McGrady burned his bridges with the Rockets last year. Rafer had some trouble off the court with the law but he never screwed with the organization. Tracy did, and his skills and abilities just weren't good enough to protect him or make the organization think twice about benching him.
Adelman addressed this: The guy has played ten years in the league and he’s played a certain way. He’s comfortable playing that way because he’s had great success. More than ever because the slim margin for error, the Rockets have to play Adelman's way for them to win games. Hustle, tough defense, running hard, fast breaking all-out basketball. This doesn't match McGrady's style of jogging up the court, standing around when the play isn't called for him or isoing on the wing holding the ball, etc. His lack of defense intensity (and now lack of quickness) don't fit in either. Injury-wise, the team saw McGrady was in the same boat as last year and understandably didn't want to go through that again. He needs to get the bugs out and play himself into shape somewhere else because the Rockets can't afford him that luxury.
Ah, a sensible post! I definitely can't argue with what you posted. If Adelman was looking for domination, not sure why he would be. He knows what to expect. My only gripe has been the amount of time given. to me 12-15 minutes would have made more sense. I don't buy that he was risking games by playing McGrady 8 mins when again, Ariza out there playing more minutes *in his current role* is more of a risk to me. Shifting just 7 of Ariza minutes to McGrady would have been just fine to me. Then again, I'm not the coach. Just an insignificant someone who doesn't agree with him.
There is more to this game than jump shooting. TMac cant hold Arizas jock when it comes to defense or hustle.
Ariza doesn't change the style of the play when he is out there. You can plug him in or take him out and the offensive sets and style don't change. T-mac changes the style of the play. Which is fine if T-mac is so good that it makes sense to do so. But he's not. He's not there yet. And Adelman doesn't want to change the style unless he knows he's getting superstar t-mac. Yes, T-mac probably can contribute more than Ariza, but now without scrapping everything Adelman has put into place since day 1 in the preseason. Adelman would do that if T-mac was truly back to form, or if there was a Yao or Artest to help that along. But without a Yao nor an Artest, Adelman is saying no way. Finally, it makes perfect sense.
The guy don't want him to messup the rotation and his team chemistry..!! I understand that...and he was honest about t-mac and what he is capable of, I think Adelman is great coach and did the best for his team...
I saw quite a few times in his short stint back where he ran back on defense and on the break. I'm definitely not saying McGrady was ready to dunk on people. BUT, I do think he was well enough to make good plays for the team, whether it be drawing fouls, making good passes, or taking good shots which he seemed to do. Injury-wise, this year and last year seem different. Last year, McGrady was asking for more days off (no back to back, off here, on here). This year, he wants more. You say they can't afford the luxury of playing him, and I'll respectfully just argue, shifting 7 of Ariza's minutes would have been just fine. What you lost defensively between #1 and #3, you'd gain for a smarter playmaker. At least that's my feeling. Doesn't matter though. I'm apparently killing time at work since no one else is here.
The difference is that Ariza doesn't stop the Rockets from playing the style that they feel gives the current team the best chance to win. Ariza doesn't stop the ball movement. He doesn't prevent them from running. Ariza is able to play the type of scramble defense that they are using. What Adelman is saying is that if McGrady plays then he will change the style to where the ball goes through him. He also says that McGrady is no longer at the point where that approach will be as successful. He says that McGrady has lost his explosion and first step. He's had troubles on defense. Basically, McGrady wants to still be T-MAC, but he's no longer physically able. It's not about McGrady vs Ariza alone. It's about how each of those guys effects the other 4 players on the court. Unfortunately, McGrady currently has a negative effect on the other guys. He prevents them from playing the way we need to play in order to give ourselves the best chance to win. That's not true for Ariza.
Yeah, but it seemed for the time being at least, that McGrady was indeed running the offense. Hence, the moaning of more touches. He seemed to be moving without the ball, setting screens, coming off screens, running the break, etc. At least this time, he was complaining behind closed doors. Tracy did what they asked of him. They weren't happy with it apparently. If he played like Ariza did, he'd be dominating the ball. Instead he plays like they want him to, and apparently, it's not good enough. I don't blame McGrady for wanting more minutes. He needed them. It really is too bad he wasn't more patient though, perhaps they were coming. But of what I read of Adelman, he didn't see that coming for a long time.
Adelman thought about that and said that he was worried that increasing minutes to 14 would then go to 20 then to 30. T-mac would keep pushing. First it was just to play. Then it was for minutes. Adelman felt that and wanted to limit the impact T-mac had on the play. Look, at the end of the day, this is just that T-mac wasn't willing to be patient enough with RA's plan. That's it. He wanted to play 20-30 minutes and be back to the old way. That wasn't going to happen. It was up to him to adjust, not everyone else. At least not until T-mac could prove he was truly back. This is all on him. Adelman sincerely tried to make something work. You have to admit that. Even the 7 minutes was 7 minutes more than RA wanted to give him. If T-mac wants to remain a Rocket and would he been happy with his role and 7 minutes, he's still be a Rocket. His time would increase when he showed he could do the stuff he always could. He didn't ahve a single dunk in his 6 games. Clearly he is not back to 100%.
He sorta did what they asked and that's why he got his 8 minutes. But he didn't do what was needed - which was to regain his form. He just wasn't patient enough. I really like T-mac and his game, and have been a big supporter of his. But whatever, he got his chance and he decided to move on. It wasn't the Rockets who made that decision - it was him.
Play him more for what reason? RA had already seen enough of what kind of team player T-Mac is LAST year. Adelman knew he wouldn't fit it. Morey knew. Everyone on the entire TEAM knew that Tracy was not going to modify his game to fit the new team-oriented approach.
Your feeling misses the big picture. We courted Ariza during the offseason and promised him a greater offensive role than he had in LA. There were several teams interested in him yet he chose Houston and signed a multiyear contract with the Rockets. Now, you want to take some (7) of his minutes and give them to McGrady despite the fact that McGrady hasn't proven to anyone that he deserves them. And then let's assume that McGrady plays well. That would mean he'd potentially take MORE of Ariza's minutes. If the Rockets were to do that, it would be the equivalent of them telling Ariza that they had no faith in him or his future with the team.
Maybe we were watching a different player, but I didn't see McGrady run very hard in his short stints. I also admit to missing some of his playing time. If his minutes were increased, I bet you anything the hard running you saw would NOT have continued. Neither would his improved shot selection. The more time and the more comfortable he became, the more the old McGrady would come out. I'll take Adelman's word on this year vs. last year. Clearly McGrady wasn't 100% and was holding back when I watched him this month. That roller-coaster ride made everybody sick last year. I won't argue about Ariza's poor shooting and shot selection. But the difference is McGrady's presence on the court affects everyone just because of who he is. And Ariza does make up for some of his dumb shots by hustling and playing tough defense.
One of the most insightful interviews in recent history. Finally it's out in the open and laid to rest many of our curiosities. Some complain Adelman didn't give Tmac a chance and tried to sabotage him. I think it's the exact opposite. True, RA wasn't impressed w/ Tmac in practice and didn't think he could fit into what the team is doing now. And despite all that he still gave Tmac 8 minutes a game to give him a chance to prove it in the game. Tmac had his chance. He played on the court. Adelman would have given Tmac more minutes when he meshed better. But he didn't want to wait, he didn't want to fit in, he just wanted to placate his ego. The Houston Rockets' goal - Winning. Tmac's goal - Prove I'm still a superstar.
Looks to me like McGrady got his way with Van Gundy in terms of how to run the offense, wants the same deference from Adelman, and isn't getting it. And I doubt the difference is between Van Gundy and Adelman. I think it's between the McGrady of '04 and the McGrady of today. Send the current McGrady into Coach Van Gundy's office, and he gets the same wall.
let's see how rick will handle yao's return. yao is coming back from a more serious injury and he will be slower. and nobody knows if yao will ever return to his previous level of play. all of these questions are reasons adelman states in this interview as to why he didn't play mcgrady much. we will see if the same situation in terms of how he handles yao's minutes will unfold.
