It's a great thing to do - take the pressure off the role-players. That's what super-stars are suppose to do.
I think he's probably refering back to his Orlando days. I think we do have better role players than last time around. Barry was old, Wesley was just inadequate, and Sura was really the only guy off the bench that brought intensity and intangibles. Howard was out. Now we have howard back, head is as good as a shooter as barry plus faster. rafer is ok, we have howard back, hayes is now there rebounding, and we have shane battier. We also have synder. finally - yao is a lot better then he was 2 years ago - back then he was very inconsistent. it's a better team for sure.
T-Mac talks about "his" supporting cast, and he's right. Because the discussion shouldn't just be about the role players in 05 vs 07. The role players did just fine in games 1 through 6 that year. Mike James, Deke, Barry ... those guys had good series. James was a double figure scorer off the bench, Barry hit the 3s, Deke pulled down 5 boards a game playing 15 minutes. Even Rybo contributed early in the series. Certainly they didn't do any worse than our role players have done so far in 2 games. The difference from then to now is Yao. For all the talk about Yao being Mr. Consistancy now (which I agree with), he was anything but consistant 2 years ago. He completely disappeared in game 1, was unproductive in game 3, played only half a game in game 4, and disappeared again in 6. That's 4 mediocre games out of 7. If he'd produced then the way he is now, we probably would have finished that series off in 4 or 5. 2007 Yao avoids the dumb fouls and stays active on the offensive end, and that's why we'll win this series.
You can tell T-mac and gang are focused...It's a difference that is much welcomed...I can't wait until tomorrow...
i am sick of hearing mcgrady saying how this is an opportunity to advance past first round. that's not a grand task. he should be aiming at the finals!!!!
If he said this is the first time he feels like he can win a championship people would be b****ing saying he's need focus on the series he's in....remember two years ago. He's taking one series at a time with what I would be willing to bet on, the championship being the ultimate goal.
Seeing as all the questions are about his lack of 1st round sucess, it makes sense that his answer is only about advancing past the 1st round.
getting out of the first round is easy? how many first round exits has tmac had? howbout garnett before he finally did?
Well, i gotta say good to hear tmac and the team focused. I think the 07 team is more talented but I did love the heart of the 05 team, especially bob sura. And havin juwan back is a huge upgrade over rybo which helps us alot this year. Let's take care of business and get a nice long break b4 the next series. Come on rockets. Stay focused and win!!!!!!!
hate to be a jackass but who is shawn battier? why are there so many bad journalists with good jobs??
they had bowen starting, and sura's knee was already giving out by game 6. Dallas just had more weapons then too. Armstrong basically took Mike James to school also helped.
What are you talking about? Tmac has said plenty of times that he feels this team can win the whole thing. T-Mac saying it's all on him, I never saw that in the way that his saying that takes the pressure off the role players. But it does. If he is saying that, knowing it will help his role players relax, that was smart.
Dirk is a flopper, mark cuban is whining little homo biatch, and michael finley is still out of bounds, and josh howard and jerry stackhouse are twice the size of david wesley, sura couldn't guard terry, and Yao sucked, and clarence weatherspoon, ryan bowen and scott padgett all started game in that series. This 07 team is championship caliber, as long as they stay away from the Suns.
Up 2-0 to Dallas and coming home for the next two games....and he said he has never really had a chance........come on Tmac........ He SHOULD have advanced already in 2005...... That being said, glad that he is taking it so serious. DD
thinking of that dallas series in 05 still stings, but hey that was 2 yrs ago and this team is completely different outside, howard, t-mac and yao. and right now we are up 2-0 against a jazz team that has no answer for yao and t-mac. lets sweep them in mormon land
T-Mac hasn't made it past the first round yet? I thought he did? Oh silly me, we were only up 2-0 coming home. T-Mac, 3-1 was bad enough, 2-0 was really bad, but if you blow one more 2-0...
