Well, Yao has no PG skills whatsoever yet we've seen him go coast-to-coast a few times, juking out the defenders. It's the NBA, everyone has ballhandling skills of some sort. I wouldn't be surprised if Snyder had decent skills.
very true, but then the Spurs do have a better and deeper bench, which is the whole point of the article. Our bench hasn't been playing well so JVG is forced to play tmac more.
I wouldn't cry over this too much. Its a win, win situation if you ask me. Say they play 40 minutes, and we pass Utah. Hey, suddenly we are pretty much a lock to win it. We are better statistically and now we have home court. We probably had to beat them twice to get it so that means we have the regular season series won. On the other hand, say that we do this and somehow Utah pulls too far ahead of us. Then the last couple of games we rest Tmac and he's good for the playoffs. And people are crying over this 40 minute thing too much. You can't wear your self out by playing 40 minutes for only the last 11 games. Wearing yourself out like that would require playing 40 minutes throughout the whole season. Tmac and Yao are like 3rd and 4th on the team in minutes. Not a big deal.
But on the flipside, you should consider that the two will need to be logging some serious PT come mid-April. Since they both will get around 8 more minutes in the playoffs, an extra 4-5 now could be a good way to get them in condition and rhythm.
once the playoffs come, its a whole new ballgame, and i'm comfortable with both of them playing 40+ minutes. it is why i wished they weren't playing as much now so that they'll be fully rested and as healthy as possible. but like Blotto said, maybe this will get them conditioned to playing that much. at this point in the season, where we have now clinched, and more than likely will finish in the 5th seed (HCA maybe, maybe no ), i'd like to see JVG empty the bench and play everyone, even fat bonzi, novak and our 2 greeks. we need to see what they're capible, and not just in junk time. i doubt this will happen, but it's what i'd like to see.
Agreed. This is why JVG will probably never be a championship coach. Too bad he never played even big time college ball, much less in the pros.
I really can't believe all the negativity in this thread. But hey, it is your freedom to complain. I'm optimistic about the 1st round series and even though they just showed a graphic where the top 6 fastest teams in NBA history to reach 60 wins all went on to win the championship, I think if we get to play the Mavs it will be fun. TMac may as well start playing more minutes as he's gonna have to pretty darn soon.
This is not the answer. Don't get me wrong. I like our team and I think we are very good at both ends. But, we are not good enough offensively. Even with Yao and McGrady on top of their game. Van Gundy's solution is to run McGrady into the ground playing him more and more minutes. I am personally convinced that this is not the solution. Not that McGrady can't play 40 minutes a night. But I am convinced that McGrady cannot play 40 effective minutes a night, especially come playoff time, when he is having to carry so much of the load. He has become the primary ballhandler and primary distributor and he has done a tremendous job. But you have to see how much it is taking out of him, bringing the ball up practically all the time, handing constantly, having to take possession after possession with the ball in his hands for probably 15 or 16 seconds per possession. It's simply too much strain on a guy that is a very long 6'9" and already has back problems. It takes so much out of McGrady having to turn the corner all the time on those pick and rolls. He's done it practically all season and like I say, he's done an excellent job. But, you cannot expect him to hold up to that type of load night in and night out for the next 3 or 4 years. In my opinion, it's just a matter of time before he goes careening down the lane straight into a busted up knee and at least half the season or more shot, compounding his bad back, etc. He is not built with the bulk of a Magic Johnson and he is not as compact as a guy like Kobe or Jordan. Not only this, but first and foremost, McGrady is a scorer/finisher. He is one of the best scorers/finishers of all time. He obviously can distribute the basketball very effectively. But his best talent is still scoring the basketball. He can distribute but it takes so much out of his legs, not to mention the pounding the rest of his body has to take on every possession when he has to be the primary ballhandler/distributor role and scoring secondarily to that. During his best years at Orlando, he was surrounded mainly by Darrell Armstrong and a couple shooters in Mike Miller and Pat Garrity. They were a playoff team during those years. Their main problem was they had nothing at the center position. But they were very good offensively, playing more of an uptempo style with guys like Armstrong and Grant Hill (when he was healthy)running the point with McGrady working the wing. McGrady was playing his primary role of scorer/finisher and distributing secondarily while Armstrong and Hill were penetrating and distributing. But Mcgrady was still averaging 5-6 assists, which just goes to show how good of a player he can be, even when his primary role is scoring the basketball. Until the wheels fell off after Armstrong left and Hill was basically gone and McGrady was left to himself for 60 loss season. Of course, his shooting went down but his assists were still high even though he was surrounded by nothing. Orlando was a very uptempo team as Armstrong "drove" the attack with his speed, quickness, and defensive tenacity. I cannot emphasize enough Mcgrady was at his best playing the wing. He was still distributing. But he was distributing secondarily off someone else's distribution to him. I think Mcgrady is actually a better player now, in his ability to see the court and make great decisions. I'd like to see him be in a position to make those decisions as the secondary playmaker and as the primary scorer 1a or 1b. And I think that comes when you have an aggressive point guard that can break down the defense and can finish or dish equally well, and has the court vision and the brains to know when to finish and when to dish. You might think I am making a huge argument for Spanoulis here. Not necessarily. I happen to think he fits the bill as that type of player. But, I am not so stuck on Spanoulis that I would not be willing to accept someone else if Spanoulis doesn't get better or goes back to Europe. I am making an argument that our team would be best served to evolve the offense and take the ball out of Mcgrady's hands so much and place it in the hands of our third primary offensive threat, who can distribute or finish equally efficiently with all apologies to Rafer. I happen to believe that we can only go so far using Mcgrady as the primary distributor. I think we can go much further with McGrady as the secondary distributor and instead of having a spot up shooter at point guard, have a guy that can break down the defense. And I think there would be plenty of room and plenty of shots available for McGrady, Yao, and everybody else with a playmaking point guard that can finish at the rim. And I think Mcgrady will be much more effective and his career will last a whole lot longer if he is able to gallop freely out on the wing as the point guard pushes the basketball to the rim, freeing McGrady up for a dagger 3 or for a trailing alley oop jam and 1. Ultimately this year, I think our offense is going to be our undoing with us relying on 111 so much and depending on guys like Rafer to stand around and hit the 3 ball.
I would like to see Tmac play more minutes, but I am a bit worried that he will be too tired when the playoff comes. Hope JVG can deal with this. i think he should let the bench practice more.
I'm slightly confused as to why people constantly say players will get 'tired' by playing 40 minutes a game. I mean, they've usually got 48 hours of rest between games, and 24 hours if it's a back-to-back. I only ever play in pick up games, and even if I go down to the court every day and play for an hour, I won't exactly feel tired by the end of the day. Can somebody exaplin this to me?
They could play more minutes because they're not practicing often. JVG has said that he's trying to work Yao into game shape for the playoffs and that it can only be gained thru real games and not practicing. No doubt Yao is gonna be looking at 36+mpg. T-Mac will be going for 40+, which is a good thing because that is less Luther Head at the point. I'd rather JL3 being our backup point even though he's too sporadic for my likings.
I was in a bad mood yet again this morning. So much traffic for some reason today! Now, I giggle. Tee-hee!
exactly, there is a day off in the playoffs. and b4 u start the playoffs, there are 2-3 days off. and then b/t series, u have 2 days off too. and w/ the NBA scheduling the playoff games according to the TV schedules, sometimes u have 2 days off in b/t games in a series. relax, 41-42 mins w/ rest is fine. it's the little rest that will be a concern. and tmac still penetrated at will after playing a lot. playing a lot WONT do anything to the back. it's more the legs. but if we don't do this on a b2b, it's fine.
pick up games are no where near the same as NBA games. But yea, I get where you are coming from. Tmac has averaged 35 minutes a game for the whole season, and thats pretty average for a star on an elite team. After how much he has averaged the whole season, you are going to sit here and tell me that averaging 5 more minutes a game for the last 10 games is whats going to wear him out? If he had been doing this the whole season, sure. But cmon....
