T-mac still scored, though. He did occassionally attack the hoop, and he averaged 25ppg for the series. The problem wasn't that he couldn't get a shot off, but that he couldn't get them to go in as often as one would like.
NO NO NO!!! i do not want T-mac wasting energy having to be main facillitator of the offense. let the man do what he does best, SCORE!!
And take note that Utah wasn't even that great a defensive team. They were ranked 19th in the entire NBA in Defensive Efficiency during the regular season. That's below-average. If a team like Utah's able to "force McGrady to take jumpers", then it makes you wonder what teams like San Antonio, Dallas and Phoeinx, 3 teams who ranked higher in Defensive Efficiency and whom we're trying to surpass, could've done to defend McGrady.
If by occasionally, you mean rarely, then yes I agree. I personally don't think t-mac attacked the rim at anything near a desirable rate, and I think most would agree with me here.
Mark my words. No way in hell he can play the point full time. You know it's very tiring chasing point guards like Parker & Paul around all the time right? Unless coach Adelman can deply the zone to alleviate the burdon defensively. When he gets pressured every single time he brings the ball up it will wear him out. He won't have enough energy to be our playmaker anymore after he crosses half court. Tmac is playing more of a 3 than the 2 nowadays because he cannot keep up chasing the guys on the 2 around screens. Most of the time last year Shane switches up to defend the 2 and leaving T-mac to defend the 3. It's completely insane to put Tmac at the 1. Makes no sense. There are no direct benefits. I see more negatives then positives if we decide to do that.
that stat is skewed simply based on the fact Utah's defensive mentality is perfectly suited for the playoffs. they logged the most fouls against during the regular season...and those muggings go uncalled when the refs swallow their whistles during the playoffs. I would agree that as a team they are an esemble of poor defenders individually (w/ the exception of AK and DFish). but if you know you're going get mugged going to the hoop and not get a call, that's likely to get alot of players to settle for jumpers.
I remember JVG envisioned alot of T-Mac, Bonzi and Battier playing together at the 1,2 and 3. w/ bonzi being the one to chase around the point and battier taking the better of the other teams 2 and 3. unfortunately this never came about because of the eventaul drama between gundy and the bonz...but even if mcgrady were to play "point" he wouldn't necessarilly guard the position.
Do you really want to see fat Bonzi chasing around guys like Parker who's half his size? The only realistic way is to play zone.
I'm with Chenzhen on this issue. If T-mac couldn't even handle playmaking + scoring in a half court set against Utah, with mediocre defense at best, then what do you think tacking on pg duties would do for him?
He already had PG duties, all Rafer ever did was dribble up and hand off to Tmac. How did Magic Johnson handle the point, how did Penny Hardaway? Just get a smallish 2 guard that can shoot to play defense on the other team's PG. Having 2 or 3 options to bring the ball up makes it a lot harder to trap.... Don't get caught up in names or numbers of positions, it is all about flexibility and making it difficult for the other team to prepare. DD
Possibly, but it's just speculation though. It in no way guarantees that T-mac would've been able to be more effective against Josh Howard/G.Buckner/D.George of the Mavs, B.Bowen/M.Ginobili of the Spurs, or R.Bell/S.Marion of the Suns.
OK lets look at the benefits of having him at point. It makes it harder to trap our team? How many teams trap effectively nowadays? What kind of things do the other team need to prepare for if T-mac plays the point? Scared of him posting the PG's up like Magic? Scared of him shooting over them? If anything, Tmac's Pick and Rolls against smaller defenders is limited because they are faster and quicker (ie Fisher in the playoffs).
They have 3 versions of that play all with Rafer dribbling up. 1) Rafer passing to one of the wings for post entry pass to Yao 2) Rafer waiting for T-mac to curl around screens for an open shot. 3) Rafer handing off to T-mac for him to get a high screen and roll. Yes, T-mac had partial PG duties but Rafer carried most of the load and was the one to initiate/setup all three of the above telepathed plays. Having T-mac take the ball up the court under pressure, then to setup a play or attack the basket, requires a lot more energy than just having him get the ball at the 3pt line. I mean, its cool to have him handle the rock for the important possessions, but moving him to the 1 for more than that seems excessive and detrimental to our team.
It's all a technicallity then? No real purpose of just labeling T-mac the point guard if he's not defending them. The only thing that's different is him bringing the ball up instead of having a smaller guy bring it up right?
Under pressure? How often did teams pressure the guy bringing the ball up the court? Almost never...... Tmac could play the PG position, it is pretty much what he played last year already.......but this year don't surround him with two midgets that can shoot, only put one midget out there to cover the other team's smaller players. If the team went small with: Bonzi Battier Tmac Yao Scola Who brings the ball up? That is one potent offensive linuep, it would be a matchup nightmare....the only deficiency is guarding the other teams smaller quicker players, but team defense can help cover that up. DD
You could say that. Personally, I label players by their roles on the offensive end more so then I do defensively. That's why I called T-mac the point guard. Bruce Bowen for example. He defends anyone from positions 1-3, but no one would ever call him a point guard or even a shooting guard. He's strictly small forward in my book.
