How do you feel about Tmac's play since he came back from injury

The only ones I agree with you on are the 3 pointers with 22 seconds left on the clock. But, he hasnt done those in quite some time. The only times recently he has done it was the transition 3. When T-Mac takes that transition 3 its usually on the heels of a turnover or quick miss by the opponent. He senses the momentum and like someone said before, this play is higher reward than risk. Especially at Toyota Center.

Most of his 3 point shots are on catch and shoots with the next majority share coming on 2 for 1 situations with 35 seconds on the clock. He doesnt shoot that fadeaway very often, in fact I think he has gone 2 games without taking one(granted one he was very sick). His heat checks usually ARE the pullup transition 3s, which means he has been making a few shots recently so its even less of a bad play. Heat check when you are cold is just dumb and honestly I can't think of T-Mac doing this in....like....forever.

And the people who bash shot selection are the ones who pick out 3 shots in a game he shoots 19 in to nitpick. Often times, not even realizing the circumstances behind the shot(calling a bad 3 that was actually a 2 for 1 situation or something).

There is a also a difference between a good look, and a good shot. A good look is what you hope to get when you have 2.5 seconds left down by 2 in the 4th quarter. You hope for more than a good look with 5 minutes to go in the first quarter. But when the shot clock is winding down and you cant get it in to Yao a T-Mac turnaround 18 footer is actually a decent shot. Sure you want to get better, but you dont exactly have time to run the offense again to set up something else.

 

How many championship teams take this attitude?

I'm not talking about taking a heat check when he's cold. I'm talking about making a few long range jumpers and then taking a semi-contested 3 pointer early in the shot clock.

Theres no need to reset the offense entirely. It would take maybe 2 seconds at the most to regain a dribble. And in the example I provided, there was plenty of time to regain the dribble and at the very least, get a better shot.

 

Please use the term "heat check" in it's correct definition: when a player has made multiple shots in a row and takes a wild or too far or a quick jumper just to see if he's still hot.

It's not when you haven't made shots in a row or have missed recently or are cold or there's plenty of time left on the clock and the ball hasn't been passed around; when you attempt a bad J in those scenarios it's just an ill-advised dumb shot.

...But you sometimes have to live with that from your most talented player...

 

I definitely like the attitude he is playing with. As long as he steps his game up in the playoffs, im ok with him playing as he has since he has come back from injury for the remainder of the season.

 

You mean teams that take a quick 3 in transition after the other team has missed a couple shots in a row or made a turnover??


How bout which teams dont?


Spurs do it, Ginobili will take 2 or 3 per game.

Pistons do it, Billups or Sheed will take 1 or 2 per game.

Heat do it, Jason Williams or D-Wade do it 2 or 3 times per game.

Every team does it. You seem to take offense because its McGrady.

I have seen other teams do that against us. In fact, the MIlwaukee game where the Rocket turned it over and the Bucks came down and took a quick (open) transition 3. You could feel that ball going in before the guy shot it. Fortunately for the Rockets he missed, but if that shot goes in, the Bucks may very well have won the game.

 

Poor/erratic offensively, but seems to have made a concerted effort to focus on getting everyone involved and not just Yao and himself.

Still needs to exert more energy on D and -- once healthy/self-confident -- needs to drive inside a little more/run around without the ball, coming off picks and the such.

But I will take the Rockets' recent ball movement over an individually brilliant T-Mac any day of the week. I still have faint hope that as he gets older, he would transition/dedicate his game to becoming a full-time PG...that's where he's at his best.

 

I realize the Rockets were up by 30, however, the lazy 3 pointing shooting by Tmac as if he didn't care was unprofessional. It was as if he was playing horse inside his house or something. I would prefer Ricky remove him from the game when he starts the disinterested signs.

 

Some might call me a Tracy hater and rightfully so, but since his return he's played within the team. So I graded him at "Good". His playing threw the game and deciding not to stay home when he was sick was a big lift. Deciding stick with his teammates, showed me he actually might want to play within the team. Way to go, keep it up! Go Rockets!!!!

 

What about Rafer's quick long 3??


What about Aaron Brooks quick 3??


Why single out T-Mac for something several Rockets did when we were up 30??

 

like i said, tmac is getting criticized for EVERY wrong thing that he does. rafer takes quick shots. yao takes tough shots (see his fg% on fallaways...).

but again, tmac is the scapegoat even when we win.

 

You might be right on a few, but I think you're exaggerating on some others. Rasheed doesnt even bring the ball up the court, so I doubt he's going to pull up for a transition 3 on the break.

During their championship year, wade didnt shoot many 3's at all so i doubt he pulled up for transition ones. Jason Williams did, but I believe that riley limited him to two wild shots per game.

Of course I take offense b/c its McGrady. I'm a rockets fan. I dont care if stars on other teams take stupid shots, but I dont want the stars on the rockets to do it when they can easily get better shots.

 

In my opinion, when we win, tmac always gets the credit even if he doesnt deserve it. against the cavs, he was helpful, but not really integral to our win, and so many posters were gushing about how he fit into the offense and was distributing the ball.

so its only fitting that if we lose, he take the majority of the blame.

what do you want? for him to get the credit for wins and his teammates get the credit for losses?

and in my opinion, rafer doesnt take quick shots. his 3's are generally wide open. otherwise he wouldnt shoot it.

how are you calculating his fg% on fallaways?

 

Watch game with a piece of paper. Write 2 columns on it, one labeled attempt, other made. When he takes a fall-away turn around shot, place a mark in column marked attempts. If he makes it, place one in column marked made.

To be fair though, Yao doesnt attempt very many of those per game. the Majority of his jumpshots are moving towards the basket(6 to 10 foot range) or set shots. He may do 2 or 3 of those turnaround per game. The shots I am talking about, and believe the folks talking about his turnarounds are the ones falling/fading towards the baseline away from the basket. Sometimes it spikes to 4 or 6, sometimes he shoots none. Its not really that big a part of his game. I think he does it for the most part to keep the defense honest. I dont get angry at him taking it. Its obviously a move worked on during practice and he makes enough of it to use it as part of his low block arsenal.


The part I mentioned earlier about Sheed is not that he takes a pullup 3, but that he stands behind the line on a break and will take fast break 3 pointers. Billups/Prince/Hamilton/whoever have to pass it out to him first. I just used guys from championship teams. Kobe does it. Lebron does it. Carmello does it. Iverson does it. Roy does it. And yes, Rafer does it too. Its just much more rare since his primary break play is to drive thru the lane or pull up from 18.


Rafer's quick shots are usually the 18-20 footer. Sometimes he will take a quick 3 when his man goes under the pick.

 

Yes, thats how it'd be calculated for one game. But the way it was written, it seemed like the poster had access to a cumulative stat for a number of games.

I have no problem if the shooter is standing wide open at the 3 pt line and receives a pass on a fast break.

I was referring to situations where the ball-handler comes up the floor in transition and pulls up for a 3 (in tmac's case, he is open, but he's also usually about 2 feet behind the 3 pt line).

In my opinion, its a much better shot when the shooter is squared and open at the 3 pt line and receives a pass as opposed to a pull-up off the dribble after running down the court. Seems to me that the momentum coming from the run will throw the shooter off his rhythm.

If his man goes under the pick, then rafer is pretty much wide open isnt he?

 

he has played very well, and seems to be more in sync with the team. i love his new found love for passing the ball!

 

How the hell was that 3 unprofessional?

 

I'm going to impose my will on this message board.



Tmac wasn't even the first one to say that line. I think he watches too much ESPN/TNT and sort of used it as a cool thing to say. Maybe it was some announcer who said it after the Spurs game? I'm not quite sure. Nothing wrong with it. It just meams to take over a game.

 

these are tmac's stats since he has returned from injury.

21ppg, 6rpg, and 6.5 apg. i think he has made a conscious effort to get his teammates involved (not in the sense that he's creating everything) but he's swinging the ball around more and letting the guys make plays for themselves (like post up scola, let rafer handle more...).

this was what we anticipated when adelman came. his scoring will go down, but the team is more balanced.

 

are u kidding me? ESPN had yao in their headlines in the last 2 rocket victories.

everybody knows this is yao's team for the most part in the last 2 yrs. even last yr, the offense was more about him and playing inside out (since that's JVG-mentality).

tmac just gets all the blame b/c he's tmac.

and please, if you don't think yao has a low fg% on those fallaways, well, i think u need to watch some more. yao has been improving his fg% b/c he's not doing so much himself but the ball swings better around him and all he does is do one move and shoot.