T-Mac hit his 3's last night so this won't sound reactionary. No more three's, Tracy!!! Don't shoot it unless... a) you're forced by the shot clock b) we're down by 3 in the final secs c) we need 13 pts in 35 secs against the Spurs T-Mac is a 30 percent 3 point shooter. That's horrible!!! I hate it when he does his quick heat-check three. It usually kills our momentum and gets the other team going with a long rebound and fastbreak. Since we haven't had a coach (including JVG) willing to tell TMac not to shoot the three, it's up to Morey. As a stats guy, he can explain it in a reasonable way and not shatter T-Mac's fragile confidence. My other point... Please rest Landry!!! He isn't playing like the Landry we know. His knee is a major problem. We're not going to drop from the playoffs. We're in. We can't win a playoff series without a healthier Landy anyways. If nothing else he should sit for the next week against Seattle, the Clips and Seattle again. And finally, I hope Adelman will play way more BJack and a lot less Luther "The Turnover" Head once the playoffs start.
I agree with the landry thing, he is clearly nowhere near 100% (as evidenced by the wide open layup rather than dunk). With tmac however, shoots in the lower 30's because he has to create his own shot. Give tmac the open looks that other players see and you'd see his percentage sky rocket. The point is, tmac has amazing range and shoots those difficult shots at a higher percentage than most in the league (the only problem is that the shots he usually takes have such a high degree of difficulty). The heat check three is pretty frustrating when it doesn't go in (most of the time), but when it does I always remember why he does it.
The heatcheck 3's do bother me as well...but if he plays every game like he did last night, i dont mind it at all. As long as we have a W at the end of the game Mehdi
Actually, Tracy's 3 point shooting goes in sync with his legs. And right now, he seems to be getting some spring back. So, I'm okay with him taking the 3s when he is actually getting lift. It's when he looks like he's running around in peanut butter out there that he shouldn't be taking 3s. Face it. Tracy has Shaqitis. That is, he lollygags around for the first half of the season and then after the All-Star break, he starts to get it together and play the way he is capable of playing, to his potential.
Landry is clearly struggling. Not sure it is his knee. Seems like a combination of things. He is getting very few touches. Defenses are now accounting for him. Word got around the league. I wish TMac wouldn't chunk the ball from mid-court. Some really poor shot selection. But, if he keeps playing like he has recently, it is hard to be critical. He has kicked into another gear. He is scary good when he wants to be.
I agree with the original poster on all points, but I have a problem with this thinking... It's a moot point if he's taking tough shots, or if he has to create for himself. He shoots 30% from behind the arc. Period. He's a volume shooter who can get hot for short stretches. Nothing more, nothing less. And if taking tough shots at the end of the shot clock are an excuse, then why does Kobe shoot 36% from 3? He takes more shots with guys hanging all over him than anyone in the league. I'll tell you why...because he's actually a really good shooter! See what I'm saying?
Yeah there were a handful of plays last night where I said to myself "If Landry was healthy that would have been a dunk." I'm worried. And yes Luther Head is a cancer. I particularly fret when Luther makes a smart play off the dribble on offense, because he is guaranteed to give it back immediately on the other end: if you don't believe me play that game with yourself the next time you watch. When Luther puts the ball on the floor and does something unexpectedly heady with it, keep track of where he is and who he's defending on the next play. It's like he's too busy holding his own jock to worry about guarding people.
I wonder if anyone can break down T-Mac's 3 point shot splits for the season. His overall shot charts are one thing, but they dont take into account catch n shoots, or dribble behind the picks, yo-yo dribble shots, hor just elevating over the man in his face. The factors for T-Mac hitting his jumpers(from anywhere) seem to be those and his legs.
Yeah I cringe when I see T-Mac taking a three, uncontested or not. This isn't Orlando Tracy we're talking about. I want him taking those midrange jumpers and driving only with @ most 2 threes a game. No heatchecks please.
I wouldn't call him a cancer. Far from it. He seems to be a good team guy with a good attitude. However, he might be the worst decision maker with the ball in the NBA. It's maddening
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hK4X8RZPq0Q&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hK4X8RZPq0Q&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> I hate to derail a thread (and I hope I won't) but when did T-Mac do that dunk at the very end? The 180 dunk! Wow, I didn't know he could still do it! And I agree, Tracy shouldn't keep jacking up those threes. However, if he is making them, then I have no problem with it. It's just when he's cold and keeps shooting. It's great to hear that he knows that and tries to change it.
If you dont let Tmac take the trey, his other game doesnt go either. You gotta give an artist offensive freedom and live with it. Even JVG embraced that idea. Tmac is what Tmac is, bad contest jumpers and scoring spurts through his whole careet. Learn how to live with it. I am more pissed when he gives up the ball late in the shot clock to a teammate that has no chance making it.
The reason why t-mac was hitting 3s was because he was set at the line and they were all catch-n-shoot. Usually he doesnt get that many open looks so he just comes down the court and jacks them up and prays. This is why I like AB and BJ running the offense better than Rafer. Rafer has good handles and doesn't turn the ball over much these days, but he cant make good passes. When McGrady was open at the 3, AB and BJ made a perfect pass to him right in his hands where he could just catch and shoot rather than Rafer forcing it to where McGrady has to first worry about somehow catching a bad pass before shooting.
I didn't mean chemistry cancer. I meant turnover cancer, defensive sieve. Doug Collins kept going on and on last night about how Head loves to cough the ball up, so other teams should pressure him.
Because he didn't have a stretch of 13 games where he played injured + a stretch of bad games immediately returning from injury. Without those games McGrady would be at 46% from the field and 37% from 3. There is that big of a gap in his production. Historically McGrady has been one of the best shooters in the game from midrange out. It's always been his game - and at this stage of his career, that isn't going to change.
This is tough. I agree that alot of the 3s he takes are pretty damn frustrating. BUT if he didn't what would have happened in Minnesota when he nailed that dagger, or in Seattle when he faked Durant out of his shoes and hit a step back 3?? If he hesitated either time, we probably would have lost those 2 games, and those are just 2 examples I thought of off the top of my head. There are plenty more. I think you just have to live with it.
