{Chron} Rockets Notes: McGrady feeling out of sync

I'm not throwing the team under the bus, I'm throwing T-Mac under the bus. I'm a bigger rocket fan than you are and I'm finally being objective and realistic with myself. I pray to the basketball gods that T-Mac can prove me wrong after so many years and so many years of buying NBA league pass just to watch him. Also you forgot to mention that some of T-Macs playoff teams were leading in those playoff series and couldn't close ie.(lack of mental toughness and killer instinct).

 

I'd rather hear him say "I know I've been out of sync on offense, so I'm going to try to focus on defense and moving without the ball to get some higher percentage shots out there on the basketball court."

 

Agree.

 

Agreed, he has done that his whole career and I have always said that makes it hard on him. If T-mac attacked as soon as he touched the ball especially when he posts up it would be easier for him to score.

 

what you said is all valid. my thing with mcgrady is -

#1, he should've been able to produce more - even on one leg. what we have now is a vastly inconsistent mcgrady who goes 30 one night and 3 the next.

#2, if he can't play well and consistently on one leg, he should sit out until he is closer to 100% or totally 100%. he's been a hole in defense. and i don't care if that's because he's been playing hurt, not going all-out, or a combo of both. all i care about is if his play overall hurts or benefits the team.

#3, some have questioned why he had the surgeries back in may and we're now a half year later and he's still limping. it's relatively more irrelevant and i'm not a doctor, but the question mark is there.

 

I agree with the high post. Top of the key, top of the key, top of the key, catch the ball and then he's got all his options. Jumper, pass, post up, dribble drive, he's got all the options right there. And he's deadly from there. McGrady needs to run off the screen into that key area and receive the ball there.

The pick and roll with McGrady does not work when he has to receive the ball out at the 3 point line and the pick is set up there. He's too slow and the defense can adjust back to defend it. That old pick and roll play with him and Yao that they had under Van Gundy is just not effective anymore because both guys are too slow. When Artest is in with McGrady, Artest needs to take a backseat and spot up at the 3 point line and let McGrady operate from midrange. There will be plenty of opportunities to get Artest the ball on the post when McGrady and Yao are out.

 

Amen to that.

 

This just adds credence to the point myself and others here have made about T-Jac not being effective when he is on the floor unless he has the ball in his hands.

And on another point that has to do with McGrady...

Why the heck can't this team run a freakin' pick and roll?
For goodness sake, its not hard AND you have a 7'-6" center who can hit the mid range jumper. We should run that play like 20 times a game, whats the opposing defense going to do? You would think a guy like T-Jac would recognize this, it keeps the ball in his hands and allows him to dictate the offense. If its Yao, then somebody needs to buy him the box set DVD of the Utah Jazz in the 1990's and order him to watch it. He could average 30pts a night running that play combine with his low post stuff.

 

i disagree with tracy when he says he needs more touches. he's too limited right now to do that. until his playmaking is great, he needs to just post up and that's it.

and the reason we can't run the pick and roll is that alston and brooks are too short. they cannot see what tracy can see when he runs it. and they can't pass it to yao over all the big defenders.

and yao can't shoot mid-range Js. where have you seen that?

tracy just gotta get through it. maybe with less minutes, push that knee more.

 

Trade his ass for Joe Johnson he'd be a better match for this team right now anyway... wtf I need the ball more? I think u need to grow a set... fhucking stop complaining if u arent in shape get yourself back into shape... T-mac thats the point of an offense you play within it not within yourself... hell if we cant get Joe get T-mac's cousin Vince we all know how he plays once he's on a new team that has a chance to win

 

So, for all those years, he complained about not having enough of a supporting cast and having to carry to much of the load and not being able to get out of the first round because of it.

Now he has a strong supporting cast, and he's "out of sync" because he's not getting enough touches? Maybe if he was a little more active and aggressive he'd get some more unforced touches.

I'm losing my patience with Tracy. This is the first time since he's been here that I've truly doubted that we can get it done with him as the leader. We'll see how he's playing come April and May, but if we don't get out of the first round and at the VERY LEAST go to a game seven in the semis, I'd be all for a trade while he might still have some value.

 

that's how i'll judge tracy. if we fail again and he STRUGGLES like this, i'll just have the marbury treatment on him.

 

Every extra shot T-Mac takes is a shot taken away from somebody who's actually shooting better than 40%. If he's going to jack up 25 shots a game and convert at 35% the Rockets are going to have to keep Yao and Artest on the floor for longer and longer stretches just to keep it close.

If he wants to strengthen the leg by playing maybe he should try running the ball up the freaking court one of these years.

 

The bottom line is if he helps the team. If he's being carried by Yao, Artest and the rest of the Rockets it doesn't matter how far the team gets in the playoffs--he's got to go.

 

This is exactly where I am as a McGrady/Rocket fan.

Up until now, I always defended the guy. The whole first round exit thing isn't his fault, it’s just an anomaly. Nothing bad those Orlando fans say about him has any validity...they're just bitter because he didn't want to play for them. Just like the Vancouver fans with Steve Francis.

Now (like you) I find myself in a place where I just don't believe in him anymore. It's been a long 4 years getting to this point, but I can't help but think that those Magic fans may have been right all along.

 

and how realistic is it that yao and artest will carry us? more and we all know if this team is gonna go far in the playoffs, tracy has got to play at least to his capabilities (which was shown just a 5-6 months ago v. utah). he remains the only guy that we have right now, good or bad, that can change a game.

when you get it through your head that we're not going to trade tracy until 2010 where we can just let his contract go and free up cap space, then maybe you'll stop posting that "he's got to go."

morey made it clear. he's not going anywhere. morey just saw the dude who put up 27, 8, 7 just 5-6 months ago. you think he's gonna let 12-13 reg. season games trigger a trade for someone else?

hopefully morey is not that stupid.

 

wow, your point just does anything to criticize tracy. ron takes the same amount of shots and his usage rating is 20, compared to tracy's 23, which is not that big of a difference.

and ron shoots 34%.

but hey, you always scream last yr about tracy shooting 40% and making 70% of his fts.

and ron shoots 34% and makes 70% of his fts, you say nothing. be fair in criticisms please.

 

Completey agree. I have backed him up for so long and not but a few days ago did I finally throw in the towel on him. This crap has gotten so old and noboby can convince me that Adelman is probably starting to get tired of as well.

 

How realistic is it that Yao and Artest can carry the Rockets? I dunno, ask the Dallas Mavericks. How realistic is it that T-Mac can carry the Rockets? I dunno, ask the Celtics or the Trailblazers.

I would agree however that T-Mac's likely to stick around until next year when his trade value as an expiring contract will be at a maximum.

 

i don't think i can respond when you use that logic.