No matter how great he played in one or two games recently. A good portion of the Rocket's fans have come to a reasonable conclusion that the guy only plays like he supposed to when pushed by media, fans and management. Granted he was probably hurting a lot more than we realised. Still, his image is tainted and 1 or 2 average games can't change that just yet. I still don't buy it.
If he tries, the board should appreciate it. That is the bottomline, whether he sucked or not. As far as I know, this board can't draw the line for McGrady, he can no do right, but judging from all the criticism, if he plays well he hasn't tried enough, if he doesn't he isn't trying at all.
People will probably perceive this as nitpicky and "haterade" but I no longer look at T-Mac's individual performance. I look at how the team performs as a whole when he is in and how the team performs when he is out. So, it doesn't matter to me if he gets a triple-double, if the team isn't performing well. I don't recall anyone ever accusing T-Mac of making his teammates better, and that is what I am hoping and looking for (along with several others I consider rational on this board). I've started seeing him this way since last season begun. This is what people are talking about here - quality of assists - an assist isn't always the same, and Marbury is a good example of racking up stats and killing the team in the process. Although T-Mac has always been exalted for his court vision and passing instincts, I think that thread is right on target. He ultimately harms your team concept. Look at every team he's ever been on. The stat someone threw out recently showing Shaq's arrival and departure, compared to T-Mac's arrival and departure is damning and telling. When we first traded for him I couldn't understand how Orlando media and fans could hate such an amazing natural talent. Not only in just scoring ability, but in all-around performance. I didn't understand giving him the moniker "Me-Mac." But a few years later, it all makes sense. They were right. (Don't let this get Francis supporters too happy - in spite of that, I'd still rather have Mac over Francis/Mobley/Kato). So, in regards to the OP.... he had a good individual game, so what? I see a correlation between him being on the court and the rest of the team struggling to find their place, and ultimately, W/Ls, particularly when it counts. In a best case scenario this works itself out and all the pieces adjust properly. But history suggests this will not happen. TMac is the penultimate case of "sky-high potential, disappointingly consistent under-delivery." This is just my perception of the whole situation. I was encouraged by the fact that Morey stated that people's criticism of TMac was overblown. I hope that means that my perception is wrong. As far as Artest (although this thread isn't about him), he could very well be the same kind of player as TMac but it's hard to make that assessment with only a portion of a season with him. But I think many have already reached the conclusion that he's the same net-minus.
for 21 million Dollars. . .you right. . . do the best u can T-Mac don't stress or over extend yourself Rocket River RUN THE D*MN OFFENSE!! . . . ALL THE TIME!!
I think. everyone or anyone has a period of frustration. so I can understand.. and. I will always on the side of T-MAC!
I think he did pretty good on the defensive side against philly, he had a nice block/steal on a ander miller (?) drive and he pushed it therefore converting on the and1 play. He also had excellent defense against a younger, stronger andre iguoadala (sp?) on the last shot iggy took.
He was awful on defense until the last few minutes of the 4th quarter when he picked it up a little bit. Yao got posterized primarily because TMac just let his man go right by him earlier in the game.
I do agree that the correct way to assess any player is in how they make the team as a whole better. But, honestly, I thought what he was doing against the 76ers was making the team better. He was taking shots within the flow of the offense. He was actively looking to get Yao the ball (he is easily the best post entry passer on the team). He was penetrating. He wasn't just holding on to the ball dribbling for 5 seconds and launching bad shots. He looked, to me, to be in the flow. I can't get down on him for that.
He was torched all game long by whomever he was assigned to cover, he failed to rotate on the baseline to help out on Miller TONS of times. Tmac had a few defensive plays but don't let that cloud the truth, he was TERRIBLE on D. Good to great on O... DD
and then you sound like someone who doesnt care about giving money away Bro, I surely hope your not a parent or anything in life cause you sound like the guardian who would say I know you didnt study or do your homework but its okay that your not passing your classes. Oh wait sounds like Tmac not rehabbing correctly nor long enough and now playing the way he does (off and on I might add) but its okay because of the mentality of people like you. OH NOW I'M DONE!
imho, t-mac played his best game of the season. he moved around very well, tried to fit in the offense, hit a couple of nice jump shots and even had a dunk. if that's the way he continues to play on offense that's all one can hope for. defensively, while still not good, it was his best game of the season as well. he had some rare defensive highlights against philly something i haven't seen from him all year. t-mac was just fine in the last game and of all the players probably the last one to blame for the loss.
I agree. He was fine, why? Because he got inside. Usually you know something is wrong with him when he is not agressive, when he doesn't drive inside. Of course, he loves to shoot jumpers, but when he mixes it is means he is fine. He was very agressive is that Philly game. As Drexler said, McGrady looked a lot better and now, his knee will only get stronger every single game and he will play better every single game.
Who wasn't terrible on D that game. For me I came out of that game very optimistic strictly because it was the first time I have seen T-Mac not limping around and he had some bounce in his step.
On here Yao is God. He does nothing wrong. Yao can have a bad game and nothing is ever said. Most of the people on here are not "fans" McGrady plays and team loses its his fault. McGrady doesn't play and team loses its his fault. It never ends
Ok Now i know your a McGrady hater. If you would have seen the game you would have known it was Rafer Alston letting Andre Miller drive to start it up.
If McGrady played all year like he did Wednesday, I don't think you'd see a fraction of the criticism this season. He looked like he got the message, was a playmaker for the most part, penetrated with some regularity, and generally wasn't playing the crummy basketball that was getting so many of us riled up. He was bad on defense, but he gave it reasonable effort, so I'm not going to lose my mind over it. All that said, I certainly hope we don't need to gush over him every time he gives us a 'B' level game. It should be enough that there's no flood of criticism when he plays reasonably well in a loss. I'll need to see a lot more/better out of McGrady before I feel so moved to call for an appreciation thread. For now, be satisfied that he can slowly work his way out of the organization's and fans' doghouse if he continues to play like he did against Philly. Evan
Assuming you're new here by your join date (this could be mistaken), you shouldn't judge how this board views McGrady and Yao only based on these past few months. Yao's taken his fair share of dumping over the years, and McGrady's received his fair share of adulation. The key difference, this season, in regards to the criticism the two receive/don't get is that Yao has established that game in and game out he gives what he can. When he comes up short, most posters understand that he isn't Dream and he can be shut down by defenses and officials. Most appreciate that McGrady can be twice the player on the court as Yao: more likely to completely take over a game, more able to create for others, more able to ring up 40, etc. The frustration here lies with the fact that McGrady has also shown that he can take plays and nights off, that he can hold himself back, that he's disinclined to play through pain, etc. We witnessed some of the most atrocious examples of that this year and were justifiably upset and insulted. Had Yao done what McGrady did, he'd be in the doghouse too. Artest is hearing it for his ridiculously low IQ play. No one really rags Shane over his small offensive production, because we know that's all he can produce. Rafer gets ragged on not really because he shoots poorly, but because he continues to take loads of shots that he won't hit with a good percentage. Effort and smart play are appreciated, regardless of overall scoring/ability. That's why, right now, Scola and Yao are held in a better light than McGrady and Artest. Yao's been dogged on this BBS before. It'll probably happen again. Most posters get that he's not going down as one of the top 3 centers of all time. He's benefiting from the fact that he's the only 1 of our supposed Big 3 that isn't causing his teammates to hate life. Evan
Yah man I understand where your coming from, at least he's progressing every game, and this 2 day break does nothing to help his chances of getting near 100
