<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Toronto Raptors have traded troubled point guard Rafer Alston to the Houston Rockets for point guard Mike James. Alston, who signed a six-year deal with the Raptors before last season, was involved in several controversies last season. He threatened to quit the team and the NBA after a Dec. 3 game in Boston and was suspended by the Raptors for two games for conduct detrimental to the club after he walked out during a practice. Alston averaged 14.2 points and 6.4 assists in 34 minutes per game last year.</div> Source
^If you watched any Raptors games you will notice that Skip never threw an alley-oop to anyone...even Vince Carter. I don't see how Houston is a better system when you already have people who dominate like Mcgrady and Yao. Rafer constantly needs the ball in his hands to make plays. I don't want to hate but I think Houston made a bad trade. Mike James is the better player to play in a structured system. Rafer did not show in Toronto that he was capable of doing that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Beardo:</div><div class="quote_post">This oughta be a much better system for Skip to play in. Alston throwing oops to T-Mac...wow.</div> Houston isn't a good system for Skip at all or vice versa. Alston needs the ball to be effective, while on the Rockets, T-Mac handles it for the majority of time. Besides, Skip is a below average defender and shoots alot; I honestly don't see how he is a good fit in Van Gundy's defensive-oriented, slow-it-down style.
The only winners here are the Raptors. They get a solid point guard, who can actually run an offense. This should be good for Bosh
I love the deal...I agree that mike james was a very talented and tem player but I like Alston's style. I believe he can contribute and give us what we need AND we could also get J-Will still
[quote name='TheMegaGreg']The only winners here are the Raptors. They get a solid point guard, who can actually run an offense. This should be good for Bosh[/QUOTE This is <u>not</u> Mike James and he won't pass to Bosh anymore than Rafer did.
If Alston can harness some of that attitude, this could be a slam dunk for the Rockets. I like Mike James. This trade should work out for both teams but the Rockets clearly got the better of the trade.
I think both teams win in this trade. Mike James i think is underrated, he could ball and Rafer Alston is also a good player. THe Rockets get a decent PG that can push the ball up the court fast, can score, i love it for the Rockets man. The Raptors everyone just keep ripping, and i just dont listen to all these analysts ripping the Raps. They got a bomb squad, they got Bosh whos only gonna get better. Rose can be the leader of this team, Peterson gonna do his thing, and i think ALvin WIlliams might come back so they wont do so bad man. I think they can sneak in the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trueplaya4real:</div><div class="quote_post">I think both teams win in this trade. Mike James i think is underrated, he could ball and Rafer Alston is also a good player. THe Rockets get a decent PG that can push the ball up the court fast, can score, i love it for the Rockets man. The Raptors everyone just keep ripping, and i just dont listen to all these analysts ripping the Raps. They got a bomb squad, they got Bosh whos only gonna get better. Rose can be the leader of this team, Peterson gonna do his thing, and i think ALvin WIlliams might come back so they wont do so bad man. I think they can sneak in the playoffs.</div> Alvin Williams will be key. He may be a bit rusty, but down the stretch he will be a big factor in the Raps success.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Richy-Rich:</div><div class="quote_post"> This is <u>not</u> Mike James and he won't pass to Bosh anymore than Rafer did.</div> err...yes he will. their two different styles of play answers that alone. rafer is a shoot first point guard, where james, is more of a pure point guard who can score. a common complaint among raptor fans, is that rafer didnt pass the ball to chris enough. not too sure what you meant by "this is NOT mike james" im pretty sure it IS mike james lol
No, Mike James is NOT a pure point guard...at all...he looks to shoot first and pass a distant second...he can score, penetrate and shoot, but he cannot run an offense effectively, nor can he make his teammates better...he's a 2-guard in a 1's body... second, players of JVG's have all attested to the fact that Van Gundy wants to run at every possibility and get easy baskets...last year, nor the year before, they didnt have the cast to do that because their defense slacked because no one would make an effort to get back...this year, they brought youth, quickness, and height, and I definitely feel the Rockets will run a lot more this year...following the acquisition of David Wesley, the team averaged 98 ppg (opposed to 87) and 22 assists per game (opposed to 19)...
Alston is much more of a pure point guard than James, as he can distribute the ball better than him. But that doesn't mean Alston is that much of a better player. James is a solid defender, and is consistent from the floor. I agree though that Alston can become a solid 1 guard IF JVG can control him from showboating.
I don't know about this. Skippy has never really worked well under a "systematic" setting. He is a streetball legend, and a damn good one at that, but that is how his game is based you feel me? So structured ball is a change for him. If you guys were like me, when I heard about skip gettin into the league I was expectin soooo much from him, but NBA ball is really hard for skip to make his game. Skip has to have to ball to make anything happen. And ontop of that, if he has the ball, he can't do any tricks so Im sure that throws him off too.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Houston:</div><div class="quote_post">No, Mike James is NOT a pure point guard...at all...he looks to shoot first and pass a distant second...he can score, penetrate and shoot, but he cannot run an offense effectively, nor can he make his teammates better...he's a 2-guard in a 1's body... second, players of JVG's have all attested to the fact that Van Gundy wants to run at every possibility and get easy baskets...last year, nor the year before, they didnt have the cast to do that because their defense slacked because no one would make an effort to get back...this year, they brought youth, quickness, and height, and I definitely feel the Rockets will run a lot more this year...following the acquisition of David Wesley, the team averaged 98 ppg (opposed to 87) and 22 assists per game (opposed to 19)...</div> Totally with you on this one. Having had the good fortune of watching Mike James up close for a year, I can tell you, this man is nowhere near a pure point guard. Looking for your own shot in an offense starring Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis, and taking minutes from rookies is pretty much career suicide in Boston, and James vehemently strived to do so. Sure, I guess it could have been that he just wanted out of Boston, but I'd say we did pretty well in the deal we made to get rid of him.
