And check out his numbers from his last season in Toronto... very "Pippen-like" numbers in somewhat limited minutes. What jumps out at me is the 1.9 blocks (!) And I'm assuming he got most of these blocks man-to-man, just using his incredible length to swat shots away from the man he was guarding. With JVG's defensive philosophy, less of a burden on offense and hopefully a healthier back, there is no reason why McGracy can't be the motivated shutdown defender he was earlier in his career. Mobley is a VERY solid and tenacious defender in his own right, but he can't compete with the physical gifts that McGrady was blessed with.
It's really hard to say. He hasn't been an extreme example of a Kobe/Carter kind of closer, but then he hasn't had Shaq to draw doubles the way Kobe does, nor does he have the unstoppable combo of inside/outside that Carter can use in the crunch, so it's understandable. I've seen him make plenty of big shots, but not all that many game winners. I'd say at this point it's more of a case of a guy who plays very well in big games ( his playoff numbers have always been impressive) but hasn't established a name as an Horry type like Kobe, Carter, etc. Is that clutch? Sort of.
Again, sort of. Remember he left to be with Hill and, he thought, Duncan, so it wasn't exactly like he was going for center stage. But, yes, he did cite Carter getting all the attention as one of his main reasons. So it's, like I said, sort of. He will seem to want tohe spotlight at times, but most of the time he likes to be in the background, able to do his own thing. One thing to know about him is that not only is Pippen his favorite player, but he used to often voice his opinion about how underrated Pippen was because MJ got all the glory. That may explain why the Carter thing in particular bothered him, as he could see that exact same kind of situation developing. ANd there were other concerns that lead to him leaving for Orlando, among them the b**** Carter fiasco and the fact that it's his home.
1. Surrounding talent. Great perim players without support simply can't win for extended periods of time, unless they have an exceptional coach. 2. Have to disagree. He wasn't doubled as much as Carter, who was the most exteme I've ever seen, but he was in that next tier. Sure, sometimes they let him do his thing; different coaches have different philosophies about how to tackle 1 man shows...but in general he got a ton of defensive attention. 3. No, because he won't have to burn out on the offensive end, and because he has before. And JVG got Francis, another millionaire, to play better D. 4. Maybe. I don;t know, as I;m not a doctor, and haven't seen his charts if I were. 5. Some times. Sort of. It's not real black and white, but he will say things in press conferences or interviews that make you cringe... 6. There is that fear, yes. As I said, he's not a guy to make things bad, but not one to make them better when they are bad either, and will often look after himself in tough times. But he's also young, and that kind of thing can get better with maturity.
personally i think t-mac will do well in houston because in both toronto and orlando he wasnt in winning situations. the problems around in toronto where basically he and carter were similar players and VC was more nba ready at the time and in orlando he came thinking of being the #2 and possibly #3 option after hill and possible duncan at the time. i am still impressed at the way he handled the situation and rose his game incredibly after it really just became T-Mac +4 in orlando. I think the 'bad attitude' that may be perceived of him is because of orlando not doing anything to help him in his cause. He is one player who could only do so much with the mediocre talent around him, led them to the playoffs twice, nearly to the second round at that. And it was pretty clear in Toronto that they viewed carter, not mcgrady has the franchise player and so he decided to leave because its near impossible to have such similar players together. pippin and jordan were not similar players and thus could coexist each knew their job and place. carter and mcgrady have the same strengths offensively, of course carter is more athletic but i think mcgrady is longer and a better defender. he said the right things in the interview with sportscenter i think he finally has a marquee coach who will get on him and for the first time not have to do it all for his team while still having the spotlight. getting traded to houston may take mcgrady to even greater heights which is amazing considering the player he already is
I actually think Tmac and Vince complement each other very well... true.. they both are great scorers... but they are definitely different players... Tmac is better handling the ball and creating while VC is better without the ball, one on one plays and in clutch situations... I honestly think both of them are very good defenders as well when they want to be and I think if they did play together, they would put more focus on defence since they can depend on each other on the offense. It's kinda a shame that the fans never had the opportunity to see what they could do together... I do think that Tmac will do quite well with Houston, but if they want to win it all.. Yao's gotta be the main man... not Tmac...
There used to be a saying that if you can play offense, you can play defense. Defense is more about effort and hustle than anything else. I think that McGrady's D will be just fine under JVG. One thing that hasn't been mentioned a lot is that McGrady is a very reliable shooter on open shots. I noticed that about him since his Raptors days. If he's alone on an open 3-pointer, he almost always makes it. I think that he's at least as good a shooter as Cuttino and a much better shooter than Steve. Tracy had to take a lot of tough shots last year and that was what killed his FG percentage. I think that with the Rockets this year he could shoot over 46% from the field. I think that he'll enjoy the number of open shots that he can get in the Rockets offense.
Great post as always MacBeth. While everyone here is in a state of euphoria over T-Mac's offensive skills, I am somewhat concerned about what you said about McGrady the Teammate: Well last year in Orlando, he basically quit on his team because they were losing and it was his public "hints" at opting out of his contract that forced the Magic's hand in trading him. It will be interesting to watch what happens when things start to go wrong during the season. Plus he's still playing with a group of guys he publicly blasted as not good enough so THAT should be very interesting indeed.
Good point. That was my biggest frustration with Mobley - his scattershot consistency. I see McGrady bringing the same quality to the Rockets that Dirk Nowitzski brings to the Mavericks in this respect and that can alter the outcome of a lot of games.
LOL! Laker fans have taken to trashing Kobe and are living in their own dream world. They keep talking about how Kobe is heads and shoulders superior to McGrady. Well that's easy to be when you have an All-Star center to clean up your mess. Now lets see how good McGrady is with a big time center, and lets see how good Kobe is without Shaq!
It's a concern, no doubt, but it's not a problem, if that makes any sense. McGrady won;t cause any problems. He's not trouble in and of himself. However, when the going gets tough, McGrady can look to get going, out of the situation, rather than look for a way he can improve the situation. This is not on the floor type of stuff, more organizational.
Another aspect I meant to cover about McGrady as a player is that he covers ground quickly. He has long, gliding steps with the ball, and can get to the rim or into an opening when it seems he's not in range, simply because his stride eats up space more than you expect. Often cathces defenders off guard, or makes them have to take fouls as he goes by. Additionally, he's got an incredible standing jump. When they were on the same team, people ackowledged that no one could jump with Carter on the move, but that T-Mac could almost get higher from a standing position.
