Nonchalantly not blow by Korver? It would be nice if someone would nonchalantly be taking Boozer or Okur or Millsap or Harpring/Kirilenko all out of the lane.
Right... until T-Mac decided to shoot 3 times in the forth quarter. He didn't try to come off a screen, he rarely tried to post up, he didn't isolate, and when he did get the ball he called for the pick. Inexcusable.
I believe McGrady's shoulder injury is much worse than he lets on. Yeah, I know, it's not his right shoulder. But an injury to the opposite side of the body can cause problems for a jump shooter. Happened to me my senior year in high school - ever try shooting one handed? Very difficult. OTOH - all this ranting about T-Mac not having heart and/or quitting on the team is just absolute bull****. He gave it his all and got very little support from his teammates (Battier not withstanding). 36% FG shooting. Missing 10 free throws - no excuse! Our rookies playing like - well, rookies. The 3,4,and 5 guys couldn't make a layup, chase down a loose ball (except for, ocassionaly, Luis) nor hold on to a rebound or remember to block out. 6 for 21 from our PGs - where's the Rafer haters now? Sloppy passing, cf. Luther Head, Brooks, et al. A not surprising result ! There's still time for the Rockets team to come through. And we should encorage them, not throw them under the bus.
I'm not throwing them under the bus. I'm writing Adelman a love note on how to turn this thing around. I'm almost sure he'll read it...
Yes I agree, however it was not falling for him late in the game. So he decided not to force it and miss shots. I know some people disagree with that strategy, but do you really want him to shoot it if he's not going to make it? Because he can't drive with the entire Jazz team in the lane... He got a lot of people good looks, it just wasn't going in. So the question is would you rather have T-Mac missing a contested mid-range or Bobby Jackson/Aaron Brooks missing wide open 3's?
I couldn't agree more, except for the fact that I don't think Rafer's presence has anything to do with it.
True. And people forget that Yao didn't show up as planned in game seven on the boards last year. Anyone solely blaming tonight's loss on an injured swingman is not considering the true need of the rest of the team to step up, especially down low, in the paint. He cannot do it all. I hate to say it too but, he's one man.
Not falling for him?! HE DIDN'T TAKE ONE! How would he know that it's not falling, he took three shots in the 4th quarter!
This has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. Believe it or not, in my own little way, I consider this constructive breakdown of a flawed gameplan, not an indictment of Tracy's heart.
tmac has to have the ball in his hands down the stretch and what he needs to do is drive to the basket and then either create the foul/score or kick it out even if he is doubled. Thats why he is the 20million dollar guy
A wide open 3 should be a higher percentage shot for almost all NBA players than a doubled superstar's contested shot. Tim Duncan proved that tonight when he drilled a 3.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves guys. 6 more games to go and we're 1 of 4 teams to have beaten Utah @ home this year.
Fine. Don't tell me people won't be calling for his head just the same if he shot 8/24 because he decided to throw a few more up even though he wasn't making them. Sure a missed 3 and a missed 2 are the same, but my question was which one do you prefer? T-Mac got the looks for his teammates, but it wasn't going to work either way. Then Brooks tried to take over and Jackson chucked up a bunch of crap and then the game was over. I do agree, for the record, T-Mac should have taken a couple more.
yep this is the NBA and most guys will knock down wide open 3s and since tmac is the focal point, he should be the one driving and creating and thats what we see in cp3, td, kobe and lebron
I agree, but when he did drive, he was met with the big frontline of Utah many times. They packed the paint. If you deny that, you didn't watch the game. When he kicked out? Head/Jackson/Brooks sucked. Scola and Hayes and Landry didn't play exceptionally well either. Some of them couldn't even catch a ball or secure a rebound. Draw a foul? He didn't get any calls tonight even when he did drive in. Right? My point is T-Mac didn't play all that well but he was THE focus of the entire Jazz defense, which is spectacular. You would think that in his shadow, T-Mac's teammates could pull out better than 1/7, 3/15, etc. etc. But the fact is we don't have enough firepower without a healthy Yao.
I actually saw a lot of good signs between the crap tonight. The only way we can successfully hang with the Jazz is if we tone it down to a defensive, low-scoring game. We have to compensate for our low offensive production and LEAVE MUTUMBO on the floor. I felt Adelman made a mistake when he took Mutumbo out of the game in the 3rd quarter after he freakin' swatted a shot beautifully! When Deke was on the floor, he made a big impact on the game...we actually tied the game because we were playing good defense, which led to transition buckets. When our defense went south, we couldn't hang with them.