To answer your question, no - I didn't see JVG as being open to play a rookie seeing as how his job is on the line this year. JVG needs wins and a good trip into the playoffs and given his nature was more apt to depend on veteran players to see him through. That's why he was so eager to make that trade for Battier, a known quantity, for Gay, an unknown quantity. This has been my biggest gripe with Dawson's tenure as GM - the way they have consistently blown off using the draft to acquire young talent for the roster because it always seems to catch up with them in the end (I wonder how many times this year we will hear that the Rockets have "trouble" with young athletic teams). Which also poses another interesting question: Exactly, what would have happened had they been able to draft Brandon Roy? Boy, do you ever raise a good question on Tmac's "attitude". I was completely floored when I read about this being his "last" contract and maybe he'll take up baseball and so on. That doesn't sound like a guy who burns with the desire to win a championship to me.
whats really sad is Rudy Gay - 9pts / 4rebs (21 mins) and playing alot better lately. Stromile - 9pts / 4rebs (23 mins) with inconsistent playing time. with Tmac out I wonder what kind of numbers Gay / Stro would have with the Rockets? better than Shane - 9pts / 4rebs (37mins) ? maybe / maybe not. J
I would love to see T-mac form a mid-range jumper and maybe a little fadaway from 10 or 11 feet like Karla Malone or Jordan did near the end of their careers. This would work really well especially since driving the lane seems to screw up his back, it would make him effective with minimal banging. It might also cut back on those 3 pointers he always relys on when he cant seem to get into the lane.
How do you expect shane to step up when rafer is the apparently the 2nd option? Isn't he the one that is supposed to get shots for everybody? I especially like it when battier is trying to post up (remember he does have that nice left handed hook shot) and rafer looks the other way and doesn't get him the ball. Rafer is starting to turn into steve francis. Dribble. Dribble. Shoot.
Shane is the type of player who scores because the players around him are threats. If yao is the only threat then he won't produce as much offensively. Like I said before he's not one to force up shots just to get points. For that reason, depth matters. if hehas more players around you that can score, then he will score more. Your right this thread isn't about him tipping the ball to others, running and jumping to the floor, but for that reason you should look at his rebounding stats. If he hustles like he does to gain possession for us, then why would it matter that he gains a fraction of a rebound to meet his caree average. CAREER AVERAGES Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 06-07 HOU 25 25 37.1 .451 .388 .667 0.8 3.3 4.1 2.9 1.2 0.8 1.16 2.40 8.6 Career 421 304 32.6 .454 .382 .742 1.8 3.0 4.8 1.8 1.3 1.0 1.12 2.60 10.4 He doesn't go to the line much. That's just not his game, so why would it even matter what percentage he's shooting. Shane's just a very efficient player. That's what we got him for. Not at all for his scoring, so if your looking for scoring then look elsewhere.
Shane is our Bruce Bowen. You can't expect him to be a legitimate offensive threat. You can only hope that he does enough offensively to keep his defender honest.
Shane needs to go to the post more often. He can post almost every SF in the league, and his baby hook is usually money. It's a much more reliable option than Rafer Alston.
Hillboy, where did this come from, I didn't see it in the previous posts? You know, the more I see and hear from TMac, the more I think he suffers from depression. We have a team of nice guys, but I don't see the level of "competitiveness" that I would like to see. I see it in spurts, but not consistently. How bad do they want it, probably not as much as the fans do. Through the history of the league, there are certain players who have an internal fire that rarely if ever goes out. Jordan, Bird, Magic, etc. I wonder about Yao sometimes, I think he has it and then I think he doesn't. Same with TMac.
I totally agree that Battier has done an amazing job hustling and playing defense. I brought this topic up on another thread, and I feel that Battier needs to step his game up on offense. Someone mentioned how he can't create his own shot. Battier CAN create his own shot on the low block, posting up. JVG needs to find a way to get Battier more involved on offense, cuz our offense is getting really predictable. I don't blame Battier for not scoring alot, but I blame JVG for not gettin Battier the ball in a position to score.
Oh man, that was from an interview that Tmac did over a month ago during a TV telecast of a Rockets' game. In this interview, he was talking about the physical toll playing in the NBA has taken on his body and how this could very well be his last contract. He also talked about playing baseball. That's when the posts questioning Tmac's desire to play started appearing. I can't speak for the depression angle but something is definitely amiss with him. At this point in time, he does appear to be in a period of decline. The Tmac of 2006 is most definitely not the Tmac this team thought they acquired in 2003. Even when he was healthy enough to play, he was a far cry from the Tmac everyone considers to be an elite player.
