Exactly... and when you rank playoff teams, that places us right at the bottom of the list. AB and Lowry may be better than I could imagine, but if it is: vs. Kobe - we lose vs. Deron - we lose vs. Paul - we lose vs. Parker - we lose As far as play making goes, that makes us a first round exit again.
Nah, this team is better than that, and we could always avoid those guy sin the first round. The doctors told me to play through my carpal tunnel issue.... I start work tomorrow.....dang it. DD
Ok even the mcgrady fans have to admit that so far THIS YEAR (NOT last year or the year that tmac was leading the league in ppg) that Mcgrady has been bad for our CHEMISTRY. As someone else stated last year does not count. Go ahead and label me a "what have you done for me lately" fan. I don't care what you did last year, if you suck this year your sitting on the bench. Right now the best thing Mcgrady can do for us is give us $20million worth of free agents.
While I am not sure how much of past offensive woes can be contributed solely to TMac, I would hardly call our offensive scheme "going like clockwork" over the last three seasons, unless of course, that clock warn't workin'. It's the reason why JVG got canned in favor of RA ...
It will be different this time. This time you still have Scola and Ron if Yao is double or tripple teamed, and most importantly, any possible ballhoger in this team will likes to penetrate. Lakers the first, and Rox the second now in the west. Let's wait and see.
So who said this? Was it a clutchfans T-Mac apologist? Spoiler Nope. Was it that conniving T-O-F Steven A. Smith? *shakes fist and makes mean, constipated high blood pressure face* Spoiler Try again. Was it some idiot fan with no bball iq? Spoiler Wrong again. Was it some selfish player who knows nothing about team ball? Spoiler No sir. So who the F said this? Spoiler Shane freaking Battier. http://blogs.chron.com/sportsupdate/archives/2009/02/chat_with_rocke.html I am 100% sure that this will change the minds of exactly NOBODY AT ALL, but I had fun.
Wow. Just wow. I can see where you are going with this analogy but a healthy Tmac teams win a lot more than occasionally. I wouldn't consider 50 win seasons to be mediocre nor would most. I'd argue that Tmac is probably the least selfish of the elite wings (or at least he used to be an elite wing). If you compare him to Kobe, Vince Carter and Pierce its not even close. Tmac passes - they do not. The only one that even comes close is Lebron James. In fact you could argue that a Tmac at his peak is like a 90% Lebron. I don't really need to compare our past playoff rosters with our competitions again do I DD? You can stick any player in place of Tmac and we wouldn't have advanced in any of the past years (save for Lebron)./ A past your prime David Wesley, J-HO and Flyin Ryan Bowen don't exactly scream out Hall of fame. The problem is with this injury (and aging) that Tmac still plays the same type of game (ball dominant) but lacks the abilities to do so. I can guarantee you that if the 04-07 Tmac was currently on our roster that we would at least make the WCF.
Remember who worked hard establishing the chemistry at the start of the 22 win streak? Not TMAC. He just took over it later.
You could also be describing Kobe Bryant, who the media drools over constantly. Mr "I never saw a shot I didn't like"..
Heh. I used to be able to come to this site and discern whose posts I could read through and whose I could not. DD's used to be one of those. This is no longer the case. I am a Rockets fan plain a simple and I back whoever wears the Red and White (silver), this includes TMac -- while he is here and even when he is gone since he did play for us this will continue to a certain extent. Running the RA offense. Works well and is a team offense that I agree too but if you ask any real NBA Scout or personnel I am certain they will say that when you have a person on offense as good as a Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming or even as of late a Ron Artest -- when the ball gets there it stops somewhat. Period. I have been watching the same games everyone has and what DD insinuates is better ball movement without TMac is not wholly the case, because I have seen times where even Ron Artest gets caught up in his own one on one games. And we won't count how many times the ball goes into Yao and is either a shot or turnover. Not that I am criticising either Yao or Ron because this works. DD would make you believe that TMac has always been a blight on our team, but the basis of this hinges on what we all have known is an injury plagued (even more so than normal) for TMac. An injury he never had before or has never had to deal with before and thought he could play through. But our history speaks for itself where TMac is concerned and it is not a history that indicates we lose with him. DD would have you believe he has been cancerous (at least that is what he is spouting now). I just have to withdraw from these boards because it has been become a stomping ground to convince any and all that TMac equals fail. I for one have been more than happy to have him even at times during this season, because that first year when we faced the Mavs and were up 2-0 was great. Had Michael Finley gotten called for being out of bounds when we all knew he was we might not see a 40 point blow out that year in game 7... which was obviously because TMac didn't know how to play team ball. He took all the shots and kept the ball away from the all stars on his team that year... Jon Barry Bob Sura Jim Jackson Mo Taylor -- you can see the full list here of those stellar players we had most of which are not in the league anymore and shouldn't have been then either. DD makes the point that this team is good enough and while that is fine and good that now the players are here to make this team good enough, I dare TMac to be removed from any of the previous iterations of the Rockets and see if we make the playoffs. This season for TMac was a horrible one for him I don't doubt, struggling to be able to do something that has come so effortlessly in the past. As hard as it would be for us to walk I would only imagine. And we ALL as Rockets fans are frustrated. But to put the blame squarely on TMac and say he has to go for us to win ever. Get real. I guess I just need to learn to stay away from the boards for a while as I see them as being the cancerous thing. I have been a Rockets fan for what I feel is a while, and as part as being a Rocket fan I believe it is part of that to have faith in the players we have. And to DD I am NOT drinking your kool-aid. Thank you very much.
Well, I have read most of this thread, and there are pretty good arguments on both sides. I agree that an injured Tracy Mcgrady is detrimental to the team because of his lack of mobility on both ends of the court (his defense has been atrocious at times). But I do believe that this team would be better with a healthy Tracy Mcgrady. I distinctly remember early on during the previous season that Tracy Mcgrady (fully or near healthy) was moving very well in this offense. He was cutting, moving without the ball, and scoring in his usual tmac ways (and at an efficient rate too). If I recall correctly, the team was 6-1 during this stretch before Tracy Mcgrady had his first injury. I believe that if we had that Tmac now, we would be one of the top teams in the league and a definite title contender. I know that this particular period may have been a small sample size, but I do believe that Mcgrady could have kept up that performance (or near it) for an entire season barring injury. So I disagree with the assumption that a healthy Tracy Mcgrady is a detriment to this offense. Maybe I missed something regarding his performance during this stretch, but this is just my two cents.
Wow you posted exactly what I was thinking. DD is full of crap, and his video was as opinionated as a typical Stephen A scream-a-thon.
I'm a "McGrady lover" and I have to say, I completely agree with you. Love the guy to death, but we're playing better without him and there is no denying it. However, there is a distinct difference between playing better without him in the line-up and we don't need him on this team anymore. When healthy he's a great addition to the team, even after the surgury he could come off the bench for like 24-30 minutes a game. People act like this guy is TO and forget that he's been playing on this team for 4-5 years and definitely not a cancer. There is a difference between the Stephon Marburys of the NBA and the TMacs. I don't think Marbury could lead a team where its basically him, Battier, Alston, Scola and win 2/3rds of their games (which is what we did without Yao). Yes, Alston/Scola/Battier stepped up, but if Tmac was the cancer people seem to think he is, we would've lost to the easy teams like we have been this season. So, to conclude my point. He played like crap this season, but that doesn't mean he has no place on this team anymore.
I'm glad other people feel this way about McGrady, but you shouldn't let others discourage you from posting.
Wow great post . I finally found at least one person on here who roots for this team no matter who is on it and doesn't bash the guy. Much respect to you. BTW it wasn't Michael Finley. It was Josh Howard. EErrr those blind damn refs. BTW did i forget to mention that Tim Donohugh (sp?) was the one calling that game also
