Haha!! When Yao wen't down we were something like 10 in the western confrence , T-Mac brought us to the playoffs with home court in the toughest Western conference maybe ever. This is bs.
It's true that T-Mac's jumper was garbage last season , but if this guy likes stats so much how about he leads the Rockets to the playoffs without Yao. Here are some stats for that guy.
I"m gonna agree with this assessment, T-Mac has been on the decline for a while. hopefully this year is the reversal of the trend and he's a reborn man after surgery! that or ron takes off some defensive pressure
Everything he said is exactly true. T-mac isn't the magician he used to be. He still is a great player that can score on anyone at anytime, whether it be at a lower percentage or not. Many shots he takes are at the end of a shot clock or in a bind when a normal player wouldn't take the shot. If a great shooter, like Brent Barry, took that amount of shots, he would be shooting way below Tmacs %. T-mac has declined, but is still a good player to have on a team.
This assessment is dead on and is what I've been saying for a while. I don't understand why Houston fans give T-Mac a free pass for all the ridiculous amount of shots he miss. Cut it any way you want, a superstar should not be shooting .487 TS%.
I don't see how anyone who isn't blinded by fanboyism can disagree with his assessment. It's true, Tmac is no longer the offensive force he was during his prime years in Orlando. He's lost a step, isn't as explosive, and his jumper hasn't aged well - mainly cuz I think he doesn't get quite the elevation he used to on that shot, and his form has gotten increasingly mechanical over the years instead of a fluid motion. What remains to be seen is if he can bounce back now that we've added extra offensive help. A good yardstick I see for this is the fact that in '04-'05, when McGrady had capable offensive help in Barry, Sura, Wesley, Yao and Howard, he's put up some nice numbers. Of course, that was before his back problems flared up the following season, but you could argue that he hasn't really had that kind of offensive help since then. Yao has improved, and Scola is fantastic, but Alston and Battier on the perimeter is no Sura and Barry offensively. This season, if Mac stays healthy, I'd fully expect his efficiency to rise, now that we've gotten even more offensive help. Should be exciting times ahead.
Maybe TMAC could shoot less and pass more because of his lower shooting percentage.He is a great passer.
ok, but he was by far the best scorer in the league at this time. even if he isn't as good anymore, he's still an elite scorer. at least when it counts (playoffs). i don't see anyone besides kobe, lebron and a healthy wade at his position who's a better scorer than him in the playoffs. plus, the gap to those players is closer than to those who follow him. yeah, especially at the free throw line. i don't think it's as easy as saying he lost some elevation. there's more behind it. i think a lot of it has to do with him playing through injuries. if you remember the start of last season, t-mac was an offensive force. he was explosive and scoring at will. well, it all lasted until his first injury (the lakers game). until that 9th game of the season he dropped 40 pts twice, made 44 % of his fgs, 35 % of his 3ps and 76 % of his fts while averaging 29 ppg. that were vintage t-mac numbers and as i remember he also clearly looked that way. then the fist injury (elbow) came and he was never the same again because other injuries followed. still, he carried us through the tough stretch without yao. that he wasn't very efficient then should be obvious. i think he'll only bounce back if he gets his touch back and artest is a bench player. i don't think artest and t-mac should play too much together because t-mac is a rhythmn guy who needs the ball in his hands. yao, artest and him on the court automatically means that he won't get into his rhythmn where he's at it's best. yeah, artest will help a lot if it works out, but he has to come off the bench. that will do 3 very good things: 1) t-mac gets the touches he wants. 2) artest gets the touches he wants. 3) our bench will be very strong and t-mac can rest a lot more.
While there's no denying he isn't the scorer of the past. The stats only tell half the story. T-Mac is as valuable to this team has any other superstar (Kobe, Lebron, Duncan). Look at our record without him. You would be a fool to think you could replace him with just any 20pt scorer(Carter, Redd, Ginobili) and think we would win 50 games. IMO I would place him in the top 15 right now. He still makes All-NBA teams.
im' sure melo and paul pierce are ranked higher. so lemme ask the guy who wrote this a question: despite all of that, who are you more confident leading the team BY HIMSELF? that should answer his question. but yes, tracy has to definitely improve his efficiency. not only will it help him, but the team. let's see what he brings to the table this year.
I think Tmac should be higher than 29, but then again, I can also understand why he's at 29. Either way, Tmac's shooting percentage should definitely be going up this season with Yao back and Artest in the line up. No more double/triple teaming on Tracy anymore!
