For those of you who don't understand Tracy's value

I agree that T-mac is valuable to this team. And I do laugh at the trade t-mac for mike miller or mike bibby threads. I just hope that tracy starts shooting better. He does other things to make the team better. He's a great passer, but his shooting and shot selection have to improve. And if the Rockets do trade him, then they have to get a young solid player or a very high pick at the end of the season, but not right now. Kinda like the what the sonics got for Ray allen. I would take a top eight pick only. But I don't think that's gonna happen because the perfect situation has to arise for that trade. But let's see what happens this season. Maybe he can be the old t-mac during the playoffs and the Rockets will surely get past the first round if the rest of the team continues to play like they are now.

 

How about the heart?
He can't play tough.
Those are more important in playoff.

 

You realize his scoring average and assists are top 3 since MJ right?

 

Yup. To be blunt, T-Mac is going to have to be figure out how to be productive taking fewer shots per game. That's the heart of the transition that's going on right now.

 

OK Tracy.........GooozFraaaaaabaaaahhhh !!!!

Tracy needs to find his role post back injury and play within it.

 

Until they face the Jazz, Spurs, Mavericks or Lakers. Then reality will hit you and the Rockets in the face.

 

That's his talent.
There is something you need to overcome between win and loss not only with the talent but also with the heart.
He just doesn't have that.

 

Tell that to Artest or James or Kobe.

 

No, OP is absolutely right about this. There is nobody on this team that is better at getting the ball to Yao, not even Rafer. Rafer is a floor leader and the team relies on him to organize the offense and call plays, which is why we saw those collapses when he was out. But on a play by play basis, T-Mac is the one guy who can reliably feed Yao from every possible angle, and especially on the move off the pick and roll.

Speaking of which, I hope they've been working on that Rafer/Yao pick and roll more in practice. It's gotten better as the season progresses, but I certainly would love to be able to see Rafer deliver the ball to Yao on the move as reliably as T-Mac does it -- it would be quite the boost for our offense.

 

The Rockets have barely played any good teams during this winning stretch. When I say good teams, I mean the teams ahead of us in the West or Boston and Detroit from the East.

Even if Tracy plays at his best and everybody else plays like they are playing right now, I don't think you can say that "the Rockets will surely get past the first round." Especially if that first round matchup is against the Jazz, Spurs, Mavericks or Lakers.

 

Calm down. I don't think anyone is getting hit in the face.

What is the stat? 4.5 games seperate 8th seed from 1st? It's not like there is a huge talent gap. All the teams are pretty much the same. Although I won't say we're better than most of the teams ahead of us, I still like our chances if everything works out, both stars are healthy, and the role players play a good series.

We have almost as good a record. And don't use the "We only beat up on the East" stat. Every team beats up on the East. The Phoenix suns are like 21-2 against the East. What is their record now? 37-16? So if my math is right they are 16-14 against the West. Hardly a record I would consider worthy of a 1st place team.

Our conference record is not too bad. 18-13. Dallas is by FAR the best with 23-7 but they are only 6th seed. Closely followed by the second seeded Hornets with a 25-11 conference record.

I would bet my next paycheck (which is not much, granted) on the Rockets vs. any of those teams. I'm only really scared of the Jazz becasue they would have HCA and they are way too good at home. 23-3! Plus we just don't match up at all.

 

Go back and read your initial comment that I was responding to.

It was something like "you can't get to the basket at will when the other team's best defender is guarding you."

And I responded with "tell that to Artest or LeBron or Kobe."

Get it?

 

Neither do I.

It was a figurative statement.

 

I was kidding. What I mean is that we know how good we are. We know how good they are. We just have to wait and see how good the Mavs will be with JKidd and the Suns will be with Shaq.

It's not like we're 15.5 games back by being the 8th seed. We are so close to the top. Every team beats up on the weak East teams. We don't have that bad a conference record and I like our chances against strong opponents if everything stays status quo and T-Mac gets better.

 

You would seriously bet your paycheck that the Rockets would beat Phoenix, Dallas or New Orleans in the 1st round?

If I wasn't a Rockets fan, unwilling to bet against them, I would take that bet.

 

TMAC added a whole dimension to Rockets: vertical.

He is the only Rockets player who can jump, except rarely played Landry and a little bit Wells.