The Mavs lost to the Golden State Warriors and Dwayne Wade driving to the hoop 5000 times a game. The Spurs and the Lakers have no issues with Utah. Oh, we have HOME COURT ADVANTAGE on UTAH.
match ups, i promise you we would have been sweep with ron artest and no yao ming against utah last yr, they were way to physical with our bench
If Ron Artest is so called better than McGrady all I'm going to say is look at each of there teams and tell me what happened. Ron Artest and the Bulls= Not so good. Ron Artest and the Pacers= Great Team. That was his shot to get a ring. Ron Artest and the Kings= Not so good. Ron Artest and the Rockets= TBD. McGrady and the Raptors= Rookie year. Shadowed by Vince Carter. Nothing special. McGrady and the Magic= One hell of a individual performance. Led his team season by season to the playoffs with NO ONE but himself. Was mentioned with the likes of Jordan and Kobe. All-Star dunks and athletic star. McGrady and the Rockets= Half good Half bad. Under JVG it looked promising but became frustrated. It was either him out for a period of time or Yao. The 2 were dominated but could never stay on the court. Under RA it was a learning curve for the 1st year. 2nd year the guy was playing hurt. So basically to solve this whole situation. It doesn't matter who is better. Neither of them have a ring .
we should have permanent excuses for Tracy McGrady threads thread one: If he was healthy thread two: If his teammates thread three: If his coach
I just want him gone......it would get rid of so many issues, just like all the Francis fans who could not admit he was flawed. Tmac needs to go. DD
First..someone here needs to define what makes someone a great basketball player...Is McGrady better than Artest? That depends on what your definition of a good basketball player is. First let's start with what McGrady is or was...a very athletic, above average streaky shooter, who is capable of scoring tons of points. I would put Tmac in the same category as Iverson and Marbury. Extremely gifted offensive talents who don't make their team better, and are more concerned with their stats, because they have been "da man" on their teams probably since middle school. IMO a great basketball player doesn't only score points in bunches, but also is a diligent defender, plays with heart, and makes his teammates better. So when you say McGrady is better than Artest..I think you should be clear in what capacity you're referring to..
THe worst thing that ever happened to Tmac (besides injuries) was to be labeled a 'Superstar'. It takes major focus and desire to deliver on that label, and it takes a certain kind of player to live up to that, to work, not just on fundamentals and skills and stamina, but on role-playing. Superstars must be role-players themselves and work themselves into a team concept in order to prosper; they must be the important role-players on the team. Tmac has always seen himself as himself -- 'Tmac' -- who just happens to be on a particular team. Thus, the 'it's on me' ridiculousness and focus on himself and individualism in interviews. THat was the major flaw in his game, besides not being the defensive player he could have. Tmac acquired 'Superstar' status on his natural abilities and instincts alone, but he never went that extra step to tie that talent together with team dominance in the playoffs. Last year during the streak before Yao went down was probably the best a Tmac team has ever played. Who knows how the Rockets would have fared in the playoffs with a healthy Yao? We might never know if Tmac could have done major damage as the go-to guy on a team in the playoffs, because I'd say last year was his best, or at least, last, chance.
First of all, I watched Hakeem score on multiple dudes his entire career. The same goes for other superstar players (MJ, Bird, etc). It doesn't mean their teams always won, but they weren't inefficient offensive players while their teams were losing. Maybe my definition of a superstar player is too high. Additionally, they didn't double Tracy every time he drove to the lane. Sometimes they let Fish iso him. Granted there was some shading from other defenders, but nothing any "superstar" player isn't used to seeing. A 6-9 guard is supposed to be able to shoot over a 6-2 SG all day long. A 6-9 guard is supposed to be able to drive around AK-47 or Harpring all game long. But he didn't, because everytime he did they would hammer him....so he started relying on jumpers in the games crucial moments (i.e. 4th qtr). No offense, but you have revisionist history. How much more proof do you need, then a Jazz player basically saying we kept hammering him because we knew he would eventually stop driving (paraphrasing). FYI, Kobe shot 54% against the Jazz that season and he had worse teammates. Edit: It seems like shooting 40% is acceptable to you if you are receiving lot's of attention. To me, if you are a star you should be able to deal with that attention and convert anyway. Again, it doesn't mean your team will always win...but they don't have to lose because you have poor efforts. For comparisons sake, Kobe received tons of attention in the 08 Finals. No one is saying it's ok that he shot like crap because of the attention he received. Everyone says he shouldn't have shot like crap.
I wasn't going to say nothing but enough is enough. Who do you want on the team. I would hate to see if you was our G.M. 1st you wanted to trade Artest way for a better point guard. You kept saying over and over you want Artest gone he doesn't fit. Now all of a sudden you want McGrady gone. I don't understand what goes through your mind. You say one thing then you flip it around.
talent-wise no.. ron is willing to sacrifice his game for the benefit of the team... t-mac not so much
no no no, he's not better than mcgrady, just like derek jeter isn't better than AROd, but as far as being a winning player, it seems at least at this stage, artest is easier to win with than mcgrady
i don't think anyone has said tmac had a super series ala v. dallas in that utah series. he played great at home, but average on the road. had he brought a game 5/7 performance to utah, we'd probably would have won.
Dude, he's gonna tell you that both TMAC and ARTEST won't play well together. And it's actually true. And again, ARTEST was the more trade-able asset at the time, and he still is. It would have been easier to move Artest for something in return, maybe, but now that TMAC has declared himself done, we need ARTEST. And it's working.
#1 we won't know and won't find out if they dont fit because T-Mac is out for the season and they were barely on the court together. Shaq and Amare wasn't suppose to so called fit together and that worked out great. The media said it wouldn't work out and all of a sudden they switched that around. #2 Artest was the more trade-able asset i give you that. Still is?? Your wrong on that. Once this season or our season is over Artest is free to go where ever he wants. We can not trade him. The only way we can trade him is in a sign and trade and I don't see that happening. Well maybe depending on the player or players.
TMac4Life, The only way any team takes on McGrady is because of his expiring contract, not because of his play. And Shaq and Amare ARE NOT good together. Where did you get that? 60 wins to barely making the playoffs, and then not making the playoffs? And if McGrady and Artest had been playing well together, for what little time they did, McGrady may not even go ahead with the surgery. This guy is random. One day it's, "I feel like I'm 100% and ready to go." The next - "My knee, my back, my neck! My back and my neck!" I'm sure his pain is real, but please stop giving him credit where its NOT DUE. Again, if the Rockets make it out of the 1st round, you'll find a way to excuse him. Get out of that pseudo state of mind. Oh, and I just saw your user name. No wonder
tmac didn't fit with artest this year b/c he was injured. he didn't fit with anybody this year. a healthy tmac is a playmaker and a guy who can play off the ball (yes he can as one of his favorite plays is that curl screen). but an injured tmac, well, just usually stays in one spot. and that's never good.
