At this stage in his career, I think the days of 25 points per game are over. But as we all know by know Tmac is a tremendous passer, regardless of size or position. He can still penetrate relatively well too. So what I'm thinking is.... Why don't we move Tmac to the point guard position/ or have be the "Magic Johnson" of the team who can score when he wants to, but his main role will be distributing and penetrating and kicking out like he has been doing so well. If thats the case, then Rafer could be the backup point guard-or better yet, we can trade him. We can trade him for a young serviceable shooting guard ( can't think of any right now though). We could also package him in a deal to move up around the lottery range and hopefully a guy like Budinger/Rush/ CDR/ and maybe-maybe-Eric Gordon (he might fall during measurements). I think that Tmac is just too complacent to get his team involved now (not that that's a bad thing necessarily). We should take advantage of that, so thats why I think we should trade for/ groom a good 2-guard beside Tmac and Yao. Then Tmac can inter-switch between the positions at will. Thats why I think Budinger can be good for us because he is also a very good passer, plus he can run and finish extremely well, especially on the break. Then we won't need Novak So, any of this sounds realistic to you guys? Feel free to add your own ideas. But don't bash me or each other please
Dude what? Do you disagree with my proposals? If so atleast make a valid argument for something or if you think it's stupid, be manly enough to point out why.
Point guards should look to exploit a fast break. Tmac very rarely leads a fast break even if the opportunity is there. Also, his decision making in regards to his shot selection is questionable. And he's not nearly fast enough to guard opposing point guards.
Agree about the fast break part, but he would not be asked to guard the opponents PG, just get a medium sized SG to play the other team's PG on defense. DD
Maybe if we had a scorer other than Yao and T-Mac, he could run PG. T-Mac still has a few good years left before he should be relegated to a secondary role. That would be interesting to see T-Mac as a starting PG for a good team in the latter years of his career though, he's capable of it.
I'm not saying he should necessarily play the PG position strictly, but he if we can get a good shooting guard or draft one, Tmac can focus more on facilitating, because obvioulsy his shooting is just too inconsistent and like the playoffs showed, he had to score and facilitate both at the same time, and with no viable second option, he got tired early on. Assuming Yao stays healthy, we have can him as our first option, with Tmac focusing on feeding him the ball without holding on to the ball too long. Thats why I think we need to have a good SG so that Tmac can focus one thing at a time.
who's going to guard the opposing team's point guard? i don't think tmac's primary position is point guard, but sure, he can do it sometimes...but i think it's better to have a ballhandler and facilitator and someone who can distribute to the ball with quickness and energy...
dude just avg 27ppg playing injured and was keyed on by the entire jazz defense. and he got better as the series got along. he might not have to score as much if we have yao back healthy and the development/improvement of scola/landry, but he's still capable. but like you said, his passing is his greatest strength right now. maybe it's better if we get a tmac that will avg 9 assists rather than 25+ pts.
I think he can stay with most point guards with his length and quickness (of course that means he has to actually try and play defense with some passion). For elite guards like CP3 we can always switch on defense and have Tmac guard the two guard as usual.
tmac is going to be more of a scorer next yr if the last 2 games are any indications but AT THE HIGH POST. with yao playing less at around 30 mins, look for tmac to resume the high post. when he's at the high post, he's both a scorer and passer.
Yes, I agree. I don't know why Rick doesn't use Tmac in the high post more often. That is where he is most potent (and always has been) there. I think he should also ISO on the baseline more, where he seems to always get something out of it, whether it be through his body control near the sidelines or in which case a foul ensues, so it seems that he always wins in those areas along the baseline.
he didn't have one in mind...one might argue if there is a mind that he uses...but he just pulled that statement from his anal fissure like the rest of his uninformed posts.
tmac operates there sometimes during the year. but that place is often occupied by big men so guards can cut. that's why he started yao out there, which failed. but then he put scola and other PFs there. eventually he put tmac there and he saw great things. the last 2 games of the utah's series -> 90% of tmac's plays were at the high post. again, many kings players (bobby and jon barry) said it takes 3 years to really understand the system and knowing strengths/weaknesses. we're getting there.
First of all. Your thread title says "Tmac as the starting point guard" and then you state in this post that "he should not play the PG position strictly." Sooo which one is it? You ask a bold question and make arguments to back it up and then you back off by saying something like " but not strictly." So basically you're saying he should just continue doing what he's currently doing correct? 2nd... Our need is a pure pg and it has always been for a pure pg. You know... the kind thats around the 6'3 height range, is quick, can penetrate, make plays, run fast breaks, guard the opposing pg, score when he needs to and knock down the 3 on a consistent basis You can't just turn an "inknown commodity" (Tmac who is a good playmaker by the way) into something he is NOT. Your main arguments are that Tmac's shooting is inconsistent and because he had to focus more on running the offense that he got tired sooner. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think T-mac would be dead tired if he were to chase a CP3, Tony Parker, Deron Williams around all game if you make T-mac a starting pg and hypothetically speaking if we drafted a shooting guard like you mentioned for example CDR or anyone else you want to insert. That leaves us a backcourt with T-mac at pg and CDR at 2 guard? That would be the slowest backcourt ever. Tmac is good at finding the open man and making plays but him running the ball up and down the court and facilitating a fast break? Please... that would be disastrous. T-mac has always been a scorer and will always be a scorer. Don't kid yourself because of the injury to Yao and Rafer this year and think that T-mac is better suited as a PG because once again he simply is NOT.
