I am baffled at the fact that this thread has gone on as long as it has. I may only be a rookie to the board but I'm no rookie to Psychology or the thousands of research articles on the human psyche. Here it is folks, once and for all. Everyone here that is pissed, e.g. YOF or whatever, at T-Mac for everything he has siad is because they don't want him to jinx what is to come. Whether you believe in superstition or not or the fact that he can "jinx" himself, he still needs to be able to carry himself as an individual and basketball player. What this means is regardless of whether or not the team actually has a chance to win, he, as a leader and as a human being, needs to rationalize that they have a chance to win and that is their goal. He isn't stating that getting out of the first round isn't important but merely emphasizing the goal of winning a ring, which is the goal of every NBA player/team. Without this rationalization, he would be dejected and lose faith in the team he plays with i.e. definetely a loss in the first round of the playoffs again, or worse yet, no playoffs. As for him actually "jinxing" his past teams, just look at his teammates. When, in any playoff series, only 4 players can score, then there's a problem. Optimism can only lead us in a good direction... don't mistake it for arrogance. I love the rockets and I hope they win the ring this year...lets just agree to that.. in the end, it's on everybody because put it this way.. if T-mac or Yao don't show up, we lose. if the rest of the team doesn't show up, we lose. Here's to a great year. Cheers Crudder
Watch the 4th quarter again. Everybody, and I mean everybody, showed up, with the exception of Tracy. Rafer was banking in threes. He had a few key steals. Juwan was snatching some key offensive rebounds. Yao was doing his thing in the paint. Battier hit 5 3's all game, including 1 huge one in the 4th. Tracy played a good 3 1/4 quarters. He faltered the last 5 minutes of the game. Yes, he might have been tired, but championship-players don't get tired.
I could care less about jinxing. Tracy says stupid things to the media and never backs himself up. Last year he said nobody on the Jazz could guard him. He even took a shot at Kirilenko after game 2. FIsher did a good job on him throughout the series, and Kirilenko shut him down in the 4th quarters of games 6 and 7. Shut your mouth and finish the damn game.
wow, tracy played SUPERB the first 3.5 quarters. how about the rest of the team helping him out a lil bit huh? is it just me or 29 pts and 13 assists => just a GOOD game. how about his team dominating the first 3 quarters without him and then tell him to dominate the 4th? if the role players didn't disappear in the first half, then tmac didn't have to waste all his energy bringing the team back singlehandedly?
You know, I definetely I agree that some of the things he has said throughout his career were unwarranted and unnecessary i.e. saying that he was out of the first round in the playoffs being up 3 to 1 against Detroit when in Orlando. However, going back to your original statement and my original contention, nobody showed up in the fourth quarter. Yes, I have watched that quarter multiple times. Right about 5 minutes left, our team shut down if you didn't notice. Yes, the boxscore is deceptive because both Mac and Yao put up large numbers but they couldn't finish while the Jazz did. So easily, the blame could fall on both Yao and Mac but that isn't the point. The point is their supporting crew was weak.
people who care about what they do. u know there are tears of joy and tears of pain right? jordan cried after he won his first championship. kobe cried on the bench when he lost to the spurs. maybe you're just not passionate about what u do. u can't knock for a guy who does
Personally, I choose C every time given that choice. There most certainly IS a difference for me. I prefer for people to let results do the talking. I would rather the team lose without compounding the pain by saying some pointless crap beforehand (which means nothing if you win, and definitely haunts you if you lose) that ends up getting rehashed over and over again (in this thread for instance) afterwards. If he hadn't talked so much before the loss, this thread wouldn't exist. My life would have one less annoying reminder of that series. So yeah, it does make a difference. Turn it around: A) Tmac predicts a win, Rockets win B) Tmac predicts a loss, Rockets win C) Tmac shuts up and plays, Rockets win Is choice A better for anybody than choice C? so why talk? At the very best, it's masturbatory ego stroking by Tmac, which is annoying to me. I guess maybe it impresses some people though. And I think that people are saying that what you complain about is exactly the problem- Tmac is focusing a little too much on bantering instead of just playing the game. Maybe people think his talking shows a lack of focus or respect for the difficulty of the task. Maybe if he was focused 100% on the task leading up to and during the series instead of talking so much, he hits an extra shot or two in game 7. Maybe he works with his teammates a little longer instead of giving so many interviews, and it leads to better on-court chemistry, leading to an extra assist or two. Maybe that 4 point loss in game 7 would have been a 2 point win. That game was achingly close. Just a few really small things could have changed the outcome. Maybe that's what some people are thinking. I personally can accept the premise that it had ZERO effect on the outcome of the games, even if arguments could be made to the contrary. I still find it pointless and annoying that he said any of it to begin with. Confidence is fine- shut up and win the game.
If he actually cared about what he did, maybe he should've tried harder in the fourth quarter when it mattered instead of just passing the ball. and don't even compare Jordan and Kobe's passion to TMAC's. Talentwise, they are similiar. What make his airness and kobe winners are their passion and focus in the moments that mattered. TMAC does not have that and TMAC can only win a playoff series if he's on a team overstocked with talent.
As shown by the multiple trophies Jordan won without Scottie Pippen, and the handful of rings Kobe won without Shaq.
wow, 8 pages of TOFs vs YOFs vs ROFs(rocket only fans) why don't all of you just bask in the health and optimism of this impending season and re-freaking-lax already.
I'd like to get in this debate but I've been banned once and lemme tell ya it sucks. Anyways I'm glad Tmac is looking ahead and reaching for the finals. What superstar would say "hey I'll be happy to reach the 2nd?" He'll get burned either way here in the BBS. I was pissed at Tmac last playoffs with his lackadaisical plays but hey, I'm looking ahead to the finals now.
Man I hate it when people set goals of what they want to accomplish. Then they talk about those goals. . . . . whats next? I just sure hope he does not try and accomplish this crazy goal of winning a championship. I would be disapointed in any athlete who didn't make winning a championship a priority/goal. I would think something is wrong with them and they lack motivation. From the looks of this thread, I think I may be in the minority. . . .
