a couple of games, but he played well in more than just game 6. He played the best defense on Terry and Stackhouse than either Wesley or Sura, takes the ball to the basket and shoots a decent mid-range jumper. Is he a true PG? No, but neither is Sura or Wesley. If anyone is traded this offseason it's Wesley.
i'll tell you why i like him. defense and SPEED. our other guards DON'T have SPEED. if one thing beat us versus the Mavs it was our lack of speed. that's why i'd LOVE to keep him for next year. he's a very good role player.
Exactly. The guy is a back up point and a pretty good one. If they didn't have him Terry may have averaged 40, there would've been hardly any bench production and with Sura breaking down the Rockets would look closer to what they did at the beginning of the year. He's perfect for his role, scoring off the bench and providing back up help to Sura. He's the only guard who can consistently create his own shot outside of McGrady.
Because there's nothing wrong with being able to bring in a guy like 'the guys we traded away' occasionally. Like Cassell off the bench in the championship years. Just as long as he isn't your 'franchise', there's nothing wrong with a little energy for some minutes here and there.
Ok, I'm tired of the Cassell comparison. Cassell was a great passer and fantastic shooter who occasionally took boneheaded shots his first two seasons. He was also a good enough player that when packaged along with Robert Horry he brought back Charles Barkley. James is a streak shooter who occasionally makes a decent pass. His defense is one of the most overrated things I've ever seen. Other than game six of the playoffs when he actually pressured the ball, James has been overzealous and rarely shut any point guard down. During his first few games in Houston when he was shooting so hot that he looked like an All-Star, he still never passed the ball and usually stagnated the offense. Hey, I love rose colored glasses too. I actually thought we had the ability to make it to the finals this year, but that was my homerism at its best. When I look at Mike James, I see a guy who has talent and no brains. At his size and with his speed, he would seem to be a great fit for any team, yet he never sticks. Ask yourself why.
We don't get to a game 6 without Mike James. If anything we played him too little. Sura, despite his effort, was worthless in his physical condition by game 7 (including defense and his forte, rebounding) and Wesley needed more rest throughout. James was the guy who could have picked up some slack for those two before we got in those big holes. It was a fine play by Cat, just a great play by Shaq. Isn't that what you want in a 7th man (once we get another PF in here that is what he will be)? And I don't agree in the last part. A guy like Bullard or Padget kills you when they are missing shots, but James can still play defense, hustle and go to the hole. Do you think it was James or JVG who didn't not turn him loose earlier, I'll bet it was the latter who wanted him to settle back in the D with the rest of the guys most of the time. Mike James was a great pickup and will be a fixture as a back-up tweener guard as a Rocket. I would really be interested in the +/- ratio of him versus Sura and Wesley, I think he was really under used this series.
yeah, usually when a coach has a player that can pressure the ball, he tells him not to. Just like Van Gundy held Steve back from fast breaking. C'mon. Was he a good pickup? Absolutely! Should he automatically be a fixture for this team? Absolutely not! You test the market to fill your true needs. If a player comes along via a trade that would actually fill a need and the team is requesting a package including Mike James, you trade him. Simple as that.
I said this before, MJ can shoot you into the game or right out of it. He said himself he thinks his role on the team is as a Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson type so when he gets into the game he is looking to score, first and foremost. Maybe JVG can redefine his role on the team, but what you saw with MJ throughout the season and the playoffs is what you'll keep seeing from him. He's our most athletic guard so he'll always get major minutes against the faster teams. If we fill the backcourt with equally athletic guards, then MJ's significance is reduced and his quality of play will be more scrutinized. But right now, he's getting the benefit of the doubt because he is our most athletic guard.
James is one of those guys who can shoot you into a game, but then right out of it. I am generally happy to see him come into the game, but eventually anxious to get him out...Game 6 excepted.
Yeah Mike James can create his shots. It's good if he plays for the 2nd unit. But what I don't understand is: why is MJ playing when Yao is NOT on the bench? When you put those 2 on the floor, you kinda negate Yao's effect and waste his stamina, because Yao will never get the ball from MJ. And we all know that Yao's stamina is rather precious. People should put together a statistic that shows how many points per minute Yao scores when MJ is on the floor vs when MJ is not on the floor, or how many passes from MJ to Yao.
I agree...Wesley makes to much money for us to make a viable trade without him and have him come off the bench. He's probably our best trade asset, besides maybe draft picks. I think the James/Sura duo is good...they cover up each other's weaknesses. And without James, we would've been toasted in the Mavs series (imagine Rod Strickland or Moochie running the point).
He has been a career backup his whole career and an undrafted college player. You are who you are, he is not a star but a respectable backup SG. I have no complaints. IMO, we lost this series because we did not have Juwan. We got 6 ppg and 4 rpg out of the position during the playoffs, Juwan was capable of putting up 20/10 in a game and we sorely missed that. Wish we had him during the series, I would be watching Suns/Rox on Monday night/
