disappointment for what? i have NEVER said once that tracy can lead you to a championship since i've started posting. i've ALWAYS said tracy can never do it alone. if tracy EVER does advance in the playoffs, it's not because of tracy, but those around him. i've said that for the longest time. however, from watching how he moves around the court offensively, i'm VERY encouraged that he can regain his ways at least to 07-08 ways. that's all i'm saying. again, defensively, yes, tracy needs to play better overall. and that's where you didn't make clear in your post. i agree that the tracy of RIGHT NOW should not stop the ball (and he hasn't much really--the shots that he has made so far have been primarily off the ball--using the screens, open 3s...). however, when we do get a star, we are NOT going to play this way. pure and simple. don't expect this type of offense if we do get a joe johnson for instance. we might play it in spurts, esp. when the 2nd unit comes in, but not with the starters, esp. when yao returns. that's all i'm saying. my problem is every time tracy holds onto the ball (and it's not even close to what he did last year) and even good things happen, people complain. a lot of his passes have led to GREAT looks for some of the other players and if those have gone in, it would have been great (ala the andersen point blank miss v. the magic). ultimately, the point is, whatever tracy does, it's going to be criticized b/c people remember what happened last year. if he doesn't put his hands up, he's lazy. if he doesn't box out dwight howard, he's lazy. if he tries to play help defense and fails to recover to his own man, he's lazy. if he holds to the ball for more than 1.5 seconds, he's selfish... look, this is why i really wish we trade tmac. some posters are simply getting ridiculous in regards to tracy. they put him under a microscope that the moment tracy does ONE BAD THING, it's a NEW THREAD. that's just simply ridiculous. i know when tracy gets traded, we're going to get a new player to rag on (it's a cycle). but jeez, at least, it won't be this bad. the GARM can hopefully regain its sanity.
if you actually watched tracy, he has been making more of an effort on defense since he has returned. if you actually keep count of just how many points his man has scored on him when they're matched up 1-on-1, tracy has actually been doing a great job. the problem lies in his help defense and recovery. that has been porous. and this is where some posters rag on, and disregard his "effort" on defense. if he doesn't try on defense, he would have been scored on every single damn time b/c he's been guarding some pretty damn good offensive players since he has returned and not just stiffs. help defense and recovery are more about court awareness and tracy obviously lacks that right now. hopefully he can get better. if you watch the games, sometimes he helps so far into the paint that it is pointless to even recover to his man who is at the 3pt line. that's just STUPID DEFENSE.
i don't think so. people actually want ariza to do well, and know he can do well if he plays within himself. the people, including myself, who are frustrated with him b/c he struggles at the role he's trying to fulfill, and every fan knows it. but yes, if tmac gets traded, and ariza keeps trying to play the way he "thinks" he can play, then he'll get hammered, and he should. he's simply not as good as he or morey or adelman thinks he is. the evidence is right in front of his/their eyes. it's up to them to admit it.
I love the ball movement of this team, but I understand will probably need a dominating wing in the playoffs. If we could run this offense throughout the year, I'd be all for it, but unfortunately there will be situations where shots won't fall and we'll need a star. Ideally, I want this star to take over when we need him to and not every position. I know you've seen issues in the past where every stands around and watches Tracy or Yao, and it has always bothered me.
We have all discovered DD's Basketball Philosophy. Your output is judged based on how much money you earn. Don't judge Von harshly for his ****yt defense because he wasn't making as much money. IDIOT!
I wouldn't put Kenyon on that list. While I have issues with his game he still has a lot of bounce post surgery. It just took him longer, about 2 years. In Denver, they showed a lot of his rehab and I have to give it to him. From the footage I saw, he put in a lot of work to get back to a high level. But I definitely agree with you about the severity of the injury/procedure. I had the procedure done on both knees within the last two years. I'm impressed by what Tracy is doing and some times forget that he does need to be patient. I also can see where he is coming from about being hungry about getting back out there. I know that I was begging my doctor and physical therapist to be allowed to play. Because of my own experiences and T-Mac/coaches/C-Webb's statements, it makes a lot of sense for them to be apprehensive about letting him play more. But at the same time, no one knows how you feel when you get back out there but you. It's just subjective at the point. And I hope that coaches opinion/decision changes at some point (and not 30 mins either). It appears to me that there are times where he looks like he is thinking about his knee especially when his running the court. He has looked closer to normal when he has the ball (in half court offense) and is focused on making an offensive move. I know how hard it is to just get back playing after microfracture surgery at a recreational level. So for him to be back playing 8 minutes on a NBA level says a lot about his heart, his dedication and his ability as a player. I'll also say this, I do doubt that he'll be fully recovered this season but he had more, and I'm sure better, physical therapy sessions than I did. And I'd bet he still deals with either some level of tenderness and/or minor pain but it should be tolerable as a professional athlete. Unlike others, I will admit that I'm speculating but I am doing so based on my own experiences. Take it for what you will.
Well, yes, generally we expect the player making 23 million dollars a year to play a lot better than the guy making six million or the guy making one. Fairly common sense.
I agree and I think it will happen to either Brook or Ariza first, especially if Tracy is traded. The negative threads about them will replace all of these TMZ type T-Mac threads. It's what this site does. And please don't let Landry go into a funk, watch how many supporters will turn on him. Nice response.
thanks. but i hope it won't be that way, esp. for brooks or landry. my philosophy is i don't really criticize role players b/c they are role players for a reason. they are not consistent (although landry isn't really a role player anymore but more of a budding star scorer) so they will have ups and downs. BUT... if they are "consistently" bad, then we have the right to criticize them like ariza has been consistently pathetic offensively. the only role players i have criticized recently are rafer/luther/bobby J b/c they were so bad on a consistent basis that it just frustrates you. and ariza is rapidly getting on that list.
And we generally don't expect a 6 million dollar guy to be trying to play like he was a 23 million dollar player.
Generally you should expect everyone to put in the same 100% effort. That is what DD is questioning. The question I ask is this. What is $22 million of effort compared to $6 million?
Dude Cameo is legendary! One of the pioneers of funk. I bet they don't even have funk music now. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_3vHUZBfYgQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_3vHUZBfYgQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
More than 3 times the amount of deserved scrutiny. Not everyone in the NBA makes $22M a year and a whole hell of a lot more earn closer to the $6M range. So for $22M a year your ass better be outpacing the guy down the bench making $6M. You better not be taking plays off. When is the last time Tracy was worth what he is being paid? Is he still worth the astronomical price tag the Rockets provided him with originally?
What I'm getting out of what you and DD are saying is that it's T-Mac's fault that we over-paid for him.
well shouldnt you agree that a guy playing with a 22 mil contract should be getting the ball in his hands,(demanding it when needed) and not just trying to be a "team player" and fit in?
