You need both talent and teamwork. Talent gets you there, team work will make you a notch above any ones level.
T-Mac is no stranger to team work. Remember, he was actually on the team that won 22 Games In A Row. And yes, he did play a major role. Only a REAL TEAM can win that many games in a row.
What is hilarious is that you continue to make it about me, instead of about the matter at hand........you need a hug. You are arguing that people are looking back at Tmac's career and saying he sucked in a retroactive manner. I am saying no such thing, he did what he was asked from JVG specifically, but IMO, it is not conducive to winning playoff basketball. No one is arguing that he sucked before.......certainly not me... Why do you think I wanted JVG gone so badly? He propagated the MeMac philosophy, and I knew it would never work.....sure you can improve the talent around TMac but if they ain't getting the ball, they ain't gonna help all that much.... A crime...are you for real? A crime? Give me a break, how about you coming in spouting long diatribes that shift the discussion from the topic at hand to me, all because you carry some sort of grudge....... What you fail to realize is that by doing that, you propagate the issues for the GARM that you pretend to care so much about. Yeah, shocking that someone would change their mind about a player or team in an emotionally charged thing like basketball, I mean that never happens right? People riding the highs and lows of emotion while cheering for a team. What does "Fan" mean again...oh yeah...short for fanatic. Maybe you are just too soft to handle "Fanatics" talking about basketball. Maybe you should do what you said Yao should do when thinking about FANATICS talking about TEAMS THEY CARE DEEPLY ABOUT. I thought you were smart, and had me figured out pyschologically professor !! I do want him gone.....always have, but now with Yao out, I want the team to showcase him to get a better deal. One would think with your alleged edumacation you would be able to figure it out. But, everyone can see that your grudge covered glasses refuse to allow you to have a reasonable discussion about it. Hey we agree, I really wish you wouldn't. But you can't help yourself....whether you like to admit it or not.....we have similar qualities in our discussions.......everyone can see that you and some others are obsessed with me, I can just feel the love. Silly to those unwilling to delve into the reasons for saying it. And here you go, calling an argument silly, why? Because you don't agree with it....ok fine, your argument is humorously innane. Here is my STUPENDOUSLY SMART opinion in contrast to your innane one. 1. A varied offense with multiple angles of attack is better than a one player dominated one. 2. Sharing the respnosibilities makes the team and teamates overall better. 3. All NBA champions have a balanced attack....the Rockets....nay....NONE OF TMAC'S teams have ever had that....(you blame his teamates - I think he is part of the problem) You are not helping you are condescending....please stop trying to hide behind BS statements like this....it makes you look silly, intelligent people can see through this laugh out loud statement. I completely disagree, you follow me around like a lost puppy dog, and make arguments ABOUT me instead of talking about the topic at hand..... And you don't like it when I point it out....too bad....it is what you do. I am saying the one man dominating the ball is not conducive to winning, Tmac, Kobe, anyone.......you need to have a balanced attack..... What? Every champion has had a team oriented approach, that doesn't mean one guy is not the best, it means that there are mutiple people that can make a play.....there is certainly ONE player that is the focus but when doubled they are confident enough to go to someone else and take advantage. I am not soley blaming Tmac....I am saying that as the guy that dominated the ball, he is one of the biggest reasons for failing in the playoffs...... You can't tell me that 11 years of evidence, 4 failed home court advantages are simply unlucky.....his style of play...dominate the ball and make all the decisions is not going to work.....ever.......in the playoffs - especially when you are as inefficient as TMac.... That is my opinion.......you know it.....I know it........nothing is going to change that...it has always been my take and always will. Teams with balance win.... Clarity - Hierachy exists, but still balance.... DD
So, McGrady should have told JVG "Coach, DD doesn't think your style is conducive to winning playoff basketball. So I'm not gonna do what you asked." By the way, if you look at the careers of each of Adelman and Van Gundy, I don't hink Adelman has had that much more playoff success, considering the number of years coached, than did Van Gundy.
Hey, he said it to Rick Adelman these last 2 years, when he whined about having to change his style, or have to share and play with limited touches. I love JVG as an announcer, he is great. DD
How can there be one style of winning basketball? I don't think it is as clear cut as that. Sure, balance and team work are integral parts to winning, but I don't think they are the most important. I think ultimately it rests with the few individuals that make things happen. Those would be: McGrady and Yao.
I never said one style, just that championship teams share responsibility, particularly in the decision making process. That is entirely my point that teams that rely too much on one guy to do it all, will fail - and that has been what Tmac has been trying to do for 11 years... I concur he needs help, I just think part of that help is him letting others have the ball to make the decision more often. He can still be the focus, fine, but if he is the only one with the ball that makes the team easy to guard. That is my entire point.... DD
Yao should conduct himself to the style of winning for not getting any rebounds in game 7. Those rebounds would of secured the win, too bad Yao was not playing like a "winner."
No one ever said Yao couldn't do better, he certainly could. All of the Rockets could....and so could some of us fans. DD
Come on guys, don't be like children. We are supposed to talk about Rockets in the GARM so post like that don't make sense at all. And I don't care who is right, who is wrong. Hell, you can write Private Messagges, can't you? DD is special, period. Yes he changes his mind very quickly but he is not gonna change. You either accept it or not, You can always put him in your ignore list. PEACE
It's called a lot of time and patience. There is obviously some history there... I don't really think there's that much to discuss about McGrady, but yet threads continually pop up and go on for 10 pages.
If you look at the Yao-Mac era - and why they have not succeeded, it's two-fold. Obviously one is injuries - there has only been 2 seasons they entered the playoffs with both healthy. Once against Dallas, the other against Utah. The other has been supporting cast. Which, for a contender, has to be one of the all time worst. Only Cleveland has worst amongst the Rockets rivals, and they were in a week conference....one in which Houston would have advanced in. People forget how bad Shaq and Kobe had it for 3 years until they got a better coach and a better supporting cast. They kept getting swept out of the playoffs (Utah, SA...). A healthy Yao and T-mac, with the supporting cast we had last year would have won it all this past season, and all of the debates in this thread would have been made moot.
You said it...Tracy and Yao each have tons of flaws, but injuries has always been chief reason for their lack of playoff success in Houston. In 04-05 Yao was only in his 3rd season, and they just got beat by a better team. 06-07 was a season that saw both guys get injured at some point. Tracy also "lost a step" that year as I recall. For the first 3 months of 06-07, Yao was an absolute animal. It was one of the few spans in his career where is was indisputably dominant. I still say we would have beat Utah that year had Yao not broke his leg earlier in the season. He wasn't the same after he returned.
tracy only complained LAST YEAR, and you can point that to his frustration of his bad play and his inability to move with a bad knee. he embraced adelman's offense after his knee injury for the 22 game winning streak to end the year.
I remember quite a bit of tension surrounding McGrady's role in Adelman's system in 07-08 before the win streak and Yao's season exit. It seemed pretty obvious Tmac was unhappy at that point in time, with a lot coming to the surface around the "Philly game".
