I just feel if we are going to trade for Hinrich we have to get rid of Alston or Brooks. That would give us 3 point guards.
I would give Tracy "Full Throttle" McGrady a 7/10. The only reason I even have him at a 7 is because I never believed Tmac was going to be his "vintage" self anyway. If I were to rate him based on his words, like I have done before, I would probably give him about a 4/10. I will not be fooled Tmac.
i just re-watched the knicks game on LP (i couldn't watch it at all earlier outside of a few plays so i took what the board said to be true). but i disagree now in regards to tracy. after re-watching the game, i feel he will be back eventually. in no way am i expecting the prime-time tracy of 04-05, but the tracy of last year is very doable. why? 1) he looked GREAT in the first and 3rd quarter offensively in terms of doing what he usually does. i think right now he simply doesn't have the explosiveness to drive from the 3pt line all the way to the basket (though he did do it once where he blew right chandler but still couldn't get the elevation to dunk it in traffic and he was def. mad about it). however, he got into the paint pretty well at the mid-post where he simply took 1-2 dribbles and went straight to the basket v. jeffries/chandler. he went into the paint 2 of his first 3-4 possessions i believe with ease. and he did make more of an effort to drive tonight. 2) he still has that unique ability to create his own shot. some of the shots he made today were tmac-ish and made the crowd oohs and aahs. 3) he still has that ability to find that open guy that only tmac can find. so with more games under his belt and renewed confidence (the look i saw from tracy in the 3rd and mid-way through the 4th) was the tracy that wanted to take over the game. unfortunately, down the stretch, he couldn't do that b/c it looked like he kinda tired b/c his shots were so short. but he had "that look." the negatives: 1) like i said, he still can't beat his man off the dribble from the 3pt line b/c of little explosiveness. he couldn't get by david lee at all when they switched off at the 3pt line. he got by his man fine at the mid-post though 2) fatigue. it's obvious he needs to play more real games to get stronger. so again, tracy didn't dominate and that was obvious. but i think from just a basketball perspective, he played/moved much better than 2 weeks ago. and i think eventually he'll be 20-21, 5, 5 with ease. posters may be skeptical, but i re-watched the game and saw a guy just needing more confidence in his knee b/c he did attempt to do a few things he would no way do a few weeks earlier. tracy will be fine is all i'm trying to say.
What I see, is he TRIES HARD every single game now. The knee is no longer a problem for him. I understand he hasn't played well at all those 2 games, but he is putting a lot of effort and he plays hard - that is what we expect. Basketball rythm will come. He will play a completly different bbal with Yao Ming, it will take some of the pressure off of his shoulders. The thing now, he has to attack the basket more. He can be what he used to, we saw that in the 3rd period against NY, when he was knocking down 3s and he made his defenders fly all over the court with his pumpfakes (like he used to) Every single game he is gonna be better, he will play better. I see a lot of optimism.
I don't see how anybody who has watched this whole season could say he looks the same right now as he did earlier in the season.
Well said, i agree. Nice to see someone else being optimistic in by far the most negative fan forum on the internet.
I have downgraded his comeback to a 4....he is playing better, but still looks out of shape out there to me as far as hustle etc. DD
Three is ok......get rid of the guy that doesn't fit the most, bring in Hinrich who can play some SG and PG....and the team overall is better. Am I saying Hinrich is as good as Artest? No...not at all, but he is BETTER for the Rockets because he fits. DD
You honestly think that TMac still fits this team currently? I am now in the edge of having both Ron and TMac traded. If things change dramatically and they both start playing team ball I will be the first to eat crow and man up and say I was wrong.
I don't think you can trade Tmac and his contract this year, and I believe Tracy's issues are all mental.....and he needs to fight through it. I think there is at least a smidgen of hope that Tmac gets through it, but I have NO hope that Ron fits into a team ball system. And, I have been saying that since BEFORE the trade... Artest is tradeable because of his expiring contract, you can Kwame him and get a decent player from a team looking to get some salary cap relief. Tmac has more value next year as an expiring. DD
I agree with another poster. Win or lose, I'd much rather watch Yao and the "role players" than TSlack and Artest. At least they expend energy, move the ball and *try* to play D (I will admit that Landry, Wafer and Brooks are defensively challenged but at least they give effort). I'm so tired of watching players dribble right by TSlack, players grabbing rebounds in front of TSlack, TSlack not closing out, TSlack not rotating, TSlack not fighting through screens, and TSlack not driving the basketball, TSlack walking up court, TSlack standing around on offense, TSlack demanding the ball, and TSlack hoisting up bad shots. Most of my objections are to his LACK OF EFFORT (not lack of skill).
