ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Grizzlies 12/28/2007

I wouldn't mind if he settled for 10 footers. He settles for 18 to 28 footers. That's the problem. Furthermore, I don't see any hustle.

 

i agree that you don't see hustle...u never see Tmac diving for balls or doing extra things...he just relies on his natural ability but he could be so much more if he played with heart...
he even smiles when they are losing which is pretty sad.....

 

Without Tmac's presence, this team took on the personality of its other leader, Yao Ming. They played unselfishly, did whatever the coach asked of them, and showed fiery passion. Teams look to their best player for leadership. When your best player on the floor is laid back, mentally and physically fragile, frequently forgets the coach's system and does his own thing, his teammates will naturally follow his lead. Unfortunately, you can only get away with that attitude when you are one of the most physically talented athletes in the world. For the Rockets with less than otherworldly talent, copying Tracy's tendencies to play isolation basketball results in undisciplined, unfocused, and lazy play. You could see tonight that Yao's dunks and activity on the glass in the 1st quarter energized the rest of his teammates and prompted a blowout of the Grizzlies.

We can play better with McGrady only if he fits into this offensive system, instead of relying on his god-given talent like under JVG. He has to fit in a strategy of constant movement and crisp passing, and reduce ill advised 3 pters, chucking long jump shots in crunch time rather than drive into the lane, and holding onto the ball for large portions of the shot clock. The occasions when he succeeds despite his attitude flaws is the mirage that keeps the Rockets from turning the corner. If he cannot execute our offense then this Rockets team is better off with him coming off the bench. This reduced role will allow the team to follow Yao's lead rather than Tmac's. With an improving Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks, and Tmac as the 6th man, we can be at least as good as we were last year, as opposed to treading water in inconsistent mediocrity with Tmac resisting Adelman's system like he has the first third of this season and the rest of his team playing down to Tmac's intensity level.

 

An excellent post my man !

DD

 

... no offense to sweet lou 4 2, but boring post..

LOL

the "most excellent post" i am going to make is.. that whether yao can lead this team, how good can yao lead this team in terms of productions of major statistical categories and mentally in terms of instilling his "if you''re not gonna let us breathe, we're not gonna let you breathe either" philosophy to the scrubs, i mean role players.

and how to balance the team in terms of offensive schemes, that is getting everyone invovled at the right place at the right time and merging with the game flow altogether, thus to seize control of the tempo and "inclinations" and to manipulate opponent's mind to present the best circumstances to break down the enemies once for all in the crunch time!

chea!

just fooling around..

 

I don't remember Jordon diving for balls on the ground either....nor Hakeem, nor Drexler.

Not every player has to be a hustle guy and play like Shane Battier. And the fact is, you only notice when T-mac doesn't do it. He has that sleepy lazy look about him....but ya know what, he's a key piece no matter how you slice it.

 

Diving for balls is only one form of hustle play. Jordan had enough of hustle play, defensively and offsensively, though I don't remember seeing him diving for balls (there maybe such instance, but I don't know).

The energy Jordan put on court >>>>>> T-Mac's. Actually I feel mentioning T-Mac along with Jordan is an insult to Jordan. Jordan is never that heartless as T-Mac.

 

"Without Tmac's presence, this team took on the personality of its other leader, Yao Ming."

Can't agree more.

 

Clutch and T-Mac? These two words are rarely related. He can only be clutch occassionally.

You forget that we can get a lot back for $20M. It is not that we just give $20M.

Let's just imagine we have Williams from Jazz to replace T-Mac. Will this team be better or be worse? It would be at leasle as good as it is now, and we have someone with a lot more heart.

 

good game.

 

McGrady actually doesn't shoot that well 10 feet and in.

He has a flat shot and lacks a soft touch. I would prefer him to either go all the way to the basket or shoot from outside.

I just want to see the hustle component added to his game and for him to be effective taking less shots per game.

 

Right, I am a Rockets fan.

 

Then, I say we trade you ASAP.

 

Actually I remember Jordan diving for balls when he played for the Washington Wizards. I think the message was "Hey, you young punks. I'm an old man and I'm hustling to get loose balls. This is how you play."

 

Nitro1118:

You rebutted a few of my assertions. I will take it that you agreed with me on the ones you did not refer back to.

Actually, JVG's offensive system allowed Tmac to get by more with his god given talent than Adelman's. JVG's system featured isolation plays and set plays designed to free Tmac with a pick from a big man. Remember, JVG constantly complimented Tmac's decision making. He would put the ball in Tmac's hands, allowing him more freedom than other players, and live and die with the results. Other posters can verify reading and hearing about JVG's looser rein on Tmac compared to other players. JVG did not give that freedom to other players, but was so impressed by Tmac's vision and decision making that he in fact allowed Tmac to rely on his talent.

You're choosing to focus on only the stretch where the team and Tmac performed well, and ignoring his body of work thus far in the season. I cannot deny that at times Tmac has run the offense well, but most of the time he has played undisciplined and out of the system basketball.

At this point your post begins to ignore the crux of my post, which is that Tmac's laid back personality and reliance on natural talent combined with his status as one of the leaders on the team results in his teammates following the wrong example. You are attempting to argue that he is a phenomenal, one of a kind talent, which I'm not really disagreeing with. In fact, that talent is a part of the reason why his teammates follow his lead. And you bring up that Tmac is "statistically at his best scoring the ball within 5-10 seconds down the floor." What about when the Rockets as a team are statistically at their best scoring the ball? When one person is playing to his potential but disrupts the rhythm of the 4 other guys on the floor?

You've convinced me that we should not bench Tmac. Yet, at least.

Finally,

FYP

 

It is true that JVG used T-Mac's playmaking ability/court awareness moreso than Adelman, but it was all within the confines of a very strict and disciplined offense with very specific plays. Under Adelman, T-Mac is getting to get the ball in many more spots around the court, and whereas last year he was only used as a high pick and roll player, he is now being used off ball, in iso's on the wing, on the elbow, in the pick and roll from both the top of the key and the side of the court, etc... In other words, under Adelman we are seeing more of the full repetoire of what T-Mac can do, and he does not necessarily fit into the strict set plays of JVG to show off his abilities.

When the team hasn't performed well, it has been because Adelman has used old JVG sets to get more players involved (6 game losing streak), or when T-Mac has played injured (Dallas, Orlando and Detroit games).

He is never going to be a fiery player who is going to yell, scream and get overly excited. Just take a look at Tim Duncan...he is a VERY laid back person who shows even less emotion than T-Mac, he does not do anything overly great in the clutch, yet he still has led his team to 4 rings.

One of Adelman's biggest points of emphesis when he first got here was that while this team will not be a run and gun team, he does want for the team to get the ball up the floor quickly and run the sets before the defense gets totally set. T-Mac is statistically at his best early in the offense, and it is Adelman's job to play to his best player's strengths. There needs to be a happy medium between how T-Mac is deployed and how the rest of the team is, and I personally believe in the last few games he has played with the team he has shown to be a great fit within the offense with everyone else playing well. The ONLY stretch of games this year when T-Mac made bad decisions and hurt the offense was when Adelman used the JVG set plays during the 6 game losing streak.

 

another win!!!
please don't lose and ruin my new year's party!!