[Controversial] I feel McGrady should be our 3rd Option

I really think this is more of a product of what the defense gives you, right? If anything, we are lucky enough to where we can have this discussion and actually have a robust debate on it simply because we are so deep this year. With teams like Cleveland, Dallas (Josh Howard is at best a second option....Dirk is by far the only option they have to actually run plays for), Miami (again, you don't run plays FOR Shawn Marion), New Orleans, etc...they don't have multiple players they can count on to run specific plays for more than a few times a night. I'm not saying those other teams don't have great second or even third options....I'm simply saying that the hierarchy is clearly defined without any room for debate.

 

To have a good opinion is what's great about this board as long as u are unbiased and talking about it making the team better. Any "only fans" will argue one way or the other. I disagree with your points because it varies game to game. It really doesn't matter what # they are as long as they win. There will be nights when ron can punish people, tracy is on fire and yao is working the paint. The op made the statement that artest and yao run the system better, yet the team won 68% without both last yr. How do u explain that? I think personality wise and from history that tracy could care less as long as they win. At the end of the game, tracy will have the ball cuz he's the best decision maker on the team.

 

i don't think yao has shown he can lead the team for long stretches. his best stretch was last yr and we went 8-7 (most of the wins came on the knicks and wolves twice).

look, yao IS our #1 option OFFENSIVELY in terms of scoring the ball. i don't think there's a doubt about that. he's our most efficient scorer. the game plan every night is to get yao the ball. but i'm sure you notice there are games where even if we try, we can't get yao the ball. shaq was a clear #1 option b/c dude puts up 30+ and 12 boards pretty routinely. yao hasn't put up those #s. at the end of every season, it all comes back to tracy being the main guy for whatever reason (yao injured; yao can't handle being #1 guy).

and like i said in my original post, we all want tmac's roles to be lessened. we should not live and die with tracy.

 

If this was the T-Mac of 5 years ago he would be the first option but I suspect you're right injuries and age mean he should have a lower profile in the offense this season. Not sure about Yao being the main guy either in this motion offense, Yao would be a better first option in a JVG style pound it down low offense but I didn't see an emphasis in getting the ball down low to Yao in the preseason. However, I would hate for Artest to be the primary option either, make him the primary option and he has a tendency to dominate the ball like he did in Sactown.

Best scenario is what they did in Boston, everybody put their egos aside and play team ball, let your individual stats become secondary for the sake of team.

 

It varies game by game based on matchups, but in general, I think Yao-Mcgrady-Artest makes sense. Yao should be the first option, because when he gets the ball in his comfort zone he's the most efficient player. However, if the Rockets are struggling getting him the ball, rely on the others more.

 

It doesn't matter how people think. This team is still on Tmac!

 

I see 3 guys avg 18ppg for the season. I don't think yao is mentally or conditioned enough to dominate every night. Tracy physically probably can't do it every night scoring. Ron will always stamp the game, but probably not dominte every night. The great thing about having 3 all star type players is they don't have to. The 80's lakers and celts didn't worry about it, why should we?

 

Yeah, having Larry Bird or Magic Johnson in their primes would cause me not to worry also. These are guys who dominated their respective positions like Hakeem did - probably more so.

 

It depends on who's hot...some night if TMAC shots ain't falling...i don't want to see him keep jacking up shots. I rather see Artest in the post or Yao. So it depends...and it depends on matchup too....if someone who is guarding Artest is weak....you want to keep going to him.

 

McGrady-Yao-Artest.

Regardless of FG%, McGrady is our best offensive option, period. The offense runs through him.

 

Dude, if this was TMac of 5 years ago, he would be first option on a team with Kobe, Shaq, Garnett and Duncan..

 

In the 1970 words of Al Davis, Just Win Baby (22 game streak). As long as Rafer isn't taking the shot to get us out of the 1st round of the playoffs, I'm good.

 

What I said is true! You can go to lakersground to check it!

BTW, I believe Tmac fans think you insulted Tmac!

 

Yao has been our leading scorer but the offense usually runs through Tmac. Tmac is a wing player with great passing sense so it's not surprising but I completely agree that his role should be lessened (decrease pressure, injury). Tmac averages way more fg attempts than Yao mostly because he settles for jumpshots.

 

These threads always amuse me. To suggest the MVP of last year be religated to the third scorer? That's somewhat amusing.

There's multiple reasons why T-mac will always be perhaps the most critical piece of the offense. That doesn't mean Yao isn't critical either. But Yao plays more off of T-mac than the other way around. That is, Yao needs T-mac to get many of his high shooting percentage shots. One only has to look at Yao's number with and without T-mac to see a difference.

T-mac doesn't shoot for a high-percentage. This is true. But that's ok. Because he does get to the line, and more importantly, he draws multiple defenders and offenses have to adjust radically to him. This opens the game up for other players.

The way that works out is that you see T-mac getting 5+ assists regularly a night - awesome for a SG / SF. More than awesome. That's more than anyone on the team, including rafer. That means t-mac is producing an additional 10+ points, and when you count the free-throws he generates through other players (don't get counted as assists) - that ads an additional 5 or so points.

So you're talking about a guy who simply by being on the court adds 15+ points to the team. That does a lot to over come poor shooting from the perimeter (which isn't that poor actually). When you throw in his rebounding he really is the complete player. His D isn't awesome, but it's not horrible either. And by wearing out other players on the offfensive end, he certainly can cause them to struggle on their own offense.

T-mac and Yao are the first few options. That's this team. They are the most efficient scorers, and do the most for their t-mates. Artest isn't going to dominate the ball - that's not what we need him for. We need him to play within himself and be the third scorer and take pressure off of yao and t-mac, so when they get pressured he can punish teams.

That's what we have been missing. Nothing more nothing less.

 

I think both of these guys are spot on, and their ideas are probably the most valid. T-Mac will still remain our number one scoring option because he is one of the most talented, if not the most talented, players in the league on offense. There's not many who can do what T-Mac can do in the offensive end, and we need to utilizer that advantage as much as we can. Besides, even if he's double teamed, or is defended really well, he can pass the ball to Yao or Ron.

 

Brilliant idea. Why don't we let the defense given dictate who gets the ball? This question depends completely on the team we are playing on a given night.

Far too many variables for this to a be a valid question IMO.

 

I think it was more true before you "fixed" it.

I think getting high percentage baskets will be the top priority. Yao is high percentage option, but is also very dependent on getting the ball. I think Artest will get the most FGAs of the three as it is easy to get him the ball and I think McGrady will be the one making good passes to him a lot.

 

Tmac while is the best player on this team, i've allways been saying that start the offense by pound it into yao. if the big fellas shot is off or is unable is create a shot, he should kick it out to the primeter player and let either tracy or mcgrady get to work.