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

Up 2-0 against dallas AND utah and 3-1 against the pistons and managed to choke all three times....

 

I don't think T-mac's minutes were managed very well.
I don't think Game 7 he could have done much more then he did. What was his stats in game 7? You could argue he choked in that game, but Yao was on in the last 2 minutes and if someone is on you pass it to him.

 

Let me get something straight. Tracy and Yao are the 2 best players on this team. This doesn't mean they are the leaders though. They will be with the media, but in crunch time, it'll be Mike James and Francis hitting the big shots, and they won't be afraid to take them either. During timeouts, you'll see Francis and James riling up their teammates. In the locker-room, Francis and James will do most of the talking. It's no secret TMac and Yao aren't leaders. That's been the knock on both of them most of their careers. I love Yao. I love Tracy's God-given ability to play the game of basketball. But the bottom-line is, if we have Kobe or Wade or Lebron last year instead of Tracy with that same half-baked roster, we get by Utah in 6 or less and maybe even beat SA in the Conference Finals. We were that close, and Tracy couldn't get us over the hump in Games 6 and 7. Same with the Dallas series. Tracy should have put them away in games 3 and 4.

 

That would have something to do with Tracy Carrying the entire team on his hurt back all season !! Hey c'mon Tracy did all he could do but hes human and his body finally gave out ! Not many Michael Jordans come around too often or should I say never come around. You know I'm sick of hearing about Kobe cause if T-Mac wanted to jack up 100 shots per game he looked pretty good as well.....Hey at Least T-Mac isn't a rapist

 

So the other players on T-Mac's teams had nothing to do with those loses ? Oh I guess I have been stupid all these years as I thought each basketball had 5 players on the court at a time and not just 1 vs 5 !!!!!!

 

I quote "IT'S ALL ON ME"

hmm, I wonder who said that.......

 

Give him credit for taking the time to chat. He must have taken a break from polishing Kobe's pole.

 

agreed......I hate to admit it, but after the back injury I agree with Bucher......that's why I think Bonzi playing good this season is the key for us to having success.

 

Bucher is only good for the business aspects of basketball (drafts,trades,news,etc), he knows nothing about playing the game. This opinion of his is useless.

 

^^^^before the back injury I could see Tmac being that guy, but after watching him for an entire season you can see how the injury effected his game....at times he's reluctant to take it to the basket, and he doesn't get the same elevation he used to get....I think tmac realizes this, because this year he really started to look for the open teammate.....that's why I say Bonzi being a 3rd option will be the key to our success.

 

if ONE role player stepped up, not two or three, we'd won.

though tmac played bad, he did dominate game 7 for the most part w/ 29 and 13. sure u can blame him for 2 possessions when we were up 5, but tmac often shoot jumpers.

tmac played teh best game 7 of his career so u can't knock him for game 7.

u can trash him for game 6 b/c he played pathetic.

but game 7 tmac stepped up.

but if ONE role player stepped up consistently ine 4-5 games, we'd won easily.

 

and for the dude who said tmac should be 2nd or even 3rd option, all i can say is wow.

if ur gonna rip tmac, who on this team is ready to take on the #1 role?

yao was even worse than tmac considering the defense that was played on him by sloan and the defender he faced in okur. and there was no a lot of pressure on him to dominate from the media perspective. so yao is not ready.

francis and james - are we talking about the franchise and I'M MIKE JAMES guys? they're ready for the #1 or #2 options?

 

again, judge a guy w/ this kind of injury the 2ND year off of the injury. if tmac plays reluctant and is wildly inconsistent next yr, then i can't disagree w/ ur assessment.

but last year was an adjustment period playing w/ his back again and playing a lot of games again.

remember this dude thought he would have to retire earlier this season.

 

difference Jordan had "nothing" around him when they said those things...Tmac has the games most dominant big man and good enough role players to "at least" get out of the first round

yeah this year will definitely either make or break tmac...and I think he knows it (or at least he should)...if we don't get out the first round this season there could be some changes....

 

again, was yao the most dominant big man in that series? when yao punked the jazz earlier that month during the reg. season, i would have expected yao to have the biggest series out of ANY player during the playoffs? he raelly disappointed me.

tmac played average for his playoff standards so i was disappointed in him too.

but again, tmac is not jordan (or at least yet) or even close to it. i don't know why we should compare him to jordan, who's the greatest of all time.

 

I'm not really trying to compare with Jordan I was just stating that their situations were different and that Tmac had better teammates.......Yao wasn't "dominate" in that series and I do agree with that, but the whole reason Tracy was brought here was to be "that guy" so I expect him to step up in those situations.

 

I agree with him. "TMac-led" being the operative word here.

McGrady can be your best player, but he can't be your leader or the ship will sink.

Rich is a bright guy and he's usually very fair in his analysis. He's the only ESPN guy that I take seriously and he has a pretty good track record to back it up. There are no personal "vendettas" there, just his opinion. But he's the type that picks his words carefully like a lawyer/politician. So if I had to analyze what he said, "TMac-led team" is his way of saying, "Look, as long as the Rockets depend on McGrady to be the leader of the team, and not just its best player, then the Rockets ain't ever winning a championship; someone else will have to step up and take the leadership role, just not T-Mac."

He's right...

That's why it's so important to have another Sura or Elie-type player on this team to lead it and take charge of it because its best players are clearly reluctant to do so. But Yao and T-Mac aren't the "leader" type, they just happen to be very good players.

 

that's true actually. orlando had the worst record when doc rivers named tmac the SOLE CAPTAIN. darrell armstrong was the leader then.

tmac is not a "rah-rah" in your face type of leader. if since most people take that example as a leader, then no, tmac is not gonna be our leader.

he'll be our best player and our go-to guy.

i think our leader has to be a steve francis or mike james or someone who is vocal, fearless...

so the way tigermission puts it, i can't disagree.

 

Tmac deserves all the criticism in the world. He has never past the first round, and he has been up in three series. He needs to take the whole team on his back and carry them.

 

What???