yes the first yr he came back from an injury. yes you always judge a guy the year he came back from an injury that needed an ambulance to help him off the court. and that injury is his BACK, not ankle/knee/elbows or those types of injuries.
Thats you're opinion. i'm going by what i see. first game where he played real minutes he was told to look for he's shot 30 points in 24 minutes. Not to mention tracy looks leaner and he's first step looks quick again.
I'm going by what I saw last year. I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. Doublehh03, you're slamming Yao to hell from coming back (possibly early) from a broken bone in his knee and putting up slightly underpar performances, while you're giving McGrady a whole freaking year as a pass. Hypocrisy much? If you want to claim the injuries are different.... you need some citations for that, like WebMD. I won't buy it until I see some proof. You're the only one here saying that.
Not to mention tracy had a mvp type year. despite having to carry the whole team. again, when yao was out and tracy was told to go out there and score first, he was putting up 27-7-7. but when yao cameback he took a back seat again and went to he's shell...
we're talking about 2 different types of players. watch how they play? does yao jump high from the floor for rebounds? does yao lose much of his movement when he came back? he looked basically the same. his stamina looked much better coming back. he was fresh. if he was like an amare stoudamire, then i would say give him 2 yrs too. or a dwight howard. but he plays like tim duncan. he plays ON THE FLOOR. tracy plays on the air. the way he jumps for his jumper, he DEPENDS on his elevation. he depends on his quickness and explosiveness. i'm not saying the injuries are different. the PLAYERS ARE DIFFERENT. like i said, if yao's game is similar to amare, then u have a point. amare plays off the ground. yao's game uses VERY little of his athleticism. he uses his strength/height/and skill, like i said ala tim duncan.
On last year yes. yao was the better player for most part of the season because mcgrady was unfit and was told to do to much. however under this offense will he will be told to revert back to what he does best, he will regain he's old status and game. from wat i saw the other night, he has'nt lost he's game, it was just being systamaticaly quashed under a stale system that gundy masquraded as offense. Same thing with yao. yao will be alot better this year. lot more creative and well rounded. if teams try to play collapse defense on him, he can allways step out and nail a mid range shot to stop the collapse d on him.
NOBODY had more responsibility on offense than tmac last year outside of possibly wade (who had to move to PG b/c jwill was injured and payton sucked). his usage rating tells it all. what abcdef failed to recognize is he had the most responsibility coming into a year where he was out of shape, not conditioned, and he didn't work or train on his game ONE BIT. he just sat to heal his back ALL offseason. he did more than kobe, lebron, dirk, melo, iverson, basically all the stars u can name of. he had more responsibilities on this team than anyone can think of. u don't think that hurt his game somewhat? u don't think that's the reason why he was inconsistent? outside of LAST YEAR, tmac never had an inconsistent season like that. in 04-05, he got BETTER every month and going into the playoffs, he was the best player. last yr, he would OWN one month, next month he was just way off. now really, how do u explain that?
is tracy mcgrady schizophrenic? or suffering from senile dementia? Tracy McGrady says getting past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in 11 NBA seasons is not his priority. "You know what? I'm not even trying to get past the first round or setting my goals just to advance past the first round," McGrady said. "My vision is going all the way. I feel that we have some good pieces to our puzzle, and we have a great nucleus of talent. If we can click on all cylinders like we're doing right now for the remainder of the season, I think we control our own destiny. "I'm not worried about trying to advance. I can only go out there and do what I do. If it doesn't happen, just leave everything out there on the basketball floor. That's all I can hope for. I still feel that that window (of opportunity) is still wide-open. It's not closing in a few years. I'm still young." sure he said he wanted to retire last yr but that's when he struggled mightily returning from his back. but earlier this preseason, he said sometimes i don't feel like a 28-yr old. then now he says his window is long enough where he still considers himself young. tracy is my boy and all, but don't reporters see that he sometimes says things without thinking about it? it's like an interview last week for yahoo fantasy. on the houston radio show, he said he'd pick KG first. then on dan patrick, he'd pick jason kidd first. dude needs some medications to stop this ish.
lol. welcome to tmac's world. its maddening how he sets himself up, but i'm resigned to the fact that he's going to say stupid stuff for the rest of his career
hopefully the role players step up so he does not eat his words again. he should take a page out of randy moss, the renewed perfect citizen.
I think the Rox's fate depends more on teamwork under Adleman's system than under Gundy's system. So these sort of power ranking will and should be fluctuating. What counts is the team chemistry rather than individual performance.
1. McGrady (1): McGrady has been attacking the rim instead of jacking up shots, and has obviously been practicing his free throws in the offseason. In the past, the Rockets were a two-man team with Yao and Mac hailed as options 1a and 1b. In the new offense it appears as if T-Mac is adjusting quicker and is the clear #1 option. Even though it’s just two games in, McGrady is averaging 38.5 pts, 5.0 reb, 4.0 ast, on 57% shooting. Gaudy numbers for a guy who traditionally starts slow each season and improves as the months go by. 2. Yao (2): Yao Ming has been having a hard time adjusting to the new offense and does not look as comfortable in the high-post as he does in the low post. In just two games, we can see that consistency is still a big issue for the big guy. Are we going to get the dominating 24+ pts, 10+ reb, 2+ ast/blk guy from LA dominating the post on offense and defense, or the foul prone, missing point blank shots, getting abused on defense, turnover machine from Utah? Either way, the guy has been clutch in the 4th on two occasions. 3. James (5): This guy is still the best pg on this team and has been doing a great job of playing efficiently. He is instant offense and has been digging the starters out of some pretty deep holes early. He generally takes good shots, and passes at the right times. Look for Rafer to still start, but James to finish and play more minutes. 4. Battier (3): Without this guy we are 1-1. Clutch shot to win us the game in LA. Also, stellar defense on Kobe (held him to a low percentage despite the freethrows). Still the best at reading the defense and taking a charge as well. He just needs to knock down more of his open jumpers. 5. Bonzi (4): The first two plays of his new career resulted in back to back turnovers. After he settled in though, he played very well. Bonzi is a stat-filler, in that he will give you a little bit of everything. Exactly what you need from your bench guys. He needs to step up and take on a bigger role than he has been. 6. Hayes (8): Right now, Hayes is the better defender, and more consistent option at power forward. He is the only Rocket averaging over ten boards, and though he is a liability on offense, he only takes shots he knows he can make. 7. Scola (7): He had rookie jitters in game one, but his turnaround was stellar in game two. His play fluctuates much more than Hayes, but at his best, Scola is a much better option at the 4. Fun fact: Scola’s +/- rating against the Jazz was higher than any other Rocket’s (+18!). If he plays more like he did in game 1, and less like game 2, expect his stock to rise. 8. Head (9): Luther has not really done much of anything in the meager 7 minutes per game that he has played. Though it should be noted that the Rockets are plus 7 (Lakers) and plus 10 (Jazz) in the limited time he has seen the floor. 9. Mutumbo (13): Adelman keeps a tight rotation and as such, Mutumbo has only played 7 mpg. Even when Yao was in trouble, Mutumbo didn’t see much time, which means he is on the way outside looking in. Deke has to take better advantage of the small opportunities given to him. 10. Alston (6): Despite the preseason love, Alston has been a disappointment as a starter for the Rockets. He still takes bad running teardrops, and misses wide open looks. He is also averaging 3 turnovers a game which was one of is few strong points last season. When Alston is running things, the team seems to dig themselves into a hole, yet he may keep his job, because with the current formula, the team is still winning. 11. Brooks (11): Hopefully, the Rockets blow out he Blazers so Brooks can get some burn. Of the bench warmers, Brooks has the most upside. 12. Francis (10): Francis was projected to be Adelman’s starter and has completely played himself out of the rotation. Bad conditioning plus a bad attitude have led to his riding the pine and sulking. His only saving grace is that Alston has been performing so poorly, Adelman might just give him a couple of Rafer’s minutes. 13. Landry (14): Landry is extremely important to this team as he is one of the few bigs that we have left with Butler’s release. Landry should develop into a better, taller version of Chuck Hayes, which is nothing to scoff at. 14. Snyder (15): Snyder’s skillset is still a good fit for Adelman’s offense. His basketball IQ still leaves something to be desired however. Still, when called upon, Snyder can fill his role and impact the game. 15. Novak (16): Definitely not NBA ready yet, but luckily with this roster, he doesn’t have to be. His shot is a thing of beauty, but hopefully he can work on his other skills as the season goes on.
All he's saying is that when McGrady is at his best when he is just looking to score. And I tend to agree with him; not having to run the offense has given him so many opportunities to score. I don't see what the problem is here, it's not like he's saying that Yao sucks (although he didn't really impress last night in Utah). Tracy's playing well and we should all enjoy the ride.
1. Yao (2): Yao has shown all of Houston what happens when he gets his touches (San Antonio), and more importantly, what happens when he doesn’t get his touches (Dallas). Yao has come around since starting slow and is becoming the team's offensive centerpiece, as well as the defensive anchor. 2. McGrady (1): After a hot start, T-Mac has cooled significantly. The thing about Tracy is he always finds a way to contribute, even if his shot is off. He needs to consistently drive to the basket and stop jacking up jumpers. 3. Scola (7): Scola is not only a quick cutter the basket on offense, but is a vastly underrated defender. While Duncan and Dirk were shooting right over Hayes, Scola was putting the clamps on two of the best powerforwards in the NBA. 4. James (3): James is the offensive spark plug that digs the Rockets out of holes, and keeps the offense moving. He is always there to hit a big three when Houston needs it, and he keeps the offense from being stagnant. However, aside from his hot three point shooting, James has cooled off, and needs to be less trigger happy. 5. Bonzi (5): Bozi had his coming out party against the Spurs by totally manhandling them in the paint, and knocking down a couple of nice jumpers. If he plays at this high of a level more consistently, his stock will rise. 6. Battier (4): The Spur’s game aside, Battier has been in a shooting slump. The problem is, Battier often has mismatches, but he chooses not to exploit them, or he'll have an open shot, and pass it up. Shane needs to be a little more selfish at times and shoot at a level closer to his performance in San Antonio. 7. Hayes (6): Chuck Hayes has been doing a great job of cutting to the open spots on offense when Yao and McGrady are doubled. However, while he is a great post defender, Chuck is too small to effectively disrupt taller players’ mid range jumpers. Two jump shooting powerforwards have been able to shoot over him with ease. 8. Dikembe Mutumbo (9): Deke has been making great use of the little time given. His short stint as a member of the “twin towers” was extremely effective, as he looked great playing the four position next to Yao. Deke is proving that despite his age he can excel in Adelman’s system, though I don’t expect him to see much more time. 9. Rafer Alston (10): Rafer has continued to play poorly missing wide open jumpers, and making some bad mistakes. However, he is still the best ball handler under pressure, making him a valuable asset when the Rockets panic and start turning the ball over wildly in late game situations. 10. Luther Head (8): Overall, Luther has been pretty invisible lately, though that may be due to his limited playing time. His poor play at the end of the Spurs game (constant turnovers under pressure) alone caused Luther to drop a spot in the power rankings. 11. Steve Francis (12): His attitude has seemingly improved, now if only his work ethic and desire to get into shape would follow. 12. Aaron Brooks (11) 13. Carl Landry (13) 14. Kirk Snyder (14) 15. Steve Novak (15)
When did Dirk do anything over Hayes? Chuck did a great job on him. Actually, Scola gave up the crucial transition 3-pointer to him in the closing minutes of the game. Even Duncan didn't do much against Chuck. What, he hit maybe two or three shots on him? I like Scola, but he isn't the defender Chuck is yet. He'll improve, though.
I like Scola too and think he's going to be improving over the season but these last 2 games for him have been pretty brutal.
