We the SQUEEKERS!! Tmac helps us Squeek by the Thunder Artest helps us Squeek by the Celtics Battier helps us Squeek by . . . . Rocket River
A lot of people were wrong about Van Gundy. McGrady deserves criticism, but some people around here have lost their minds. McGrady has carried just about every team he's ever been on and now he's washed up? I mean, trade him for Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye? Really? People just need to be patient. He'll play better and the Rockets will win a lot of games.
26pts on 8-20 shooting, not much defense, a few bad plays incl. a crucial last-minute sf3-like dribble-and-3 which clanked off the rim, decent assists #'s, etc. an ugly and otherwise could've been a lot easier win against a bottom feed team. and someone set up an appreciation thread. niiiiiiiiiice. i say since now the stock has bounced a little, it's a better timing to trade...
the consistency is still not there yet. it was like the philly game. he had a great first half, but his legs got to him in the 2nd. he's still fighting through to regain that strength in his knee. i don't know why rick doesn't let him play b2bs now. i'm sure tmac wants to play tomorrow just like he did v. boston. hopefully he'll play tomorrow.
8-20 isn't that bad that almost 50%. And some of the shots he missed was lay ups when he was driving to the basket but didn't get any calls. He got to the line 10 times which should have been more so thats a nice game by me. Defense wasn't that great, but it was far from bad. He even had a nice steal on KD I believe so that shows he trying a lot harder.
I am really quite worried about the way Tmac played at the fourth quarter. If Thunders shot a three, we would have been killed.
Give T-Mac an assist on that last second play, and the Rockets 2 more points. You still get a poor 8-19 shooting night, decent assists, a few bad plays, and an ugly and otherwise could've been a lot easier win against a bad team. I fail to see the importance of his decision to shoot the J. The defense was off of him thus negating the drive. He was fouled several times driving in the 2nd half where it wasnt called resulting in a turnover or badly missed shot. Sometimes you take what the defense gives you. Honestly the shot that he nailed a bit earlier was technically a worse shot in that he was better covered and further away from the rim. I guess its pointed out to rag on Steve Francis, or McGrady. Either way its really a bad example.
If a Rocket not named Aaron Brooks could have hit a three, there wouldnt have been any 4th quarter excitement. Wafer, Rafer, Head, and McGrady missed good looks within the flow of the offense on 3's that the team shoots much better percentage on.
I’m looking beyond the physical aspects of his game. I was hoping that he was watching the Celtics game and noticed how the ball was moving. How Rick Adelman offense works, and how it makes everyone’s game easier. Tonight I saw an aggressive Tracy, but at the expense of the team game. Even if Tracy comes back 100% healthy, we are not going anywhere with the way he stagnates the offense. If it weren’t for the bench, we would have lost to a bad team.
the offense moved in the celtics game? are you sure? yao scored b/c they single covered him and we isoed him. and he made his shots. ron took a lot of shots where he dribbled around a lot, but he made them. aaron brooks called for his own plays a lot where he asked for a screen and did his own thing. that's why we only got 19 assists. we shot 48% b/c yao shot 10-13. so what ball movement did you see in the boston's game? like i said in another thread, most of our highest assist game this year have occurred WITH tracy playing. today sure the ball could have moved better, but yao struggling to establish position made it tough for us to give him the ball. yao should take more than 10 shots. i thought our offense was decent tonight. if yao played better, our offense would have been much better. the problem tonight was defense in the 2nd half and i thought we lost a little focus once we got that 15 pt lead.
I thought McGrady definitely moved better in OKC than in previous games. His shot looked better, his passing was good, and he was more aggressive driving to the basket. But his legs didn't seem to be there yet. He only ran hard in spurts, and didn't/wouldn't move much without the ball in the offense. It looked like his injured knee was bothering him in the second half; he was even limping and wincing with pain for a bit. So, it still looks like a work-in-progress for McGrady. If I had to make a guess, the road to full recovery doesn't look to be an easy one, either.
same case as v. philly. he lost his legs in the 2nd half. still gotta regain that strength in his knee and it will take time. but at least it shows if he puts in some effort, scoring 18-20 pts isn't that hard. but adelman has to manage his minutes better. 42 minutes? that's ridiculous. but if he did rest him, rafer probably would play 40+ mins
true. the problem is much less with that 3 he took, but rather a lot more to do with the fact that he dribbled like 20 seconds off the clock without any intent to set up a play. that's sf3-like. be aware we were only up by 2, the thunder could've then drained a 3 and we'd be doomed. i believe phil jackson would go for a 3 in that situation often times. we could've set up a better play (like the last play against the celtics). and if that 3 was called by adelman, then i say - damn you adelman!
you can still clearly see the knee is still giving him problems. the thunder announcer even saw tracy in pain a few possessions in this game. he's still not quit there. and threads like these occur b/c he has been extremely sporadic and has under-performed this year. when he gets healthier, games like these are the norms.
I think Adelman's playing him those heavy minutes for a reason. Who knows, maybe McGrady really does need them as part of his rehab, to get the strength back.
