Ric Bucher: I dont see a Tmac-led team winning a chip, EVER

Duncan and Kobe have that championship drive. Nash, Dirk, and Kidd gets his team in the top 4 every year, but never seems to get the ring. They have a rep of playing too soft and choking in the playoffs. Duncan was considered soft, because he liked to take jump shots and layups. However, Duncan, Shaq and Kobe are still tougher than Dirk, Nash, Kidd, and McGrady. Even non-superstars can win rings, if they play tough. Look at the Pistons. Who's best player was Ben Wallace and Billups. Tough physical guys.

 

Bucher is a joke. Between pointing out the obvious and reiterating what everybody already knows it's amazing he has such an important job with ESPN.

I love the idea of semi-important media personalities such as Bucher writing us off. They're all so hopelessly blinded by the absolute MAGNIFICENCE amd PERFECTION that is the Spurs, Mavs and Suns that they sleep on on hungry teams like the Rockets playing with a chip on their shoulders.

I say keep talking and ask any Rockets player or fan if they honestly fear any of the top dawgs in the NBA anymore.

 

great post. tmac doesn't have that inner fire that just oozes out of him. hopefully the constant frustration and the criticism he will receive next yr will push him to get that.

u see glimpses, but it is not a constant w/ tracy. hopefully he'll learn one of these days.

 

yao's game is not dependent on athleticism. that's why it's completely different. and yao is not a perimeter player.

yao's game is in the low post.

u see how a damn shoulder made a magnificent dwade => a good player in the bulls series. if that injury happened to shaq or tim duncan, it wouldn't have affected them as much as dwade.

 

exactly, if u follow the lakers during their championship years, dfish and robert horry were the "locker room" leaders, not shaq or kobe. (i live in LA so i know the assessment from the announcers and fans).

tmac and yao can only lead on the floor. they are not vocal leaders.

 

all dallas focused on in the first 4 games was shaq and shaq only. avery said it. dirk said it.

that's why wade went off. and yes, the refs gave him benefits unlike no other. you can youtube them if u want

 

tmac IS the leader, that's why he got all the blame last yr. rightfully so. i put more blame on tracy than yao b/c i expect more of tracy's greatness.

 

what would the cavs be in he west? can they even make the playoffs? how far would they go?

that should answer your question.

 

sprots analysists are stupid, if bobcats wins championship this year, they will tell you why they are such a legit team and they knew it from the day one. same thing apply to any team, if rockets win a championship, they will put their lip on tmac's ass and do wutever for him.

 

i guess he didnt see this.... http://youtube.com/watch?v=PQUr74KIVu0

its goin down!!!!

 

Its not like timmy D is an outspoken leader either. I think we definitely have a shot at winning a title with our pieces.

 

I disagree. In the playoff games I've seen, Duncan's as vocal a leader as anyone. He's constantly talking to his teammates on the court, giving them encouragement when they need it and getting in their face when they're not playing up to their potential.
The guy may not look it, but he is Mr. Intensity when it counts. And while I've seen Yao and T-Mac show competitive fire with their play, I've never seen them communicate that fire to their teammates like Duncan has.

 

although Bucher might be a bit harsh, there is really nothing to disclaim what he is saying. He's had every freakin oppurtunity, in 01-02 against an injured Hornets team, in 02-03 goin up 3-1 against Det, up 2-0 twice against DAL and Utah!! You get the feeling that Tmac will never get it done, I mean we all have to remember how much he blew it in the Utah series, never was himself, but he had so many chances to reshape his legacy, but it all failed

 

Everything said about T-Mac was said about Jordan, until he got the right pieces around him!

 

Kobe has a campionship drive?... howcome every year without shaq he has been knocked out in the first round?. he blew 3-1 just two seasons ago. thats choking on the highest magnatiude.

 

Attitude is important. Jordan didn't start winning until he was humble. Hakeem didn't start winning until he was humble. Shaq, if you listen to his quotes, didn't win until he was humble. It's funny but the quotes I hear from the Spurs all of last year was about staying humble. It takes a collective mind, body, wisdom, soul, and spirit to win it all--it's not all about talent. You can't have bad thought seeds disturbing that balance. Sometimes less talk is better. Don't let the media trap you as they are good at planting thoughts--know their game...also know yours. This is the most underated factor in the results...

Let the fans talk the trash...use the fans as tools of expression. The greatest man in the world can't do one thing if he tried--look good by extolling himself.

As the great players I mentioned matured, I would be disappointed if Tracy hasn't been humbled by his past--ala Steve Francis...

I can live with we doing our best--the right way...even if we don't win the final prize...I'll step off my soap box now...

 

Excellent post

 

I think it is more difficult for a superstar to singlehandedly take over the game unlike the days of mandatory man-to-man defenses and illegal zone defenses. The rule changes were primarily implemented to change the former direction of the league where the most common play a coach would call was a predictable isolation play for his superstar. I think Allen Iverson was the one who suffered most after the rules were changed. Simply put, it is harder to penetrate when after blowing by your man there is a player planted outside the three second area waiting for the charge.

But the best reply to the statement that " I don't see a team led by Tracy Mcgrady winning a title " would be a dose of Rudy T: " Don't you ever... ever... underestimate the heart of a champion."

 

I could see in game 6, with the Jazz basically begging to be beaten on their floor, T-mac had trouble even dribbling the ball up the court. He looked totally out of energy. I know he has a back condition but I don't understand how his stamina could be so poor? We know that Yao wears down and his turnovers and offense goes to crap when he's tired. If we have two guys and they are our main guys in the same boat it's going to be hard to win a title.

I'm a fan of T-mac but I feel he needs to be more of a second or third option on a team for that team to go all the way. We are going to need Yao, Francis, and James to be the leaders in crunch time. Say what you want about these three guys. One thing you can't say is they don't want to win. All three guys take losing hard and James goes nuts when he loses. We need players like this on our team and we finally have them.

T-mac can turn around and then maybe feed off of them. One X factor we have is Bonzi. The guy was a recking ball in the series against the Spurs. Artest and Bonzi were both pit bulls in that series. It's a long shot but if Bonzi can even sniff the player he was back then the Rockets might be legit contenders for the title this year.

Last but not least we now have Scola. He's going through a transition but he has shown that he is a potential leader and a mutiple time MVP of the best league outside of the NBA. Yes we lacked talent last year and we lacked leadership. Morey has made moved to cover both areas this summer. I say we are ready on paper now we have to go out and prove it.

 

TBack talked a lot of trash before the Jazz serious, then stunk it up. I'll never forgive him for dribbling out the clock right before that half, guess he never heard of Baron Davis...