[Chronicle Commentary]Dealing Yao or McGrady won't heal Rockets

Shame on Magic for making such a definitive statement for two reasons:
1) It's short-sighted and only considers what's happened very recently. Not sure what's the Rockets record has been with both in the line-up, but they've won near 2/3 of their games when both have been healthy since they've had both players (3+ full seasons). Without one in the line-up, it's not been so pretty. Regarding the comment "the ball doesn't move", that's been true of late (except tonight), but under JVG that was more a function of the coach's strategy. But even under JVG there were times when the offense flowed beautifully. Remember the Sura/Barry/Wesley version of the Rockets from '04?
2) If Magic's request to be traded away from a Kareem-led team had been granted back in '81, he may not have won 5 titles and gone to the finals 9 times. A great inside-outside combo is the start of a great team, but is not the end of it. You need the right support players and the right strategy. The Rockets have not found that combo yet.

But I hope and believe they will, in which case, Magic's comment will go down in the annals of most ridiculous statements ever made (like Chuck's "Yao will never score 19 points in an NBA game").

 

johnkamla hit the nail on the head you have to have the right pieces to build around Tmac and Yao if anything we should fire our r****ded management which we did CD. I mean cmon the rudy gay battier trade was horrible. Is it me but is Battier consistantly getting burnt on a consistant basis? I mean cmon did you see games were they try to actually post him up he cant even score on a midget like jason terry on him. And dont get me started on Gayfer

 

Go easy on Jerome! Don't you know that the Chronicle is written for regular folk who reads at an 8th grade level.

My periodical of choice is the Wall Street Journal.

 

Actually i'm glad Magic said trade t-mac, this team needs something to light a fire under their butts, maybe now they have one.

 

Will the Rockets trade TMac? No.

Should the Rockets trade TMac? Yes ...if they can get good value ...which if they are patient I think they could. Included should be a promising young player or high draft pick.

TMac is supposed to be our "goto guy" but other than that amazing 13/35,

...how many games do you remember TMac taking on his shoulders down the stretch to win? 0

How many games do you remember Kobe winning in the 4th quarter? lots

How many games do you remember Wade winning in the 4th quarter? lots

How many games do you remember LeBron winning in the 4th quarter? lots

TMac just isn't a big game player. Simple as that. That's why he's never made it out of the 1st round. And that's why we gotta trade him. He's a great player in the first 44 minutes of the game ...too bad games are 48 minutes long.

P.S. I hope guys like Aaron Brooks and Scola can be our new Bob Sura or Mario Elie. Passion guys. We need somebody to come in a play with heart and that won't wilt in the 4th quarter. If we can find that, then TMac can just defer to them when it matters ...which is sad ...but whatever works.

 

Actually, that's incorrect, at least in the last few years. The stats below haven't been updated for this season, but since '03 TMac was 8-23 on game winning shots. Kobe was 7-32. Wade was about as good as TMac during that stretch (6-17) and before last year's playoff heroics LeBron was a straight up choker, going 4-19 in game winners. Those guys have nothing on TMac in the clutch.

http://82games.com/random12.htm

As for TMac being a choker, his career playoff numbers are 29/6.5 RB/6 A, shooting 43%. Kobe is 23.5/5/4.5 shooting 44%. I just get so tired of hearing labels without any data to back it up. TMac has never gotten his team out of the playoffs? Kobe's a winner? Ridiculous. You think Derek Fisher would be called a winner if he'd never been on a team with Shaq? Not that Mitch Richmond was better than Kobe (he wasn't) but I bet Richmond would be on his way to the Hall of Fame if he'd spent his prime years with Shaq.

As far as I'm concerned, TMac has only one issue with his game that troubles me, his rate of jumpshots over drives to the hoop. It's a common criticism and it's blatantly accurate. TMac has averaged about 7.5 FTA per/40 minutes since he has been with the Rockets. Wade averages 11, LeBron 10, Kobe 10.

It's a serious problem and it troubles me and I imagine a lot of it has to do with his back, but he's also the best shooter of those players. Still, he can also penetrate about as well as anyone in the league and I sure wish he'd do it just a few more times a game.

TMac deserves to be criticized for not taking the ball to the rim more. The dunk is the best shot in basketball. The layup is the next best shot. The three pointer is the third best shot, but taking it to the rim is paramount. It creates higher % shots for him and gets the opposition's big men in foul trouble, making life easier for Yao. So fine, get on TMac for that, but don't invent flaws that don't exist.

(Oh, Yao was 4-8 in game winners. Carmello Anthony was the best in the league, by far at 11-17)