http://youtube.com/watch?v=OHVOMirl9qk http://youtube.com/watch?v=suQISupcgvI Those are highlights of T-Mac's first 2 games of the season...tell me how that resembles ANYTHING he was doing last year. Last year was pick and roll after pick and roll, and the occasional iso from straightaway. This year, before Adelman started using last year's sets and before Mac's leg injuries, T-mac was getting off ball plays called for him, he was getting iso's in places that promoted GOOD HIGH % shots, and he wasn't having to shoulder the playmaking load like last year (although he still racke dup his 5APG). Yes, and they had been with T-Mac in the lineup the last few games he was HEALTHY (1st Detroit game, Bulls game, etc..). With many 4-5 day breaks between games since early-mid December, the team has gotten better and better as a group running this system, and they have used less and less of JVG's sets. The biggest problem has been that in that time T-Mac has not been healthy. Let's wait to see how T-mac plays after he comes back as now the team as a whole has "got" the new system. I simply don't think he has shrugged off the system like most have said.
I wonder when was the last time a running team won the title? on sirius 2 yrs ago, jvg said tracy was a loafer as well as yao. he said that was the reason they signed swift to give the rox a finisher. I ask any of you that want this uptempo rox, where are the finishers? I don't discount anything, look at things through my eyes, but if jefferson is so good and would ift this team, why jersey struggles in the east with kidd at the helm. when yao is single covered and pushed off the blks, u think jefferson is going to nake it happen? I don't care what people from the outside say, this team is lotto bound with that next rung player. if you want to do something. go get that 3rd guy.
i thought tracy mcgrady was a half-court player the first year we had him. there's nothing wrong with that but he's most definitely not a willing runner and yao isn't exactly a greyhound. i didn't listen to this interview because justice is a complete idiot and i'm not sold on bucher. if all they did was reveal that mcgrady doesn't like to run, then this isn't exactly a newsbreaker.
You're right, and most people don't know that Denver plays pretty good defense. Denver gives up 103.3 points per 100 possessions (good for #4 in the league). The Rockets give up 104.0 points per 100 possessions (#5 in the league). People just don't understand that the Nuggets play the fastest pace in the league by far.
man, bucher really laying it on t-mac. yao needs to become the leader of this team, that much is evident.
per bucher, tmac- "Is he one of those guys people say 'I'd want him guarding my back in a foxhole' about? As talented as he his, no he's not one of those guys."
bucher pretty much reiterated everything i've said on here. 1) adelman is NOT the problem, and t-mac or yao will go before he does. 2) t-mac is a main reason why we're last in fastbreak points
Bucher didn't make any brilliant comments. We didn't draft Tracy McGrady. We didn't trade a better player to get Tracy McGrady. When we traded Francis and Mobley for McGrady, we upgraded this team. It truly was the best we could do at the time, especially in hindsight. If we keep McGrady, we are better off than before we got him. If we trade McGrady, we will get more in return that we would have for Francis, Mobley, etc... The real problem, one which Bucher completely failed to mention, is why we were in a position where we had to trade one misfit (Francis) for another team's misfit (McGrady). The answer is Les Alexander, Carroll Dawson and all the other bums that wasted draft pick after draft pick and signed bad contract after bad contract over the course of nearly a decade. Those numerous bad picks resulted in lost opportunities to bring in young, quality players. Those numerous bad contracts prevented this team from pursuing the good free agents during offseasons due to limited cap space. Don't you remember all the recent summers where the Rockets had nothing more than a mid-level exception to bargain with and Les not wanting to pay too much luxury tax? Those numerous players that ended up on this team through bad draft picks and bad contracts also left us with few options to make good trades. Why would other teams want bad players or bad players getting paid too much money? Again, trading for McGrady was patchwork for previous mistakes. From this perspective, it wasn't a bad deal. We got lucky in that case and actually received the better end of the deal, even when considering McGrady's shortcomings. Once again, Bucher didn't make any brilliant comments. He is a good analyst but brought nothing new to the table in this case. I guess he didn't care to bring his good stuff for a local bum like Richard Justice. He was probably taking a dump while he was doing the interview and getting ready for something more important.
Im curious... what was you sign in names for the Toronto and Orlando fan forms.... im interested to see what your excuses for Mclady were then
I don't think the interview was especially insightful. On the other hand what it did do was confirm some of the rumors that have been floating around. Sam Smith reported that some people in the Rockets organization think that T-Mac doesn't fit into the offense. Go back and listen to the Bucher interview. Justice says something like "I didn't understand that Tracy did not want to run. I thought Yao would be the one struggling to fit into the new offense but it's Tracy". Bucher goes on to agree and talk about how in the JvG era he got the inside line that T-Mac didn't want to run then. That strongly implies to me that Justice has heard something independantly of Bucher, and probably Smith. My guess is that people in the Rockets organization are genuinely concerned about T-Mac and the new offense and that people in the know, professional sports writers, are aware of the problem. Also note that the next question down the line is whether or not T-Mac can be traded.
Excuse me if I'm not going to get all giddy and start drinking the kool-aid over a team that isn't winning the type of games that they did win last year. McGrady still happened to be our leading scorer against Chicago, while playing within the system (as you said, he wasn't). Then again, Chicago was bad enough that they fired their coach the next day. This isn't me "downplaying" the success... it was a fact that Chicago was a very beatable team that was completely discombobulated when we played them. I guess we aren't as bad as that... hot-damn. Denver DID play awful defense... if only because not once did they really deny Yao the ball. They played him straight up with Camby, then ATTEMPTED to front with Najera. Actually, Najera held Yao in check throughout the overtimes. We also hoisted up a crap-load of 3's... many of them guarded... not exactly the prototypical "system" that Adelman had in mind. The results WERE mixed against Boston. Offense didn't look good in the first (Yao 2-11), then they found some breathing room in the 2nd, got in a pretty damn good rhythm in the 3rd and early 4th with Brooks/Bonzi leading the way... then couldn't score to close the game (Yao held in check by KG after their bigs fouled out). Out of all the games cited, I was most pleased with this effort... but I'm not going to be content and say I'm satisfied with it, mainly because it should have been to our advantage that their bigs fouled out, not vice versa. Getting exposed vs. Golden State involves us having less of an answer to the fronting defense than we did under JVG, and showing the true regression in defense from last year. We should be beating teams like GS at home... not getting blown out by them... unless you think we're right where we should be (which is barely a .500 non-playoff team). Losing to Detroit and beating Memphis is what is expected of this team as it is right now... nothing more, nothing less. Still doesn't mean the "system" is clicking on all cylinders. Its not... and until this team starts showing more consistency, and actually WIN some of these games they're in, I'm not going to take ANY moral victories and put them in the bank as a predictor of future success. The next game against Orlando should be pivotal. If they maintain the improvement in offense, and keep Yao involved, there's no reason they shouldn't be in a position to beat them. Then again, they did lose to this team at home 2 weeks ago, and I'm sure your excuse will be "oh, you're going to be upset that they lost a road game to a team with a winning record..."
Toronto made the interesting move IMHO when they handed the reins to Colangelo the younger and he transformed them from a destination American players disdained to one aspired for internationalists. Injuries have held Raps back, but their return to respectability is a blueprint I would love for the Rox to adopt. Yes, it is time to 'blow it up', and it's a cultural war.
i think tmac is getting way to much criticism. People are so convinced tmac is an injury faker that they have convinced themselves, regardless of whether it's right or wrong. Tmac did look pretty dang good early on and I don't think its a coincidence that his play started to significantly decrease leading up to him missing time. But this teams problem go well beyond tmac. As for the interview...i disagree greatly with Buchers point that tmac purposely doesnt run because he wants more shots thats just stupid. I think tmac has dispelled that selfish Me-mac label. what Bucher was right about was the shortsightedness of firing jvg, not hiring thibs, and hiring adelman. People just wanted a change so much they blindly leaped before they looked and thought. Sad. it was also good to hear, again, that JVG gave the green light to run. I'm so sick of people accusing the "walk it up style" on JVG. Just more blind and ignorant bashing. Not to mention this year it is clear this team is not an uptempo team...at least not a very good one.
Tmac doesn't like to run? Are you serious? You guys dont remember in his first year here after we got Wesley, Jon Barry and Mike James the team started running more and was awesome to watch in the fastbreak?
Whatever DD said, it is just RIGHT ON the spot about this TMAC issue. I can't agree more with this. If you go and watch the games in the beginning of the season when Rox were 6-1, you will see how TMAC ran with the rest of the team. and by doing this, his scoring went up as well!! but for some reason, he just became lazy and stopped running. I know scola runs, aaron brooks runs, hayes runs, luther head runs, rafer runs..... there is not a questions that it is his teammates that are not running, it is TMAC that has given up on that. the sad thing is that it was TMAC who said that he loves adelman offense and that it will give him a chance to play more with a freestyle and that is what he likes, yet he stopped doing that. Man, I don't know what this guy needs to motivate himself, but he surely looses motivation FAST!!! he claims that its all on HIM, yet I don't think he has the passion to excel in the league.... to him, being paid is the most important. But to true superstars, after a couple of years, money is not their main concern, because they will get in millions regardless, it is about exceling and being the best is what matters to them. TMAC does not have that. As a fan, we have given him way too much time to prove, and you just can't sit on it and watch Yao's career go away because we believe in tmac. TMAC needs to believe in himself first.
So you wanted to get rid of the coach that uses Yao's and Tmac's strengths only to get rid of the player that doesn't adapt to the new coach. You are a real piece of work.
I don't think he "got lazy," and stopped running. That's a ridiculous argument. He was among the league leaders in scoring and then he "got lazy?" Just dumb. He's said he's been bothered by that knee for weeks, maybe that is a more plausible explanation. And why does anyone care what Bucher thinks? He's a known McGrady hater who has no objectivity. I'm glad he likes Yao, and the book he wrote with Yao was fun to read. But he ain't exactly a friggin genius. He thought Yao would be MVP this year. Ooopppsss. I get more meaningful basketball analysis by smelling my farts than listening to those two idiots.
No, I want the player to commit to a game plan that works in today's NBA...you know the early offense NBA, where because zones are legal it is better to get a good shot early in the offense then pound it and allow the defense to set. I want a WINNING style from all our players, especially Tmac. If Tmac will honestly commit to running.....this team will fly.......and for those of you saying Yao can't run, just go back and watch the showtime Lakers...or Celtics of that era.....you don't have to be fast to run......you can be the trailer on a break, you can send the outlet pass..... The team needs to run.....not every trip down the floor, but enough to keep the defense honest. What I would do, if coach, is when Tmac gets back, have the team run...and get early shots.....force Tmac to run to get his shots.....got to change the style, because last year's style will not work anymore in the NBA. It is a team game.....and the rules have empasized that.... DD
