OK, I know its early, but if we run offense through TMAC and use him as our primary ball handler we may have better overall team. Against certain teams we may even be able to run Boki or other folks at SF and move JJ to the 2. Once Sura comes back they can share BH duties. All of those folks have size and skills to make entry pass to Yao or even drive to create opportunities. Just a thought...Ward just doesn't seem to have much left and Lue hasn't shown PG skills I'd hoped for.
In the Mephis game box score Ward/Lue played a total of 48 minutes. I'm sure JVG is hoping for some more gelling from these two - however I am agreeing with you that we could probably solve some of our mis-match problems esp with opponents vs Ward if we started McGrady & JJ at the guards, used Ward and Lue as backups, and gave a combo of Boki, Padgett and Bowen time at the 3 to compensate. This would give us more speed vs Ward on the floor, take some pressure off of both Lue and Ward, and we could see what B/P/B can contribute. It certainly can't be worse than what we are seeing from the point now. Not the best LT solution but one that can temporarily cut down some of our problems. And we get to see what Bowen's energy can contribute - the type of player who can potentially disrupt the opponent's game and mess with their head. I would see Ward/Lue giving us 24 instead of 48 minutes and this frees up 24 to spread between B/P/B - which is reasonable additional time for them to contribute and see if they can help the chemistry. I know this messes with JVG's history of using a small rotation but we need help at the point - and if you have a faster team on the floor most of the time (ie Ward sits more) then the Yao defensive helping fouls mentioned elsewhere can be lessened as well.
Someone compared T-Mac to Magic Johnson in another thread. I have to admit that he certainly looked natural as the play-maker last night. I would have no problem trying him at the PG spot on a regular basis. He looks like the best passer this team has had since John Lucas. He seemed to make everyone better last night and got them the ball where they had the best chance for success.
Lue and Ward seem very unimpressive. If T-Mac can fill in at the PG until Sura get's back -- o.k. I also hope that T-Mac going wild will help Yao
Ward and Lue locked up Jason Williams. Other than 3 pointers that Jason Williams shot, JWill did not create plays for his teammates. Not having Ward or Lue on the floor is just a defensive nightmare. Like I said before the season started, Ward and Lue have two duties on the court. 1. shoot the 3 ball 2. defend the opposing point guard As far as I am concerned, they did what they were supposed to do. TMac is the playmaker. I thought Yao would be a playmaker too, but the guy is in a serious funk.
I didn't read the post you mentioned but the Magic-TMac similarity crossed my mind after the MEM game. (I used "similarity" because no one accurately "compares" to Magic). McGrady's heighth, court awareness, and ability to make teammates better are really Magic-like. IMHO, having Sura back in uniform will be a big plus for the team because Sura's skill set on both O & D are much more suited to McGrady as the primary ball handler than either Ward's or Lue's.
Exactly! I posted after the Toronto game. It's the only way to get the most out of his skills. Everyone will double team him and someone has got to be open. We do have some players who can score when they are wide open. This must be are offense this year. With our PG's to do it any other way is stupid. I don't understand why JVG didn't figure this out from the preseason. You have a superstar and JJackson is dribbling around with ball while he stands out on the wing. What a waste of 50 Million Dollars. By the way this is what Rudy was doing with Kobe from the beginning of the preseason. And this is what Orlando has been doing with Grant Hill as well. You think JVG caught part of a Laker game. I think so. And don't tell me that's not possible. Why else would he have only now figured it out. H had the whole preseason to see it and he didn't. It's cause he didn't figure it out on his own he saw a Lakers game. No Matter how he finally figured it out he better do it even more from now on! The ball needs to go through TMAC 90% of the time!!!!! He is a superstar that demands double teams. If thay are stupid enough not to double team him he will destroy them and when they do someone is open. I repeat when they double TMAC someone is open!!! You win games by mismatches. After Shaq TMAC is the next biggest mismatch in the league. ANything less than running the offense through him is ridiculous. I said it after the toronto game and I'll say it again we have the worst PG's in the league and we have the best 1 on 1 player in the league. It just makes sense to minimize our PG's touches and Maximize TMAC's touches. Great things happen when TMAC has the ball! So hat's off to JVG for changing the offense. No matter that he copied Rudy at least he was smart enough to recognize a good thing. I give him credit for that. GO ROCKETS!!!
T-Mac isn't going to be starting at PG. Scottie Pippen wasn't a PG but he brought the ball up for Chicago. I think when you have a guy as versatile as McGrady, you can let him handle the ball, but you don't want him chasing around little point guards on defense.
I compared T-Mac to Magic in another thread, but I don't know if that's what is being referred to. T-Mac has the ability to be the PG. Not too many players have the capacity or wherewithal. Whether he wants to be on a game-ly basis is another question. I think sometimes when he is asked to be the scorer, he makes some questionable decisions...contested 20 footers with time on the clock...this is a subconcious losing habit that JVG sometimes refers to with some of our players... When T-Mac is asked to be a play maker or point guard, I think perhaps his mental approach is different. I think the position that affects the game the most is the PG position. The PG has the most minutes with the ball and as JVG says, you want the best decision maker with the ball most of the time.
How did Magic get by playing the point? His teammates were large players too (all above 6'4": Cooper, Scott, Worthy) It's possible if the Rockets want it to happen...but my feeling is the same as yours, that it is unlikely.
Jeff, In just the first three games it apears that T-Macs ball distrabution skills plus his decision making on the court are truly special. He just made everyone so much better on the offensive end last night that it just seems a waist not to have him as the primary decission maker and ball handler. I am not suggesting that he chase around guys like Earl Watson or even guys like Baron Davis but certainly when Sura gets healthy he is more than capable to play defense against those guys (he has sure looked good against SF3 in the past). But on offense I just like the we he plays with the ball in his hands. I hate to compare him to Pippen because while Pippen was a good ball handler and passer he just never looked special the way McGrady does.
I understand the concern with having TMac guarding smaller and quicker PG's but the converse is also true. Those same PG's would be forced to guard TMac. I like the idea of forcing the other team to adjust to us rather than vice versa.
Wow! Yep. It's true. JVG does have a brain. But your "copied from Rudy" is only coming from YOUR imagination. Yes, I know, you're the biggest Rudy fan on this BBS. Ok, ok...I got it. So of course you believe this. McGrady has been a creative passer for his whole career. And PG for him is not something *new.* So, this assumption that JVG needs RUDY to teach him how to use McGrady is just Rudy cheerleading on your part. If anything, he'd use old Phil Jackson's Kobe/Shaq game film. Not Kobe/Odem. Ask yourself how much McGrady game film JVG has watched (Toronto and Orlando) after the trade was finalized? JVG is a meticulous coach and prepares intensely. He didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday (like if he watched a few Rudy games and then yelled out, "Eureka, I got it!"). Give him more credit than that! You managed to imply JVG is dumb and smart in the same sentence (but only smart because of Rudy's ideas! Get real! ). As far as the preseason games....well, he's getting used to McGrady/Yao's abilities. And that takes time. JVG preseason use (or lack thereof) of McGrady, as point guard, wasn't because he didn't want to. It's that he was trying get a feel of how McGrady would play with Yao and vice-versa. It's a progression. Plus, McGrady was sensitive on not appearing that was "taking over the team" from Yao. McGrady was playing tentative. By the the way, you're statement about it must be TMAC 90%, is off. You'll think differently when Yao starts to improve. The inside-outside post is still a major offensive weapon. Anyways, Thank you for saying that JVG was "smart enough." No really! I think... P.S. I hate Rudy's ISO simpleton offense. Stay away...
I wouldn't mind having him run the point a bit more but he has to do a bit of a better job on his judgment sometimes on the fast break. I know in all 3 games there have been a time where McGrady throws a pass ahead of the player so they can run up to it, only to have it be caught by the defender. I know he is trying to get the team to run the fast break at that point but he has to be a bit smarter when it comes to that. I think he can run the floor for us even if we have Ward in there or something but i don't want to totally rely on him to be our point guard game in and game out.
So far this team only has one playermaker...and that's TMAC. Yao needs to get back and play like a man. One time TMAC zip a pass to Yao for a possible dunk and he can't even handle the pass...
Tmac definitely the man..he did it all. He's our playmaker..he does everything lol. And on defense..Ward or Lue or Sura or whoever can guard whoever. Different matchups. Mcgrady's defense isn't bad at all. His size and athleticism and long arms help.. Ward is good at spot up shooting. Ward seems like a shooting guard lol. Lue can bring the ball up the court..but the ball should go to Tmac. Also..try to get the ball to Yao in the low post and let him operate..but Tmac..WOW
The only people he had to pass to were Lue, Howard, Gooden, and Bogans. Garrity was injured, and the magic traded away Giricek for Stevenson. No shooters on that team.
I can see us using a Bulls approach by letting TMac bring the ball up and initiate the offense ala Pippen. But remember on all those Bulls teams that there was BJ Armstrong or some other diminutive guard running around to defend the Spud Webbs and Mugsy Bogues and shoot the 3 ball off the Jordan pass. Occasionally the Bulls would go big when the other team did not have an extremely quick PG and they felt the matchups would favor them going big. I think the same thing will happen here. The keys to this team are really going to be getting JJ, Boki, Ward, Lue, and Sura to hit the 3 balls. If we get that, with TMac inintiating the offense, we will be in great shape.
it does not matter what position the paper has T-Mac playing as long as he is the initiator of the offense, the focal point, like he was last night for the first time in three games. With T-Mac as the initiator of the offense, he may become a 25pt 10 assist guy like Magic Johnson.
