My theory on McGrady's decline in scoring productivity...

it sure is...just above his righ cheek bone...

 

Lance Z was making a big deal about him wearing "body armor" to the game last night...it was pretty funny...

looks like we're getting Utah in Round 1 huh !?!?

 

I think having to set everyone up takes a toll. Aside from james,paul, and nash, I don't think any team relies upon 1 player as much.

The bailout shots hurt him as well. Those shot clock bailout shots effect fg%. A lot of times after ball movement and non penetrating passes, he ends of with the ball and shot clock winding down. These are the high degree of difficulty shots.

No one sets him up. How many easy baskets he gets from teammates? I doubt if its more than 1 a game. Yao probably gives him 1, but now its non existent.

I also believe his poor ft shooting keep him from attacking the rim. Great ft shooters look to get fouled, poor ones avoid them. All scorers want 8-10 atts per. A guy like james, even as a poor ft shooter keep going to the hole. Shaq was relentless although he was a poor ft shooter. It takes a certain mindset and level of abuse going to the rack.

 

The problem is that it's his attitude and mentality. To me is his attitude towards the game nowadays. Since he pretty much told everyone he doesn't need to prove to anyone he can average 30 ppg and ect. To me he's too lay back doesn't have that passion night in and night out. Physically worn out is a total BS and an excuse. It's pretty obvious when he compare himself with Kobe he lacked heart, the fire and the killer instinct.

 

Is everyone forgetting the shoulder injury? I'm no expert in the mechanics of a jump shot, but I'm fairly certain an injured shoulder (on either side) will affect one's shot.

 

1. McGrady has so much physical talent that he can get away with being mentally lax much of the time. He's never been forced to acquire that kind of discipline.

2. He's not just physically talented; he's got a talent for seeing the floor and making the pass. This should allow him to have a good second (post-go-to) stage of his career, unlike, say, Mike James.

3. What he CAN do when he really focuses is so amazing that it lets him get away (in his own mind and the minds of fans like me) with playing below that level for much of any given game or season. We McGrady fans shouldn't cut him as much slack as we do -- but McGrady detractors also shouldn't forget (e.g. in trade proposals) how much value he can produce when it really counts.

I don't have great hopes for this year's playoffs. But I have high hopes for McGrady's performance in them.

It's show time, Tracy.

 

I honestly think hes just coasting until the playoffs hit. We've all seen him able to get to the rack and finish strongly this season, but doesn't attempt to consistently like many other elite players. He rarely ever drives hard to the rim with the intent on scoring after the PnR, but chooses to make the right pass that leads to a good shot for his teammates. At times I think thats the coaches game plan, get tracy to involve his teammates and get them going early into the game so defenses can't lock on to him during crunch time. Outside of Tmac we have a bunch of players who wouldn't start for half the teams in this league, they need offense created for them by other players (tmac). We would like Tmac to dominate and completely take over the game from start to finish, but lets get real, its a team game and your not going to win by having one person trying to dominate the ball the entire game. Tmac and coach knows that this team isn't going to win unless everyone gets involved, defenses are just too good these days to allow one person to hurt them. Just look and the Lakers before they got Gasol, they were pretty bad even though Kobe was putting up dominating stats. This team would be going nowhere if they stood around all game watching Tmac trying to dominate.

Hopefully well see are more aggressive Tmac in the playoffs.

 

simple...he has no jumpshot.

 

I definently agree, Tracy has enormous athletic abilities WHICH he uses to score points.

Some sore injuries have slowed him down since "the streak" but one thing that makes him a shooter is shooters mentality you've forgot to mention.

On the night when shots dont fall of you can be easily frustrated by McGradys incosistent jumpers, they are what they are, he can go 3-34 on the particular night but he shoots his 35 shot as he shoots his first and special thing about him when shots go in, its really tough to handle him.

 

I really think this is mental and his fear of injury remember the start of the season averaging 32.2 points/g and after the injury he practically went downhill to 22points/g

 

I agree, i just hope we don't get egg on our face or have to eat crow

 

I know he has scoliosis and has back spasms but it is obvious that his back problems have only gotten worse over time and limited his effectiveness.

Back spasms are actually somewhat common in basketball but that combined with scoliosis has made him ware down over time. I think his decreasing efficiency shows that. Other than chronic injury there is no logical explanation for his initial drop and continual decline. I remember around the time when Mike Miller went to Memphis he was asked about his back spasms and they tried to compare it to Tracy's, he said, quickly, tmac's back injury was "different". I know he had back spasms before but i think in 2003 he really started to look and play differently. IMO he started to decline from then on.

I can't see how anyone who watched McGrady in Orlando can see what he has been in Houston and not see the physical differences. We can debate injuries forever but it is unprecedented for him to go from better than Kobe level in one season to being the most inefficient superstar in the league at only 28, 5 years later. He is supposed to be better than ever now, in his prime.

With that said i think he has been such an intelligent player that he can still be effective. You can even see it with some of those youtube videos you posted, compare them with some of the highlights from Orlando. He has noticibly less elevation, speed, and quickness. He just seems quick because he is smart, similar to Jason Kidd and .

 

I don't know if someone has discussed it yet but i don't see how anything other than a physical restriction could be the culprit in his decline.

If you have watched him his whole career, he has always been a guy who takes the mid-range shot (usually on people) because he has always been able to rise up over his opponent. His shot selection and moves are relatively the same (he has become much better in the post and triple threat) but he is just executing everything worse.

Before he would get to the rim by driving past his man (without picking up his dribble) and laying it up or getting fouled. Now he usually drives past a defender but has to jump to get around the defense and since he has lost alot of elevation he ends up taking a funky looking runner further from the basket and ends up not getting the call.

 

as ignorant as that might sound, no one can deny his jump shot has been a liability during the last stretch of the season.

 

Are most of you idiots and pretend not to know the real reason? Maybe i should give you a quote....rmbr his back spasms 2 seasons back? That was when he was still "sort of" dunking like a beast, the miracle guy he found in Wacko pretty much treated him but told him that for his condition he can no longer DUNK as much, he cares about the team, rather than getting an injury right before the playoffs he is saving his strength for the team, and to the r****ds who haven't followed MAC through the yrs and say its not his elevation...boy...THAT WAS WHAT HE WAS FAMOUS FOR LOL! The guy would make shots over 2-3 defenders every time cuz his fade had alot of elevation, when he jumped he slanted his feet also which is how i rmbr that shot, and nobody could block it, take a look...
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Take a look at 22 secs and you'll know exactly what i mean

Its possible he lost his elevation cuz he doesn't dunk anymore. Take a look at his jumpshot in the next game and check out his form. Last season it wasn't as bad but i think the dude can get it back by a series of strenuous workouts this summer

 

And if you dont even play b-ball don't start spewing bull about his shoulder injury not affecting his play...its PLENTY affecting it, i had BAD lactic acid build up in my right arm (nothing compared to his injury) and it was real difficult for me to get shots going especially tough fades and long range jumpers

 

All the injuries he got throughout the course of the year are taking a toll on him. His elevation before his knee injury was fine, as you can see from the earlier games of the season when he led the league in scoring. The shoulder injury is throwing off his rhythm. Actually all these injuries has thrown him off his rhythm. He is a rhythm jump shooter, and that requires every part of your body to cooperate and be in sync. The shoulder injury throws him off his rhythm, when he tries to raise his arm up.

Amare is different type of jump shooter, b/c he's a mechanical shooter. He can only get it off when he has space around him and everything (shoulders, arms, hands, knees, feet squared) has to be in the same exact position every single time in order for him to make that jump shot. You can tell he's practiced that shot over and over. But you can throw him off just by crowding his space.

McGrady is much more dangerous since he's not mechanical, and doesn't need as much space. If his body is in sync, without anything nagging him, he can pretty much nail those jumpers all day. What he needs to do is start showing up earlier to games again and try to get his body in a rhythm. Get his blood flowing, and muscles warmer earlier so that he can start the game off well.

 

I'm telling ya, he needs to go to Austin for a Dr. Patterson tuneup on his entire body. Balance it out and Dr. P will also fix his shoulder. He shouldn't wait. On an off day, he should be driving to Austin just for treatment. Either that, or the Rockets should pay Dr. Patterson some big bucks to drive or fly to Houston to treat our star player!!!

 

this is off-topic, but Kobe and Pau have had better chemistry/looked better in their half-season together than T-Mac and Yao have for 3 years. Next year should be the absolute last year we spend on T-Mac and Yao.