Let's hope Tmac works hard in the off-season on adding more strength to his back AND dropping a few pounds. I think a lot of the sluggishness and lack of explosiveness we saw from him this year is because of the weight he has gained. He admitted to resting all summer (understandably) and ballooning in weight. You can easily see the difference in his physique from his first season in Houston and now. Even the might Tmac vein is barely visible. Obviously, this team needs to be overhauled but we also need our leader to come back not questioning his ability to get to and then finish at the rim. Tmac never felt comfortable attacking the rim this season and it might have cost him his first trip to the second round.
great post. all true. tmac, i hope you come back next year ready to take on the world again. your supporting cast may be a little different by then...
TMac proved all of the haters wrong this year, well all of them except for the playoff record haters. I will never again stand around when people diss his heart, he kept the team afloat almost single handidly.
I'm so sick of people shooting him down for the "It's on me" thing. That's called leadership. It's called being personally accountable for your superstar status, something T-Mac has always been upfront about. Yao took similar responsibility after the loss. At least he didn't throw his team under the buss like Kobe did after getting beat by the Suns. People would have shot T-Mac down if he responded "it's up to the team" because he would be deflecting responsibility. It's not like he called his shot (like in the Miami series). He took responsibility. If Jordan or Hakeem or Larry Bird would have said "it's on me" everyone would applaud their leadership. I'm proud of the Rockets. We got beat by a good team that played better over 7 games. We're at least two players away from championship basketball, so I'm happy for the seven playoff games we got. I'd much rather lose by 4 than by 40 in game 7.
though tmac really learned how to make his teammates better this yr (21-10 w/o yao was unexpected), he really can improve his game. this will be his most crucial offseason to date. his playmaking skills is now at that "elite" level that only the nash, magic johson have reached. but he has to make himself a more potent scorer. his jumper has really deserted him. i hope he would really perfecth is J this offseason. plus, get leaner. he still can be much much better than any yr he has been in houston. let's see what he does this offseason. i still believe his best yrs are to come. thank patterson for that.
Excellent points man. This is exactly what I think. I also believe that Gundy's departure would be a good idea. He is the worst coach to have in the clutch than any coach I've seen.
Great job this year T-Mac, keep your chin up, you'll get another shot next year-- and the team should be better equipped to handle the playoffs as well.
Come on! That had to be the most inconsequential 29/13 I've ever seen. The team played timid b/c their 'leader' played timid. Utah single-covered him with the likes of 6'-1" Derek Fisher! He should've punished them, period. The rest of the team would've followed his lead. Just like when NY tried to cover Hakeem w/Anthony Mason. The media asked Hakeem if Mase was 'his worst nightmare', Hakeem responded with "that's a joke", and proved himself right. Geez. 10 years and no playoff series victories, THAT SHOULD TELL YOU SOMETHING.
Tracy can always do better. There's no doubt he played through pain in this series, but I wonder if he knows all the greats played through it much much longer. I can't question his heart, but I wonder if he's taken himself to the limit when it really matters. Questions about the future, or pain in the future should all be gone when it's on the line. He had glimpses of that yesterday when he realized it was almost over. When we were down he drove in and initiated contact with Kirilenko by contorting his hip. Afterwards he got up holding his knee. It hurt, but it sent a message to his teammates and they rallied. As much as I'm still down right now, I'm excited about next year. We'll see then if he took this years lessons to heart. The future is now.
Agreed. Sorry to Tmac for we have no approriate teamtes supporing you. But we still thank you for your efferts.
a loss is a loss. sure we can say management can do this and that, and they will. but tmac has to make himself better. he has to improve that J. has to absorb contact and finish better. has to improve his strength and stamina even more. if he comes back healthy, leaner, in shape, with a better J, he will lead this team. let's see what kind of shape tmac is in in october. if he's around 225-230 lbs, not a good sign. he needs to go back to 210-215 when he was in orlando.
Thank you T-Mac for all you have done this year; We'll be with you again next year! Thank you FranchiseBlade for creating this thread.
I guess you didn't see game seven or game one of the series. In game one when Harpring got hot, it was McGrady who swatted two of his shots and shut him down. In game seven McGrady was making crucial stops and also added a couple of huge blocks to help stop Jazz layups. Who was McGrady guarding during the series? How did those players do? Looks like he was doing his job.
Not really. With Fisher on him, he should try and shoot over Fisher. Sadly his jump shot wasn't falling. Other than that, he played smart. He drove the ball when he could, had some great finishes near the basket, and huge defensive stops for the Rockets. To say he played timid is laughable. To say that the team played timid because of him is insanity.
Good job tmac, you were the only one that showed any heart out there in game 7 you wanted it bad then UTAH but UTAH wanted the win more then the rockets did as a team. Hopefully next season we can make soem changes (at the pg spot) and make it past the first round
