Should read - McGrady's misfortune is Rockets' glee. And they forgot to add that T-mac picked the Lakers, **** blocked the Carter trade, and it was his fault that Deke got hurt.
Mcgrady will get his chance. Highly unlikely we swing a deal for him. Artest's chances of being resigned just went up dramatically with the 1st round win and Morey loves the guy. Next year will be the year of the big 3.
Hah, even though the author of the article was not listed you could tell it was from the King. Ron and Tracy don't fit.....never did, never will......we are not better talent wise without Tmac, but we are better chemistry wise. And, I don't mean personality etc, but more about team chemistry when on the floor, we no longer have Tmac dominating the ball and because of that the team is better. In order for the mythical "fighting for the first seed" to have happened, Tmac would have to change his game drastically, and he has not proven to embrace that and in fact has fought hard against it. That may be frustration with the injury, who knows....but changing from a guy who is always ON the ball to one that is moving his body OFF the ball is a lot more difficult that most people think. I would like an honest report on Tmac's rehab with questions about THAT rather than an OP piece. DD
1) tracy and artest NEVER had a preseason together. they never knew each other's tendencies and what their favorite spots and things like that. that's what preseason is for. and that fault was on tracy's part for not being ready for the preseason, which i'm sure he's working hard to be ready for next year. you can't just expect to go into a new season right off the bat with him still being injured and expect to play with another guy who is a scorer. that's impossible. and tracy was never healthy the whole way. the "scared" mentality really changed how tracy played the game and i'm sure that changed how he played with his teammates. 2) the team chemistry before this year WITH tmac has always been one of the best in the L. it was in 04-05, 05-06, 06-07, and wildly proclaimed around the L last yr in 07-08. we've always been known to have the best chemistry in the L, and tmac PLAYED on those teams. so it's absurd to think he wouldn't have changed his game to fit in with the team. he did during his time out last yr, why wouldn't he this year? (PS - you still complain about ron artest holding on the ball too much DD ) 3) i think those are honest opinions on his rehab. he's staying close to the doctors and team trainers so i'm sure they're spying on him basically. and he seems re-committed to his career apparently, either out of people calling him a scrub, career being over, teams don't want him... tmac shouldn't need these kind of things to motivate him and re-kick his career, but apparently it came to that point. hopefully he continues his rehab and will be ready for next year's preseason. he still has game.
Congratulations on missing the point on pretty much everything.....you took a rudimentary look and failed to even grasp what it was I was saying. You sir....missed the boat... DD
Nope, he missed the mark completely....he took a cursory look and failed to grasp the points at all. 1. Ron and Tmac don't fit - they both need the ball in their hands - there is only one ball, they do not fit together on the court. Neither is that effective OFF the ball, and when one of them has it...the other will have to move off the ball, neither do....NOTHING changes the style of their games......not a preseason together, not a season together...nothing, their GAMES DO NOT MESH. 2. Chemistry on the court is what I am talking about, each individual on the team is NOW able to make a play with Tmac is out, and that makes them harder to guard, so team chemistry is better without Tmac.... DD
You're judging this based on two players new to each other, who only played half a season together? Sample size is too small, my friend. Also, we aren't better chemistry wise. As an earlier poster pointed out, TMac played on all those teams that did very well in the regular season, but not so well in the postseason. There are so many other factors as to why we didn't advance against the Mavs and Jazz. We just happened to match up VERY well against the Trail Blazers this year.
How great is Ron Artest or Aaron Brooks off the ball? Tracy McGrady at full strength is a very good player. There's no question in my mind we'd be a better team with him. We'd be even better if he did things we know he does not do consistently (defend, run in transition, move off the ball), but he's so good at what he does it still makes us better. How soon we forget what this team was doing last Feb/March with McGrady on the floor. The chemistry was never better. I remember people complaining that the team was better without McGrady last season as well in mid-January. He returns to the lineup, and the team magically wins 26 of their next 27 games after having just dropped two straight at home to the Hornets and Sixers. Oh, that's different you may say. We didn't have enough scoring around Yao last season. What, this year we do? The team still goes on long droughts offensively. We depend on Brooks so much right now not because he's a special playmaking talent, but because we don't have one much better. What this team still needs, more than anything, is a playmaker.
That is my point, you add in another guy who is bad off the ball and it multiplies the diminishment in returns. Ron is better than TMac off the ball and so is Brooks, but neither would be called a great off the ball player. In order to really take this team to the next level we need a good off the ball wing...someone like Rip Hamilton who is in constant motion.....replace Ron with someone like that and this team explodes. Have any of you guys ever played ball? Because I didn't think it was that hard to understand...... DD
Poor McGrady? He's been going through his career pitying himself for having "average teams." So he generates enough pity for himself. Recognizing the good things he's done for the organization ... yes that is something I can do, but I'm not going to add to a bad trait that surfaces when things go wrong.
and that's why i have curbed back my criticism on brooks, and feel the criticisms in the playoffs on him have been extremely unfair. he's never been known as a playmaker, but since he's the only starter who can consistently penetrate with some creativity, the playmaking responsibilities fall primarily on him. and he has struggled. but THAT'S NOT HIS JOB. if you watch him play throughout this year, you should know that. and that's why i feel had mcgrady been healthy (or ron was a better playmaker), brooks would be RIDICULOUS scoring-wise with his ability. but b/c we do depend on him so much, the starting unit struggles offensively way too much in the portland series. the 2nd unit really was the x-factor, along with scola.
DD, what is tmac's favorite play besides the pick and roll? it's curling around screens where he MOVES. he never did that ONCE this year b/c he couldn't move around. and ron is not an off the ball player. i never see him cut. i love to see him more in the post though.
