Hope not. But Tmac is averaging 20pts/6rebs/6asts right now. I remember that this is the line of stats that Steveive used to be bragged about. Stevie Franchise as Rockets averaged 99-00 18.0/5.3/6.6 on 44.5% pct (6.5/14.5) 00-01 19.9/6.5/6.9 on 45.1% pct (6.9/15.2) 01-02 21.7/6.4/7.0 on 41.7% pct (7.4/17.7) 02-03 21.0/6.2/6.2 on 43.5% pct (7.1/16.2) 03-04 16.6/6.2/5.5 on 40.3% pct (5.7/14.1) As of right now Tmac averages 19.3/6.2/6.3 on 41.2% pct (6.8/16.6) Just something interesting to notice. 20/6/6 is a very special combo. I think Kobe averaged it for several of his seasons too.
Comparing TMac to SF3 is an insult to TMac. I feel TMac is becoming another Magic Johnson. Yes, we have Kareem Jabbar in Yao, and Magic in TMac. The only thing we miss are some quality role players.
I agree on TMac playing alot like Magic Johnson. I have seen alot of what Magic did and TMac is very similar on both size, quickness, court vision, and decisions. He is still a much better slasher than Magic was, but in all reality Magic had better court vision. Yao being another Kareem, a little early to give him that high a praise, no? .
Ok, I have to give that 20/6/6 was the high light for Stevie, but a lot of people think Tmac is underperforming with that kind of number esp scoring.
Difference is, Steve Francis was the PG and T-Mac is the SG/SF. Meaning, he's the second passing option. If Rafer, a better distributor than Stevie, can't find an opening, then T-Mac will go at it. But if you put Steve at SG instead of T-Mac, he won't be as effective, as the Knicks have discovered. Not to mention this is T-Mac's floor, which is Francis' ceiling. Oh and T-mac is regularly a much better defender than Francis, and when he puts his mind to it, infinitely better than Francis. This is in fact a poor season for T-Mac. He may be averaging a career high in assists, but he's also averaging a career high in TO's. He's usually a more efficient passer. The bright side is, T-Mac is getting better, we can see it. His FG% and asst/to ratio is improving, and THAT's what's important for this team. How efficient he is in this new role. Taking advantage of the reduced attention he's recieving to either draw the defense back to him with efficient shooting, then once the defense arrives, exploit them with efficient passing.
if tmac can hit at a higher percentage from the FT line his PPG would easily be over 20+ i'll take a 20+ 6 reb 6 ast tmac at say 45%FG.. he needs to just take better shots.. instead of jacking up 3's
Steve's numbers was pretty much his ceiling. Tracy's numbers...he CAN do better but it seems like he's not motivated to. Riding Yao until postseason when he can tear it up perhaps?
no you can see the motivation in his face on the court he prefers to reduce his scoring in exchage for facilitating the offense. and why not? he is drawing the defenses attention (doubling and tripling him)...then instead of forcing it every time for a less efficient shot, he finds someone else for a much easier shot. Good team basketball....we dont need him to be the ORL Tmac...we need him to be the triple threat Tmac...the one that can either break you down and drive to the hole, the one that can rise up and shoot over the best defender you got, or the one that can get the rest of the team good shots. I would much rather have a guy like that then a selfish scoring machine that takes all the shots.
t-mac is doing exactly what we need him to do. i don't care what rule changes they make or what team we're playing, we have a dominant inside presence and he should be option #1 every single time. tracy doesn't have to be the orlando t-mac every night, he just needs to have the ability to be that guy anytime he feels like it. i think the athleticism is still there i just think his confidence was a bit shaken in the beginning. imo, the whole lost a step comment was him speaking out when he was down on his game. he may not be exactly the same player but he's pretty freaking close should he choose to be. he's adjusting to a new role and doing it very well and as he gets more comfortable in balancing his scoring and passing we may very well see the best of tracy mcgrady ahead of us.
Agreed BigM - excellent post. TMac sure keeps the defenses guessing as he breaks them down and can dish or score. No running out of time on the clock for this team. TMac is making it easier for Alston -less pressure to create. What a player for a point guard to have helping him!!! Go TMac !- Go Rockets!- we are getting better every game...
you guys are kidding yourselves. and not too be rude but slightly delusional. your saying this about mcgrady because your content about the team winning. but to say he is playing better basketball, or a better "style" right now is wrong. from tmac's orlando days he is shooting a lower fg%, 3pt%, ft%. he is slightly lower in rebounds, steals, and blocks. but slightly higher in Turnovers and Personal Fouls. But to make everyone feel better averaging a slight improvement in assists of about .7 and the last thing would be a pretty big drop in ppg. at this point if he was able to score like he did in Orlando having to take on the toughest defensive assignment every night. and has yao ming giving him easier looks at the basket then i promise you we would have a better record this year.
Why bother comparing his numbers to his ORL days when he was a one man show without Grant Hill (as his Yao counterpart). Of course his numbers are going to be higher as his number of shots were higher. This is the first time in Tmac's career that he's had a dominate big man to play off of and it shows as he's making the game easier thus he's playing smarter. I'll take 20/6 & 6 from him because he can still take over a game when it counts in the 4th Qtr ala Magic and that's what we need. Go back two years in the Dallas series and it looks like all of our role players were a little tepid and relied on Yao and TMac too much and did very little the final 5 games of that series. With Tmac getting his team involved early, they will be a confident bunch throughout the season heading in the playoffs. You think Skip, Head, Billy, Novak, Chucky, Kirk or Bonzi (when he returns) will not battle and hold their own come late May esp after a successful 58-60 wins? Tmac's play is evident that he's serious about winning and enjoying the process so I'm lovin' it!
Tracy for one has a brain and uses it to be a pretty smart basketballer, furthermore he is willing to play second fiddle to Yao, and finally he also plays defense....... and with that Tracy's name will never be mentioned in association with Steve Francis' name every again.......
Well in the T-Mac vs. Magic comparision, Magic has better post game than T-Mac and T-Mac is the better slasher...But the rip on Francis' game wasnt his unwillingless to play D...he was a pretty good defender from my memory...he just couldnt figure out when to distribute and when to take over a game...and he dribbled a bit too much....All and all, T-Mac is just doing what he thinks is best for the team..plus it looks like his shot is back anyways...so now it looks like he'll shoot when he has to...but given the choice he'll let his teammates shoot...he looks like he's enjoying himself out there...
Francis also turned the ball over like a mofo. Besides, Francis should not have the same assist averages as a SF/SG.
