[外電] Wolves hope James' role as sixth man lifts offense
http://www.startribune.com/511/story/1027683.html
For 50 games, Mike James was supposed to be Jason Terry.
For the past six, and from here on out, he is supposed to be Jerry
Stackhouse. Or is it Devin Harris?
The Dallas model of team-building has been cited more than a few times over
the past 12 months or so in the Timberwolves' front office, to the point of
occasionally making player-to-player comparisons. For instance, Dirk Nowitzki
vs. Kevin Garnett -- is one significantly better than the other? And which
would you choose?
From there, they'd go right down the list by position: Josh Howard vs. Ricky
Davis. Erick Dampier vs. Mark Blount. Greg Buckner vs. Trenton Hassell.
Differences? Sure. But differences worth 21 victories in the standings, the
gap between Dallas' 47-9 record and the Wolves' 26-30 mark?
"No," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said after practice Monday. "That's where
they have taken off. I want our chemistry to be better. I think it can be
better. I'm not looking at them for whether they're overachieving or not.
Should we be better? Yes."
Said Davis: "We match up great on paper. On paper, it's A+, A+. But it's
about getting a team chemistry and guys all being together. That's the most
important part."
One matchup that was supposed to be closer was at point guard, where Terry
and James can be classified as veteran scorers who shoot first, pass second
and manage to get the job done. On paper, anyway. James averaged 20.3 points
last season while shooting 46.9 percent with 5.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds as
his Toronto club finished 27-55. Terry was at 17.1 points, on 47 percent
shooting with 3.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds for a Mavericks team that went to
the finals.
The Wolves signed James to a four-year, $23.4 million deal last summer -- the
Mavericks were one of the teams looking at him as a backup -- then got about
half the production it hoped for. So now James (11.0 ppg on 42.4 percent
shooting) comes off the bench, getting a taste of the sixth-man role handled
in Dallas by Stackhouse or, more recently, Harris.
For a couple of nights, he even played like it, scoring 20 points at
Washington in the first game back from the All-Star break, then getting 17
(15 in the first half) against Charlotte the next night. But James hasn't
reached double figures in his other four games off the bench, so there
clearly is room for growth. Stackhouse averaged 13.0 last season and 11.4
this season used primarily off the bench, and last week Harris had games of
17 points against Miami and nine points, seven rebounds and four assists off
the bench against Denver.
"Mike has become more aggressive in coming off the bench for us," Wittman
said. "I like what I've seen since we've made the change. He's gotten his
aggression back offensively."
Said Kevin McHale, the team's vice president of basketball operations and a
two-time Sixth Man Award winner early in his NBA career: "With the first
unit, with Ricky [Davis] and Kevin [Garnett], [if] you come off the bench,
you end up being the first option instead of the second or third or fourth.
It's better for you."
James declined to be interviewed Monday, so he might not be sold on the role.
But Davis served as Boston's sixth man for almost three seasons and found the
fun in it.
"The sixth man is usually an energy guy, a guy who can score and get the
rhythm of the game going," Davis said. "Doc [Rivers, Celtics coach] had me
going in as sixth man in Boston, and it was a great fit, me coming in with
spark. Some people might have an ego with it. A lot of guys in the NBA have
been starters all their lives. Some guys adjust to it better than other."
Still, there's that great incentive of being able to shoot often against the
other team's second unit, right?
"I lick my chops against the first unit," Davis said.
Well, James used to, which was why this switch was made.
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