Hakeem is every rockets fans' hero! He is also my idol! But,Tmac is 28 years old now. Don't draw a conclusion about him too soon! I remember Hakeem was in his 30s when he got the 1st ring, and Clyle also got his ring in his late career.
Well, that was my point basically. I was refuting ABC's claim otherwise. His performance has gone down in series as the series has progressed. Part of the reason is that he plays much better when there's less pressure. As the stakes are raised, he has a harder time. Oh definitely. That team was damn good. Good enough to win championships. That's why I am just asking Tmac to win a series first and then we can go from there. I believe he could have won a series in Houston so far but no results yet
Again, you fail to see the point. I haven't drawn up conclusion on the rings yet because obviously I think Tmac can still win a championship if he is surrounded by a tough cast that masks his deficiencies. I have only drawn up a conclusion on his mental toughness and you don't necessarily need to wait out a whole career to do that,
I remember the rockets beat lakers and hornets twice! In fact, he played 48 minutes when they beat the hornets! Tmac makes his teammates better, and I think that is an indicator of a superstars. I understand Dream and Clide are your idols because they gave you great memories! But, please also give some credits to Tmac and Yao. After all, they are the rockets' present and future!
I am not denying any of that! In fact, I was more impressed as to how had blended in with his teammates during that streak. But other than the Hornets game with Yao and 1 or 2 other games, I cant think of many dominant supertsar performances by him during that time. That's why I said you cannot use that streak to say that he had been mentally tough. Again, the will of a superstar was tested in last 3 games where he was asked to carry the team and he came up short. Some credit? I give a lot of credit to Tmac and Yao. They are huge reasons as to why Rockets are the top 3 seed in the toughest Western conference ever. That does not mean however that we cannot talk about their deficiencies. One of those is their lack of mental toughness.
True it was all about team work. But do you also remember that we blew out most of our opponents during the streak so that it wasn't even necessary for him to take over? He did show up in many close games, against the Twolves, Sonics, Bucks, Mavs, Hornets, Hawks, Bobcats.
I think you are right about getting players who mask the mental toughness deficiency HOWEVER I don't think you can argue with T-Mac's playoff performances. T-Mac has the 3rd highest PPG *ever* in the playoffs. That's a testament to how well he plays and also one to how bad the teams he's on have been. I do agree with you, that, even if he doesn't play bad individually, there have been many times where T-Mac should have been able to close out a series on his own, but hasn't. Up 3-1 to Detroit. Up 2-0 on the road to Dallas. Up 2-0 with HCA to Utah. I don't know why. He doesn't play bad, but something is missing between T-Mac and the second round and he needs to get over it. Now we are missing Yao in the closest conference ever and if T-Mac drops out of the first round again people will not mention that. It will just be 0-7. Wait until next season, again. Do you think we have the talent, even with Landy, to win a series? (Be honest).
No, I don't think we have a good enough team this year with Yao being out and the West being as tough as it is, except perhaps, if we meet Hornets or possibly Utah. That is why I wont hold Tmac accountable this year. But if he does manage to get out of first round this year, I will give him all the credit in the world.
man some of you guys act like teams that have those extremely long winning streaks dont take a little while to pick up the intensity again. both milwakee and the lakers did poorly after winning so many so we just need a game or two to pick it back up. plus its not like we're playing scrub teams that we can't beat. we had a legit shot at beating NO two nights ago but obviously since we're losing its because tracy isnt out there carrying the team and pouring in 40 points a game right?!? he's not a super star because he can't play as well as L.James?!? Come on you critics, you were obviously fakers who just jumped on the bandwagon. WHEN we start winning again we'll see whats going on. i didnt expect for this team to win the last 15 or so games. no team was going to be able to do that. NOT EVEN THE CELTICS. and they're supposed to be champ contenders right?! geez just give the guy some slack, you know tmac is horrible when it comes to interviews and what not. he gives way too much credit to people and he tends to take alot of pressure on himself for some unknown reason. we all know he can play but poeple who are bashing him because he hasnt been playing well the last few games are just plain unfair. you can't have a few bad games if your name is tracy mcgrady right? -.-
I love the Rockets, but I hate so many of its fans if Clutchfans is representative of the standard deviation for how the fans are. I hate how they've overachieved and we're whining and b****ing like bad parents using negative reinforcement on their kids. So they lost 2 games. So those 2 games were against the best teams and most of our 22 wins were against bad ones. So T-Mac went and got a few bad games. So what? 2 games and you guys turn Judas on them. I bet if we were in the bottom of the league you'd all be so happy because all you care about is the future lottery pick. Let's face it, we're happy when we're losing pathetically, but we can't handle sniffing the first seed we've got in, what, 25 years? I love the Rockets. T-Mac rocks. I'm glad we traded Francis, Mobley, and Cato for him. We're a better team with T-Mac on it then without. All you people saying crazy things like trading him ( for 50 cents to the dollar, or the impossible proposal of 150 cents to the dollar a.k.a Lebron for T-Mac ) or starting Head over him. I'm so glad none of you people run NBA teams. Appreciate this team. Appreciate our superstars. If I saw T-Mac in public, I'd shake his hand and tell him how much he's appreciated.
The straw that broke the camel's back was not hustling back on the steal by Peja. There was no effort. It appeared he had made no sincere effort to make any recovery. Why is that crucial? Because no one ever said Dream didn't hustle. Think Kevin Johnson, by himself, about to do a basic 2 handed dunk. Dream hustled. I think from that perspective, we're spoiled & when it's so blatantly obvious that Tmac didn't hustle, you draw the ire. I'd rather see him hustle back, make an attempt at some semblance of a defensive effort, call a time out & then rest, but don't complain. Don't not hustle. DO IT.
TMac has played 11 seasons @ age 28. Dream won championship #1 in his 9th season ('84-'85 to '93-'94), and had made one finals appearance already ('85-'86).
Ok, but correct me if I'm wrong, didn't dream play some college ball (i know he did, I'm being facetious). As much as people have been dogging ABC2007 he makes a decent point here.
