[Rockets.com] McGrady, James set for marquee matchup

It looks like you missed my point entirely.

What I'm saying is if he's fragile enough that he's going to get injured from playing with fire and determination on a nightly basis (aka "taking the ball to the basket instead of shooting long jumpers like a disinterested girly man"), then the battle is already lost. He needs to play hard every night and let the chips fall where they may. I firmly believe we won't see a single championship out of him unless he has that mentality.

 

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A Brief look back on the many Tmac vs Bron battles:​

First Ever meeting: Christmas Day 03
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=231225019
Magic win 113-101 in OT
LeBron: 34Pts (13-28), 6Ast, 2Reb, 2Stl, 1Blk, 8T.o.
Tmac: 41Pts (15-29), 11Ast, 8Reb, 3Stl, 1Blk, 2T.o.

LeBron had one of his best games of his young career but the Rookie was no match for Tmac on this night, After the game Lebron was quoted: "He is an All-Star, He is a future Hall of Famer. Guys like him you cannot stop, you can only hope to contain him."





The Rematch: January 26, 2004
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=240126005
Cavs win 99-98
LeBron: 16Pts (7-19), 3Ast, 5Reb, 2Blks, 3T.o.
Tmac: 36Pts (11-19), 2Ast, 1Reb, 1T.o.

This was the game where Tmac was on fire shooting tying an NBA record for most 3's in a half but sadly had to leave the game after only 25 minutes and the Magic lost on a Rod Strickland airball.





Matchup #3: February 27th, 2004
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=240227019
Cavs win 112-107 in OT
LeBron: 30Pts (11-19), 3Ast, 11Reb, 3Stl, 1Blk, 3T.o.
Tmac: 35Pts (11-32), 8ast, 4Reb, 3Stl, 1T.o.

Another OT thriller with both Tmac and Bron playing at their best, but in the end LeBron closed the game out scoring 6 in OT, while Tmac went 1-6 in the same span and was quoted after the game: "LeBron is incredible, really, Nothing rattles him at all. He's extremely confident and a real competitor. At the age of 19, that's scary."






Matchup #4 Cut Short: December 29th 2004http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=241229005
Rockets win 98-87
LeBron: 3Pts (0-5), 5ast, 3Reb, 17Minutes
Tmac: 34Pts (13-31), 5ast, 7reb, 1Stl, 1T.o.

Sadly Mutumbos razor sharp elbows deprived us of what was going to be a great matchup, this was the game that forced LeBron to start wearing the Mask.





Matchup #5: March 24, 2005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8doMMmt7c0
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=250324010
Rockets win 99-80
LeBron: 19Pts (7-22), 8Ast, 4Reb, 1Stl, 2T.o.
Tmac: 31Pts (11-21), 5Ast, 4Reb, 2Stl, 3T.o.

Check out the game recap on youtube Tmac was amazing, Lebron had an off night. After the game Tmac had this to say "I just wanted to come in this game and stay aggressive -- go to the hole and not settle for the jumper, I'm just trying to get out of that slump. To do that, you just go to the hole, get your confidence that way and everything will open up."





Matchup #6: January 5th, 2006
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=260105005
Rockets Win 90-81
LeBron: 32Pts (13-19), 5Ast, 9Reb, 1Stl, 3T.o.
Tmac: 34Pts (14-29), 5Ast, 5Reb, 2Stl, 4T.o.

Without Yao in the Lineup and with Tmac recently coming back from injuries no one thought the Rockets had a chance against the 19-10 Cavs. Things changed quickly as Tmac did most of his damage early and hit key jumpers late in the game to seal the W.





Matchup #7: 2006 All Star Game in Houston
http://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/NBA_2006.html
East Wins 122-120
LeBron: 29Pts (12-21), 2Ast, 6Reb, 2Stl, 1T.o.
Tmac: 36Pts (15-26), 2Ast, 0Reb, 1Stl, 1Blk

With the All Star game being held in Houston you knew Tmac was going to come out shooting, and had a sick cross on LeBron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C14ZwE4ybI
But in the end with the game on the line and LeBron gaurding him, Tmac chose to shoot over LeBron and the Refs chose not to call the foul, and forced Tmac to watch LeBron hoist the All Star Game MVP.

 

thanks for that post Chronz. Something tells me your super pumped up for this game!!

Hopefully McGrady rises to the occasion. I forecast Bron having the better numbers , and prob the more impact on the game - but the Rocks shold pull it out with a big game from Yao.

 

Geeze. So if McGrady goes out and have a great game... You'll criticize him. If he still stay in his slump and goes 5-29 he'll still be criticize. This is a lose-lose situation for McGrady.

 

I love that quote...

Ohhh T-Mac.

 

In terms of scoring he's been really bad this season. Not good, not average. Bad. One reason for this is that he seemingly refuses to take the ball to the basket for higher % shots. So yes, if he suddenly starts flying all over the court tomorrow showing us the total package and he drops 50, I'd be ecstatic for that moment, but in retrospect that would just show that the reason his scoring has been so bad this year is totally due to lack of effort. Not because he's been deferring to Yao, not because of a health issue, not a mental thing. A heart thing. Why shouldn't I have a problem with that?

And no, it's not a lose-lose situation. He can have a good game and I'll be all smiles, but if his entire approach to the game looks different I'm going to want to know where that's been for the first month of the season. You get what I'm saying?

 

Now that you put it in those terms I see what you're saying.

And it seems like McGrady only has good games against All-Star gaurds and/or when he get's ticked off. Like in the Milwaukee Bucks game earlier this season - It was R.Patterson that seems to light the fire underneath McGrady. The first two play of the game... the Bucks went right to R.Patterson who tried to post up McGrady twice. After those two plays - McGrady went 11-19 scoring 32 points. He also had 11 FT attempts (hitting 7) so he was taking it to the rack. Hmm...

It does seem like McGrady isn't motiviated anymore. Maybe he needs people to motivate him? That's just McGrady I guess.

 

I just think T-mac is the type of player who plays according ot how he's playing. If he's playing great, then he would take it to the basket more, take contact. If he isn't playing great, then he's going to settle for jumpshots all night. So If he plays well tonight I see it as more of a mental acheivement. Remember that first half where all he did was be agressive? This has happened before during the season so if he does that tonight then I wouldn't mind.

Even if it was a heart thing. I like the fact that he steps up to the challenge, which hopefully means he would step up big in the playoffs. Sure, it would be unfortunate that he doesn't play to his best every night, but at least he would perform when it matters. Of course we don't know if this is going to happen or not, so we cannot judge yet.

 

Lol. Lebron is T-mac minus his nice jumper, with kobe's fire.

 

Historically, McGrady has always improved his play once the calendar switched to December, so there is reason for optimism. I don't think there's much question that his play will continue to improve: it seems that most people are frustrated because no one- including Tracy himself- knows how long it will take for his game to completely round into form.

The back injury has really set McGrady back in terms of his preparation for this season. Because he didn't want risk re-injury, he limited his off-season shooting and basketball workouts, focusing instead on muscle strengthening exercises, and it shows in how inconsistent his shot has been thus far in '06-07.

LeBron James has always brought out the best in McGrady, but it's important that Tracy focuses on taking high-percentage shots, particularly from fifteen feet and closer. I would like to see Van Gundy incorporate more post-ups into the Rockets offense, something he did more the previous two seasons. The Rockets used to regularly run a play that allowed McGrady to post on the right block. It's similar to a play that JVG used to run for Larry Johnson when he was coaching in New York. I haven't seen the play used as often this season, though I could be mistaken.

 

I got you. All I can add to that is that I agree with what you are saying but..b/c of last year I don't mind him "managing" his intensity...so to speak...depending on the opponents. I hate that...I wish his back was solid..but he's had issues going back to orlando. All those hi-light reel dunks have taken a toll

 

Glad T-mac seems motivated for this game. He may have talked a little more than I would have like him to, but that's just Mac being Mac. Go Rocks!

 

Here we go again


This better not be serious.

 

It may be TMac vs. LeBron, but so far it's Deke 2, LeBron/TMac 0.

 

LOL! Precisely.

 

HAHAHAHA..... maybe I shouldn't be laughing so hard, but I can't help it.