Haven't seen this one posted yet... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jack_mccallum/12/13/mcgrady.rockets/1.html
If you say Tmac doesn't want to pass, that is a lie. If you say his % is too low, I agree. I kinda agree it hurts us a little when every play begins from him. We should set plays and let him finish instead of make the play.
Apparently McCallum hasn't watched the Rockets enough lately if he can say that much negative about McGrady's passing. McGrady is one of the distributors at his position. In fact, he doesn't look to score enough. My guess is that McCallum had this article from McGrady's Orlando days and was looking for an excuse to publish it.
Another good find Hayes. It's always interesting to read 3rd party observers (meaning not the fans, nor Houston media) and their take on the Rockets, especially when it coincides w/ what a few people have been saying here. As for my opinion, I can't say I agree...or disagree w/ it. I'm still on the fence about many of our guys.
I won't bother reading it twice. My first impression: 1 I totally agree with his conclusion that we are not contenders this season. That much is obvious. The only way to change this is to make a trade that changes our dynamic. 2 I disagree that LeBron is a better passer than Tracy. Anyone that watches them both a lot can see that Tracy has better floor vision. LeBron gets more assists because he is forced to hog the ball more. If there was a statistic to measure the amount of time a player has the ball in their hands, LeBron might lead the NBA. He dribbles as much as AI, almost as much as Nash. On the other hand, when the play doesn't call for Tracy to take the shot, he goes on vacation at the top of the FT line, which is a major peeve of mine. He is too lazy to even act like a decoy. 3 I have ripped Tracy's shooting percentage and shot selection since he got here. It subtracts from his greatness. But he is a soft player who will never change. He doesn't have the heart, mind and toughness of a determined bulldog. I will never get on the same bandwagon with some of the ridiculous anti-Tracy zealots we have here, but I'm beginning to turn on him. It started last year and it's to the point that I roll my eyes several times every game when he takes the easy way out. My regard for Adelman is already down the tubes and I'm on the verge of not liking this team (as a group), which hasn't happened in a looooong time.
i think to the writer it seems this way because tmac is trying to find the best possible pass. usually, because his team isnt cutting enough and just standing around, the passes looked force. i like when he comes off the pick after the baseline cut towards the top of the key, he makes that shot 90% of the time when it is executed correctly.
Dude is right he was reading my mind.Tracy seems like a black hole because he has his hand invloved in at least 80 % of the teams offense and really probabaly 90%. When tracy is in the game the ball doesn't move.We either come down and it could be on the first posession and Tracy is coming off of a pin down and he catches the rock for a shot.We come down next posession and it's us throwing the ball into Yao and Tracy coming off the triangle corner series screen for either a hand off or when he get's the hand off they trap him and the ball is thrown to chuck hayes for a missed layup or another pass out and the result is a bad offensive posession. The problem lies in someone else having the freedom to create their own offense and it seems like Tracy has set up rules within the structure that he and Yao are the only players that can create for the team.The posessions we are having end up with with tracy or Yao being the only guys who create a shot or make a play.A lot of it is with the first unit because hayes altson and battier are non offensive players who benefit off of Yao and tracy. When the second unit guys come in the game tracy and Yao use these guys how they use the non offensive players chuck hayes,altson and battier.Scola can create for his team givin the chance,wells can create his own offense as well as james and francis.These dudes have no chemistry with T-mac and Yao because Yao and T-mac have a game plan that they are the only guy's who can create so when these guy's get in the game they are supposed to function like chuck hayes,rafer altson and shame battier. Jeff vangundy created a virus withing the team based on depedancy of this starting unit which was the most effcient starting unit in the NBA last year statistic wise.Tracy and Yao ming are the creators of the offense and Rafer an shane are our 3 pint shooters who spread the floor for Tracy and Yao and chuck hayes does all the dirty work along with shane. Now the problem with their shooting is rick's motion offense and everybody share the ball mentality.The mind state of tracy and Yao is based on jeff vangundy's philosophy that Tracy and Yao are the creators and everyone else is a role player or defensive junk man. This menatlly is a in conflict with adleman's share the wealth,move the ball concepts and right now there is serious resistance with Tracy and yao to adopt this concept Tracy and Yao ming want the jeff van gundy offense becasue they are being resistant to change.This is why they feel comfortable with rafer and chuck hayes in the game because of the vangundy virus.Any sign of someone else having the ability to create is viewed as a threat and tracy and yao are both rebelling against the system. We went out and got steve francis and mike james for more offense.These are guy's that can create their own freaking shot. They don't need Tracy and Yao to score points because they can manufacture their own. Scola has post moves + he can pass th3 basketball better than Yao but Tracy and Yao ming want to use scola like a chuck hayes because of this fixed mind state drilled in them by jeff van-gundy. Tracy and Yao lost in the first round last season because they didn't have that third and fourth guy to create.We went out and got some guy's that can create but tracy and Yao ming won't allow this to happen and this is why we see so much jeff vangundy in the teams play this season.Jeff has brainwashed these guy's tough
Tracy is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. However, his flaws need to be managed more effectively by Adleman. I have all the faith in the world that he'll figure this team out and get us contending. Count it, it's going to happen.
I completely agree. Thats why we were doing so well early on when we were 6-1 was because Mcgrady was cutting and coming off screens to catch and shoot/ or pass it to the open man when he draw his weakside defender. I also agree with this article for the most part about being Tmac controlling som much of the offense. But to say that he doesn't like to give up the ball is kind off the common misconception that people have about him. Lest they forget, during the stretch where Yao was out, he was averaging close to 7 assists every night while shooting over 46-47% (as opposed to 43% before). I just Adelman can work something out about our lineups and get something rolling and just go back to Tmac working off-ball.
then how do you explain his desire? how could one want to win the game, but keep taking more than 20 shots with low FG%?
This artice is correct but his assumptioms are not well informed. The problem is no one understands what is going on in McGradys mind because there is no Rick A game plan, nor are there any Rick A set plays, thats why McGrady & Yao Ming are lost as are others. Each player hasn't been asigned a role, so there is doubt about just what to do. Under these circumstances I think we are luck to be coming away with 12 wins. Rick A is hoping that one day they all will have learned from each other and sudenly it will all come together, players coaching players, just like Sacramento! So this is why we are inconsistant and playing below potential.I dont think it will ever materialise , so far our offence looks nothing like what Rick A described at the beginninmg of the season!
Pretty much exactly what I posted last night. They set a pick for him to get the ball. He sits for 6-7 seconds on a 1 on 1 and eventually makes a move. Everyone waiting for him to do something. He needs to attack the hoop right off those screens and stop having the rest of the team wait on his decision.
T-Mac is a better passer than Lebron. He just needs guys to hit shots and finish like Lebron's teammates.
It's amazing how people would characterize TMac as a bad passer and bogging down the offense. Just watch last year's games when TMac was injured. The whole offense was unwatchable without him running the offense. You can pick on him about his fg%. You can pick on him about his occasional "heat check" shots. But to say that he is the problem of our offense is just so wrong. Control issues? JVG is the biggest control freak in the world. He said more than once that TMac was the best decision maker he had seen. TMac was the ONLY player JVG did not attempt to control (after a near disastrous beginning of TMac's first season in Houston). He has not averaged lower than 4.5 apg since he landed on Orlando. Yeah, he is our power forward.
I think it's going to take awhile for TMac to get used to Adelman's offense, since it requires movement and sharing the ball, instead of one person dominating the ball for the majority of the shot clock. I remember when Phil Jackson took over as head coach of the Bulls and implemented the triangle, Jordan hated it and called it an "Equal Opportunity Offense". Maybe that's why TMac is struggling and has problems when Alston isn't there because the other PGs try to run the offense and not just hand the ball to TMac for him to create the offense. I think Francis tried to run the offense when he was in there, Mike I kinda doubt. I just know that it seems at times on offense that the starting 5 and the core bench players still don't know each other, not on the same page. Kinda baffling since they've been together for awhile.
Jack McCallum is one of the few whose articles I look forward to reading. He's that good. But this piece is probably one of his weakest in a while. It reads to me like someone up at SI is going "Hey, Houston has a problem, they're barely .500, and it looks like McGrady pulled himself out with a mild ankle sprain the other day. Jack, let's do an article on them!" It isn't that he's inaccurate. For the most part, his opinions are spot on. But like someone said, it's his assumptions are inaccurate, and it's fairly clear that he doesn't watch many Rockets games before writing this. LeBron a better passer than Tmac. Yeah right. This article sounds more like a rant to me.
