do you really want T-Mac to become kidesque right now? We don't have Yao in the middle right now for T-Mac to play second fiddle to, he's it...everyone on here can attack Tracy all they want, but at the end of the day we have to rely on him in the playoffs - end of story. Yeah, he can pass to Landry and Battier and Scola all day - and they can have great games. But, T-Mac will dictate if we make it to the second round or not. He's a great passer and he makes smart decisions - its easy to critique him for not passing enough when he has a bad shooting night, but its funny - I don't see a lot of people say that when he shoots lights out. Ask Dallas how well J-Kidd is doing without another superstar to pass the ball to...
I agree but to put the blame on Tracy alone is getting old. And let's be honest did anyone really think Rafer would continue to play the way he was? During the streak we won games when he didn't shoot well(Lakers) but no one was complaining, hell there was MVP chants going around! I've blamed Tracy for lot's of things and been called out on it but this time I really can't say anything about it. When he shoots and tries to get going "Oh he's a ball hog" When he passes up shots "Oh he doesn't shoot enough" When he passed off to a teamate " See he doesn't even want the ball" We lost to a better team with more talent and without Yao. It was a TEAM loss.
Considering he shouldn't be starting in the first place, what exactly is the problem with this line: 26 minutes 4-6 (2-3 from 3) 3 rebounds 5 assists 0 turnover 1 block Granted, he hasn't been playing that great lately, but I'd say Luther had an above average game yesterday.
I am sure if we have Mighty Mouse as the 11th player, we will play 11 guys. Mike Harris, Novak are just not. As matter of fact, RA did play them extensive minutes before. I trust what he sees. We play 8, 9 man rotation. This is fine, really. Expect that be shorten to 7,8 come to playoff time. Quit biatiching. RA's rotation got us 22 wins. We just happened to lose to better teams. There are no rotation magic, or chemistry enhancer can cure that difficiency.
people don't need to say anything bad when tmac shoots the ball well. when he doesn't is the problem. he keep shooting, shooting, and shoot. and you would think he would improve over the quarters, but then, you notice the defense starts to sag, and he still misses. missing open shots are ok, they'll go in sooner or later, but jacking up shots just to get going? no, that is not ok. this is when i start worrying. tmac will dictate whether we go to the 2nd round or not, you are right, but that's what i'm worring. in a playoff, where every game counts, you can't just rely on tmac to shoot <40% for 4-7 games. he's streaky, and that's the truth. i'm not worried about the loss, i'm worried about the playoffs. i was skeptical about rafer, and it shows why, but that doesn't give him that approval to stop ball movement and go one on one, whatsoever. when you're off, you try to get going, by getting easier buckets that go in at a higher %. not shooting contested shots. there got to be a right balance. when you are killing the defense, you can do whatever you want, but you shouldn't be looking for teammates. you should have the killer instinct to go attack the defense. when the defense is bothering you, you do plays that coach has set up.
You realize he was playiung more than 7 players during the rotation to get those 22 wins right? He's stopped using it for some reason. I remember Novak having a career high game during it... for some reason they've completely stopped using harris and novak.
if adelman is shortening his rotation then i trust it's for a good reason. he had a good reason to bench francis and james. i'm assuming he has a good reason to bench novak and harris, who are d-league players.
You want a box score to give a real indication of Luther Head's performance? How about Michael Finley's 9-13, 22pts, 6 rebounds in 31 minutes? Because that was who Head was guarding when he was out there. In particular I recall a sequence where Head had a reverse layup and I was cheering but thinking at the same time, "This is unlike me to praise him for a smart play." Sure enough, on the other side of the court he gives the two points right back by gambling for a steal, missing, and leaving Finley wide open at the top of the FT line for an easy jumper. That's just who Head is.
When did I say he wasn't streaky? My only point was he passes the ball enough now as it is, I think he has a good balance. People don't complain when those shots go in because he's scoring and that's fine. But, you don't want your star to change his playing style based on whether he's hot or cold at that moment. I've seen T-Mac turn it on in the 4th quarter even when he's been shooting badly the rest of the game. It seems that if it was up to you, if he was having an off night (as decided by who by the way? and decided at what point?) he should never look to shoot again, now he should only pass. That just doesn't make any sense. He's streaky just like all jump shooters are, but I don't want him to be looking to pass each time down the court - he distributes the ball just fine right now.
you didnt watch the whole game then...because I saw finely get 2 jumpers to go down on landry and at least 3 on batman...
Adelman tried to change the rotation against Boston, and we lost. He also altered the rotation against the Spurs. Guess what? We lost. Adelman, stick to what works. Don't get creative all of a sudden.
lol....great reasoning...I started to take dumps in the morning 2 weeks ago and since then I have been doing really bad at work, I think I should stop taking dumps in the morning....maybe league leading boston and the 4 time champion spurs are better than us
The rockets played the same number of guys as the Spurs, last night. Eleven players. The Spurs let their starters rest more, because it was a blowout from the first quarter.
Yeah, and your reasoning is so much better. Of course Boston and San Antonio are better than us, but changing the rotation all of a sudden doesn't help when we won 22 games in a row with the same rotation (minus Yao). For example, Adelman benched Battier against the Spurs so he could save his energy to defend Ginobili. Didn't seem to work, did it? Battier made mistakes he never makes, and the Spurs only shot 70% in the 1st quarter.
i agreed, AD hasn't been playing Novak or AB recently. specially AB he provided some energy to the starters when he played. landry seems to be a bit "toned" down after his injury too.
i read somewhere in those practice threads pruyen posts that Harris beat Brooks and BJax in a 3 point contest after practice so i guess he can shoot a little bit
I thought that was a great idea, however, I now think we should have put Shane in when Finley started going bananas and Tmac wouldn't check him
