plus what fran portrayed is already really bad. and doc rocket says it's "undereshooting" it. seriously, if things like that are going on, i don't know how guys can play on the basketball court and i don't see that much division. after yao's 3pt play v. the thunder late in the game, tracy was pumping his fist like crazy. or after tracy's layup on the fast break in the 1st quarter, yao was standing up cheering. so how bad is it? just come out and say it already.
it is one thing for a fan to express an opinion like you just did. god knows i agree that at times fran can be too overdramatic for his own good. it is entirely different to say the kinds of things said in this thread. especially when the people spewing all the hate had no facts at all, only an uninformed opinion and a keyboard.
maybe tracy's vision is to have rafer touch the ball less and shoot less and give more shots to yao ming. b/c under JVG, yao's PER was borderline 30 so it was very high (if tracy would have a problem, it would have been a few years ago). i think tracy's vision is probably the best players should have the ball and make plays. while adelman's vision is everyone touches the ball, even the scrubs. and even the scrubs can run plays (ala rafer).
If that's true, I completely agree. I'd even make it impossible for Airballston to touch the ball by sitting him down for most of the game.
Exactly. Everybody on the Kings roster when Adelman coached were borderline all-stars which is why his system worked tremendously. But with the way T-Mac's been playing, having him dominate the offense (shots or handling the ball) would just be suicidal.
b/c let's be real, rafer's role has INCREASED under adelman despite less minutes. the ball is in his hands more and he's making plays more (but yet those plays do nothing) under JVG, rafer may play more, but his role was more give the ball to the stars, and find a spot to get open and shoot 3s. i think if anything, tracy is not liking how guys like rafer can have such an expanded role while him and yao's role diminished. i mean, if we go through games where yao touches the ball 7-8 times, JVG would go ballistic. but yet it's a normal occurrence under adelman and he says a blip i'm sure tracy wants the ball more, just more from guys like rafer alston.
Wait, this is the same Shawn Marion who forced the Suns to trade him from a team that played a great up tempo offense with the best point guard in the game because he wasn't the man. You think he's going to be in a better situation with the Rockets? Check out his stats since he left Phoenix. He's not exactly turned the Heat into a winner and he's playing with a legitimate superstar. He ain't averaging 17 points with the Rockets and he certainly won't be any happier than McGrady is. If getting rid of guys with character problems is one of your goals, I would stop making all these proposals for the Rockets to pick the Malcontent All-Stars like Marion, Tim Thomas and Ricky Davis. As basketball talents, all three players combined aren't worth McGrady on one leg. Let me vent for a second. This isn't specifically directed at Leebigez. I swear every few days somebody comes up with some wack ass trade for McGrady (Travis Outlaw and Channing Frye? Jesus.) that would not make us better now, or later. If the goal is to win a championship in 2009, you hope McGrady gets healthy along with Artest and gels with the rest of the team. That's your best chance. There is nobody you could trade McGrady at this point that would make the Rockets a championship contender. We need him to play well to win this year. End of story. Trading McGrady right now means you have to either concede winning it all this year, or give up cap space flexibility for 2010. Hell, McGrady is a much better prospect for a trade next year. The sky-is-falling crew is letting their expectations cloud their judgment in my opinion. Why in the hell would Morey trade away the team's most talented player when his value is lowest? Besides, he's getting healthier and the schedule is more advantageous and the team is a game and a half out of first. Just check out what the Spurs have coming up on their schedule. One last thing: I am tired of all of this Lord of the Flies **** where everything McGrady does, says, or is attributed to him by hack sportswriters is twisted to portray him in the worst light and none of the stellar work he has done as a Rocket is recognized. He put the entire f-ing team on his back three out of the last four years and willed a lot of sub par talent into the playoffs. He also kicked ass in the playoffs for us. Look it up. He's played through injuries, too. Nobody is above criticism, but some people around here are such DDemagogues about McGrady that it really is more about them and not any holier than thou concern for the team. McGrady has played poorly and not shown the leadership you want out of your best and highest paid player, but I still think the good outweighs the bad. I bet his coaches and teammates feel the same way.
I believe Yao and Tmac are on good terms. Yao is a diplomat guy i doubt he will alienate himself with other players. From Yao's body language is obvious Yao is not happy with Adelman. So is Tmac. For T-mac, he will accept Yao shoots more than him but for a young guy like Aaron Brooks shot the ball more than him? I think that's why T-mac is whining he need more shots. As for the story in the NY paper, if it was true, then probably T-mac finally fed up of Yao unable to finish around the rim strong and rebound well to get him into the second round!
The yr Dallas lost to gsw when avery was calling dirk out, he wanted dirk gone. He saw then that dirk was soft and couldn't lead anyone. Many people always said the toughest player in dallas was the coach. I know it sounds unrelated, but sometimes a team has to change directions. He problem with the rox is I don't think yao is enough of a leader to hold people accountable. Anytime tracy is out, rafer takes more shots on top of more shots. You also run the risk of Ron kinda going off the deep end a little. It could get messy, or it could get better I guess. Its a matter of morey wanting to find out. Philly did it with iverson. La did it with Shaq. Philly did it with George McGinnis who was a helleva player. The rox almost did it to dream. Point is everyone has a shelf life or value. Some spoil quicker than others. Marion may not be the best, but he plays very hard, he defends, rebounds, cuts, run the floor with a non stop motor. He'll run the offense, whatever one they try to run. He'll do a lot of the things everyone complains tracy doesn't do but should. Plus he's very,very durable. I'd still support the squad as will many of you. I don't think they'll win a ring, but I didt think that they were going to do it anyway as long as rafer is playing major minutes.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Just because things exist doesn't mean we need to dwell on them. I know there's extreme poverty in the world, that animal cruelty exists, that horrific things are done to children every day, and in the most minor situation among them all, there is conflict in the Rockets' organization. But I just don't need or care to know anymore. If I want to watch drama mixed in with basketball, I have both Season 1 and Season 2 of The White Shadow on DVD. Now that's what the Rockets need- Coach Reeves to set them straight!!!!
Who cares if this team has trouble getting along off the court!!??? Our very own 94 team had Mad Max going into stands punching people, throwing weights at Carl Hererra and getting arrested numerous times. Michael Jordan knocked out Steve Kerr before in a practice. Shaq and Kobe didn't get along. Neither did Barkley and Clyde , and in his Phoenix days, him and KJ didn't get along either. It happens! They are paid to be friends. They don't have to like each other. All they have to do is go to practice, and play their games. Thats it. Personally, its hard for me to see any problems with them. With the exception of team chemistry on the court, I think the Rockets are doing just fine. We are in much better shape this year in January, than we were last year, with a much less talented team. Don't believe what this idiot writer says. Until he's willing to name his sources, it should not have any truth to it. That article was the equivalent of a Peter Vescey or Stephen A. Smith article. Just starting up rumors to get people talking. I will give his article some credibility when he is ready to name a source or admit that he has a personal vendetta against Tmac. He can have any opinion he wants to. Its his right. But, at the same time, we don't have to acknowledge that article either. I hope the Chronicle gets rid of that immature, biased clown of a writer.
it's not just that. look at these stats regarding usage rating, which determine how much the ball is in your hands when they are in the game yao - 23.1 tmac - 22.9 (not much of a big difference /t the 2 stars so i doubt his problem is with yao) artest - 21.8 now let's take a big look at the role players: rafer - 18.4 brooks - 20.9 our 2 PGs have the ball as much as our 3 stars individually. i think that's where tracy and adelman don't see eye to eye in terms of offense. if anything he wants the ball to be in yao's hands even more.
yao expressed his displeasure with adelman's system 2-3 times last yr. so i'm sure he's not happy with adelman's system. i mean, he's taking only 13 shots this year for god sakes. but we'll see. eventually this will all come out. i think the root of the problem is tracy v. adelman. one will be gone i think.
I really don't care about Brooks hadling the ball as much as our stars because he actually does something positive when he has hit, whether it's driving and scoring or driving and dishing. Plus Brooks rarely misses the open threes......now Rafer on the other hand we really need to bench this guy.
that's not the point. the point is adelman is making our stars on the same level as a few role players in terms of playmaking. that's not the point of having stars. but again, rafer having the ball just as much as our stars should tell you what kind of offense we are running.
Right now Tracy isn't physically or mentally capable to have more touches. He stalls the flow even worse than trying get Yao the ball in the post. He holds the ball too long waiting for a pick to come and then when he tries to turn the corner he get's trapped because of his lack of foot speed. Tracy's ego is talking to him telling him things that his body isn'tcapable of doing or his mind is playing tricks on his body. He even said it himself when he said he looked at the tape and saw he wasn't playing as hard as he thought he was. Tracy may think he can handle more touches but in reality he can't do what he use to do right now.
I admit that as a fan, I don't really want to believe the accusations he makes about the team. But if he's going to make them, I want more than insinuations and snide comments. The whole thing was too gossipy for my taste, even if it's just a blog entry. Who knows, he could end up being right, but that doesn't change my opinion of the writing, of how Blinebury went about informing us of the situation. I was also found the McGrady for Marbury and David Lee deal insulting, but that's entirely personal. Anyway, no big deal. Let's just agree to disagree.
