Can this thread and ALL Tmac bashing threads be locked. Or do we simply need the Rockets to CUT TMAC TODAY to prove a point. Will imposing and no playoff success aside, if we did not have him now we would all be crying about another season wasted and how we can move up to draft Michael Beasly or OJ Mayo or some other stud in the draft. Give it up people Tmac may not be Kobe or LeBron. But it could be worse. We could actually have Rudy Gay instead of Tmac. Go ask Memphis how that is working out.
so are you saying we should trade yao too? it took KG 8 tries to get out (freakin' 8 and he had 2 all-star players with him when he did it).
Why is everyone so sensitive about this subject? Is this subject TABOO? I don't believe anybody here has said that Tracy sucks. People are just bringing and discussing their own opinions about him. What is the point of having a blog if we can not have conversation? Nobody is trying to hurt anyone here. We are just having simple basketball conversation. And yes I do agree with you that our star athlete could be a lot worse. Tracy is still a good player.
then can you criticize him in an adult-like way like this? this last post of yours i don't think people consider it bashing. not tmac sucks, he's stephon marbury, i trade him for wine or something like that. i think if you keep posting your opinions in a constructive manner, we all get your point and move on.
I agree with Htowns_Finest in this regard. TMac no longer has a quick first step to drive to the basket. This forces him to settle for more jumpshots because he simply can't go around most defenders very easily I think. I think if you look at it from that perspective, TMac can no longer be called a Superstar or Elite player in the NBA anymore. Now don't get me wrong, the guy still has talent and lots of ability (like having eyes in the back of his head), but he is not at the Kobe or Lebron level anymore.
i think we ALL have come to an agreement that tmac is not at the level of kobe or lebron. but if your thinking that only those level of play are superstar level, then we really only have 2 superstars in this league. those guys are a notch above everyone else right now (though i put chris paul in this group too right now--they're the 3 best players in the world) (i guess you call them super-duper-stars). tmac is still a superstar. he is still the 3rd best overall perimeter player right now if you compare him to guys like melo, iverson, pierce, wade, joe johnson... but if you compare him to lebron or kobe, sure, he looks 2nd-tier, but every player does if you compare him to them.
I was never trying to bash Tracy. All I was saying is that it would not be unreasonable to compare Tracy to Stephon. I never said that I would trade him for wine.
I think that is where we disagree. I don't think you can say without a doubt that TMac is better than Iverson, Carmelo, Pierce, Wade or several others. I think arguements can be made that all of those players do somethings better than TMac, but there are things TMac does better than them. I think its all a matter of what you put your value on. And I think to me the biggest problem most people have with TMac is he gets paid more than all of those players (on the level of Kobe) and is expected to be better than all of them. And like I said before, I don't think anyone can say that TMac is hands down better than any of those guys mentioned.
Let’s be fair here ok? You think Tracy is a Superstar still and I do not. We probably both can agree that this years team is light years ahead of last years team? So let’s have Tracy decide if he is a bonafide Superstar! There should be no excuse coming from him this year about not having a good team. If Tracy can prove me wrong in the playoffs then I will man up and be the first to give him his props.
if you saw the nuggets game last night, you would know why. melo and iverson do not play with any semblance of intelligence or knowing how to play within a system. iverson never knew how (and that's why he cannot make his teammates better). melo is the same way. pierce by himself never was close to tmac's level, esp. in terms of leading teams to the playoffs. the years he got to the playoffs was with a prime antoine walker. he never made the playoffs as the main guy and only the main guy. and this yr his #s are down all across the board with a fg% comparable to tmac, despite playing with more offensive talent. you may not think tmac is clearly better but i do. i look at how tmac controls an offense, which none of these other players can do. tmac can literally control an offense and operate it like no other great scorer can (outside of lebron and kobe). that's an asset that is where he makes his money. denver pays iverson and melo to score. we pay tmac to score, rebound, pass, create, AND run the offense most of the time. and when you watch rocket games, you see that. i think a lot of you guys were mesmerized by his scorign and only judge him on scoring a ton of points (which i think if he can stay healthy the whole year he can). but he brings a lot more to the table than any other player besides kobe and lebron.
that's fine to disagree. we can't all agree right? but again, kobe never got out of the first round without shaq. even if you take out pau gasol, the level of talent is similar to our team and u can argue they probably won't make it out of the first round. unless we face denver or GSW (we might not be favored agaisnt those 2 even), our chance of advancing is low. i think you judge him if he brings that extra gear from teh reg. season. if he puts up 30, 7, 7, i don't think you can blame him. his playoff #s are astronomical and puts him in elite company. he has a "good" team if yao was playing. i think we should look to trade him if we can't advance with him and yao this year. but yao's out. scola and landry have never played in the playoffs. rafer, battier, and head SUCKED last yr. it really depends on how the role players play. i have no doubt tmac will prove he's a top 3 player in the playoffs (that's just how he plays in the playoffs).
He does not have to advance in the playoffs for me to give him his props. I understand just like all of us that the West this year is LOADED. So it is going to be tough for everbody this year. But if he can raise his play to Elite status then I will be wrong and I will be the first to say that. So do we have a deal?
I agree. The league today is so obssesed with scoring that they tend to overlook the other aspects of the game. It's become more and more common to hear folks saying that T-Mac has lost a skip in his step. That he's not a great baller because his numbers are down. When you look at AI and Melo, like you stated, their primary focus is on offense. They try and light it up. The same could be said for GS and the Suns (with the exception of Steve Nash). They don't make their team mates better in any way. It's the perfect example on how NOT to run a team. Though T-Macs numbers are considerably lower, I still think he's a tremendous player. He's developed into an overall player that benefits this team greatly. No longer how he have to carry the offensive burden of his team mates. He finally has the supporting cast to do some damage in the playoffs. And even then, take a closer look at his playoff stats. They are evident that come playoff time, he steps up his game. Tracy is developing into the player this team needs. He can create shots for himself, but more importantly, his team mates. There's a newfound confidence in him that his team mates will knock down open shots. He rebounds, assists, and can still light it up. It's the kind of player this team needs. Homeboy just needs to stay healthy!!
My comments are more an overall statement to the fact that posts like these are somewhat baseless and pop up every other day without merrit. I agree that this is (now) a public forum, and it invites everyone to state their opinions. With those opinions comes conversation but one would hope for factual conversations or even valid conversations. A post started no less than TWO days ago: T-Mac needs to suck it up!!! -- started at 9am where the posted post: He says this in the fact that Tmac doesn't play hurt. Or that every time TMac is bumped he walks around on the verge of dying. While I will admit TMac does seem to be one of the more injury prone players in this league, I also have to say that he plays as hurt as anyone else in this league. If I recall during the Sacramento game he got hurt once that we all saw when he rolled his ankle and based on the commentators comments before the Minny game he hurt his shoulder at the end of the game. But he still suited up for the Minny game when it was thought he would not play. Then this post shows up a little more than 24 hours later: Tracy, grow up pls!!! Where the poster's point of emphasis is: after missing most of his shots in the first 3 quarters, is he saying that he didn't impose his will early on the game? a mark of a loser!!! Which is just crazy because 1. We won the game 2. 23, 11, 9 -- It just amazes me that I guess someone wakes up one day and says "Hmm the board looks slow today, let me incite some topic of conversation by TMac bashing again." Funny thing is we could have held on to SF3, Cuttino and Kelvin Cato and let Tmac stick it out in Orlando. I doubt anyone here would bash Tmac as much with him playing alongside Dwight Howard now. And if SF3 is our franchise player when Yao goes down for the season this season. God help us. The best way to look at this is that if we take out Tmac right now and insert any said star from another team would we be where we are now. Paul Pierce: NOOO -- he couldn't do it in Boston by himself. DWade: More than likely. He won that championship almost singlehandedly. He singlehandedly paid off the refs to call a foul for him everytime he was breathed on. Iverson: NOOO -- 10 years on a contending team 1 time to the finals (fine that is more than Tmac, but it was the east), and Philly is playing better this yeah withOUT him. Carmelo: NOOO -- or why did they trade for AI??
sure, i don't think that'll be a problem b/c his playoff #s always destroy his reg. season #s. i don't know what you're talking about. you do know he is averaging 29, 7, 6 in teh playoffs in his career right? (if you take out the toronto year, it's 30, 7, 7). that's the best overall #s right now, better than anyone currently playing.
Like you said earlier being a Superstar is not just about numbers. All I can say is that we will see come playoff time.
Tracy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I love how every interview he does, he seldom uses "TEAM, US" and uses "I, MY, MYSELF"
