i have the fsn feature story on tmac the night of the spurs game where they show him going to go work out after the game etc. the only problem is its on my other pc which i dont have access to right now i'll put up a ysi or rapidshare link to it in the next day or two if someone else doesnt do it by then. sorry its finals week not going home for a while
They sent us the Dvd with our season ticket renewal and playoff ticket order form...rather good dvd it profiles Dekes mission to build the hospital very good!
Thanks for the lecture. Unfortunatley I know a little too much about his training habits. I was friends with a few folks who knew him in Orlando and my brother was a good friend of Tracy's brother in high school. He's got a lazy streak in him, much of which probably stems from boredom. He's a prodigy; things obviously come pretty easy for him on the court so I'm sure it's easy to get bored. Fact: His shot looks terrible this year. It's flat and he rarely squares himself to the basket. He's gotten in a terrible habit of scissor kicking when he shoots. He needs to work on it; bad habits are hard to break. I don't at all discount his contribution to the team in what may be the best all around year of his career. We just need more offensive efficiency out of Tracy if we want to be a championship caliber team. 42% shooting is not going to cut it.
It cut it for Kobe and AI to make it to the Finals You really shouldn't be worried about McGrady's performance, you should worry about the rest of his teammates keeping up with him in the playoffs. As for the flatter shot and lower elevation, if you have been watching this season you will know how many injuries the man is nursing, and how many minutes he has played. Do you think he is missing those shots because he is "lazy" or "not trying"? You are delusional if that's the case, because I am sure there is nothing more T-Mac would like than to ruin his FG%. 42% is pretty decent percentage for volume shooters (almost all great guards) in the league. IS he Jordan? No. He is more comparable to a Kobe. Does he have a "lazy streak"? May be, but if so, then he surely hasn't showed it this year: playing through injuries all season long, playing very, very high minutes, and playin gthrough the death of a very close and loved one who got him interested in sports in the first place, and playing well at that. May be that lazy streak came in the past, but that is past him. I am only concerned about his performance with the Rockets, this season and in future ones. Do you want to tell me he has been "slacking off" this season? Have you seen how hard he is working on the court? Nah, I don't think you have. I see you are "personally" familiar with his workout habits. You are making it too easy, man
First, I apologize for playing the "I know him" card. I doesn't matter if I do or don't, it means nothing here. Second, I have seen him occassionally dog it here. Section 409 at the Toyota Center knows about it every time he does. Third, you're missing my point *******. You continue to argue against points I'm not even trying to make. I appreciate that he is here in Houston. I appreciate what he brings to the team. I think 90% of the time he brings 100%, and I'm OK with that. I just think his shot sucks this year. Thanks for the lecture (again) on Tracy being a "volume shooter" and 42% being OK. 42% is not OK for a volume shooter; during Jordan's championship years he never shot below 46.5%, thats a good benchmark. No player in the NBA should be excused from maximizing their potential and Tracy is better than a 42% shooter. So stop making excuses for him. Historically, he's not been a gym rat (despite what you may believe from your Rockets DVD). He needs to be one this summer; we need him to improve his shooting.
By the way, who cares about Kobe and AI?! Tracy has the potential to set himself apart from those guys. His skill set is unmatched. He's already a better player than Iverson and the only thing that seperates him from Kobe is hard work in the gym.
*******?!! Fine, I will address you with your language... Listen bit**! T-Mac, Kobe, AI, and whoever the f*k else you want is NO DAMN JORDAN! Kobe shoots 40% from the field, and Iverson has averaged about that much for his ENTIRE career! McGrady is much more similar to Kobe than anyone else in the league. Lebron is the ONLY player in the league who has a potential of a Jordan, McGrady and Kobe are VERY, VERY elite superstars in the league TODAY, but they are NOT Jordan. By examining the league and in this era of zone defenses (just imagine what McGrady could do in tearing up defenses without zone defenses, which are designed to stop superstars) 42% is very acceptable. Would I like T-Mac to shoot 50% or EVEN 70% from the field? Yes, of course, but alas it ain't very realistic in this day and age. If I am not mistaken, I saw during a T-Wolves broadcast that Kevin Garnett (a big man who should shoot better by his proximity to the basket) was shooting 45% for the season. Big Z, whom we will play tonight, is shooting 45% from the field. SO WHAT THE HELL IS THE BIG DEAL THERE?! I am not arguing that he, like ANY other player, would benefit from more practice in the off-season. But Kobe is a gym rat, and he has a sweeter shot than T-Mac's, yet he shoots a comparable percentage. Half the time watch what how the guy is defended and you will find yourself becoming more impressed with the 42% shooting. You brought this thread during a stretch of games in which McGrady was not shooting well, so may be if you brought it up when he was named Western Conf Player of the Week, then your point would be more acceptable. Instead you wait for a stretch in which he was struggling to post this stuff. I don't think AI is a good comparison, but Kobe definitely is, because they are simply the top two combo guards/forwards in the league today. You are getting a bit greedy and seem to have too high an expectation if you are expecting T-Mac to "seperate" himself from Kobe, a guy who won three rings. Who is being unrealistic here? I will still for T-Mac begin Kobe-like, I think that is abundant enough for a championship-caliber team along with Yao and a good cast of role players.
Apparently calling you a name got your attention. Thanks for actually reading what I said and then disagreeing rather than disregarding my point entirely. I'm not greedy. I want more out of McGrady because I've seen more from him. Yes, his shooting slump was an convieniant time to bring up a season long problem. As I said before, T-Mac's skill set is unrivaled. He should be improving in every aspect of his game, not taking steps backwards. His FG% is regressing. Good point made regarding the zone defense. It gets tougher every year for guys like T-Mac to find their shot. That certainly factors into the decline of his FG%. It does not, though, excuse him from putting in some hard work this summer on his shot.
What T-Mac and Yao need to "work" on this summer is resting up and letting their bodies recover. Then maybe playing some pick-up at Fonde so they get that sixth sense for each other's games.
He also leads the league in TO's as well. He's got an awesome game but if this continues after a few years, will he get the same rep as francis? The only thing that separates wade from francis is a few less dribbles and maturity. Wade seems to be pretty mature for his age. I guess that's enough to make him better than francis already.
Wow, after avoiding this thread for the better part of a week, (since I assumed this thread was another kneejerk, "T-mac shoots too much" crap) it seems like there are some decent points to be made here. In terms of what our two stars need to do in the offseason, I don't think there is anything that would make our offense more dangerous than if Yao and T-Mac learn how to play off each other. T-Mac really needs to start cutting to the basket and trying to get to open midrange spots when Yao is in the post. Yao has shown time and again that if you give him a cutting target, he will look to get you the ball. Unfortunately that target has most often been Ryan Bowen, who isn't quite the finisher that Tracy is. If T-mac would just cut right away after he gives Yao the entry pass, that would be a slam dunk waiting to happen. And the pick and roll between those two could use some help. T-Mac can usually always get an open jumper off the p/r with Yao, but the roll portion of that play needs to have better execution. Every week or so, they will run that play to perfection and get Yao a layup or short jumper. But with the skill set that these two guys possess, Yao should be getting 5 easy looks a game minimum off the p/r. They just need to work on their timing and build up their confidence in their two-man game. Now this kind of practice can only be done during games, so a perfect world would have Yao and T-Mac playing pickup games all summer long (2 on 2, 3 on 3, or 5 on 5 whatever). Unfortunately Yao will have to go back to China. Not just because of various commitments, but because that is his home and that is where he is most comfortable. Now a more realistic scenario involves Team Yao negotiating him out of any basketball commitments, and Yao going over to China with Falsone for the first two months. This way, Yao can be on his vacation and enjoy his home, but also work out and continue with his strength and conditioning. Now after a couple of months of "vacation", Yao would come back to Houston where he would spend another two months or so working out with T-Mac and building some chemistry together. I really think that if Yao and T-Mac can learn to play off each other and get each other easy shots, then this tandem will skyrocket into dominance. Right now the team dominates whenever the perimeter players makes shots, but when those aren't falling, then the team has to fight and claw much harder on defense. If Yao and T-mac can start producing layups and 5 footers for each other, that would widen our margin of error much more for our outside shooters.
This is just the beginning of the T-mac/Yao era... we are very lucky to be a part of this. I can't wait for next season! Championship ceremony in the TC
