I don't think anyone in here has said a healthy T-Mac sucks at basketball. Most T-Mac haters have concerns about his health, attitude (heart to compete), unusual off court diva act, and his contract. BTW I have to admit he has been looking better and better each game, I like how he has the explosion back in his legs, in terms of his movement around the court (he's blown by a couple guys, don't know if they were suprised he still had something left or he just got that ability back) I still have many concerns about him, but a healthy T-Mac would be sick on this team the way it is right now. I say keep him until the trade deadline, I was really impressed today, need a bigger sample, but appears he might just be worth something.
Oh man, McGrady could've mashed that soft layup.... Why do I still live in the past? At least McGrady is producing, and doing it well.
We let him walk in Free Agency, but somehow you think he is the savior that will take T-Macs spot? Funny!!! He is a good role player off the bench. Wafer is just a extra asset. He is not replacing anybody!
He looked great out there, aggressive and dished the ball off... I hope his minutes will continue to grow if he can perform like this for 25-30 minutes a night, then I am all for it... btw how can you make videos like this? Is it straight from the T.V. to the computer and you use a software to cut and edit?
I think the six pages of comments is testament to the interest in T-Mac's minutes. Just another reason why this is one of the best fan forums out there. I also wanted to commend you on the front page article on "The Day T-Mac lost the City". I'm such a fan of his talent, and I really want him to succeed as a player, especially in a Houston uniform. It is however clear that he (like everyone else should be in a Capitalist society), is selfish, and I am really glad the Rockets and Adelman are being selfish on how best to utilize McGrady. He deserves no say whatsoever and I'm also glad that he realizes he needs to play nice-nice. The Rockets are an infinitely better team with a healthy, motivated McGrady, but he can't be trusted to deliver that. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, and I'm pleased that Adelman has laid the hammer down and that Morey is a genius.
i know nothing has been decided and i agree with every one of your points...but the fact that we are obviously considering offers for him worry me. i really want him to play out this season and have him resign in the summer. i honestly think he will be a great fit barring any more injuries. BTW...is it correct that if Les really wants tmac to stay then DM can't trade him? since...well hes the owner? or is that not how things work?
He definitely fills the seats: As per Yahoo's box scores at tonights game on a Tuesday night we had 17,128 but in a game against OKC on a Saturday (Dec 19) we only had 15,095. It might be because of the holiday season but that's a whole 2,000 more people which can to some degree be because T-Mac is playing again.
looks like t-mac is slowly getting back,he is agressive in this game,driving in to the paint for a couple of times,10 points and 3 assists in just 7+ mins of action is quite impressive,i thought t-mac is gonna get more playing time due to chase budinger's injury,but sadly,it's still only 7 and a half minutes per game
By far the most impressive and important part of any of this is when Mcgrady drives to his right and elevates off his surgically repaired left leg on Kaman (at 50 seconds, and again a little later). After he took it strong, off his weak leg, got fouled hard, and took a bad fall, he continued to attack the basket for the rest of his minutes. Even after he got blocked on another drive off his "bad" leg, he came right back and made strong moves to the basket again. That, to me, is a clear indicator of his increasing confidence in the leg. Last year (and also in previous years when struggling with injury), it seemed like if Tracy took a hard fall or failed to finish, he'd revert to hoisting jumpers because he didn't believe he could finish without getting blocked or hurt. It seems like now, the agression is back. The joy for the game is back. And that's really, really huge. Any player who refuses to drive, even when he has an advantage created by ball/people movement or a screen, will act as a "ball stopper" and stagnate the offense. Any player who is only looking for jumpers is also bound to shoot a low percentage. Both of these issues were apparent with Tracy last year. When Tracy does have confidence in his ability to drive, and he is aggressive, it's obvious how much he can help this team. Rick's offensive will get him the ball in positions (on the move or in the elbow/mid post) where, with his skill set, he is nigh impossible to stop if he is willing to drive to the basket. I mean, he just annhilated Rasual Butler (the Clippers' best wing defender) 3 different times in that video with his first step. If he is getting to the basket, he'll draw help defense, and Tracy is far and away this team's best passer off the dribble. He's also clearly our best player, again, far and away, in pick and roll situations. Accounting for 18 points (10 pts, 3 assists, two of which went for 3's) in only 7:30 of playing time, while also only taking 5 shots (his only misses being a blocked dunk and an in rythym elbow jumper)...well..that's pretty nice, and it tells you how potent this offense could be if Tracy stays agressive. Defense, however, was a different story. He clearly lost Butler on one possession, and didn't rotate well on a couple of others. I'm willing to cut him a bit of slack here--help defense requires communication, continuity, and a huge amount of teamwork, and T-mac's season has consisted of as many minutes as Ariza's average game. LAteral quickness is also apparently the last thing to return after microfracture. Still, it's obvious that Tracy's defense needs to improve a great deal in order for him to have a positive effect on all phases of the game. All in all, a very solid performance.
I agree. I was doing the same as I watched the game. I kept saying the only thing that I could critique him on was his defense, but that I could say the same about everyone else that quarter. The main positive that I saw that game, was not how explosive his jump was, but the fact that he WANTED to drive. He hadn't shown that in previous games. He still seems a little slow, which is to be expected, but he sure has come a long way. Will be interesting to see him with extended minutes.
Tmac's goal should be to have the highest +/- in any 7-minute stretch of the game. It will be statistically convincing to play him more/keep him/etc. He might serve the team better playing around 16 minutes of really efficient basketball off the bench if necessary.
depends on the match up, kiddo. edit: this team with or without tmac is better than the one that pushed the lakers, imo.
Thanks, Clutch. I like how much more aggressive and comfortable T-Mac looks. He's getting a lot better lift and his confidence is in much better shape. Still settles for too many jump shots, IMO, but I have been pleasantly surprised by his passing.
