Thanks for finding this HF. If anything, Hayesfan's moniker says she is a Hayes Only Fan. So coming from her, should tell you guys that its not about the Tracy only fans. Its about folks that know basketball. Its NEVER all on one person, as it takes 5. And if 1 of the 5 is keeping 2 or 3 of the other 5 busy, its not HIS job to put points on the board. Its his job to keep the other team off balance to get his teammates in good position to make buckets. Yeah, blame the guy with the double and triple teams 40 feet out from the bucket doing everything he can to make the RIGHT play to give his team the best chance at winning. I'll take T-Mac going 0 fer 4 in the 4th with 1 point and countless chances for his usually good teammates to make a play or two down the stretch vs a 3 for 12 4th quarter with 8 points where his teammates are unable to get any good looks and not touch the ball until that final play where the Jazz send all 5 players and the 3 refs at him to get it out of his hands.
i just wish tmac can have one freakin' break where something goes in his favor. i think he will eventually get out of the first round b/c he's too good not to, but it's frustrating. tmac must be killing himself right now no matter what his body language says. he must be devastated right now knowing he could lose in the first round once again. but persevere. melo is gonna be bounced out for the 4th time in his career and he has had more talent (his team hasn't even been close). yao hasn't been out. kg never got out until his 9th try. keep on perservering.
http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2008/04/tmac_with_a_smirk_and_a_wink_i.html feigen has a fair point in this blog entry just posted. and mcgrady has a little rant to do. things hardly change sometimes.
I am not good at the money side, ask Gator. I like the Bulls deal that may or may not be on the table. I like TMac for BDavis, straight up. The board is filled with proposals. All I know, this is getting old fast. I am with Magic, let's try plan B, the TMac/Yao experiment is over. Two stars with similar temperaments, both physically fragile, both rarely play together anyway, and when they do, not like Kobe/Shaq. Let's move on. We need a beast, physical, skilled, mean, determined, and relentless.
who's a good first option on this team even if yao's healthy? yao hasn't proven he can do anything either. the best we can do is try to limit these two guys' minutes around 33-34 in the reg .season, try to make the role players a more integral part of our offense, so when the playoffs rolls around, they'll be more equipped to step up. yao and tmac can only dominate for 2-3 quarters at a time and not the whole game. either we get a 3rd scorer or develop our role players to a level where they would be respected.
jon is right. players do get overrated when they win (look at manu--his playoff #s are pretty mediocre). if tmac struggles badly next yr and we win a series, he would get praised like a mofo (which would be unfair to his teammates). but if he plays well and lose, he'll get criticized (which is also unfair). but that's life.
Good article, I feel the pain not just for T-Mac as for the Rockets who didn't advance a round since 97'
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The thing that I feel really bad about is. We are all writing off T-mac and Yao as a duo. But Im sure, from Yao's reaction to his injury, that Yao wants to give it a go. He obviously think Tracy and him can get over the hump.
I'm not blaming T-Mac for any loss. You win as a team, you lose as a team. Unless you're the type of loser who feels like blaming your teammates for a loss.
What the heck does that have to do with anything? If Yao and T-Mac are both only good as second options then one of them needs to be traded. The solution is not to stick with two second options. How is any team going to win with a lineup like that?
Probably one of the best pieces of written work I've ever read regarding McGrady. And don't forget all the off-the-court tragedies and adversity he's had to deal with.
This morning after the gym I was thinking of the thought of McGrady actually winning a playoff series, and him standing in the middle of the court, and the crowd giving him a standing ovation.... He deserves that. He's done *everything* humanely possible to get his teams through to the second round and he just catches bad breaks every single time. Someone on this team needs to be a hero, and they can not have #1 on their jersey. After this freaking series is over what criticism does Battier hear? Dikembe? Rafer? Head? Novak? Hayes? Landry? Brooks? Jackson? NONE outside of this negative board. The only one that gets heat is the one that was given this burden. What the hell would YOU people do in his situation? "Call the WAAAHHHMbulance you make 20 MIll a year you need to act like it blah blah blah" This dude isn't a freaking superhuman by any means. He is still a man. He still has emotions. He still has pride. He is still subject to wearing down and tiring. 20 million a year does not shove you full of energy in the 4th quarter after you single handedly carried 8 turnover, foul prone guys there. None of you here could bear his burden. Just whatever.
