T-Mac's action vs. Magic (plus interview after game)

Overall, I thought the interview was fine. To me, it sounds like what Tmac has done in the past has left such a bitter taste with everyone that he gets scrutinized at every turn.

I didn't find anything particularly offensive with what he said, outside of possibly saying it was a contract year...but he probably meant that since it's a contract year, it's better to take things slower in the beginning than rush it and screw everything up. I don't think he maliciously said anything though.

 

Contract season for me.....

Yep....the Rockets are thinking about that ....

And he looked like GARBAGE tonight...utter crap.

DD

 

Rewatching the clip, McGrady seemed much less decisive when he received the ball out on the perimeter. In the previous game vs. the Clips, he showed no hesitation when he got the ball, either immediately putting up a shot or driving to the basket.

Tonight, he hesitated slightly but noticeably before making a move, which I think gave the defense time to set. I can't tell if this change is due to McGrady or Orlando's defensive scheme.

 

Ariza seemed to lost his mojo after the Raptors game. And coach is still playing him 35-37 mins a game. And he is playing T mac kind of defense, mind as well let the real T mac play.

 

You know what has amazed me? People analyze Tamc's every move and every word, and different people get different conclusions. This is just like reading Shakespeare's classic works. Tmac has become a 'classic work'.

 

Hope tracy can become a part of this team, or if we didn't get a superstar, we would continue to struggle against good teams

Yeah we've beaten Por, Utah(still early in the season, teams haven't found their rhytm and knows little about the Rockets), Lakers and Mavs(No Paul Gasol and Dirk), Cavs(Cavs on second night of a back to back, played overtime in menphis and lost, BTW, still not a legit contendor in my opinion)

Can't see what positives we can draw from these games.

 

I trust there's an ounce of sincerity there since you're not really known for being ironic. But the Bertrand Russell quote really blew my mind in the context of the TMac remarks.

What if you made $23 mil. in one year? I think you could come up with something to counter Russell's overstating the obvious. Assuming you are generic, of course.

 

You won't believe it when i say it.. but that is exactly the reason I have kept the quote as my signature since last season.. it sums the board's mentality when it comes to analyzing T-Mac

and I'm worried that Trevor is slowly becoming the next Tracy..

 

why because he missed 2 jump shots? you realize you would have said that for last nights game had he missed those jumpers as well. i think he played exactly the same tonight as last night.

 

No, it was his defense that was horrid, he just watched on D....you would think that a man trying to prove himself and knows he is only going to play 7 minutes would bust his ASS out there.

Too bad Tmac doesn't think like that.

DD

 

i think it might be because orlando is a much better team. the fact that he knows dwights in the paint probably made him take more time to check out where the defenders are, as well as where his teammates are, before making a play.

i wont pass judgement on how he good he will be until we get to see him with 20+ minutes. since he takes about 4 shots a game, people are gonna love him if he makes 2 or 3, or bash him for going 1-4 or 0-4.

 

well if youre talking about team defense then yes...it was pretty terrible i agree. but i didn't think it was any worse than the clipper game. although his 1 on 1 D on carter was decent i thought.

i dont understand why he doesnt give 100% effort when it comes to the intangibles though...he never goes for any rebounds.

 

What he said wasn't confusing at all, except maybe to you:

1. He meant he's ahead of schedule when he said "I'm not supposed to be playing right now". He meant he busted his ass in the offseason that's why he so far ahead of schedule. The full quote is:

"I'm not even supposed to be playing right now, so that really tells you hard I've been working. Um, I wasn't supposed to be playing till like January, February."


2. What's wrong with saying its his contract year? Again see the full quote below:

Reporter: is it tough to sit there and cheerlead?

Tmac: It is. Knowing how hard I work and knowing what I can contribute and bring to the team...but you know, again I gotta be patient. Its a contract season for me, so, you know, we gotta think about that as well.

Tmac isn't a saint, he's a professional basketball player. He's already gone on record saying money isn't his first priority, but he's not saying it doesn't matter as well. Just like LBJ, Dwade and every other free agent out there, he would prefer a healthy balance between the two.

If you want to get all analytical about it, the phrase "as well" means that its just something to keep in mind, and not his whole reason for coming back early. As DD would say "SHEESH"

 

Honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with what he said.

IMO, he sounds open to leaving Houston now whereas before, he always talked about staying here etc.

Now he seems to be just trying his best and just go to the best situation for him once his contract is up or if he is traded...doesn't look like he'd oppose to any future trade(s).

 

The Russell comment I quoted from his sig was regarding him clicking the image he thought was a video expecting it to play. It had nothing to do with TMac, if that's what you mean.

 

From what I watched, Tmac did a fine job to defend VC. Do you expect Tmac can defend Howard and Lewis well?

 

I'm seeing this too but didn't bring it up because I figured I get blasted for it. His body language out there looks very poor at times. He also seems to lose focus on both offense (when he isn't involved) and on defense at times. Add those things to him throwing an elbow at someone for stealing the ball for him and him ripping Brooks a new one for (what he perceived) as a bad decision on offense and I'm really starting to wonder about this guy mentally.

I thought McGrady did fine tonight. He will never be a Shane Battier type team defender but he does need to be a bit smarter.

 

It was not the one on one, it was the help defense and the general malaise in rotations etc.

Look, the guy is playing 8 minutes....he knows it...why not play as hard as he can for 8 stinking minutes?

That is the problem...you can not rely on him for 8 minutes, how are you going to rely on him in the crunch.

I mean honestly?

DD

 

i agree with those who said tracy played subpar defensively tonight (he failed to recover after trying to play help defense) though i continue to be encouraged by what he did offensively in terms of getting his shots.

but man, i think b/c we're warped into this mentality that ariza will be better when yao returns (and most likely he will), but he SUCKS right now on BOTH ENDS for the better part of the last month and a half. we're winning IN SPITE of him. and yao is not going to be here the rest of the year. and ariza is NOT going to get any better (what signs has he shown that he will get better with more freedom? NONE.).

is he getting all this extra responsibilities/minutes b/c he was our biggest free agent signing? there is NO RATIONALE for him getting 35+ minutes a game. just none. i think something must have been promised to ariza during the offseason, which made him sign here.

but yes, his body language is terrible. it's like he throws up his arms in disbelief like, "damn gimme the ball and let me do something, ya'll suck." the last one on the youtube clip was just terrible. landry tried to go up (and he's our best offensive player) and ariza just throws his arms in disgust b/c he didn't get the ball. what are you going to do with it ariza? brick another shot?

if he plays like this to end the year and adelman STILL doesn't rein him in, i'm going to be pretty damn pissed.

 

his recovery was pretty subpar. he needs to work on that. but it wasn't due to a lack of effort. dude's rotation is just slow in general right now.

but i would rather rely on him than trevor. he's not better than tmac on BOTH ends right now per minute.