I'm fine with his performance. If he could give us that the rest of the season, its not great, but its not bad either. 6/14 is 43%, which is what he shot last season. Made a few assists and got some rebounds w/e.
He was solid. I felt he settled for too many jumpers. He didn't drive a whole lot. I thought he did a nice job of getting his teammates involved though.
Oh yeah forgot to mention this. This was the best he has looked as far as moving around, he wasn't struggling to run.
I thought he had an average game, overall. His first half was much better than the second. I didn't get the impression of "full throttle" effort from start to finish. He had a few defensive lapses, settled for some bad outside shots and walked up the court several times, mostly in the 2nd half. There wasn't a lot of movement off the ball as usual. When he didn't have the ball, he spent most of his time either standing at the 3pt line or posting up. He didn't attack the basket much as evidenced by the 2 FTAs. The real judgment comes from what he does over 15-20 games, not 1 game. 7/10
I think Tmac did ok, but to me, Von is still more efficient.....by a long shot...Tmac needs to step it up....because "Vonjects in his mirror are closer than they appear" DD
Von seems to have a much quicker first step and is a lot more willing to take it to the hoop Von's D is really awful...but at least he tries. I like him coming off the bench...he definitely needs to be in the second unit
I upgraded him to 7/10 while you were responding because he didn't do as much ballstopping as usual and attacked the basket and finished at a crucial point in the game. I just hope Adelman is willing to do what's necessary if McGrady isn't getting it done in a few weeks. We have enough depth on this team where nobody is forced to play big minutes if they aren't getting it done.
Damm you guys are making me feel like the Russian judge. Anyways for the rest. Scola = 11/10 - Simply a perfect game. Artest = you could really tell his feet was bothering him but overall great shooting night. 9/10 Battier = 8/10 Wafer = 8/10 Rafer = 7/10. He needs to realize he's not finisher material. 2 miss free throws during the Lakers game and some ugly shots late in the game.
One thing that people forget is that t-mac drew quite a few fouls (which helps get us into the penalty) and T-mac made a lot of passes that resulted in trips to the line for guys like Scola.
I was pleased to see him back on the court again, I hope it will give him confidence for the future! It was quite obvious to me that T Mac has a long way to go to get into game shape as his stamina and strength need a boost.
Reading the post game thread you would think T-mac had another single digit ball game. I was impressed, I guess people expected him to score 40 points. Gotta realize he's going to be a little rusty and Tayshaun Prince as guarding him. Ron Ron though came back strong!
I don't want him to impose his will anymore, just play within the system, I though he did that for the most part until the 4th quarter, where he ball hogged a few possessions and the Pistons made a comeback. Trusting the system in the 4th quarter is as important as trusting it in the 1st quarter. The only way this team advances is to play together ALL GAME LONG !! DD
The problem was he hyped himself up too much with all those quotes. If he didn't I would of gave him a higher score.
I don't have a problem with McGrady taking a good number of outside shots. My problem is that he often takes contested shots when the defense is set. Yes, because of his length he is able to make those shots more than other shooters around the league but I'd rather see one of two things. A) If he is going to wait for the defense to set, put the ball on the floor more often and get to the basket. Basically, mix it up. B) If he can't beat his man off the dribble like he used to then he needs to be getting more open mid-range shots. That means he needs to be MOVING and using screens to get open. I just don't want him almost entirely settling for shots with a man right in his face. Either put the ball on the floor more often or get more open looks using movement and screens. He too often takes the easiest route.
