are u exaggerating? he shot 9-23 last night? 9-21 if u didn't count the despieration 3 at the end of the 3rd and 4th. he had an ok shooting. he just didn't attack the basket as much. and he is shooting 43% for the yr. besides tmac's offense, it's the lack of rebounding yesterday in the 4th.
That's why bench players should have more chances to develop. We can't rely on Tmac and Yao in playoffs only. It would be rare that both stars are on fire.
Why should it be so rare? All the other elite teams have their superstars "on" more often than not. McGrady justs needs to drive to the basket, and the problem will be solved.
We desperately need a 3rd scorer and since it seems like Juwon is in a slump so once again Bonzi has to play for us to do well in the playoffs
I don't know why it should be so rare . But it seems to be the case for the year so far. How many games you can think of that both stars were on fire?
Yes, we as fans have talked this from the start of the season. Jeff don't trust new players and sometimes too trust some players. so he could not make adjustment in time in the game. That's why we call him stubern. All is jvg's fault.
It is troubling. We definitely need bench production. I agree that it's a major contributor to our stars fading in the 4th as well as Rafer running out of gas. Remember game 7 of the Dallas series (like anyone can forget it!). Yao and T-Mac were on their game, but the rest of the team didn't make the team bus. It's too bad that Deke and JH have degraded so much in such a short amount of time. So, what do we do now with 8(?) games left in the season? Not a lot. We have no good answer for the backup PG slot. I don't see any way that JVG will bring Bonzi back - and I'd be willing to bet a large box of doughnuts that Bonzi's been doing nothing in the past couple weeks but sitting on the couch eating a box of doughnuts - so he's probably still overweight and out of shape. And the rookies are still too rookieish (yes, I just made up a word) to play at this time in the season. I guess we just have to stand pat and hope for the best
That's EXACTLY what I want to say to those fools! Without TMac played at insane level when Yao is out, the discussion now will be if Rockets can qualify for the playoff! I like both of our super stars, they are the BEST duo in NBA!
The performance of the bench was really disappointing recently. Also hope Tmac can be as effective as he was during Yao's injury.
I dont know what to think of T-Mac anymore. I mean I love the guy, hes a great player and an all around great guy, but his excuses, his mentality and his tenacity are really starting to bother me. The way I see his attitude on the court could be summarized as "Meh". His shot selection still bothers me sometimes, if it wasn't for his length he wouldnt get some of the shots he does (that crazy turn around jumper for example). He just doesn't look like he plays with any fire. Up until this year, I always gave him the nod over Kobe, but Kobe seems to want it every night and T-Mac just doesn't anymore. It also doesn't help that earlier in the year he was speaking of retirement and "deferring" to Yao. It's no doubt that if T-Mac has a great game we usually win, and if Yao has a great game the game could possibly still be up for grabs. It's a wierd equation but thats just how its been. However, Yao has great games consistently, and T-Mac has them sparingly. If someone were to tell me we could only keep one of our superstars I'd give up T-mac without even blinking. We need a solid PG who can penetrate the lane, shoots a high percentage and can average 8 assists per game. If we had that we'd be set. We can not have a decent at best point guard playing the most minutes every night, going 1 for 8 and then trying to play hero. End rant.
My problem with TMAC is not whether he takes or misses shots its when he has the ball and passes it off in late game situatiions. He uses unselfishness as an excuse to not drive to the basket strong and sometimes as an excuse to not take the big shot. He's not sacred to take the big jump shot but the thought of him driving to the basket to make a play makes him shiver. Also Yao is not a strong finisher he is a good finisher but he can be bullied out of his rhythm. This really needs to be addressed this off season maybe even more than our bench situation. I am not sure if he is a free agent but for the MLE Jerry Stackhouse would be the perfect guy for this. Our bench is weak but we are in almost every game until late in the game because you need a scorer someone who is not predictable and can create a good shot for hiimself at the rim. Snyder, is the closest thing we got not bad coming off the bench but at the end of games come-on. JLIII will lose us every play-off game he is in if he gets extended minutes. I do expect Houston to beat UTah in six however, TMAC will play big and this is a series where he has to think scorer they gave up 4 50 point games to Mike Redd, Ray Allen, Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant also 44 to TMAC. Yao gets his either way but TMAC is the key.
I think we should go back to our starting lineup much more down the stretch in close games. For the season, our starting 5 is dominant. There's a reason we always seem to start off the 1st and 3rd quarters well, and then lose our leads in the 2nd and 4th quarters. It's the players!
No disagreement there. I can't even remember a game when both of our stars were on fire at the same time. That's why if McGrady drives to the basket, the problem will be solved because he is such a great finisher, and he has a good chance of drawing a foul.
You are right about being a gret finisher but he goes to the basket way too much to initiate not finish and as a result turns the ball over. To me he goes to the basket like to does not want to get injured.
The bench is scared to death to make a mistake or be bannished to Bonzi or V-span land and never to be heard from again.
A minor problem w/ the rockets is that Yao Ming does not make the game easier for T-mac. The offense becomes stagnant because Yao Ming is not athletic enough to play a more uptempo game. Pounding the ball with Yao Ming for the first three quarters and then hoping Mcgrady seals the win in the final 3 minutes is not an effective strategy. Both players need to work on their overall game. Yao ming on his pick and roll defense and Mcgrady on his shot selection. Lastly, the real reason that the rockets will always struggle in the 4th quarter is because they only have one true decision maker on the team (Tracy Mcgrady). Yao Ming, Shane Battier, Rafer Alston, and Juwan Howard can not be trusted to make the right decision in the clutch. Many people underestimate the value of a good decision maker. There is nobody currently on the roster that can get Mcgrady the ball in clutch situations where he wants it. For the rockets to consistently beat the elite teams in the NBA Mcgrady has to be a combination of steve nash and kobe bryant every game. Kobe has Luke walton and Lamar odom. Lebron has Larry hughes and eric snow. Dwayne wade has jason williams and gary payton. Who do Mcgrady or Yao have to get them the ball in the clutch besides themselves? For the Rockets to win Tmac must be the 1# option because Van Gundy's slow it down, pass it to Yao in the post offense is uncreative and extremely predictable.
tmac can stop all this w/ dominating play in the playoffs the good thing is i see him dunk w/ ferocity the last 2 games.
yao will make it easier if tmac is a ray allen type of shooter. but he's not. so tmac really doesn't benefit from playing with yao. he still gets doubled off the pick and roll. he still gets doubled most of the time in the post. he still has a guy shadow him off of hayes/howard's man. fisher doubling off him to help yao was one of the very few times i see tmac's man leaving him. but tmac has to adjust to that by making his jumpers. yao is not a guy that can run up and down like shaq, hakeem, drob... he's 7'5. so it's up to tmac to adjust.
