I just want to change the tone/mood of the constant whine threads for a change. Sorry for those that like them I feel like I can breathe again knowing Tracy seems to be back to his former self. Everytime he "makes" now, I find myself saying, "YES, HE'S BACK!!!" Scary thing (to opponents) is that he hasn't even shown that much emotion yet. Just a little here, a little there. You can see the confidence come out a little, but not that fire he had a couple seasons ago...yet. I think it's coming though, and I can't wait. P.S. Lighten up guys/gals. We have a good record. Things aren't perfect, but things could be a lot worse. The team knows what to work on. Just enjoy the games...at least it's not like last season.
NO doubt he's back with a good back. I don't care if we get the number 8 spot for playoffs as long as both Tmac and Yao are healthy when it comes, we're in the money for another ring.
I agree he looks great, let's see how he responds when he has to play a quicker player...... Actually, I know this sounds callous, but Yao being out might be the best thing for the team. It forces Tmac to regain his form, and then when Yao comes back...totally healthy and rested, the Rockets will be ready to take off and rage against the league. DD
You know, I noticed last night, his defense was very weak. Mac would play off him a lot, and then when the pass would come, he wouldn't really try too hard to get a hand in his face. I could be off though. I don't know if he was getting tired or just saving his energy for the offensive end, but Wilkins was getting easy looks until later in the game. I only noticed once or twice that TMac really played him tough down the stretch. So yeah, I agree. I'm curious to see when he has to guard someone quicker and/or more aggresive since he didn't have to guard their top guy most nights.
too early to say so, better wait until he finishs all Jan. games, especially, VS SPURS, JAZZ, WOLVES, BULLS, DALLAS and SUNS./
hahaha, true, but I think the duo of McGrady and Yao on the floor to start is paramount for a good start. Try to command the game before it even really gets going. You saw how dominate we were at the beginning of the season, and Tracy was off then. Imagine now...maaan...
Oh, sorry, my title was meant as a question. But I'd say 3 very good games is a good start. His game 3 games ago was only 2 and a half quarters of work.
Normally his d intensity starts from low to high. If the person he is guarding is doing well then he increases it. One time last night, he was trying to check Ray, trying to stretch again, same thing he did against Arenas when he overstreched his back, I could see that he was very cautious doing that. He held his back right away after the shot.
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but we saw this T-Mac at about this time a year ago. 12/28/05: 38 pts, 8 reb, 7 ast 12/29/05: 32 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast 1/03/06: 38 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast 1/05/06: 34 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast 1/06/06: 37 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast 1/08/06: 11 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast (in 19 minutes -- injured)
The better T-Mac play now, the more I worry about his health. I want to see how things going two months later.
when yao come back, tmac still has this performance then I will agree this. Tmac and jvg need to know how to play with a slow yao and how to balance the load to all players.
if tmac and yao didn't miss a game this season...by my count we would have won 5 more games. 1. the heartbreaker against the warriors - they crowded yao down the stretch. no one else could do anything on offense. tmac would've made a world of difference. 2. the blown lead against the lakers - the very next night after the heartbreaker, we give up a lead because they too crowd yao in the 4th. 3. nail biter in portland - lost by 2. only scored 87. tmac would've helped put some points up. 4. role players lose against the clippers - yao goes down... no mac or yao and we only lose by 5. 5. close one in indy - with tmac back we only score 76. yao would've helped put some points up to we can outscore the pacers 81 points. those 5 games would've put us at the top of the league. literally we would be tied for #1 with dallas and currently on an 11 game winning streak.
