TMac started the game very aggressive, and it reminded me of the game against the Mavs when Yao wasn't playing ... Just like that game, the rest of the players had a hard time getting in the flow of the game and we ended up losing in the end ... I've noticed that the players have a better time synchronizing and staying involved if TMac starts getting aggressive in the midst and tail end of the game rather than the start of the game ... I don't know why this is , maybe another reason to run more screens and post plays to begin the game, maybe that'll keep the rest of the guys contributing ...
Good observation. I noticed this as well. When Tracy goes off, it usually means others are taking a backseat. We should runs some plays for others in the beginning. Tracy can get his shot off anytime anywhere so we should make it a priority to involve others first.
This really is a phenominal observation. Perhaps Tracy's role in the beginning should be to just keep us in the game and put things on our role players.
This is usually the reason why tmac doesn't like to go off in the beginning of the game. B/c when he starts to get hot and starts going off, his teammates end up just standing around, watching him play. He knows he has to get his teammates going first in order to win. That's why we didn't really see "Kobe-like" performances from him during the season.
If by aggressive, you mean driving to the basket, you're wrong. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/shotchart?gameId=270426026 Go to that link. On Houston's drop down menu, select Tracy McGrady, and then click on the 1st quarter tab. What do you notice? Look where T-Mac made those shots. Except for one of them, those were all just jumpers! The same jumpers he's been taking all game and every game. Lets face it, he has to make his jumpers. He usually does when we need it most like in Game 1 and 2. If he makes them, I guess he's being "aggressive". If he's missing, then he's "not aggressive". T-Mac started the game going 5-6 from the field. After that, he went 4-17. It's all about making shots. Don't get me wrong though... T-Mac missing is not what cost us. He wasn't exactly shooting well in the first 2 games. We lost tonight because of TURNOVERS. If you really want to know how aggressive he's being, look at his free throw numbers. He had 8 attempts tonight. Not bad, but we need more.
You can contrast this by looking at how the team performs when Yao starts hot ... I think the team play is overall better when Yao starts aggressive ... given that TMac can rise over anybody anytime, I prefer establishing the post player first and then moving out to the perimeter shots and adding in McGrady's tough jumpers and driving capabilities Let's see what happens in game 4 ... I'm confident we take both games 4 & 5 and wait for the Mavs
Well, if we did the same thing to start a game each time, opposing teams could/would key on that. I say, we focus on getting some easy shots to fall. Layups/mid range shots for Rafe/Luth/Shane/Juwan, Yao/TMac's shot WILL come & they'll get theirs.
I'm pissed that they stopped going to Tmac and wanted to get Yao in the game. JVG needs to learn to go with the hot hand until it stops being hot. However, Tmac is his own worst enemy, when the jumper is not falling, he refuses to go to the bucket.
Tmac needs to back up his talk for once. I'm sick of his crappy shot selection and fear of taking it to the rack. He cost the rockets last game with his terrible decision making.
well, game 3 was the first game in this series where in tmac was hot early.. when he got out and got back in, he already lost his rythym.. jvg should have let him play longer.. and when we have a chance to get a comfortable lead, rest tmac and let the role/bench execute their offense.. in nights where he's missing early, he should be playmaker instead of a jumpshooter..
I think the reason is simple: T-Mac spent too much energy on offense early on in the game that he got tired in the second half. When Yao got hot early, T-Mac could sort of conserve his energy and got off in the 4th quarter. But yesterday nobody was hitting anything so he had to step up early, which exhausted him....And Yao got tired in the fourth quarter anyway. Therefore the loss.
Getting tired for throwing jumper? I think not. T-mac just gotta go to the basket strong & draw foul rather then just settling for jumper late in the game. Yao was having a bad game, but atleast he was drawing foul on a regular basis.
seriously. if the reason tmac went cold is because he got tired from being hot in the first half, then we have problems. dude should be able to play 35-40 quality minutes a game without losing his legs and missing all his jumpers. this is the nba. he's probably just in a shooting slump, along with the entire rockets team, and is waiting to shoot himself out of it. we'd all like to see him attack the rim more, but you take the good with the bad with a guy like tmac. how many times do we see him randomly step up and take a 3 that for anyone else at any other time would be a horrible shot, but then it goes in and suddenly we're on a roll. that's what he does. im fine with it, and dropping a few games here and there, as long as we're winning over the long run.
Get the team going 1st, if the team sucked like last night then you take over. Be that role, be that leader.
well stated, and I don't really care to see him dunk over people but you've got to mix it up ... oh well we have enough threads about that .... but I actually don't like too much action from mcgrady early on ... if you remember jordan used to let the game flow and start getting more aggressive towards the end of the game .. I think mcgrady's presence on offense should always be used to get everyone else looking dangerous, and then he can impose his will as the game proceeds so we don't have to watch 10 minutes of 0 points in the second half ...
