The Rockets have gone on a mini streak without T-Mac. Is there chemistry really that much better? I keep hearing the radio guys and even Bullard talking about how they are running Adelman's offense so much better without McGrady. I would submit that there are several factors that lead to the winning streak that really have little to do with McGrady being out or them running Adelman's offense. 1. The schedule. We are playing some really weak teams right now. In my opinion, we didn't really look all that good against the pathetic Knicks. Orlando has been struggling against everyone. Chicago, whoopty-do. 2. I don't see that we have miraculously started running Adelman's offense. It seems to me, that since T-Mac's been out we have been posting Yao much more and playing a much more in to out game in the half court. Which I believe leads to better 3 point shooting. 3. We started playing Brooks and Scola more and Rafer is playing great. Is that because T-Mac is out? Brooks and Scola provide energy, spark, and shooting we weren't getting before. The bottom line is that we need to keep playing Yao in the low post and our guards, including McGrady, need to keep driving to the hole. It has been the difference all year. In our 6-1 start, McGrady was going to the hoop consistently. When he stopped doing that we started losing. All our guards need to get to the hoop and we will continue to play better.
The 6-1 start the offense wasn't rick adelman's offense at all,Tracy may have been attacking the basket but the Team was playing 2 on 5 and they managed to get away with it for a minute but it wasn't what the coach was trying to do or what was going to be good for the team in the long haul. The ball is swinging right now, guy's are not holding the ball hesitating on making a play, they are in rythym with each other and in sync with what they are running.
I think its a function of the players knowing what their limitations are and playing within themselves, hence the better ball movement.
Kind of a dead horse beating, but good post nonetheless. The players certainly have stepped up over this last stretch of games while TMac has been out though. And of course people are going to correlate that to TMac's worth to the team because it's the most superficial analysis that may lead to a solution to the woes the rockets have faced so far. People spewed the same crap last year about Yao in a different form when the team succeeded when he was out. But it's not always black and white.
Some guys have stepped up in Tracy's absence -- in particular Rafer. Scola has played better. I think Luther and Bonzi play off the ball a little better, and they run in transition harder. That's helped make the offense "flow" better, but I don't think we've been "better" offensively without him. I think most importantly we're winning more because the schedule has gotten easier in these stretch of games.
If you watch the games, you dont see the same old, stand around toss it into Yao, get out of the way and let him do his thing stuff we ran without T-Mac last year. How many times has Yao found cutters for layups(or even attempted to hit them but turned it over)? The Wizards crew said it best, when talking about Rockets points in the paint. You expect it from Yao, but the other guys were getting in there as well from cuts, drives, backdoors, fast breaks, etc. That's Adelman's offense.
There is no concrete evidence, by I find it a strange coincidence that it usually takes Tracy's absence to spark a fire under the role players. I think when they say that the team's demeanor takes on that of its leaders, it is exactly what applies here. With Yao as the No 1 option, the players always compete hard regardless of whether or not its in a winning or losing effort, but when Tracy is there, we are usually subject to laziness and lack of willingness to move without the ball.
1) The schedule. The problem is that the Rockets have played crappy teams before and played...crappy. Compare the loss against Toronto earlier in the season to the win against Toronto when T-Mac was out. Totally different games. 2) Adelman's offense. Yes, Yao gets the ball a lot in the low post. But when he's doubled and passes the ball out the Rockets will swing it around the perimeter and repost him on the other side. Or they'll start Yao out on the weak side and get the ball in to him for a quick shot before the double comes. That's stuff you never saw under JvG and Adelman legitimately gets credit for it. And the team as a whole is passing and moving without the ball. What's the assist numbers for this last series of games without T-Mac? I'm pretty sure the numbers are up substantially. 3) Brooks and Scola. No T-Mac means that his 20 shots are going to somebody else. That's obviously going to be a huge benefit to rookies who are adjusting to the league.
We were struggling to score with Tracy.You can't hold the ball in this offense and after 10 seconds make your move,You can't come down and take ill advised jumpers 20 seconds into the shot clock which was leading to long rebounds and cherry pick fast breaks for the opposition. Rafer is now a guy that they have to guard but when tracy was playing rafer would just bring the ball up the floor and hand it to tracy. Weak schedule and all the Team is playing harder without tracy and more importantly they are playing together + moving the ball a whole lot better since tracy has been out. They may not be better without him but they are playing tougher and playing as a Team which they were not doing when he was playing.
I agree the main reason we are winning is the schedule, but I do believe that if McGrady plays with abandon and Brooks, Scola, and Rafer continue to play well, we can again become contenders. It is, and has been for years, on T-Mac's back to make the Rockets successful. He is a great, great player when not settling for jumpers.
better without t-mac? wtf ? thats like saying we were a better team without yao last year. why are our fans so clueless ?
lets also remember that our supporting cast has begun to knock down shots on a regular basis. At the start of the season you would have been hard pressed to find a consistent shot outside of Tracy and Yao
The biggest difference I can see is that they're playing with heart and passion now, even in those losses (the comeback vs Boston, etc). As if they're having fun again out there.
is this team better? no you'd have to be a moron to say ANY team in the league is better without Tmac than with him. he is still a top 20 player in the league but the scrubs are definitely in the flow now that they get more touches. the team record speaks for itself but looking at individual players, rafter, scola, brooks are all definitely playing better without tmac the arithmetic when tmac comes back is do these players keep playing at a high level when they get fewer touches and opportunities with tmac? there isn't anything in the NBA that cant be solved by role players hitting their shots. if they dont hit their shots the team is going to lose most night with or without tmac
Our offense is better without Tmac simply because the ball is moving. The ball is moving. When Tmac is on the court, the ball stays with him and he decides whether to pass or shoot. Very often he operates late in order for the ball to rotate to as many as 3 passes. Thus we get very limited options. I'd like to see whether he adapts to this new offense or we go back to his isolation plays. And the one thing is that when Tmac is on the floor, creativity is not maximised because role players tend to think that it's Tmac's basketball.
I think you give the defense too much credit. If you are going to diss our offense for playing only 2, don't pretend the defense is playing 5 great defenders... And they were playing "2 on 5 " b/c the other guys on the roster weren't shooting well at all. All of the sudden they are making shots now...amazing, how that might be the key to winning games.
Oh yes I forgot to mention this. They're playing with urgency now. Something that doesn't show on Tmac's game and face.
We are running the same post Yao kick out offense of last year. There is just more emphasis on cutting if it's there. I think the key is to find a good MIX of TMac dominating the ball and posting Yao and having the play develop from there. While playing NBA 2K (funny i keep referring to this lately), I start the game posting Yao. Assuming he's hitting his shots in real life, teams will double and front him. That's when everyone else starts shooting those open jumpers. It's not ball movement, it's not the offense, it's not this, it's not that. They are making the SAME shots they've been taking. The layups have been there, admittedly a little more than usual. But Head is hitting the 3s James was missing. Rafer is hitting his 3s AND drives he's been missing. That already accounts for a lot.
