imo, mike james is being hated on way more than he deserves. way more. i've met some fans on the outside and they tell me how much they "hate" him, how he's a distraction for chris and things of that nature. personally, i don't understand how anyone could ever feel that way- especially at this juncture of his stay in toronto. you "hate" him? why? i just don't understand.
listen, i'm not mike's biggest fan. i'm sort of in speedy's boat in the sense that the value in what we do or don't do with him this summer is more important than re-signing him unconditionally. am i going to judge colangelo on that? yes. of course. is it going to make or break his tenure in toronto? don't really care that much.
but with mike, some of the things being said about him are, imo, the epitome of taking something for granted. seriously. he takes big shots and he certainly does take too many, but it doesn't end there. that is not all of mike james. if he weren't there, someone else would have to take the big shots- and then they'd get hated on for either not taking them or not making them. it's the same thing. at least mike understands that he is, at worst, the second scoring option on the floor and has no problems hoisting up mini-creations when he thinks they're needed. what's more, he has no problems missing shots. he also seems to have no problems missing especially big shots, and that's welcome in my world.
the culture around this team has been, imo, heavily influenced by mike's sheer presence. how else to explain it? i'm sure there are other factors but this team is not all that different from last year's in terms of personnel, yet competes on an entirely new level rather consistently. that should not be underestimated or underappreciated, imo. so when mike misses some important jumpers down the stretch of a couple of games, i won't be in line to hate on him myself. his value is bigger than that and i don't think we should use his occasional, obvious blunders as an excuse to vent our frustrations with losing.
peace
