I started a heated/somewhat controversial thread about Tmac opening up a can of quit in the 4 quarter of Game 2. My complaint was that Tmac didn't seem to want the ball, the responsibility of winning/losing the game. I wanted him to go down driving, shooting, win or lose. We lost Game 2 by a narrow margin, and won game 3 by the narrowest of margins. Van gundy always said we should never accept in victory what we would not accept in defeat. With that in mind, I've concluded that my conclusions haven't changed from Game 2 to Game 3. The result: We didn't lose Game 2 because of Tmac any more than we won Game 3 because of Tmac. He played a huge role in both games, but wasn't the sole cause of either result. The difference in result was more help. Alston and landry stepped up huge. The fourth quarter: it seems undisputable that tmac did not have to carry the load throughout Game 3, and should have had significantly more energy. I still didn't see the killer instinct to close the game. The TNT guys kept saying, Houston needs a big basket from Tmac from 10 minutes left or so. I kept saying back -- "Guys, he's not that guy. He'll try to get his, but he's going to share the burden". Viola, that's what happened. I didn't see urgency to take the key shots until 3 mins left. I think we saw the correct measure of Tmac's temperament. This is who he is now. (Let's not carp on the brick he threw up on our last possession. I wanted him to shoot and was willing to live with the result). Doing the "other things": In Game 2, Tmac correctly received a lot of credit for playing a more complete game, particularly in the rebounding and defense departments. In Game 3, it was infuriating to see a Tmac that presumably had more energy, lose track of Ronnie Brewer on several consecutive possessions. Also, it wasn't clear to me whether several times that Tmac called for switches on PNR were by design/plan, or due to Tmac unwilling to chase Jazz over picks. But, in winning time, less than 6 minutes left, Tmac blocked a AK47 shot and snagged several defensive rebounds in traffic (which we've not been great at). Those were critical non-scoring plays. T-Mac make over: It's time to officially make over Tmac. (Or perhaps cast him as he has always been). At this stage in his career, Tmac is best suited to be an all around player. A Scottie Pippen Plus. Scoring: He'll always be superior to a Pippen. Just not a closer. Defense: There's no doubt in my mind that he can be a elite defender. But likewise, there's no doubt in my mind that he doesn't have the toughness to do it all game long, ala Battier. (and how about Battier toughing it out on 1 leg!!). But Tmac's defense can be a total game changer for 12-18 minutes a game. Facilitator and Rebounder: Tmac's playmaking skills make him elite. So let's let him do that. For the rest of this series, he should focus on making his teammates better. It's the way we won during the Streak, it's the way we won Game 3, it's likely the only way we win any more games against Utah, and it's the best training/preparation/development for the other players for next season. If we have a Tmac makeover, it highlights the need for us to bring in 1 legitimate all around player and scorer in the offseason. (Artest being target 1, Maguette beign target 2). And let's not forget Yao. If Yao's healthy next year, a made over Tmac can further transition this team to Yao as the primary scoring responsibility.
Great post. But I just don't see T-Mac becoming an elite defender, even for a 15 minute stretch. He'll make some nice plays now and then, but a naturally low-energy guy can not be counted on to play strong defense on any consistent basis. He has too many bad habits.
I give this thread a 3/10 Tmac scored 7 out of last 10 points... with a big block and big rebound. Get off IMO. Its not his fault it was a close game, it WAS his fault that we were up by 8 with a minute and a half to go...
I was just as hard on him and will continue to be...He can't do it alone, we all agree, and it showed last night... But... Superstars will there team to victory...they make the plays that need to be made and it showed last night in the 4th quarter...It's not over and we need outstanding performances just like last night for us to win the series and take the next step...
look if the wins, tmac will get more credit that he deserves b/c one guy cannot win a game by himself. but when the team loses, he will get ALL the blame b/c he's the best player. like barkley said, is it fair? definitely not. but who else are they going to blame? i was mad at you b/c you said he QUIT. he never did. he just ran out of gas b/c he did everything humanly possible in the first 2 games. did he struggle in the 4th? DEFINITELY. tmac didn't really have a great 4th quarter outside of the last 3 minutes where he went 2-4 fg, 3-4 ft for 7 pts, 3 boards, 1 block (which was a HUGE block). he can still do better. the one thing i liked about tmac in game 3 in particular was that HE DID NOT SHOOT A 3. he passed up on several 3s and drove to the rack instead. tmac hasn't played his best game yet offensively. i hope he can have one hot stretch REAL soon.
also, you said he had no urgency to take shots in the 4th? he took our first 2 shots dude. the first was a jumper. the 2nd he made a conscious effort to drive, got fouled but wasn't called. he took a total of EIGHT shots in the 4th. he wanted to take over dude. eventually his shots fell. and he did want to take the last shot. too bad he used a pick and roll to do that and he got 2 guys draped all over him. he should have went 1-on-1. he's not a guy you think he is that "disappears."
don't listen to what he speaks (why are we always caring about what he says). he wasn't passive. he just couldn't make shots. he did try to take over earlier on. when his shots didn't fall, he started to get others involved and they made plays. then he started going to the rack. we all should understand: tmac's words should never be taken seriously.
like i said in my post, he should get the blame b/c nobody is going to blame role players. i'm just saying don't say the guy is a quitter and things like that b/c he's not (which the OP implied in the other post for his game 2 performance). just make constructive criticisms.
I think part of the problem is his personality. It kind of came through on an article by Richard Justice the other day. He asked him why he just doesn't stop being a good teamate do like Kobe Bryant does. When he asked him what he was talking about, Richard said how players like Kobe and Lebron do it all themselves in the fourth and start firing away 50 shots or more, win or lose. Tmac said he couldn't do that, it would take his teamates out of the game and it would make his teamates lose respect for him.McGrady has said he won't start forcing shots no matter what. He said he never played that way and didn't intend to start. I think that's good in one sense but bad in another. It's good that they all play a role, but bad in that he doesn't see the need to take over in the fourth. He has talked alot about being tired in the fourth. His talent makes him elite, but his personality keeps him from that killer instinct that the greats had. Look at Deron Williams, he has Boozer wide open under the basket, and took it to the hole by himself when the clock was ticking down. He might not have seen Boozer, but he was willing to do what it took to win the game when it mattered, even though he got blocked. I was rembering back during the championship years and one thing that that was always true, Hakeem wanted you to give him the ball every time down the floor and the Rockets won or lost based on how well he played. He wanted to be the decision maker when the game was on the line whether he kept the ball or passed it. He wanted the game on his shoulders. Kobe, Jordan, LeBron all of them were and are the same...it's their team and they want the game on them at the end because of that. Yeah, they are selfish and take their teamates out of the game, but those players undestand that. If you want to "impose your will" on the game, you have to bring that game to it. Both Yao and T-Mac have that personality, which is why they have critics, why they don't get passed the first round. It's not bad to have that personality, but it also means we need another player with that personality to really win it all.
didn't tmac shoot the last jumper with 2 guys draped all over him? he took 8 shots in the 4th tonight. if you took his 2 attacks to the paint that resulted in fts, that's 10 shots. extrapolate that -> 40 shots in a game. he did try to take over tonight. his shots fell later in the game when he got his rhythm at the line. (hopefully he'll watch this tape and saw that he got his shots to fall once he got to the line. his legs aren't what they are in the first 3 quarters). again, don't read into what tmac says. he may have said that to richard, but he took 4 of the first 6 rockets shot in the 4th and their first 2. obviously people don't notice the misses as much as the makes. but he really asserted himself in the 4th.
It won't matter what he does. If it results in a loss, TMac can do no right. If it results in a win, his teammates really stepped up. If he shoots and makes, but they lose, "See, he's just not good enough to get out of the first no matter what he does." If he shoots and misses, "He's forcing bad shots, and should have hit so-and-so, he was wide open. The team is standing around just watching TMac with the ball." If he tries to just make the best play with a defense geared to get the ball out of his hands, "He's too passive, he doesn't want to win, he quit." I think the only way he gets props is if he hits the last bucket to lead to a win like Game 2 vs. the Mavs 2 series ago. A lot of people made big plays throughout the game. Give credit where it's due...the whole team.
*Tracy McGrady was pretty amazing in this one. Everyone loves him today, because the same shots he took last time went in this time. But how about his defense? He has made big plays all series. Down the stretch last night, he had a key block, a big bucket, a rebound, and then another key shot (as Carl Landry was fouled, for a rare team-approach three-point play # Then it was time for Andrei Kirilenko to work some magic. First he set a whopper of a (moving? grabbing?) screen to free Kyle Korver for a 3. Then he got in McGrady's grill, and convinced McGrady to shove the crap out of him right in front of the referee, for an offensive foul. By the way, if Carl Landry did not go on to block Williams' shot, everyone in Houston would bring up this play as evidence that Tracy McGrady is not a winner. http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-114/Some-Redemption-for-Tracy-McGrady-and-Houston.html]
That offensive foul was ridiculous. How many times is Kirilenko going to be allowed to do that? And if it meant the series, I wouldn't care if our players took to some on-court ballet as well. He keep impeding T-Mac's progress, and when T-Mac tries to clear him out legally he grabs on to his arm and holds onto it as he falls backward. What a b****.
I used to feel bad when the whole crying incident happend for AK47 and fans near me were heckling him pretty hard. He had to have heard it as I'm usually behind the visitor bench when I get tickets. Now...not so much. Don't feel bad at all.
Rileydog, I agree with most of the things you said here, a lot more objective than your last thread. I still don't agree that T-Mac should "go down shooting." You don't want your superstar shooting recklessly just because he is a superstar. Shot selection is still important even in crunch time. Last night he made some shots in the 4th Q. But he took a really bad one toward the end. If the whole Utah defense knew he was going to take the shot at the end, they would concentrate their effort to crowd him. I'd rather him drawing the defense and setting up a wide open teammate than to force up a shot like that. You've got to play both hard and smart. Having the "heart" without having the brain is useless. But your main premise is right. T-Mac is no longer the take-over scorer he once was. And he does not have the toughness to take the pressure on him. So we should expect him to be a great all around 2nd guy, a rich man's Pippen, so to speak. If Yao is healthy next year, I think this team can take us to the promise land, even without acquiring the proverbial 3rd option. (I think Scola can become that, btw.)
