why is it that all of you can post constant threads on how he hurts us, and people can't attempt to legitimately negate those statements? you can dish it, but can't take it. if tmac plays like he normally does in the playoffs, you're an idiot to not want him on this team, you know yao is going to get his 20-25, artest can chip in 15-20, tmac throws below his average at maybe 25 that right there should be an avg of a minimum 60 points. obviously these are pure speculation, hopefulness, and blatant nonfactual predictions, but i believe them to be reasonable predictions, nonetheless. now our defense is good, but it isn't playing like it used to, so assume we can hold playoff opponents to like 100 points (WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO LESS WITH OUR PLAYERS)...that leaves 41 points to score from our bench, all things equal. our bench is deep, does it not seem reasonable for them to be able to score this much if they had to? or for our starters to score more? and blah i didn't even include the other two starters, scola for 15 battier for 5 - 10? that means the bench only needs to score maybe 20-30 points... they key, however, is processions. we need to take advantage of scoring opportunities, and set up early in the shot clock, we shouldn't be shooting with 1 second left, because more than likely these aren't going to be good shots, but we shouldn't be holding the ball at the top of the key for 7 seconds, the ball really should never stop except maybe in the post or when the perimeter player is waiting for a screen or pick to develop. these are just some of my thoughts on the opportunities the rockets have this season, when healthy. i still think we can win at least a series (depending on our opponent of course) even if we aren't 100 percent, but we shouldn't be content with that...we should only be content with it all, that's why they play the game, to win it all...
here's the problem that negates your argument....he coasts his way through the regular season. if he didn't, the rockets might have an 'easier' first round matchup. but since he doesn't get serious until after the all-star break, the team's regular season record isn't as good as it could be, and the first round matchup pits us against a tougher opponent. not even his playoff heroics can beat a tougher matchup created largely in part because of this mentality. now imagine this...he plays with his 'playoff mentality' for the entire regular season. the rockets could easily be a top 3 seed in the western conference and earn an 'easier' first round matchup. you get what you deserve in this league, and mcgrady is 0-7 in playoff series'.
I'm the guy that made one of the other threads and as far as I'm concerned these threads are not contradictory. First of all they're talking about different time frames, different coaches and different teams. That pretty much rules out any direct comparison. The more critical point is that T-Mac can score a lot, but that this season when he scores a lot it's typically by taking more shots than anybody else on the team and breaking down the motion offense. The plus to T-Mac's line results in a minus to that of the other Rockets players and a bunch of losses. On the other hand when Yao and Artest have had an impact this year in terms of scoring the team has done unusually well. My prescription: let Yao and Artest lead the way while T-Mac works as a facilitator.
I agree. T-Mac is the guy who is uniquely capable of being an effective facilitator. Artest and Yao are not. So, it makes sense that Tracy should be the playmaker, and let Yao and Artest (and the other guys) do more of the scoring. On the other hand, when the others struggle, Tracy is still capable of putting points on the board.
Regardless of his stats, I think what many people are asking for is consistency for the current situation. Not the past, not what he is capable of. But what is he doing now?
The truth is that since he's been a Rocket, I haven't trusted anyone else with the ball in the playoffs. I'd rather him make the play and miss than watch someone else screw up the play. I simply, in the past, didn't have any faith in anyone to make plays for us. Now...I feel differently. We have more options. I hope it makes a difference.
<br> What was the point of this post? <br> How about you learn basic sentence structure before you try to challenge someone's intellect...
and surprisingly, he was still one of the most efficient players performing in the first round of the playoffs, on 2 injuries. imagine that. u think anyone else on our team with 2 injuries can do what tracy did last yr?
You sound like one of those guys that says, "She's alright" when an extremely hot girl walks by. Nothing satisfies you. I am sure you will find another excuse once Tmac gets past the first round. For example when we get past the first round this year you will say, "Yao carried the Rockets to the second round, not Tmac" regardless if it is true or not. Tmac has had the likes of Andrew DeclerQ and Ryan Bowen as starters on past playoff teams but I'm sorry no excuses tolerated. He should have easily made it past the first round with these scrubs. On the flip side, I am amazed that he was even able to have success in the first round with some of these teams.
I guess the league's most double teamed player is a role player. Watch a game sometime, you'll see five eyes on Yao whenever he has the ball. Then look at Luis Scola who always benefits from the extra attention on Yao and gets easy layups. This is the definition of a role player, someone who benefits off the stars. Just because a player can't carry a team for an entire series doesn't mean hes not a superstar. I guess because the Lakers were a lottery team when they had Kobe + scrubs that he is not a superstar.
Mcgrady is a stud in the playoffs. Yet he will always have the label of first round virgin. Please people. If you question mcgrady's ability to carry a team in the playoffs, please watch those games again. And the truth shall set you free....
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Oh ok so that was the last possesion of game 7 where they lost.....Thats definantly not what i meant when i said to watch the games.
I've seen every single Rockets playoff game since the 90s. Let me summarize that series for you Healthy Yao Ming: check Healthy Tracy McGrady: check Home court advantage: check Hakeem sitting Courtside with Les Alexander: check Game 7 in Houston: check Did you feel good after that game 7? I didn't. So stop glorifying Tmac in the playoffs, unless you were happy he had great stats that game. He did, he played great. who cares.
EXCELLENT thread. It's not going to stop the haters from hating, but it is reassuring to the rational fans.
