Don't you think if the rockets hadn't traded james for alston they'd be in a much better situation. mike James would have been the third scorer this season. he's had a few 30 point game i believe this season, way more than rafer is capable of.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Johnnybrasco:</div><div class="quote_post">Don't you think if the rockets hadn't traded james for alston they'd be in a much better situation. mike James would have been the third scorer this season. he's had a few 30 point game i believe this season, way more than rafer is capable of.</div> I think we would have been better off, but that wouldn't change our injury situation. I still don't think we'd have been a playoff team, but maybe we'd have 18-22 wins or so.
I agree, Rafer has been a good scorer as of late. But those are from open 3's and he isn't the pure point guard he was paid to be. I watched the heat game and he scored well but when he brought the ball up he just ran full speed up the court like speedy gonzalez and many times worries rockets fans by almost turning it over. he's no playmaker or point guard. therfore james is still a much better player/scorer
Well for this year it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, instead of having a 15-28 record they could have had 18-25 or something like it. As well Rafer's contract is longer and he is a couple years younger. Mike James probably will opt out this season and if he was going to leave Houston, then it was a good move. If he was going to stay in Houston, then it would have been better to keep him.
Mikes James has been playing very well this season, but it's not like we totally got gipped by acquiring Alston. He's had a pretty serious injury and is still recovering from it. James isn't any more of a playmaker than Alston, and with all the injuries, it's not like James could have carried the team when Yao and TMac were out. Hindsight is 20/20, let's not dwell on it.
Mike James is doing well because no one on the raptors is good enough and can't create their shot like Mike james can. Alston averaged 14 points a game last year and James is averageing 16.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">Mike James is doing well because no one on the raptors is good enough and can't create their shot like Mike james can. Alston averaged 14 points a game last year and James is averageing 16.</div> Exactly!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting JuLiO-R-:</div><div class="quote_post">If Mike James stayed in Houston he would have gotten injured.</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TmacGarnett:</div><div class="quote_post">Mike James is doing well because no one on the raptors is good enough and can't create their shot like Mike james can. Alston averaged 14 points a game last year and James is averageing 16.</div> Alston played well for us last year, however he took to many threes and didn't have as strong a drive as James does. James is averaging 16.9 @ .469 FG% and .442 3FG%. He has been hitting a lot of late game 3s while being covered, the way Sam Cassell or Billups do, although they do it more often. Rafer was shooting .357 3FG% for us, so there was room for improvement there. I would say when Rafer chooses to be a distributor he is better than James in that aspect, which is why he had 6.4 apg while Mike James only has 5.1 apg in about the same amount of time. I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't merely a difference in 3 ppg of the impact of the pgs. I think the way the deal could have really helped the Rockets it that Rafer is younger by a couple of years and has a long affordable contract. As well he can be entertaining if he is let off the coach's leash.
Mike James is way ahead of Alston for two things: His defense, and his contract. Besides crazy streetball tricks, Mike James is better at Rafer Alston in pretty much every aspect except for passing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">Mike James is way ahead of Alston for two things: His defense, and his contract. Besides crazy streetball tricks, Mike James is better at Rafer Alston in pretty much every aspect except for passing.</div> I really don't think that way, Alston is not a bad defender, and he can shoot like James, and penetrate much better then Mike... he can control the offense very very good, create an open look better then Mike James, and he's very very fast, and he got some tricks from the streetball and every simple pass from him its something you will never see from other player. TmacGarnett was right, in Toronto it's just different story, Alston did so good last year with 14 and 7 on the stat... Alston is great player for us beacuse he can play with Tmac and Yao very well, he didn't take many bad shots with Tmac and Yao on the court, Alston can be a great roll player in Houston, Mike james is playing now with the team who got 81pts from one player in one game, it's not a team to compare to Houston, he is the second on their team after Chris Bosh, so he could make those shots for them, but Alston is a better player to play with in the high levels.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">penetrate much better then Mike</div> Actually, Mike James is much better at getting to the rim. His crossover is very lethal and he has the strength to finish around the basket. Alston uses his quickness, and if you observe closely, his crossovers don't really have any effect on deking out his defender. When he bulls into the lane, he's usually very wild and often loses it. However, when Alston does penetrate, he's pretty good at drawing all defenders to him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Alston is not a bad defender</div> Uh, yeah he is. I mean, Tyronn Lue was toying with him for gods sake. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">he can shoot like James, and penetrate much better then Mike</div> Yeah, he can shoot, but Mike James is way more efficient than Rafer. Also, Mike James can get into the lane just as good as Alston <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">he can control the offense very very good, create an open look better then Mike James</div> He may be more of a pure PG and a better passer, but that's when he feels like. Some nights he'll give you 8-10 assists, other nights he'll chuck up six 3 pointers and have 3 assists. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">and he's very very fast, and he got some tricks from the streetball and every simple pass from him its something you will never see from other player.</div> Who cares if he can do streetball tricks? That has nothing to do with anything. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TmacGarnett was right, in Toronto it's just different story, Alston did so good last year with 14 and 7 on the stat</div> Key word their is stats. He might've put up good assist numbers, but you had to watch him last year to see why Raptor fans were so frustrated with him. He ignored Bosh a lot of the time looking for his own shot, and always shot with 17-20 seconds left on the shot clock. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Mike james is playing now with the team who got 81pts from one player in one game</div> And Kobe Bryant was brought up for what reason? <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">it's not a team to compare to Houston, he is the second on their team after Chris Bosh, so he could make those shots for them, but Alston is a better player to play with in the high levels.</div> Houston might be a better team, but Toronto's record is pretty decieving. They lost a lot of tight games this year (they finally won in the clutch against Sacramento on sunday), and could easily have an extra 3-5 wins if they didn't cough up leads late in the game. IMO, it's no contest, Mike James gives you tough defense, shoots more efficiently, and will give you 7 assists every now and then. He might force shots sometimes, but isn't as bad as Alston was/is.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">Uh, yeah he is. I mean, Tyronn Lue was toying with him for gods sake. Yeah, he can shoot, but Mike James is way more efficient than Rafer. Also, Mike James can get into the lane just as good as Alston He may be more of a pure PG and a better passer, but that's when he feels like. Some nights he'll give you 8-10 assists, other nights he'll chuck up six 3 pointers and have 3 assists. Who cares if he can do streetball tricks? That has nothing to do with anything. Key word their is stats. He might've put up good assist numbers, but you had to watch him last year to see why Raptor fans were so frustrated with him. He ignored Bosh a lot of the time looking for his own shot, and always shot with 17-20 seconds left on the shot clock. And Kobe Bryant was brought up for what reason? Houston might be a better team, but Toronto's record is pretty decieving. They lost a lot of tight games this year (they finally won in the clutch against Sacramento on sunday), and could easily have an extra 3-5 wins if they didn't cough up leads late in the game. IMO, it's no contest, Mike James gives you tough defense, shoots more efficiently, and will give you 7 assists every now and then. He might force shots sometimes, but isn't as bad as Alston was/is.</div> Mike James wasn't goin to opt out if he had a good season with rocks..he wasn't greedy. Rockets would've offered him a good deal if he played well. But it's jvg's mistake <font color="red">Watch for inflammatory comments. ~Locke</font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mansunz:</div><div class="quote_post">no regrets for swapping mike james for rafaer. Mike james shot selections are erractic i would say.</div> And yet he shot 44% last year (39% on threes), and is at 47% this year (44% on threes), all much better than Alston's percentages. If he can shoot significantly better while taking tougher shots, I think that says a lot about how much better he is, offensively. We could use a guy like that when the shot clock is running down and we need someone to create a shot for themselves.
