[ch 2 video] Rockets interviews after Blazers game 2/11

He still needs to score though.

 

Perhaps you should go back and watch the Milwaukee and Minnesota games.

 

he is deferring. he's not being overly aggressive on offense. he's not actively trying to post up to get himself going. he's not actively calling for plays for himself. most superstars would not do that. i'm sure adelman has a ton of plays to run for tracy.

but i think tracy is making a conscious effort b/c he knows how good this team can be. he's excited that rafer can create now and he can just stay in the corner like he did a few plays tonight. he's excited he can just give it to scola an he can create his own shot.

even when there were opportunities for him to get his shots, he held back and passed the ball.

the team hasn't struggled to score the ball recently so i think he doesn't feel like he has to force himself into a game.

it's fine that he's deferring. but when we play good defensive teams and they start to lock down on the role players, tmac has to score better than he has. but as long as he recognizes when to step up and when to step back, then we'll be a great team.

 

tmac is NOT an all-star this year. he's not going to the game is he?

i think tmac saying that is a way of praising how well yao played in this homestand after struggling on the road trip. tmac ALWAYS praises yao. he was constantly saying yao was the best center in the L last year and proclaiming it publicly. tmac is a very good teammate.

but i know when yao struggles, tmac will pick up the slack. yao's just been ballin' in this homestand, along w/ the rest of the team.

 

Go back and look at the Atlanta game. He toyed with the Hawks all night long, but he didn't score that many points. Bill Worrell was absolutely right in saying that T-Mac had his way with the Hawks, that he basically did whatever he wanted to.

Balanced attack, unselfish play, team game. Against Atlanta the result was a blowout. Against a much better team in Portland, a team which was fighting for their season and who came to play, once the Rockets turned it on in the fourth the Blazers just didn't stand a chance. I don't think it's a matter of T-Mac "stepping back" because he's still being aggressive on offense, only he's looking to set his teammates up instead of scoring himself. He also enforced real shot discipline on himself in both games, limiting his number of attempts to make sure that the rest of the team got theirs.

It's tough to try and draw a pattern out of only two games but man, wouldn't it be cool if this was the start of T-Mac's Magic period? He's tall, he's one of the best passers on the Rockets, he is the best on the team at getting the ball to Yao in the low post and he attracts a lot of attention whenever he's got the ball.

 

All fools who don't appreciate Battier must watch this video and take note of what Adelman says.

 

You know what I wish? I wish that he wouldn't be so passive when he gets the ball in a position to attack the defense. He bails them out with those half-assed jumpshots. Mix it up, man!

Now, if he's still not 100%, that's a different story. I like the way he's keeping the offense rolling with his passing and his ability to play rip apart teams for double-teaming, but he's still a little too passive for my taste. It's okay to get everyone involved, but it's like he's not even trying to attack when he clearly has a great opportunity to. Am I alone in this opinion? I love the fact that everyone's getting involved in the offense, but I'd like to see his shot attempts become lay-ups or open jumpshots, instead of those 'i'll pull up right in front of you after dribbling a few times' jumpshots. I mean, all he has to do is do his crossover or that fake crossover then pull up J and he's open. Bah, I'm rambling, all I wanted to say is: be more aggressive, man!

 

Tmac is on cruise control.

 

It shows Tmac is willing to accept his role in the system, but i feel he have to slash more because with his vision and size he can make things happen especially when the game is tight, the thing that i am worried about is that he goes in to some bizzare mood swing from being overtly confident to downright depressed, here's to hoping that he keep his head up but keep his own expectation reseanable, because no one is going to blame tmac if he scores only 15 ppg but help his team win games, we are much better with him on the court, and the stats prove it.

 

Not if we get Mike Miller!

 

"It's fun basketball man."

(turns to the locker)

"But where's my shot?" (tear)

for some reason that scenario popped in my head at the end

 

obviously i want tmac to be magic in this offense. but i don't agree with you that he's not deferring. HE DIDN'T DRIVE ONE SINGLE BIT in the damn first half and only twice in the 2nd half. that's NOT BEING AGGRESSIVE AND ATTACKING THE DEFENSE. he's holding back. that's deferring.

he's just out there swinging the ball at times and only look to score when he has to. that's deferring.

and there's nothing wrong with him deferring. we don't need him or yao to score 25-35 pts every night for us to win anymore. that's a GREAT thing. we might need them SOMETIMES, but not everytime like we did before.

 

i think he's on cruise control. how do u explain 2 drives the WHOLE game and not one straight to the rim? i don't think he has lost that much where he can't even get to the rim one single time. he has to pace himself. his fragile body can't take it a lot anymore. hopefully, he'll be in shape and healthy to start april. that's all we should care about.

during this stretch, it also helps that it allows tmac to see how his teammates have improved.

 

Tmac knows the game of basketball, and that's why we're winning with him out there. He knows when to be aggressive and he knows when to get his team mates involved.

He's trying to tell everyone that this is how he wants to play so long as it wins games. Why do we constantly criticize this guys despite him being a key part in our 7 game win streak.

 

They just want to pick out something about the guy no matter what.

When he doesn't shoot he's not being aggressive. When he shoots, he's just jackin em up.

Some of the posts on this board are more confused than than the BSPN analysts are.

Just shut up and be glad the team is winning now.

 

QFT. Bunch of pessimists everywhere on this board. Tracy scores a bunch of points; he's ball hogging and only thinking of himself. Tracy makes the offense run a lot better with his passes; he's not being aggressive and taking shots he needs to. Good lord people, give it a freakin rest! We're on a 7 game winning streak. Save the b****ing for when we lose at least!

 

Which game are you talking about? In the Atlanta game T-Mac and the Rockets ran a smart, aggressive offense for the whole game. In the Portland game they came out a little tentative in the first half but really came through in the second. So T-Mac was a bit shaky in the first half, but so was everybody else.

Here's my problem with the word "defer". It implies passivity, and T-Mac is not passive in setting up his teammates. He's actively working to get them their shot.

 

I'm glad T-Mac is boosting his teammates confidence and allowing them to win games when he can't.

But be sure that T-Mac will turn it up in the playoffs. He is on cruise control right now because we are winning so there is no need to change it. The minute we stop, he will turn it back on. The minute the playoffs start, he will turn it back on.

Yao and T-Mac going hard in the paint?

 

Thanks for the videos as always!