I did that in previous posts. In his early days the defense collapsed on him and he pump faked and hit an amount of contested shots to keep the opposing defense honest. Thus other players were wide open. Last year post player Scola hit 45 percent, Brooks 32 percent not to speak of Bjax. Rafer shot well, played 3 games. I said this year he does not have to do it on his own anymore. Have 'lil small cloth' Brooks roam free. Leave shots to Ariza, Scola and Andersen. I hope he does that.
I would only disagree that I think the "garbage time" comment is a little absurd. Otherwise, you're right, TMac backers fail to acknowledge that he is too streaky and not a team player.
My fault, I missed a little chunk of conversation. I think you're right, the quality of the team should make the difference.
rofl to that. Guys who expect him to be CP3 and an elite distributor who makes this team much better are on the wrong track. He is a shooting guard/small forward who has the gift of court vision which is better than that of even Lebron. The king is better in every other department.
Make the right pass? Dude had 3 assists the entire series, and almost three times as many turnovers (8). In 41 minutes per game, he averaged 0.5 assists and 1.33 turnovers, giving him an assist to turnover ratio of 0.375 to 1. That's absolutely unreal. I mean, those are Zach Randolph type numbers.
I think Tmac HONESTLY did all he could, I am saying his style b(the one he likes to play and whined about changing) is not conducive winning basketball because he is not GOOD ENOUGH to do it by himself ala Lebron etc... Tmac is not efficient enough, and I believe that his teamates can create, which IRONICALLY is the style of basketball Rick Adelman is putting in now. Yes, I think Wesley and Sura should have been more involved, and yes I believe the same thing every time. Tmac has tried his way in the playoffs 7 times, and 4 times his teams have blown first round home court advantage....to me, that is not a coincidence. No apologies, it is what it is...failure.... DD
You know he is still one of my favourite players below Yao. But ya if it does not work out he's got to go.
I do think Tracy did everything he could during that series, but the bottom line is that everything he could do has never been enough. I just feel that a true "superstar" would get one team out of the first round at least once in 12 years. I mean put Lebron or Micheal Jordan or Charles Barkley or Hakeem Olajuwon on Tmacs teams and your going to tell me those guys wouldn't get out of the first round once in 12 years? Sure his surrounding talent has not been ideal every year, but don't tell me the Cavs team Lebron lost in the finals with was that much of a better supporting cast than any Tracy has ever had. Likewise with Iverson's 76ers that lost in the finals. I think Tmac had at one point superstar level talent, but to me superstar means the best of the best, and that is measured by playoff success. Superstars are generally taking heat for not having won a ring by their 12th year. I can't think of another NBA player that was considered a superstar after never winning a playoff series in their first 12 years in the league. It's not all Tmacs fault of course, but as the best player on a team he has never been enough. With his recent injury history it seems likely that he will never be enough to win a title as the best player on a team.
I realize it is a conundrum, and that will be the Tmac believers position, it was the lack of talent around him, and there is validity to that argument. However, I think trusting your teamates with the ball to make decisions elevates their play.... Tmac's style of dominating the ball has proven to fall apart in crunch time....UNLESS he is hot and shooting the ball well.....then it works, the problem is that Tmac is NOT a good enough shooter for that to work consistently. Yes, it will work occasionally, but over a long series it will fail more often than work as he is a volume shooter/scorer....and those guys don't win in the playoffs. Teams do. DD
I don't even know why I'm bothering with this. His style isn't conducive to winning basketball because he can't meet the standard of the guy who just had the greatest single season in basketball history? Um, ok. Hey, how about this? No one is good enough to do it by themselves. I wonder what you thought when Kobe Bryant did nothing with the Lakers pre-Pau. How about his teammates knock down a ****ing jumpshot for a change. How about Yao pull his panties out of his vag the few times he is actually on the court? "Hey Tracy, we need you to cover Dirk. Oh, try and hit Barry and Wesley in the corner when their men leave them wide open to double you. Hey, can you bring the ball up the court too for us? - Bob's having some trouble on that leg. Oh, make sure you get 30. Oh yeah, try to let Yao get his too - you know he needs to be spoon fed and all." But yeah, of course, his style isn't conducive to winning or whatever the Dakotism it was, because he can't do it by himself. I honestly don't know when you became such an efficiency ranger, but this is another Dakotaism I fail to grasp. Think his lack of efficiency last year just might have had something to do with the fact that he was playing hurt? Pretty profound concept isn't it? Of course you somehow feel the need to retroactively project that ineffectiveness from last year onto the duration of his entire stint with the team in an attempt to legitimize your rigid claim. I don't know why you do it - it's not necessary. Just say he sucked last year like the rest of us and leave it at that. You are just cementing your own lack of credibility. Gotta love how you conveniently leave out the fact that he had never played with the type of players we had last year. Scola, Landry, and Brooks were all better. Kyle Lowry was far superior to anything we had ever had. I'm no fan of Ron but he's a vastly superior offensive wing to anything we've ever had. You're just literally being dishonest with your blurring of our roster transformation. But yeah I get it, Luther freaking Head and Rafer Alston could create but Tracy didn't let them. I honestly don't even know what to say. It wouldn't even be fun to put this stuff in my sig anymore. I mean I guess I could ask you how exactly this act would have occurred without some sort of divine metaphysical intervention, but I doubt you will proffer anything substantive as usual. Did you want them to catch and shoot off back screens or something? Post up? I really don't even know what to say. Ahh yes, the familiar basest anti-intellectual "HAHA TMAC HAVE LOST EVRY PLAYOFF SRIES HE SUX SCOREBOARD" capper that every revisionist employs in his handbook. Didn't see that one coming. I'm just going to assume from now on that anyone that wilfully ignores relevant factors in an attempt at proving causation in such correlation just isn't very intelligent. Cab.
I too think shooting percentage efficiency is overrated. Intensity, talent, inspired plays, passion and hard nosed grit, team work by moving the ball and intangibles are whats more revelant to me.
*Applause* Ahh, a solid post sighting! Yes, Lou, it gets VERY old reading people argue the SAME POINTS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, some logical, some ludicrous lol... But as you well know, we fans live for this emotional rollercoaster that the majority of all the star athletes take us through, so this love-hate relationship in sports keeps us impassioned about our teams and players. But some just take it more personally than others and criticism turns into a witch hunt for both the player and his supporters/non-supporters. Yet still, the key point remains, which is where you dropped a bombshell of a punchline: let's wait and see what happens. I mean it's not like we have any other choice lol
When I said he's not a team player I was not referring to his skillset. I was specifically referring to his lack of defensive intensity.
Me either, you seem to never comprehend. Don't be obtuse, you know there are tons of examples of GREAT individual players that understand how to make the team better, and play winning playoff basketball by sharing the ball....Tmac still has not learned that. Kobe is a great example of a player trying to do TOO MUCH, then finally understood what Phil Jackson was trying to teach him, to get his teamates involved more for the good of the entire team. But, Hey, what does Phil Jackson know anyway, he only has like a million championships. I am not saying he sucked, just that he is not EFFICIENT enough of a scorer to dominate the ball and he would benefit a lot from playing off the ball more... You know, what Rick Adelman has been trying to get him to do for over 2 years now...and Tmac has been b****ing about it like a big....what was the word you used? Oh yeah..vag. So, you are saying he CAN do it by himself.... 11 years in the NBA ZERO 2nd round appearences.....4 blown home courts.....would speak otherwise...but hey....it was his teamates fault.......NEVER HIS.... I mean he is 20% of the players on the floor, but let's not let poor wittle Twacy have to take any blame, it might hurt his poor wittle ego. See, this is where you continually fail. I don't need to retroactively argue anything, you can look at the data.......his Rocket tenure was good in the regular season but ultimatly as the leader of the team he failed in the playoffs. How did that undermanned team do this year without Tmac in there hogging the ball? I do think he sucked last year, but THAT IS NOT THE POINT !!!! I am not saying he SUCKED before last year, I am saying his style was not conducive to winning playoff series. How can you honestly argue that? SERIOUSLY? The guy has NEVER won a playoff series and a vastly undermanned team playing with a center with a Broken foot got further without him. Yeah, nothing to read from that in Cab world. Again, you fail to comprehend, not surprising....anyone can create when there are picks, rolls, back cuts, anyone.....look up Rick Adelman's Sacremento Kings teams lots of players created....no one dominated the ball, they won in the playoffs. I get it, you think Tmac did everything he could.....YOU ARE WRONG !!!!! He could have shared the ball, he could have SHOT BETTER, he could have led the team....but nah...apologize away....it was always someone else's fault. DD PS. Reply all you want Cabbage you and I are not going to agree EVER on this matter.
He just doesn't like people saying Tmac sucked in the past in Houston (which I am not saying)....but he transfers that argument onto what I am saying. I don't think Tmac sucked, I just don't think he has learned how to play winning basketball, to trust your teamates not only to shoot, but to make the decision with the ball at the crucial moment. Look, it took Hakeem years to learn to trust his teamates......he tried to do too much too, maybe this whole injury thing will have gotten Tmac to realize that winning playoff basketball is more than just one guy going nuts with the ball. Tracy is good enough to win some games by himself for the most part, but ultimately it will fall short because it is a team game. DD
Ok. Then he is not a good help defender. That is a flaw. Ok. He is lazy sometimes. Well we can't have it all can we? Until Tmac wins a ring or comes close to it, there will be criticism. He has to live with it, I just said why make it so hard on him when its potentially his last year here
