the problem is when he had yao, he couldn't get it done either. and he could've shot better. 9 for 22 just ain't that good.
Forget splitting. Watch them take the next 2. If I'm a player on the Rockets, I am just ANTSY to take a shot at the Jazz.
To people that say Tmac "disappeared" in the 4th: He was playing his ass off for the first 3 quarters. Other superstars might carry the team late in the 4th, but I can GUARANTEE you that there is at least 1 quarter where they coasted to conserve enough energy to be effective in crunch time. We never got the cushion for Tmac to rest. In fact, we were behind for 90% of the game. In the end, Tmac ran out of gas. (And I really hate puns.)
Didn't he have 9 dimes going into the 4th? Rocket River I thought he was surely going to get the Triple Double
When asked about it in the postgame conference, he said that he ran out of gas in the fourth, couldn't feel his legs under him. I thought it was pretty obvious, didn't really need him to confirm it, but take it for what it's worth. I've learned something about this board's schizophrenic relationship with McGrady: those who bash him will bash him for anything and at every turn, and those who like him/sympathize with him will defend him at every turn...and then there is me.
Quick question: does it matter if he gets a "triple double" or not? The team either wins or loses, nothing else is of value.
When you look at his 4th quarter, remember this: Tracy McGrady only rested 3-4 minutes the entire game up until then. Deron Williams after the game said that their game plan was to wear T-Mac down with fresh bodies at all times, and it worked. Tracy played his brains out, 9-22 isn't telling the story, he was 9-15 at one point. If you want to blame anyone blame Luther Head. He is Tracy's backup and cannot even stay in the game more than a couple minutes at a time because he is such a bad ballhandler, makes terrible decisions all the time with ball, and performs EVEN WORSE when the stakes are high. He needs to be off our team by next year. I don't care if our new backup can shoot the 3 as well. Ronnie Brewer starts for Utah and he doesn't hit threes at all. Our backup SG needs to be able to give McGrady a rest by holding the team together somewhat. That means being able to penetrate, handling the ball competently, not choking in the crunch, and having some size as our point guards have none. Luther Head meets NONE of these requirements except the occasional penetration. Thanks, Head.
Thank you for your wisdom. A lot of people are quick to blame T-Mac for every loss. "Didn't elevate his game in the 4th like REAL SUPERSTARS do.." That's bullcrap! There wouldn't have been a need to do that if his team mates didn't suck so bad. Magic is right and I'll take his word over any hater. T-Mac played great but there just wasn't enough help from his team mates.
One of the main problems this series has been the Rockets and shooting their FREE THROWS. They missed so many, if they would have been at just 80% to 90% on their FTs we would have been in this game much earlier.
I love the TMac in the first 3 quarters, but fact is fact, he did disappear in the 4th. The one thing that drove me crazy was that he never tried to push the ball in the 4th. In one play I think DW fell on the other end of the floor, and we are basically 5 on 4. But not only did he not push the ball, but he pulled up for a badly-missed 3 instead of attacking. That play almost sent a signal of giving up. I did not want to say it, but can not help thinking that TMac is just not mentally tough enough to push himself through the end when facing tough situations like extreme fatigue. At the end though, we are simply a lesser team talent-wise. These losses are really not that a surprise.
yes. but #11 is not out on the court. it was the #11 that saved us that year. our #11 this year has a broken foot.
kobe went 5-19 through 3 quarters last night and his team was up 19 pts. tmac had 22 pts, 9 rebounds, 8 assists through 3 quarters and we were down 3. see the difference?
Agree, Luther head has done absolutely nothing in 2 games. Cant hit a shot, misses layups, and commits turnovers left and right.
it is easy Jordan Farmar, Vujacic, Walton, Radmanovic are making shots. They are kitting simply everything and Kobe doesn't even have to step up. That's the difference. In LA guys are making shots and in Houston they are not. If Tracy doesn't do everything than we won't win
Even Jordan in his prime wouldn't have been able to carry this pack of scrubs over these Jazz. This career-on-the-decline, injured T-Mac pretty much gave it his all, couldn't fault him tonight, just ran out of gas. If we still have Rafer starting for us, and Head/Hayes logging major minutes for us next year, just forget about the future. There's still a major deficiencies in FT and rebounding that need to be addressed also.
