...because if he keeps continuing to up his number of drives into the paint per game, we might (*gasp*) actually start putting teams away before the last 30 seconds of the game. In fact, the Rockets in general just need to go to the basket more. I got so pissed in the 3rd quarter of game 2 at watching us settle for long jumpers and clanging them, that I started counting. In that stretch, we shot 6 long jumpers, and had 4 drives to the basket. The 4 drives netted us 9 points (5 off free-throws). The 6 jumpers netted us NONE. No points. NOTHING. Do our guys not see this? Is it not obvious that if we get into a jump shooting contest with the Jazz, we'll lose more often than not? It was the action we forced inside that saved us. Period. This is the playoffs. Please, no more soft stuff.
I understand with his brittle back every time he goes to the hole he risk injury but every time he does he gets a foul called and gets to shoot free throws. They were not calling them for Yao so Tmac needs to draw the fouls.
i'd like to see more driving out of all the guys, not just t-mac. he can't be the only guy putting pressure on the jazz's interior defense. rafer somehow needs to find a way to get to the rim, and juwan needs to hit his J or get down in the post and use his upfake to draw some fouls. snyder ideally would be the guy that can get to the rim, but his questionable decision making probably makes jvg reaaaally nervous.
I understand why it's so tempting to take a lot of jumpers on you when a 6-foot point gaurd is guarding you... And a lot of the shots he missed tonight were shots he really likes, but he just couldn't find the bottom of the basket. Ordinarily, that's a good way to attack someone so much shorter, but McGrady hasn't yet been able to make Sloan pay for that r****ded defense... He was definitely frustrating me, though, because he made the Jazz look like a bunch of helpless little girls when he actually took it inside... but he would never do it even twice in a row. Each layup gave him confidence to brick three more jumpers. I think he'll be more aggressive if he feels like he really needs to try to take over. I'm sure he knows they can't stop him if he feels like taking it in. (Although, to be fair, Fisher and Giricek managed to cut off one or two of his drives... but who knows how different they would have had to guard him if his jumper was falling and/or if McGrady really had his heart in those drives).
The title is very misleading To "continue" doing something would imply you were doing it before... Mac was hardly driving last night. In fact, everytime the crowd chanted MVP...Mac shot more J's.... Granted, that baseline fadeaway jumper in the 4th was nasty but damn we wouldn't be in all those tight situations if he drove more
That's the thing... I wholeheartedly agree that T-Mac didn't drive nearly enough in game 2. However, I also thought he drove more than usual in game 2. That's sad, isn't it? I'm saying I hope he continues to increase the number of times he drives, not that game 2 was enough. How about that fallaway 3 attempt over Harpring? Good job, T-Mac.
I really like when T-Mac drives to the basket and when he is attacking. Of course he is a shooter so he should knock down that jumpers and 3-pointers but we saw last night what happens whan he attacks. He draws a lot of fouls, he can pass the ball. There are lots of ways to score. Hopefully in the next game he will keep his aggressiveness and he wil feel his jump shoots .
it doesn't have to be a choice between dunks/layups or long/3pt jumpers.. i think he should take more mid/close range jumpers and floaters to give us a chance for a offensive rebound/putback if it does not go in.. with long/3pt jumpers it is almost automatic that the opponent will rebound the ball and may even turn into an easy fast break for them..
he better because he's one of the few ppl in the league that when he drives he is pretty much guaranteed a basket or free throws.
Well, as a general rule, rebounds off 3-pointers are more of a crapshoot than on mid-range shots since rebounds are longer, so it's harder to predict where the shots will go. In general, a defense is in better rebounding position than an offense (unless one team is a MUCH better rebounding team than the other). Therefore the more predictable the rebound (as for mid-range shots & floaters), the more likely the defensive team will get it, IMO. Since both teams in this case are good rebounding teams, I think we have as much chance for a rebound off our 3-pointers as mid-range shots, if not more.
Well stated, I got tired of Tmac shooting off-balance threes or fadeaways every other possession. Though I wonder how much of it has to do with his back and Fisher's Defense....short and stout he's like our David Wesley.
