people don't understand no one player can step up. kobe has really only stepped up in the 4th two times this entire playoffs. that game 3 and 4 v. the nuggets. other than that, he has shot beyond horrible in the 4th. lebron has done even worse; dude is shooting 30% the entire series. and his team still won 2 games. people need to put the pipe down about tmac not stepping up (he stepped up 3 times in 6 games--3, 5, 6) in the 4th. he could have done better, but considering the circumstances, tmac did play like a superstar in the playoffs.
I'd kind of like to see the Rockets get rid of Yao and pick up an Amare Stodamire-type player. Someone who can do the whole "run-n-gun" thing while maintain the badass prowess that he has on the defensive end of the court. Maybe that's Carl Landry...
I don't know, it was obvious he was trying but it kinda seemed like he didn't care. Although he stepped up in 3/6 games. It would've made a huge difference if he would have done that in the first two.
people perceive a guy "doesn't care" b/c he doesn't score. people said the same thing about lebron last night in the 3rd quarter. he kept passing. you don't think lebron wanted to win that game? it was obvious tmac was fatigued (he did too much). his stamina is a problem, but we all saw that when rafer returned, his efficiency in the 4th improved tremendously. you really can't make tmac play both PG and SG and play defense and expect him to be fresh in the 4th. even kobe is taking the entire defensive side off ever since the playoffs began. like i said, tmac could have played much better. he could have shot his fts better (much better), make some more of his 3s... but considering how the 2 best players have fared so far (kobe has played superb btw, but you can see that he has A LOT of help). but kobe is making the same passes tmac is making, but his teammates are just much better offensively. but let's compared tmac to lebron. has lebron even played better than 06-07 playoffs tmac of last yr when tmac shot 39% in the series? no. even last yr when lebron went to the finals, he only had a few great games (he ended up shooting 41% for the playoffs). so we all know tmac can play much better. but he was injured. considering what was up with the team in terms of injuries, we know if we had rafer, we would win or at least bring it to a game 7. and considering how the lakers are struggling to put the jazz away, we could have hung well with them too. but you really can't blame tmac in the playoffs, esp. if the people keep comparing him to lebron and kobe, who have shown they struggle mightily in the 4th too.
you missed his point all together. this is a team sport not tennis not golf there are four other players on the court. Kobe's teamates stepped up for him in the playoffs where as Tmac's did not. Lebron the samething for this series that he is in now.
Yes, he kept deferring to teammates when he should've been more aggressive. Even the announcers were commenting on that. Reminded me a lot of Tmac. No one expects Tmac to play defense. Thats what Battier is there for...to guard the guy that Tmac SHOULD be guarding. Tmac plays both SG and PG b/c he insists on dominating the ball. He gave up on the motion offense a long time ago. Kobe is also playing far more aggressive than Tmac. Note the 17 free throws last night. Whats the point in comparing tmac to lebron? Its not like the cavs have a chance of winning a championship. Tmac has already passed his prime while lebron hasnt even reached his. Btw, lebron's performance against the pistons last year (game 5?) was better than any playoff game Tmac has ever played. If you're going to use the injury argument, don't forget that Kobe is also playing injured. and honestly, i believe that Kobe's injuries are more severe than Tmac's. Last night, Odom, Kobe, and Gasol played well. Just b/c Odom and Gasol were greater factors in the 4th doesn't mean that Kobe struggled mightily.
His back is messed up as well as the pinky on his shooting hand. If I were in the NBA, i'd rather have tmac's injuries vs the jazz as opposed to kobe's injuries vs the jazz.
Well actually I think Cavs won those 2 games because of horrible Boston. I don't think they were that great - I think Celtics were that awful. Lakers are Lakers. Kobe doesn't have to score a lot, he doesn't have to do it all because he's got TEAMMATES.
Most idiots haven't seen T-Mac in his prime in Orlando. Most idiots didn't even know that T-Mac and his team were underdogs in nearly every one of his playoff appearences. Those are the idiots who usually get their membership here revoked.
In all honesty, who cares how great Tmac was when he was in Orlando? Its foolish to judge a player's current value based on past accomplishments. His body has deteriorated a lot since then. Are you saying that when he was in orlando, and they were up 3-1 against the pistons, the magic were the underdogs? Granted, they were underdogs when the series began, but things change. Same goes for 2004. Were we considered the underdogs when we were up 2-0 against the Mavs? And I believe that last year, we were actually considered the favorites before the series started.
When you loose, you loose, don't find excuses like "underdogs". And will some player's past performance help today's Rockets?
Kobe is obviously less affected than McGrady by injury - Kobe doesn't look like he has a rod in his back when moves around. Lebron's performance in game 5 is better than any McGrady has ever had in the playoffs? That's laughable. If you go back to any series from Orlando - 04/05 McGrady has at least one game in which he eclipses Lebron's game statistically at least. No Kobe is getting more CALLS than McGrady. There's a clear difference, and it's just an indicator of ref bias. Even the Jazz are b****ing about it. When you look at the % shots taken from the inside compared to the outside it's STILL very close between the two. As far as defense goes, McGrady is top 20 in the league in defensive win shares. Alot of the crap he gets ragged on for is just based on reputation; perception doesn't reflect reality in this case. McGrady plays both Pg/SG because we have NO OTHER CONSISTENT SCORERS to play 2 for us, and we had NO OTHER PLAYMAKERS to get others the ball in their spots. I don't know why I bothered responding to this post. This is ridiculous.
The Detroit Pistons WON the NBA finals the year McGrady was up 3-1 against them (1st seed vs 8th seed). Of COURSE the Magic were underdogs. The only reason Orlando went up 3-1 was because McGrady was averaging near 40/8/8/2/2 through the first 4 games. This was WITHOUT help on the crappiest team in the playoffs. Things DON'T change, it was a miracle that they were UP on them in the first place when only ONE player was averaging about 12 ppg on the ENTIRE team. The Mavericks were a higher seed, thus that made us the underdogs. McGrady more than did his share of the work that series. I got a challenge for you, try to find 3 other NBA players who put up stats near what McGrady put up that year in the playoffs. Good luck with that.
Did you watch game 4 between the lakers and the jazz? If you really thought my contention was laughable, you wouldn't have tried to quantify your response. But i'm not talking about a statistical impact. Lebron single-handedly took over the game and won it for the cavs. it seemed to break the pistons' spirit and the cavs went on to win the series. Do you really think tmac has ever done anything comparable in the playoffs? As other posters have mentioned, Kobe looks for contact while tmac tries to avoid it. Thats the clear difference. Actually, it does. I'm not familiar with your "defensive win shares" stat, but i'm guessings its based on team defense. Tmac probably could be a good defender if he wanted to, but he doesnt want to. And do you realize that the reason he has a reputation for being a lazy defender is because he is indeed a lazy defender? Do you recall earlier in the season when tmac was injured? Adelman made a comment that effectively said the rockets would finally have a chance to run the motion offense. I dont know why you bothered responding either...
