I saw it too; however, some people simply do not believe it. Stats provide further evidence yet there are some who still don't believe it.
Well, then i congratulate you on taking the time to compile evidence to your claim but i doubt this is the argument people have the biggest problem with. It's your conclusion that the way he's played (or not played) in the past 20 games is the biggest indicator of his future performance. That doesn't make any sense. He's been hampered by the knee (whether it's because of his own poor rehab or not is irrelevant now) and he's played much better the last 3 game. Unfortunately, we lost 2 of them but i'm sure our best player being out or having a very poor game has alot to do with that. I think he's been declining for years but this season doesn't seem to follow any kind of trend. IMO, right now Mcgrady is more of a wild card, we don't know how much he can help us in the future as apposed to the dead weight you describe him as. And, some teams could probably risk not playing a wild card if they knew they could go far without him. I don't think we're one of those teams, we won't get far without our best playmaker. We can only hope that Mcgrady can learn how to play below the rim and with minimal explosiveness.
If not his recent performance, then what do we use to estimate his performance for the next few games? Sportscenter clips from 3 years ago? My contention is that TSlack has hurt the team. It is very possible that he has cost the team 3 wins in the recent stretch of 10 games. Will he hurt the team in April? I can't tell you. Let see how he plays in March. Will he hurt the team in early February? Most likely based on how he has played in December and January.
I just want Adelman to hold him accountable, if he plays hard on both ends he plays. If he mopes or slacks, he sits. No favoritism.....screw it.....this is a meritocracy baby ! DD
Your referral to Tracy McGrady as T-slack shows your inherent bias. Your analysis of McGrady's numbers over the last twenty games are just that, the last twenty games. It doesn't take into account any externalities, or past performance. In my opinion your analysis is short sighted. You may be concerned about the next game, or the next five games, but I can guarantee you that the success of this season will be measured by how the Rockets do in the playoffs, and not their performance over the next five games. Your stats lead us to believe that based on recent history McGrady will continue to hurt the team in the short term. I can't say I disagree with you, but if the team doesn't endure these short term pains of getting McGrady back up to speed with himself, the offense, his teammates, etc. The long term (playoffs this season) will hurt more. These recent struggles can definitely be attributed to McGrady, he had surgery and didn't rehab it like a professional. His capitulation is certainly disappointing, and not wholly surprising, but he does care. I trust he has too much pride to give up on the season and I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. What other choice do we have for this season, or for the next year for that matter? The guy is damaged goods and Morey will not get equal value for him, we can talk about the 2010 free agency but that is a separate conversation. At this point, for this season to be successful, the Rockets need McGrady to play better. The only way that happens is if he plays, and I believe short term pains are worth it for the long term. You are certainly entitled to look at the last twenty games as a precursor to upcoming performance. However, I'd suggest to be a little bit more expansive with your analysis. Qualitative can be just as valuable an quantitative, and my brain and heart says McGrady is vital.
All that matters.... Tmac 11 years in the league, 7 times losing in the first round...4 times with home court advantage at some point in the series. Those are all teams were he was the primary option, in order for him to shake that tag, we need a TEAM approach. If he can do that....great, if not...ship him out. DD
You don't try to estimate his performance for the next few games. He has been anything but consistent and in the most recent few games he has shown improvement. I think we can all agree he's played terrible but my point is that you have erroneous logic. You cannot linearly predict the future. It just doesn't work that way when a guy has been playing some of the worst basketball of his career coming off an injury and has shown some improvement in the most recent few games. I agree with durvasa. I would say these stats are relevant if I thought there was a chance of us going deep in the playoffs without him. Right now, the chance of him playing well in the future (the playoffs) is worth taking the chance that he might not.
In the last 10 games? He only played in 3 right? and We won against the Pistons. So you could say that he cost us 2 games, but at the same time is it not possible that it was the performance of the team? Seriously, are you so naive? Ron did horrible the last two games before the Warriors and was frustrated with himself. Rafer played like the Rafer that we know him to be. Yao played like hes never touched a basketball before. Your analysis is flawed and plain bias. And yes, "belittlement" due to the fact that you are trying to make Tracy seem less important to this team than he really is. Yes, the team has shown that they can win without him. but they've also shown that they cant. Now I agree with DD that if he struggles the coach needs to sit him. And that is the coaches job, something which you should also acknowledge for the fact that he has made questionable decisions at times. Ill have to agree with whoever said that you made this thread to read your own thoughts. Youre unbelievably bias against Mcgrady, everything that you type or want to type has to insult him in some way and you cant get away from it. Youre addicted to hate and irrational with your thought process due to your addiction. What will you do if he makes this team even better in March? If this team succeeds like everyone except you wishes, I really hope that youll choose to give up posting on this forum.
My uncle has been in the roofing biz for a while. A month ago he fell down a ladder and hurt his hands. He hasn't gone back to work yet but he will and when he does he'll probably work less efficiently. Let's say this goes on for the next 20 days. Should his supervisor predict that he'll work just as slow in the future? Maybe he will, maybe he won't. It's not a situation where you can invoke a linear assumption. Should we extrapolate out Brooks' recent slide and assume he'll be a low percentage shooter in the future? Should we look at Von Wafer's high shooting percentages and say he is a superstar? Tracy Mcgrady is playing some of the worst basketball of his career, he is still 29, and he is obviously recovering from an injury. You don't think there's any chance that he could play better and help us in the future?
These two statements are not contradictory: 1. TSlack has hurt us in the recent past. We would have been better off not playing him and likely we'd be better off not playing him now. (This is my main point) 2. We would be a much better team if #1 played at a high level. (I have not addressed this point at all, but it appears to be obvious).
so how long of a window are you willing to give to mcgrady? be aware that his contract with the rockets run out in a little over 1 year.
that's where these stats northeastfan post are very skewed. tracy is coming off surgery, struggled with his knee, and openly admitted frustration with his recovery and thus spilled over onto his play. if he keeps pouting, then sure, anybody can extrapolate that he'll suck for the rest of the year. but seeing the past 3 games, he looks like he's regaining more confidence. attempting multiple dunks for the first time this year. beating guys off the dribble... if i extrapolate from that, i think he'll be fine. we'll see if he keeps improving tuesday v. the bulls. however, i think your example of brooks/wafer aren't as relevant simply b/c they're role players. and they go through ups and downs. brooks struggled b/c teams game planned for him more (stephen jackson of the warriors admitted they didn't game plan for him and was surprised brooks could do what he did so maybe brooks sucking so teams game plan for him less hopefully). and teams still haven't game planned for wafer. a healthy tracy is relatively consistent in his production (only inconsistency is his fg%). he'll give you 20 pts at least, 5-6 rebounds, 6-7 assists.
well it doesn't look like the team is trading him so his window with this team is this year and next year. morey and les aren't willing to accept expire contracts (b/c tracy's contract itself is an expiring contract next year) or larger contracts or bad players. they don't want to rebuild. keeping tracy for the next 2 years still give them the best chance with this current group (if the stays healthy). and by 2010, they can reload without rebuilding.
How do you have home court advantage at some point? You either have home court or not. And as far as I know he have only had 2 times HC advantage. And only on time his team was equal or borderline superior to the opponent (2007 vs Jazz). I know you hate T-Mac but pls get your facts straight. BTW Kobe with similar talent won jack in the first round.
Concerning the analysis, please look at the original post. It is *not* based on three games. That deals with the ignorance of your first paragraph. I presented statistics ... that's belittlement? I agree with you and DD ... if he struggles he should sit. He's struggle now (the stats show that); therefore he should sit and indeed should have sat. I am not biased against TSlack. Let him play well and prove me wrong in the next few games and indeed for the rest of the year; there would be no one happier than me.
Have I said anything that contradicts what you have just posted? Your uncle will not work efficiently in the short term. TSlack will not play efficiently in the short term. So I agree with you completely. Long term, I don't know and you probably don't either. All I know is that he is hurting the team NOW. Will he help the team later. Who knows .... I hope so, but that's just hope.
