I thought the thread was about "tweaking" but the great bulk of these "modifications" involve blockbuster trades so I have to re-define "tweaking."
You must be watching a different team and a different McGrady. You don't see him walking up the floor? You don't see him STANDING on defense? You don't see him STANDING when he doesn't have the ball on offense? You don't see him settling for jumpers that get nobody else involved when, like it or not, he's the best playmaker on the team? Did you not see him shoot his team right out of the Toronto game? Do you not see him guarding the other team's WORST defensive player every night? Do you not see his lazy mentality wearing off on the rest of the team? Did you not see him quit on his team in Philly? Or are you just ignorant? Or do you just look at the stats and draw your conclusions that way? There's obviously other problems with this team...but please don't just dismiss what McGrady's getting away with because, well, he's TMac.
I know that if I were playing with TMac, this would drive me absolutely crazy. Why is your best player dogging it?
If Rick Adelman is not going to address it then Yao should sit down with Tmac and ask him "What is the matter?" Hear Tmac out, then tell him that he is going to make a plan and Tmac is crucial to it's success, in fact that Tmac is the most important piece" Tell him that they are going to play hard every night, no matter what......and get Tmac on board and motivated again. Because without that...the team is dead. DD
That's right on. With as much as we see him not putting 100% in to it right now, there seems to come a point in the season (sans 04-05) where he turns it up. And that's what we're all waiting for. It's like he's just chillin right now, laying in the weeds. It's obviously a B.S. approach and a loser mentality, but when he gets it going we know what he can do. The problem with this too is that the team's dug itself a hole already, so if we wanna get it going, he's gotta get it going probably earlier than he wants to. That's another reason why losing to mediocre teams is so hurtful. I know we're still not that far behind the 4 seed and beyond right now, but even if we do turn it up and get it going, we're still stuck right in the middle of the pack in the West and'll have another tough first round matchup. This year was about taking the next step.
Tell all the players not named Yao to spend an extra 2 hours a day shooting jumpers and practicing layups.
Glad to see a thread without panic ... lol But, I do agree with DD's first premise. It's not time for blockbuster trades ... yet. But, please, no more old guys. Would I love to get Bibby/Artest? Yes. That would correct some major deficiencies. But, as has been pointed out, the Maloofs don't want to give us anything that would help Adelman. Too bad we didn't make that trade BEFORE we hired Adelman. I'd love to see Sam Cassell here for this year, but I don't think he's got much left in the tank, and would only be an investment for this year. As far as tweaking the team in trade, it would be nice to pick up Jose Calderon, both for now and the future. But, probably, the solutions are on our own team. Bring in a life coach for TMac to get his head in the right place, and buy into Adelman. Yao and Adelman need to have a meeting of the minds, and work together, not only getting Yao to do everything Rick wants, but perhaps on Rick's side, providing Yao what he's used to, in terms of better preparation for teams, as JVG did. If our two superstars are bought in, we'll have a better chance ... period. Brooks probably ought to be brought along. If we're going to lose, at least get him some experience ... and maybe he's the real solution we need at PG. Scola just needs time, and he'll make a big difference eventually. Someone needs to find out why James is sucking, and get it straight. Francis needs to get in shape. Bonzi needs to get re-energized. Novak needs to ramp up his defense. Why is the passion gone? Someone needs to answer that question, and that's Adelman's job. So far, it just seems that Adelman has been looking to see who's good and who's not, but he needs to come up with solutions now, and lead this team. I know the players need to learn to think for themselves, which was limited under JVG, but it sure seems like there should be some transition. I expected things to be difficult early on, with so many changes. The 6-1 start fooled us all, but that was left over JVG ... and the learning curve has to come into play, so this will still require patience from us fans ... for now.
Well, when you think about the moves in aquiring Gasol, Mike Miller, Navarro, Andre Miller, Kyle Korver, Corey Magette. You send McGrady to Memphis for Gasol, Miller, Navarro Next Send Battier, Head, Snyder, James to Philly for Andre and Korver. Battier and Head are the only valubale trading pieces to land them. Then Send Francis, Wells, Hayes to L.A. For Maggette. Francis unites with Mobley. Basically your giving up 8 players and taken back 6 in 3 trades to fit the system. Keep McGrady in the division to play San Antonio, Dallas, New Orleans for 12 games. Andre replaces T-Mac as the playmaker who will take it in the lane and create for others. Upgrade position 1 and 4 which is the key out West. Mike Miller, Navarro and Korver brings the sharp shooting. Then generate the + stats to the current team stats and they should average 110 points a night. Maggette has the balls, Gasol the fire, Brings players who will push the tempo and finish in the lane. When you think about it McGrady slowes the game down. There you have it. Yao/Scola/Mutombo Gasol/Landry Maggette/Korver/Novak Mike Miller/Navarro Andre Miller/Alston/Brooks A All Miller back court because its time right ?? All the starters average over 15 points, so no need to worry about a 3rd scorer because everyone on the court is a threat.
I'm just thinking these are good ideas with some merit but, how will you get the Clippers and the Griz to bite? Maggette would provide us with drive to hole and either get easy baskets or many trips to the charity stripe. Gasol has some game it's to be determined if he will be as proficient a player before the injury last year. Mike Miller ... instant offense off the bench could be a BIG TIME sixth man for us! Navarro I guess would back up Miller and he's a good 3 pt shooter as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- T-Mac plus Gay that could be a very interesting scenario for the Grizz not to mention potential powderkeg like explosive. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obviously this would NOT be a "tweak" job. We're talking complete makeiover NBA edition. I personally think that the Clips and the Grizz wouldn't go for this but, hey dumber, crazier things have happened in the NBA in the past. Unfortunately, it seemed to more than a few times affect the Rockets!
Then we can sign Harris because i think he is a star hiding !! Yes it would be a last thing to do. I would call philly first and if its a no go then i wouldnt do none of the other trades because the key is Andre without McGrady their is no real playmaker.
I wish because if i was GM and could do all 3 of those trades and all the teams bite it would be a done deal. About Maggette they would probably want Scola instead of Hayes and i probably do that too, then they might want a 1st rounder and i have to think for a minute and explore some other options. Memphis would bite because they are looking for some defense and a little more scoring if they move Gasol. People on the Grizz board said they would pull the trigger for such McGrady deal because they get to keep Gay. Philly needs more scoring punch and defense and Battier, James, Snyder expiring, Head might serve them well.
And all of the stuff you listed has been baggage with McGrady from the beginning...bottom line he PRODUCES, and is doing so at a superstar level (and arguably his best since he joined the Rockets). All of these things didn't affect the team in 04-05 when they won 51 games, nor did it last year when they won 52 games. You can argue T-Mac is not a guy to get the team over the hump, but for you to blame T-mac and call him the team's biggest problem this season is nuts. Can he prevent missed wide open 3's, RA's inability to keep a consistent gameplan, missed layups, Hayes' butterfingers, overall team FT shooting, Yao's TO problems, lack of PG production, injuries, lack of PF production, etc...? The Rockets most glaring problems are not with T-Mac. He does have to take some heat for their record thus far, but at the same time he should not be taking the full blow like most are giving him. Did he shoot the team out of the game in Toronto? Yes. Did he shoot the team back into the game after slow starts against the Bobcats and Kings? Yes. You give and take with streak scorers like T-Mac, Kobe, AI, Arenas, Carter, etc... As for his passing, he is leading the team in APG this season by a good margin and with low TO's compared to similar players, and has done basically what he did last year despite Adelman's intentions of making him more of a scorer and less of a passer. He didn't quit on his team...he WAS injured, and it was clear the moment it happenned (2nd quarter on the pick and roll) he was in pain. With the game in reach at halftime, he decided to play in the 2nd half (despite noticable limping), and when the team went down by 30 it was time for him to get out. Would you not be cautious after all the injuries he has been through the past few years? Is it worth further injury during a 30pt blowout on the road? Nit picking... What I see from his mentality is that when he scores a lot and shows some fire, the rest of the players do nothing. When he doesn't score a lot and sometimes looks lazy or dissinterested...they still suck. The one constant is the role players and overall coaching/gameplanning...right now T-mac has played the best ball on the team, while virtually every other teammates is shooting beow their career average, which has meant sub-40% shooting for most of them. The new additions have been huge dissapointments, and RA simply hasn't done his job of speeding up the learning curve and making necessary adjustments to the roster. Right now T-mac's demons are among the least of the Rockets' problems.
the only player in this thread that I see making a difference is Cassell. And I think he'd make all the difference in the world..and would be worth Francis and James or whatever else of the non-contributors (sans Brooks). Delonte.. umm I like the guy as a player, but I don't see him making the difference on this team at all. I'd like to get him for the future and for now. But it'd be a very slight upgrade based on whoever we had to trade for him (unless we can work Head straight up for him or something..that'd be an improvement)
Personally I agree with you 100%, Mcgrady is producing numbers that noone else on the team other then Yao is. If you should worry it should be the rest of the team not getting the ball into the basket other then in the odd game
Those are certainly interesting viewpoints and I'm glad you shared them because I can see where you're coming from. And I would agree that it's not the biggest problem for this team, and i never said it was (you inferred that part)...but it is the easiest target, and that's why people are going to harp on it so much. And as for the injury argument, we'll just disagree there because he looked fine to me when he jumped off that same ankle to try and block a shot 4-5 trips down the floor later. Look, we can all see that he's dogging it much more than he should so far this year. Anybody who disagrees isn't watching closely enough. And yet, throughout all this he's somehow he's still getting his numbers. It's mind-boggling. Just imagine what kind of numbers he could put up if he was giving a max effort all the time. In my mind, he could be the hands-down MVP every year, if he wanted to be. But we can also see that he doesn't have that drive in him to be that kind of player. And I'll say it again for those that call me a "hater"...I expect that he'll turn it up as the season goes along, but right now the bottom line as it pertains to him is that we're not seeing a good enough effort out of him, and this team really needs it right now. We'll see what happens tonight, but that's obviously not gonna put this issue to rest... There are obviously other issues that needs to be addressed a.s.a.p...and since this is a fairly ambiguous topic for a thread, I'll be happy to discuss those here as well.
Goes something like this McGrady lost a step - He's being lazy out there McGrady takes half a game off - Who cares is Rafer can't hit a shot McGrady needs to put up numbers - his teammates stand there and wait for him to take over. Do you realize that Tmac could give a rats behind about numbers? Do you realized that his body has taken a beating for numbers? Do you realize that he wants to win WITH HIS TEAM and not just to put up numbers? Stop blaming the guy for shooting too much then saying he's not doing enough. Get some real teammates in here and when he's looking so lazy after passing the ball off to an open teammate who can actually hit a shot, it won't seem the way you're making it. It's almost if he's doubled for no reason, because players like Shane and Mike James can't hit a shot wide open. Yao is another problem because he gets worked over by guys he should be trampling then goes into the media about how he shouldnt be a starter. How does it look to continue to defer to guys like this and lose anyhow?
Not sure what to make of this thread, but there's some points I agree with and disagree with embedded in there. I'll just leave it be.
I agree with everything here...he is the easiest target to go after since he is the star player and of previous comments he made about slacking off in the final year in Orlando (had he not said that, no one would be questioning what he did in Philly). But on this site there is SO much T-Mac hating when it is very undeserved this season...I can understand if you don't think he is a player to bring us a ring, but from how he has actually layed he deserves the least amount of blame for the team's 12-12 start. Of course being the team's best player he has added pressures on him to take responsibility, but at the same time these role players are pro athletes who should not need extra motivation on a very talented roster to perfom MUCH better than what they have been doing. Francis is a former all star, Deke is a HOF player, James could have been an all star 2 seasons, Scola was a 2x MVP of his fromer Euro League, Wells has been on very successful teams and has played near all star caliber in prior seasons...these guys know how to get it done and many a times have been the main guy for their own teams; they should not need T-Mac or Yao's criticism and outspoken leadership to make them play much better than they have been, He wasn't so injured that he couldn't play, and he tried to play through it. But when they went down by 30 and the game was out of reach...it simply wasn't worth risking another lingering injury (his elbow is probably still sore since he still wears that sleeve, and his back is always gonna be a concern). There have only been 2-3 nights the entire year in which I felt he has dogged it or hasn't given an acceptable effort. The 2 that come to my mind are the Suns and Warriors games, in which he was literally sleepwalking out there. But, it is not because he was standing around when he didnt have the ball or wasn't in the play, or that he wasn't attacking the rim, or wasn't running up and down the floor...he just simply looked lazy and uninterested. T-Mac will always be a player to walk or lightly jog down the floor unless it is a fast break oppertunity, he will not run much off ball unless the play is called for him to set a screen or to run off the screen (which he has been amazing at this year), and he has NEVER been a player to attack the basket all the time. At the same time, he does what he is told. Last year he had the highest usage rating in the whole league, and with his injuries and how he clearly was a step slower last season was pretty damn impressive. When the coach wants him to run off ball...he does (as seen in first 2 games). When they want him to constantly run the pick and roll and be a playmaker, he does (Bobcats and 2nd Grizzlies game). It is the coach's job to give him direction and put him in positons for him to have maximum success...RA has been inconsistent in doing this as the gameplan has changed so much (switching off from using T-mac primarily as a playmaker and then primarily as a scorer). I have had a few topics regarding the Rockets' problems (my topic entitled "heart isn't what the team need...execution is" or something along those lines summarizes my feelings), so I am not going to really go on a big list about what is wrong with the team. I just feel the need to give T-Mac some defense on a site that has, in a general sense, really bashed him for some and some not so ridiculous reasons and FALSE ASSUMPTIONS/FACTS.
