[CHRON] McGrady: Rockets' success hinges on team, not him

Actually, lebron shoots almost twice as many free throws per game as tmac. In fact, lebron, kobe, wade, and iverson are all within the top 7 in fta per game (tmac #29).

So even though some of them may consider themselves to be jump shooters, they're still far more aggressive than tmac.

 

You dont get it.


I reiterate my point. Go to a basketball court and play 1 on 1. Not so hard to get to the rim if you have some ball handling skills and a little bit of a change of direction.

Now, play 2 on 1. Try to split them or go around them and get to the rim. If they dont take the ball from you, and one of them falls down, good luck rolling the dice to see if its called a block or charge(if the defender has any kind of ability to recognize a drive and set his feet). The officiating will generally go against T-Mac - as evidenced by the number of non-calls he gets when he actually gets fouled(and not the ticky-tack variety) going to the rim.


Oh, and if he keeps trying to beat the double team and the clock winds down he then gets hammered for dribbling the ball too much and not running the offense.


Oh, and Lebron, Kobe, AI, and Wade all have teammates that can move laterally very well and finish with authority near the rim. Last year T-Mac had Yao(who would be fronted while T-Mac was doubled) and Chuck Hayes. I dont think its a coincidence that this season T-Mac has been going to the rim more than last, especially the last month of the season. When the defense has to respect guys like Scola and Landry who can finish at the rim, it makes it tougher to play defense behind that double team. Heck even Mike Harris has gotten some dunks off of T-Mac/Rafer/other penetrations.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing the stats on who drives and gets free throws in the 4th or with the game on the line to be honest. I suspect Lebron and Wade would be the two who dominate in this category with all the other swingmen dropping out of it. Pierce maybe too? he shoots alot at the end of a game instead of driving.

But I agree with Bucman, you can't be aggressive if you got a double team that doesn't need to worry about switching. I mean last year his options on a double when he drove would have been dishing to a fronted Yao, Chuck Hayes, Battier in the corner and Rafer on the top. None of these were great options. He did dish, which is the correct basketball thing to do. But what if he drove and missed? You can imagine the criticism he will cop for missing the aggressive drives or even dribbling out the clock by trying to get around the double team.

 

I do get it. For every criticism of tmac, you have an excuse.

Who did kobe have last year? lebron? seriously...who on the cavaliers roster was known for finishing with authority around the rim?

 

lol it's wekko the weako argument guy again. Okay I'm not advocating him not driving it in, but I understand why he didn't. The jazz packed the paint and forced his teammates to beat them. And if you thought he was going to draw a foul, then you're most likely wrong. The refs let the Jazz get away with a lot stuff. Tmac hardly gets any calls when he drives it in if you noticed, especially last year. I remember the jazz were hacking him like crazy in the playoffs and he hardly got any calls like Wade.

So a crowded paint, with a lot of people swiping at the ball, and the refs not calling any fouls might most likely occur in a turnover or a wild shot if he forces it in. Or it might result in a charge. So what did he do? He passed to his open teammates who the jazz were cheating off of, he let Yao try and take over who was single covered. It didn't work out. Oh well.

 

I can understand that he wants Tracy Mcgrady to drive. Its understandable.

However I think like if he did drive and lost the ball most of the time (highly likely given the way they packed the paint like you said) or got off bad shots he would have been crucified as well.

 

wekko, what's wrong with giving it to yao down the stretch like we did in game 7? he was the only guy drawing fouls consistently i nthe series and he was our best ft shooter. tmac was 5-9 i think in that game; yao was 10-11.

tell me, was it wrong to go through yao? or are you saying yao is not a good option to go down the stretch?

open up your eyes and see that tmac did everything he should have done and more in game 7.

 

Very nice. Thats maybe the third or fourth time you've said that. Tell me, does it get funnier each time you read that? Honestly, how old are you? 12? 13?

Although I may be wrong, I dont remember this. Seems like if it did happen though, it'd be an illegal defense.

In any case, i'm glad you're content with poor decision making and failure. As for myself, I want the rockets to win.

 

Trusting your teammates and playing team ball is poor decision making? Funny how you think I'm 12 b/c I thought you were around the same age too with all your well thought out arguments. And every single time you reply to me it always includes the statement "I don't remember this". Maybe you need to watch more Rockets games and try to keep up with the news, buddy. Or you probably just have bad memory.

 

The Jazz were cheating and shading McGrady to drive. He made the right plays. The team as a whole just didnt execute. T-mac missed 4 free throws. I know he isnt perfect, but just 1 or 2 more creates different scenarios down the stretch. Howard missed easy jumpers. Head couldnt hit the side of the barn. Rafer missed wide open looks. Yao even was ineffective in single coverage down low late in the game.


As for excuses for T-Mac. Not exactly, just knowing this board like I do, he is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't if the team does not win. So yes, forcing the issue, turning it over, committing offensive fouls, and generally disrupting the flow of the already limited flow offense would have gotten him crucified even more than taking what was there, and trusting his mates to make open shots.

The Jazz changed their Defense at the 5:30 mark of the 4th quarter. T-Mac was doubled out top and Yao was left single coverage. T-Mac made the right reads.

As for not remembering: The mind remembers what it wants to. Its called selective memory and your memory of that game 7 has T-Mac taking numerous 22 foot jumpers in the 4th quarter with 25 seconds left on the shot clock and not attacking a defense that is not going to let you get to the rim again.

 

You're right, giving the ball to Yao was an option. However, having tmac penetrate was a better option. The jazz were in the penalty with maybe 6 minutes to go. Tmac has the ability to go to the basket at will. He should've taken advantage of the situation.

The key point that you're ignoring is that the jazz were in the penalty. And despite what you think, yao doesnt draw fouls that consistently. How can he? He will often shoot over people or fade away in the post (especially against quicker players). Most of the time when he gets fouled, he's under the basket.

How about you open up your eyes and see that a star wing player needs to shoot better than 55% from the free throw line? Maybe if he worked on his free throw shooting, he'd be more inclined to penetrate.

 

um wekko, yao got 11 throws, the most on our team -> he was the best at drawing fouls. yes he faded alot but he got more calls than anybody on our team in that series. and he was our BEST ft shooter. did you even watch the damn series? yao avg 11 fts for the damn series, that was damn impressive.

how about you open up your eyes and know that a post player (7'6 center) who gets single coverage and was averaging 11 free throws a game is not a good option in the penalty?

go watch game 7 again. JVG specifically called plays for yao knowing the jazz were in the penalty and yao was our best ft shooter.

sometimes WATCHING is key.

 

Given rafer's shooting woes and luther's ball-handling ineptitude, its a better idea for tmac to take it himself.

Actually, my arguments are logically sound. I thought you were 12 b/c your insults seem like something an elementary/junior high school kid would say.

I didnt accuse you of being wrong. I merely said that I may have been wrong and that i didnt remember your scenario, but based on your description, it would've been a blatant illegal defense.

Sorry guy, but I actually have a pretty good memory.

 

Bad logic. Shooting the most free throws doesnt mean that he's the best at drawing fouls. It just means he shot the most free throws.

In my opinion, its easier to draw a foul when you're attacking the basket as opposed to being in the post and playing with your back to the basket.

... i'm not sure i follow your train of thought here.

Have you considered that one of the reasons that JVG called plays for yao was that tmac was shooting 55% from the free throw line that game?

Tmac is streaky though. If he penetrated and got a few easy buckets, its conceivable that he could put together a string of free throws.

 

25 seconds left on the shot clock? In regards to selective memory, were we talking about me or you?

 

Here, http://www.click2houston.com/video/15917919/index.html , watch Tmac's interview, he says Utah "packs the paint" word for word. Maybe Tmac might remember better b/c actually played in the game. And they're not LITERALLY standing the lane packing it in, they just block certain lanes, preventing penetration.

And as far as my insults being childish? I tried to keep it on a level that you would understand.

 

In my opinion, tmac looks for excuses. Who knows? Maybe he didnt penetrate due to the depth perception problems caused by the toyota center's layout?

As for insults, its very simple. Don't insult me and i wont insult you. Fair enough?

 

your bball logic just dropped a ton there. so shooting the most free throws does not mean you're the best at drawing fouls?? how do you earn those free throws? i guess shaq is not good at drawing fouls. guess he averages 11 fts for his career is nothing.

even if tmac was making his fts, yao was CLEARLY our best ft shooter from the past few yrs. hell, he is one of the best ft shooters in the L PERIOD. the ball should be in his hands, considering the jazz was adjusting to tmac and doubling him more, leaving yao open to operate. look at the video i posted in the other post. the jazz were rotating everyone to tmac and left ak47 guarding yao on several possessions and yao was going to hte line with ease.

you shoot fts when you get fouled shooting. yao averaged 11 fts for the series. its only suitable to go to him in game 7 when they were in the penalty.

 

tmac averaged 7 ft attempts for the series. that's good enough considering the calls that were left uncalled and how the jazz players were able to hold tmac's jerseys all over.

please watch excuses.

any KNOWLEDGEABLE basketball fan knows this basic concept:

you have a 7'6 center having SINGLE COVERAGE about 12-15 feet from the paint or a guard who has to penetrate through multiple defenders from 20-25 ft out.

what is an easier option down the stretch considering a lot of the defensive attention was on that guard?

again, if you WATCH the series, the game wasn't lost on offense. we played very well offensively. we lost game 7 on rebounding. watch this video. tell me how we lost the game (AND ALSO WATCH HOW YAO DID DRAW THAT FOUL )

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What do you want Tmac to say? I think you always can explain his words in your own way regardless of what he says.

I believe he wants to win a playoff series more than you, me, or anyone else in this world!