i just don't think it matters. our offense isn't the issue. our defense is. we're not just losing games...we're losing games by consistently giving up high to very very high FG% to other teams, especially when it counts. the team scores 98 points a game this year. with mcgrady, without mcgrady. offense is working. especially when you consider the defense isn't. consider that good defense typically leads to even more offense. fans, generally, and many on this board (you included) are way way way way too infatuated with offense. Consider that, with the exception of the January 2nd loss against Toronto, in the other 6 losses in January, the team averaged 98.2 points per game, more than they're average for the season. they scored over 100 points in three of the losses. again, defense typically leads to offense, too. and again, it's not Rocket science. anyone watching can tell something isn't 100% right with the offense when everyone is healthy, that Tracy is having some fit and chemistry issues. point is, it's a small sample size - which means that Tracy has been on/off so much, the season is only half-way over, etc. that it's really impossible to draw any accurate conclusion at this point. even further, point is that if there is something to complain about in general, it's defense, and if there is something to complain about about one person, being TMac, it's definitely defense over offense. doing the reverse, to me, points to complaining just to complain, or not truly understanding the real issue thus far.
I disagree completely. Yes, you need defense but you also need offense. I think somebody ran the number for past NBA champions and found that they were typically in the top five for both defense and offense league wide. No matter how good your defense is you're obviously not going to win games if you average only 80 ppg. And when it comes to going up against the best of the best I think it's crazy to argue that you wouldn't want to be as good as you possibly could be in both spheres, offense and defense. Just as you can obviously have problems with both areas you can also improve both areas. I don't really think it's an either-or thing and I don't see why McGrady shouldn't be forced to buckle under and play the offense at the same time that the Rockets are working out their defensive kinks.
Agreed, which is why a lot of people look at point differential. We score more points per game than the Spurs and Hornets, for example, but have lower point differentials. The Rockets +2.9 point differential is behind Lakers, Jazz, Blazers, Hornets, Spurs, Magic, Cavs and Celtics. To win a championship, you obviously have to be good at everything. But it is not clear to me, at all, that they are working out their kinks in the defensive area. And I do think defense is our first problem. Again, especially because defense leads to offense. Against the Sixers they gave up 46% shooting and 24 4th quarter points. Against the Knicks they gave up 47% shooting and 30 4th quarter points. Against the Pacers they gave up 39% shooting but 35 fourth quarter points. Against the Lakers they gave up 51% shooting and 27 4th quarter points. Against the Sixers they gave up 56% shooting and 25 4th quarter points. Against the Hawks they gave up 59% shooting and 24 4th quarter points. Against the Raptors they gave up 48% shooting and 26 4th quarter points. The trend here is obvious to me. In most of those games we were fine offensively. Is there work to be done offensively? Sure. But with our tempo, with our PPG, with the above stats on games we lost, my personal take, and one that seems apparent to me watching the games, is that they've struggled more defensively than anywhere.
Not just Alston. Adelman said the same thing after the game. They liked the shots they were getting. Probably the only way to resolve this is to post a video of all the possessions in which McGrady handled the ball, and then we can talk about what he should have done differently and/or if he was doing too much one-on-one. I watched it twice and believe he was doing what the Rockets expected of him, and you see it differently. I meant they're better than GSW, which they are. Everything you say could be an accurate criticism of McGrady' season as a whole. He has not fit well. But I thought against Philly he played much better than he has. You say it was just the first three quarters, but I don't think he changed anything between the first three quarters and the fourth (other than not hitting shots). Again, your general assessment of McGrady as a ball stopper is fair, but specifically against Philadelphia he was better and we still lost. It happens.
