Do you notice how when Mcgrady guards Nowitzki he lacks confidence in driving in or shooting the ball. Everytime I've seen Mcgrady on him I notice that he usually passes the ball or gets a bad shot. Therefore, I say Mcgrady should stay on him the WHOLE GAME. Then we can bench Bowen and put Padgett that way we can actually have 5 offensive players on the court instead of 4. I'm starting to realize that Howard could have made this series a lot easier.
The only problem with that is that T-mac will be tired out by the time the 4th quarter rolls around. We need Bowen to guard Dirk for atleast half the time he is out there and especially in the first half. Additionally even though Padgett does provide good offense, his defense is really bad and that really kills the Rockets as well.
Bowen is a constant in that you know what you're going to get from him night in and night out, and I think that's why JVG likes to play him. Padgett is good in spots, for a shooting threat that will help prevent Yao's double teams, but he's definitely a liability on defense. Also, aside from Tracy getting more tired from guarding the other team's best player, he'd likely get into foul trouble too. As we all know, it's impossible for Dirk to miss a shot within 10 feet of the basket without someone fouling him...
If we have McGrady on Dirk for the majority of the game, the same thing will happen as the last 2 games... he'll be exhausted by the end of the 4th.
The benefit of TMac staying with Dirk is not only TMac is a good defender, but also because Dirk knows he won't be getting bailout BS calls all the time. To be honest, the refs treat TMac as a star, but treat Yao as garbage. Tmac tires out not necessary because of the defense, more due to the fact that he has to set offense. Sura and MJ failed that miserably. Look at Artest, he goes for 25 points, and shut opposite team's best shooting guard or wingman, he doesn't tire out at all. Because he's much stronger and more durable? Nope, Indiana has a PG, but we don't.
