Our bad D gave them too many open shots,it's nearly killed us.thank god Sonics is juvenility,and they made some big mistakes in the 4th quarter. This was a ugly win.We just like a thief stole a win. "Rockets played good"??? you're kiding me.
I would considered this game a very lucky one. I thought we have lost it again when we allow them to extend their lead in mid way in the 4th but TMac stepped up big time and will us this win with a bit of luck. However, only the young team like Seattle let us will a win half way in the 4th when we are behind big. A playoff team will not let it happened.
We're not a bad team with Tmac, considering that we've beaten these teams: Spurs Blazers Jazz Lakers Nuggets Suns Pistons But then we've lost to these teams: Sixers Kings Heat Grizzlies almost to the Sonics twice The bottomline is that the Rockets are inconsistent, which creates the illusion that we're a terrible team. Sometimes we run the offense to perfection, and then, maybe during the same game, we revert back to JVG ball. But there's no doubt that this team can be an elite team if they find some sort of stability.
I think were better with T-mac, because before he was injured, it was only yao ming and T-mac scoring in double figures, but now we have at least four in double figures everytime, if we can get a balanced scoring attack, with good defense then we can beat anyone a win is a win, a loss is a loss, it dosen't matter if you almost lost to someone as long as u get the win
Why is it lucky if TMac seems to win us more games than he loses us? Who else would you rather have the ball at the end of games on our roster. Don't say Yao. He's awesome, but he is more likely to commit a turnover than McGrady is. Luck has nothign to do with it. It's not like he doesn't take the kinds of shots he does all the time. He made shots throughout the 3rd and down the stretch in the 4th. Oh...on a bum knee. Do you mean Rafer's shot? Come on, if you want to call every jumpshot luck, call it that. Luck is throwing up a half court shot hoping it goes in, luck is taking a circus 360 back to the basket layup...where in anyone's shot selection where there was a make was it luck? If Rafer had hit the long 3 after Durant's block on Tracy, then THAT is luck.
Good point. This is the middle ground everyone has been talking about. Have Tracy play within the confines of the system, but also at times allow him to do what he does best, just take over a game. Although, later on, we will need to make sure we have convincing wins if we want to make noise in the playoffs. Making the playoffs is the first goal though.
I think his point was that T-Mac stepping up like he did put the Rockets in position to win but it took some luck as well. I think any time you claw back from a double digit deficit in the second half it's going to take some luck. As for who I want the ball to go to in the final seconds, if it's a fouling situation there's no question that it should go to Yao.
Yeah, definitely in FT situations. As far as coming back due to luck, I don't know man. You make stops or they stop hitting all their shots they were hitting, and make yours. When we lose games, do we say we were unlucky? No, we say we played like crap. If you win games, you did something right. Maybe not the whole game, but you did something that worked. If clawing back from a double digit lead is considered luck, we are one of the most unlucky teams right now
That's because you think everything is better with Tmac. When we were playing good without him, you downplayed the success of the team and questioned whether our ball movement was really better without him, even though it couldn't have been more obvious (stats don't tell how many times the ball is moved per possession, NOT EVERY BASKET NEEDS TO BE ASSISTED TO INDICATE TEAM PLAY). You stated that we won only because we were playing the crappy teams like the Knicks and Wolves, and now that we can BARELY squeeze by the SONICS you say nothing but 'i think our offense is better with Tmac.'
In regards to the topic: Tmac's strengths are as an individual player. He doesn't/can't play a system offense because his strength's are iso offense, and passing of p/r or drive and kick. He essentially scores or passes for the potential assist. He doesn't cut w/o the ball, and really needs to dominate the ball to be effective. However, I think we can solve this problem by only giving him the ball when there is 10secs or less on the shot clock if our normal offense cannot create a shot in the prior 14 seconds. A lot of this is also on Rafer, he needs to get the ball up court as fast as possible and start our offense to maximize the potential options we have per possession. Tmac's biggest liability to our team is his defense, or lack thereof. Of every positions on our team, the back SG is probably our worst. Yet despite all this, we are still a better defensive team without him. I think his energy level can really be a negative effect on his teammates. This is the problem that is a little more difficult to fix. Funny how Scola was playing great when he was out, and now after Mac's return, he looks like a rookie again. I'm not saying Scola's decline is strictly because of Tmac, but if this pattern keeps reappearing, you've got to look into it, at least a bit.
Sorry to double post, but I forgot to add one more thing. t-mac4bigmac, the previous post wasn't directed to you but to everyone else who keep whinning about our losses against these teams. Also when he was injured we beat NY twice, and the Wolves...haha...yeah let's trade T-mac.
And we can barely beat the Sonics with him, so what's your point? I thought at the start of the season we were suppose to be challenging for division title and sonics were suppose to be cellar-dwellers, no?
yes, like great teams don't struggle v. bad teams. look man, you're not going to blow out every bad team. you're not going to play well v. all the bad teams. it's the NBA. everyone is a professional. those sonics came out ready to play and played like they were desperate for a win. a sign of a good team is to be able to win even when things go bad for you. defense was POOR for us but we were able to still come out with a win. tmac is not going to carry this team the ENTIRE game. nobody can. yao did his damage in the first half to keep us afloat. then tmac took over. the role players chipped in enough. the offense was pretty balanced for the most part. we established yao early and tmac late. the role players did a lot in between. rafer just needs to cut back on his shots and distribute. we need scola to regain his touch and we're fine.
Right, because he's never been on the receiving end of a backdoor alleyoop. Off an opponent basket, Yao can set up early for a longer shot clock, in transition, we have a short possession simply b/c he's so big it's tough for him to rush down all the time. He's trying, he really is, but by the time he gets there, and has to fight for position, there isn't much time left. It's so weird how half of the people think Mac's defense is good, half think it's a liability. Perhaps you mean team D. His help D is on the weak side. You'll rarely, if ever, see him run at a shooter. His man up D (when not on a bum knee) is pretty good...even now it's still decent.
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