Can Rockets get away with playing Barry or McGrady at PG?

With so many possible PGs, giving some PT to TMac is almost going to make AB
sit longer on the bench. Barry is expected to have some PT as PG. Unless we are losing with whatever combinations that we throw out there, perhaps TMac can try out as PG in such circumstances.

 

that's b/c in those games tmac didn't have any offensive options to help him out and he had to do everything, including PG play.

if he's playing PG, i doubt he's looking to score much considering the offensive options we're fielding now with artest. so i doubt he has the same problems.

without rafer, you're asking tmac to pass and score.

now, with artest, if he plays PG, you're asking tmac to pass and no need to score.

 

Thats the great thing about having Battier and Artest on the floor at the same time. Because they are such good perimiter defendars TMac can guard the least threatening player. My money say TMac and Barry see min at point in important streches.

 

McGrady should not be playing PG unless Alston is tired, Barry is injured, Brooks is injured, Francis is injured and Luther Head is injured. .

 

I think with the team passing we'll have - we won't need a traditional point guard once the offense is in half court.

I don't think it makes sense to have t-mac play the point. Rafer is the best we have at bringing the ball up. It would only make sense in situations where we want to initate some sort of offense more quickly.

 

I think with Barry at the point it will open up space between defenders when he passes to T-mac.T-mac with the ball will draw the double team and they will collapse and Barry, Artest will be open...kind of like the golden state offense.

 

I prefer seeing T-Mac in the high post and letting somebody else play point.

He is a true triple threat and most effective when he gets the ball in that area of the court. He's lost a step at this stage of his career and shouldn't be spinning his wheels trying to dribble around double teams on the perimeter.

His options from the high post:

1. Raise up and shoot a 15-footer over just about anybody.

OR

2. Make a number of different passes if he gets doubled. The pass will be made based on what the defense does. Mac is great at finding the open man. This is where T-Mac can utilize his playmaking skills without having to be the PG.

OR

3. Fake a shot then take one or two steps for the finish or get to the line. H can also drop the ball off to one of our bigs if the defense over commits to stopping his drive. Once again, in the latter scenario, he can read the defense and use his playmaking skills without having to actually play PG.

If T-Mac gets more of his touches in the high post, his FG% will improve significantly and the team will be better as a result.

To stick to the point of this discussion, I'd much rather see Barry bringing the ball up than T-Mac. In general, though, Barry should be getting the vast majority of his minutes at SG or SF. He is most effective at this stage of his career coming off screens or spotting up on the 3pt line to create space inside. If they leave him open, he'll make em pay.

 

I can totally imagine either player getting PG responsibilities as long as they're in stints no longer than like 4 minutes, hopefully no more than 8 minutes out of the entire game.

If you're worried about T-Mac or Barry guarding one of the super-fast point guards around the league, you have to realize that this situation would probably only occur in the middle of the game, when any opposing superstar PG would be on the bench. Should a superstar PG be on the floor while Barry or T-Mac is running the point, Adelman isn't shy about switching off Battier to check the PG, while Tracy and/or Brent would be put on another player who is less of a threat. Tracy is rarely ever put in a position where he has to be a defensive stopper, since we acquired Battier. That's our advantage of playing three guys who are 6-7 and taller in the 1-2-3 spots at the same time, especially with two of the best on-the-ball defenders in the game.

As much disdain as it caused, we saw Luther Head bringing the ball up the floor last season. You cannot expect Adelman to be any less confident in Brent Barry's ability to do exactly that. His handles really aren't as good as Rafer, but they're good enough to fill in spot minutes.

 

I don't think T-Mac will be used as PG full-time. As someone pointed out, Rafer is the best to bring the ball up. Why waste this ability? With more scoring options now, Rafer won't have to jack up shots, which is his worst thing.

But I won't be surprised in the closing minutes of close games, we see this lineup on the floor: McGrady, Artest, Battier, Scola, Yao. This is the most potent lineup we have for short stretches.

 

Maybe Tracy will play like pg sometimes but this is not a good idea to use him at that spot. Even with Ron and Yao healthly this team still needs his points. I understand he is a great passer but we have Rafer and Brooks who in my opinion should be given consistant minutes.