[ESPN Daily Dime] Rip To My Lou: Alston Slams Teammates After Loss To Knicks

Tmac is playing like a man running through the forest chased by Sleestacks....

He is just SCARED to push himself, and it is hurting the team.

DD[/QUOTE]

Don't know if I agree or disagree, but... Sleestacks? Land of the Lost? Not sure what you meant there. I remember the Sleestack being pretty slow. Was that your point?

 

Well, if long time observer of the Rockets, *Woody Paige,* blurted it out, it must be true!

 

I'd call a timeout here - t_mac1 has actually been impressively open-minded in discussions the past two weeks. It takes a lot for a diehard supporter like himself to change his stance. He hasn't been a blinders-wearing disciple lately.

Evan

 

It's funny for a guy like Rafer to slam teammates but he needs to think about the times he played horrible. Losing to teams is gonna happen but teammates should not slam one another. Thats how chemistry problems start and Houston will really have a problem if stuff like this keeps popping up. If you have nothing nice to say don't say it at all.

 

There's an awful lot of TMac... in that post play by play. If it wasn't his fault... why did he have the ball so much.

 

One loss, no sweat. This game we were without any sort of post presence aka YAO MING. So what did we end up resorting to? Jump shooting. The 3's were falling for us in Detroit, at MSG not quite. While that is no excuse for the lack of defense intensity, I could care less if Tmac & RonRon iso and shoot more than normally when Yao Ming is gone. If Yao was here and they did the same thing, then some heads should roll.

I honestly think this team has gotten too scrub oriented under Rick and its slowly getting to their heads. The scrubs have been used to playing with a quiet star in Yao Ming the last 2 weeks(one that doesn't demand the ball that often), and now with Ron & Mac back, they feel neglected when they dont get shoot as often. They should get back in line and cry to their mommies and stop whining to the press.

 

Rafer is the main player who pases to Tracy McGrady!!!!

 

It is a lot of T-Mac, but a few things were happening.

He was getting the ball super late in shot clock and forced to shoot shots that others were TOO SCARED to shoot themselves.

He was driving to the basket trying to create for himself and others.

He would receive the ball and no Houston player would cut or come towards the ball. We can't blame Tracy for being a ball stopper if his teammates fail to move when he has possession of it. That is not how this offense works and he can not be solely to blame. His teammates have to get themselves open to score or at the very least be available to pass to. They let themselves be defended the down the stretch. Ron and Rafer were especially guilty of this. Rafer wans the ball in his hands so he can continue to run the show right? Well ****in run the show then Rafer! And don't trash your teammates when your play was as pathetic as anyone's down the stretch.

 

He has the ball 94 feet. He is the one walking the rock up the floor in no hurry shot clock ticking.


As soon as he get's it to half court he waits another 10 seconds to get the screen and roll action going by this time the shot clocking is at 8 running down at which tiem he either has to take a horrible bail out shot or he get's trapped because he can't beat the 4 man or his man off the dribble.


And he couldn't drive period. Tracy couldn't even get past david lee or Al harrington off the dribble and when he did he barley turned the corner and was trapped. As a result he passed out of the double to a guy taking a shot a shot in poor rythym.


Tracy doesn't even give the offense a chance. You can't get in any ball movement with a guy holding the ball for 10 seconds and allowing the defense to lock in. The offense is telegraphed,You ain't fooling nobody like that because they know he is shooting the basketball or dumping the ball off to the screener if he is trapped. By that time shot clock is at 8,7.6,5,4

 

Tracy should be in the high-post, period. It shouldn't actually matter where he is because he should be able to take his man anywhere on the court. He's trying to be passive and show everyone that he's deferring to the team concept, but that's no good. I'd rather have an aggressive Mac who looks to score...as long as he does the cuts necessary to get open, then makes his move quickly. He can't stand there and wait for the defense to set; what was the point of all the movement then? He needs to adjust the way he approaches the game.

I have no doubt that he's going to be really good again this season when he gets his legs under him, but for us to be amazingly amazing, he needs to adjust his style. How? Just ****ing attack right away. God.

It's just ridiculous how people blame him for everything, but he clearly needs to change something. As for Rafer calling him out, it wasn't the best thing to do because Rafer is pretty boneheaded and selfish himself. If I have to see another offensive rebound kicked out to that guy and him tossing up a brick, I'm gonna hurl my television out my window and hope it hits a Jazz fan.

 

Rafer is exactly right and at least he is calling them out and trying to be a voice for our team.

 

This says everything we need to know

People can say criticize Rafer all they want for his play and say it doesn't compare to T-Mac contributions. They are just burying their head in the sand and missing the point that an unnamed Rocket backs up Rafer's point. We appear to have some serious team basketball issues at hand within the team. At least Rafer is trying to light a fire under this team and get certain players to play within the offense. Someone needs to be doing it because Artes and McGrady aren't pointing out what's painfully obvious here; their play is an issue.

 

Some of people in here are acting like Rafer has done something in this league...the guys game is terrible, and of all people, he shouldn't be the guy calling out his teammates! There have been PLENTY of games that he jacks up his share of the shots, and he's a PG. He should be worrying about assists and DEFENSE (which he has NONE whatsoever). You can dog Tracy and Ron all you want, but both have proven they can get the job done! Do they take too many shots sometimes? Yes. Do they go one-on-one too much? Yes. Has Rafer had his share of bad games? YES!

We'd all like to see them play more as a team, but realistically if Rafer has the ball in his hands more he'll just take more shots.

 

T-mac doesn't have a fire in his belly cuz he's got an entitlement complex. He thinks he's entitled to do whatever he wants because he's got a lot of talent. He doesn't have to pass, drive, or defend. I've been saying for a while: make him earn his PT. Give Wafer more PT since he's playing his heart out, unlike T-mac.

 

Rafer is reluctant to pass to players standing guarded on the perimeter wanting to iso.

 

rafer is right on the money.

 

Rafer has been playing well but he has no room to talk after his 3 for 10 performance.

 

Ppl say we cannot blame TMac for no ball movements, because it's not TMac, it's his teammates stopped moving when TMac had the ball. I found it funny.

 

Even if he did go 3 for 10,It's good he said something because we won't get anywhere in the playoffs if we don't play as a team. Being quiet ain't going to get it,Guy's need to start buying in to the system and playing together.

 

To those who gripe at Rafer because it hurts their manhood to see their childhood hero Tmac have a sudden fall from grace I pose this question to you:

Who are you a fan of? The Rockets or Tracy McGrady?

Rafer is what he is. He'll never be a CP3 nor will he ever be an all star caliber pg. To expect more from him is delusional. To shift the blame from the "franchise" superstar player in Tracy McGrady by putting it all on Rafer exhibits the true colors of some of the supposed "Rockets fans" we have on this board.

Tracy McGrady has all the talent in the world. He was once the premier ball player in the NBA. Today, despite the setback by multiple injuries, he still is more of a player than Rafer will ever be. Yet, he still has not shown that he is fully committed to winning a championship. A lesser player like Rafer shows that he is committed because he is attempting to be the vocal leader of the team and no one can deny that he leaves it all out on the court every night he plays, no matter how poorly he plays. How many of you can say the same for Tmac? If you're the leader of this team, if you're a superstar player in the NBA, if you're the guy who says "It's all on me", I expect more out of you. What is the point if you have all the talent in the world and you're better than the other guy if you don't play 100% night in and night out?