I think it would really be a good discussion and started this thread. 1. Would we have been 6-2 with TMac in the lineup? 2. Would we have gotten the same confident contributions from Scola, Brooks, Head and Rafer with TMac in the lineup? My answer to these questions are: 1. No. I think we would have struggled and probably have gone 2-4 at the best with the way our team was playing with TMac on it. Philly blew us out for Christ sake! 2. No. I think those players would still defer to TMac and watch him and Yao play their pick n roll plays. I would love to see Mac back and just get into the flow with our current winning streak.....but I think he would disrupt our offensive flow right now...I hope I'm wrong and that he could really gel with the team when he comes back. I know that we'll find out when he comes back and play but if the answer to the questions I mentioned is NO then would it be wise just to add the current team that we have and try to trade TMac for whatever else we need to make our current group more solid?
Ahhh another disguised Tmac hate thread. Aren't there like a million of them already. And tmac was injured when we played philly, thats why he was running up and down the court so gingerly.
What if? What if Yao was only 7 feet? What if? What if all our players broke their legs? What if? What if Mike James started playing better? What if? What if JVG had stayed? What if? What if?
Again, it is amazing record, but remember we had a really good schedule to play some of the crap teams recently, I want to see another win versus Spurs
Rockets are better a better team w/o Mac. No I'm not a YOF but the rest of the team just stands around when Tracy is in the game. Tracy is not selfish as evident by his assist to TO ratio, but the team just stands around and really doesn't know what to do when he is on the floor other than to defer to him. T-Mac is the most talented individual Rox player on the floor when he plays and I hope when he comes back the team can gell... a la when Dream went out with a knee injury around '92-'93, but it's not Tracy's fault it's the individual players (afer, Luther, Scola, Shane, James, Bonzi, Stevie, etc) fault. Quite possibly it is the managements fault if they tell the players to be submissive to Tracy, but irregardless it is a problem. I always thought the Rafer for James deal was a good one for the Rox - but until the last two weeks it never evolved. Glad to see Skip play up to (better than his potential). I would hate to break this team up, but if T-Mac can't stay healthy or the team doesn't jell when he comes back then it will be time to make a move. The Rockets are the deepest team in the league, there just not playing like it the first half the season.
I think the point is that T-Mac's injury might have been a blessing in disguise. It's really allowed the team to bond and the offense to get rolling. Is it just me or are the Rockets' players sending not so subtle hints through the media? They keep emphasizing sharing the ball, unselfish play, etc.
The Tmac injury was the biggest blessing in disguise this team every could have gotten. I like where this team is heading. Tmac will want to be a part of this and will conform to the system. Expect a big second half surge a la '95. It'll be like we're adding Drexler when Tmac rejoins this team.
The last few games T-Mac played in where he was partially healthy (2 Detroit games, Bulls game) the team did look good and he was playing very well. I still believe at the beginning of the season he was playing TERRIFIC ball within the system, and somewhere along the line Adelman went back to old JVG sets and T-Mac lost some confidence in his teammates. Hopefully these last 88 games will really encourage him to fully adapt to this system, and we will take off.
If they wanted to communicate, I doubt they would be inclined to send 'hints' through the media. Fact is that Tracy is not a selfish player. He just needs to figure out when he needs to lead or take the team on his shoulders versus when he's supposed to just be another player 'in the flow'.
Yep, but I feel a thread coming about taking the ball out of Tmac's hands and making the team better. DD
That's what Adelman wanted to do from the beginning. With the emergence of Brooks and the improvement of Rafer, it finally looks possible.
yeah we'll just have a 20 million dollar decoy standing in the wing and wait for the kickout pass. good idea.
