lets not go too far... t-mac did shoot 9-22 and did only score one point in the 4th which im sure jordan could do better.... but you cant really fault him I guess since he was tired and all that good stuff...
Come on DD. If by choking the offense back to his style you mean attacking the basket and finding the open man, then you are right. He had 9 assists and would have had more if his teammates could finish. Maybe the offense has revolved around him because no one else can run it right now. Rafer Alston gets a lot of crap around here, but the team really misses him. Bobby Jackson can't run the offense well. Luther Head can't even throw a pass without turning the ball over.
My humble opinion is it comes down to making the same shots they are getting. The offense looks the same to me. Rafer was a big part of that streak. He's not even playing. Landry snuck in there, but now people know he can get to the cup and he just doesn't jump as high and explosively as he was before...at least it seems that way. Luther was contributing 9-12 points a game or so. Scola hit more layups, hahah. Do things change when Rafer comes back?...it all depends on which Rafer. We still need BJack to play well, Scola, Landry, Head, etc. Tracy has always facilitated the offense for about 85% of the possessions, if not more. I know you watch the games intently DD, I must be watching different ones from you or something.
we're missing 2 starters. our best bench player (landry) is nonexistent. our next best in luther is a ghost once again. our other bench player can't make layups. are you serious blaming al lof this on tmac?
tracy played great and leave everything on the court, but unfortunately he had little help from the role players
Maybe if Yao and Rafer played. Is to much to ask the role players to do more. I'm still in shock that we tie the game with 45 secs to go (Flop take it away) missing 22 - 11 and 13-5 vs a championship contender. T-Mac is doing Rafer's job (creating), Yao's job Rebounding, blocking shots and posting some in the low block and he still need to do his job. We cant ask for more, this guys is a warrior and I'm glad we have him.
I guess you're seeing whatever you want to see. What many people fail to realize is that before the winning streak, we had quite a few "unknowns" on this team... namely, Scola, Landry, hell... even Mutombo's continued ability to contribute was forgotten. We snuck up on a lot of teams who had no idea what we were going to do out there... and it resulted in a lot of wins. Often times, during those wins, it was the bench brigade of unknowns who started dusting people simply because other teams had no clue what they were capable of. Well guess what.... thanks to the ample exposure the streak provided us, and the natural nature of teams to scout the ever-loving-**** out of each nook and cranny a team posseses... we're not sneaking up on anybody anymore. That's why Scola looks so damn horrible out there (teams know what he's going to do). That's why Landry doesn't have wide open dunks anymore (teams know that's his bread and butter, and they don't leave him open anymore). Teams know better than to drive into the heart of Mutombo's defense, and rather exploit either the smaller guards or Scola's "ole" defense. The only guy on our team who can rise above scouting reports and game-plans is T-mac... but with virtually zero help out there, and the fact that he's not 25 anymore, he's not going to last the whole game being the ONLY guy who's capable of breaking the other team's rhythm consistently.
I agree to a point. But remember the elbow jumper with Scola? It is still there, Okur leaves him and zones Tmac whenever Tmac is on the wing, but for some odd reason Tmac doesn't pass it to Scola for the 15 footer.... Remember when Rafer was waving Tmac off and initiating the offense forcing Tmac to move and come off of screens and be a finisher instead of a facilitator? That is long gone....and it was what was working... DD
I think when Rafer comes back (if Rafer comes back), you'll see us get back into the offense. As many faults as he has, and there are a lot IMO, I can now appreciate how important he was in terms of getting the offense going and not letting Tracy slow it down as much. I just don't think Jackson and Brooks are good at that...they are better scorers.
"I didn't have anything," said McGrady, who finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. "I had no legs. I was on empty. Banging with Matt Harpring, trying to rebound, trying to make plays for my team, trying to score, playing 43 minutes. That's a lot." Thanks TMac... speaking like a true champion Can you imagine Kobe or LeBron say some crap like that seriously... this guy is just unbelievable.
in fact kobe did say something like that after game 7 loss to the suns, after blowing the 3-1 series lead 2 yrs ago. so yes, i can imagine kobe saying some crap like that
It seems you intend to ignore that Kobe cried for trade last summer and they finally got Gasol. Similarly, how do you think about the big trade that the cavs made by the deadline? I think, actually, you are not a Kobe or LeBron's fan. Otherwise, you should have known those things better. I guess, in real life, you probably think every woman is much better than your wife!
I didnt see game 2, but i know Scola passed up this shot a few times in game 1. Compare the team the last few games vs the streak and you will notice a very big difference: BJax off the bench vs BJax starting.
scola can take that shot anytime but instead he's intent on driving instead. you can see numerous times he has that shot but just wants to attack. that's a great thing, but he's missing layups. rafer ONLY waves tmac off if he's having a "great" game. during that 22 game winning streak, rafer had a "great" run. when he fell back to reality and started sucking, you can't keep waving your best player off if you keep sucking can you?
#1, Rafer isn't playing. #2, You're underestimating how little teams are now guarding Mutombo. They just aren't guarding him AT ALL... esp not on the pick and roll. Thus, whenever somebody double teams T-mac, Mutombo's man will guard the other player (in this case, Scola). Teams have adjusted to us... and Adelman hasn't been able to make many adjustments back, other than taking out Mutombo sooner (and putting in the just as useless Hayes). As already mentioned, Landry has been shut down (by both scouting and still a lingering injury). We don't have many more options. There's no lineup out there that can allow us to have single-coverage when T-mac gets the ball. And without Rafer, we don't have a clear-cut facillitator who can get this team into its offense fast enough (Bobby Jackson is clearly struggling to pace himself).
people keep referring to that 22 game winning streak, they also forgot how ridiculously great a finisher landry was when he came off the bench. that player is long gone. secondly, like you said, teams have adjusted to us. they didn't know what to expect from us when yao got injured, and i believe some took us lightly. again, it does not hide the fact that the intensity level of EVERY player increases in the playoffs. talent thus becomes so critical. outside of tmac and scola, none of our players are talented. they're simply hard-working players.
we have talented players, tmac1 we just don't have another great scorer that can help keep defenses honest.
