You need to go back to his stats from game 7 last year before you start giving TMac too much credit. He dissapeared in the 4th quarter, shot 0% from 3's and missed 4 FT in crunch time. I would not say Tmac wasREMARKABLE his stats were very close to Yao's. http://clutchfans.net/game_boxscore.cfm?gameID=2939
LOL at typical Tmac fans. Tmac's fans are like Tmac himself. Instead of taking the blame, they point fingers at someone else. Instead of being smart enough to point fingers at the other under performing players on the team, you have to take a shot a Yao.
Down the stretch... So do you want Tracy to take those or pass so you can say he's not being effective in the 4th? He also assisted the last few baskets we did make via Yao and Hayes as well as making a driving layup and a runner. While he did miss two jumpers towards the end, Yao also missed an 8 ft jumper and turned the ball over to Harpring. Overall, if you're 7'6" and are our 20-10 guy, you need to do better than 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers in GAME FREAKING 7. Yao got out-classed PERIOD. Don't even tell me the pair of 8 turnover games by Yao weren't a factor. Sure Tracy makes turnovers(3 per game), but he also grabs 7.3 assists per game in that series while Yao committed 4.7 TO per game while providing 0.9 AST per game. Yao also has 5 blocks the entire 7 games while T-Mac has 6. The "Great Wall" only gets one more block than our SG? As far as PPG, they average out with Tracy having 25.3 and Yao having 25.1. Don't get me wrong here... I love Yao, but I'm so sick of everyone dumping on McGrady and then expecting him to go out and dazzle you every night. Show up and cheer for the man. Do something other than bad-mouth him when he doesn't meet your expectations night in and night out because like it or not, HE'S THE BEST PLAYER ON THE FKN TEAM right now. Yao will be great, but he needs more aggression and to work on not turning the ball over so much.
I'm not giving T-Mac credit nor am I faulting him. We won as a team and lost as a team as we have done this year. It's just r****ded to dump it on T-Mac when he has a 29pt/13ast/5reb/3blk night on the deciding game or when he has damn near a triple double in game 2 of the 2008 playoffs.
Heart of a Champion? Not with Tmac on this team Heart of a Champion? Not with Tmac on this team With a 103 degree fever and the series tied at 2-2 in the finals, Michael Jordan decides to play and scores 38 points. In game 6 of the finals, Isiah Thomas fractures his ankle late in the game but decides to continue playing on it. He ends up scoring 25 points in the 4th quarter while hobbling around on one leg. Observing Ramadan, Hakeem Olajuwon fasts and leads the Rockets over Michael Jordan's Bulls without drinking a sip of water. He ended up scoring 32 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. These are just some of the great displays of heart that have defined champions. Being tired in the 4th quarter of the playoffs because Matt Harpring, Ronnie Brewer, and Andrei Kirilenko have been pushing you around?!! Give me a break. The Rockets will ALWAYS be a major part of my life, as they always have been. Clutch City was more than just a couple championships. Hakeem and co. taught us many life lessons along the way with their heart, demeanor, and attitude. There were no excuses, no blaming each other, no crying and whining. I was fortunate enough to have witnessed that time in a period of my life where those lessons were needed and helped shape me into the person I am. The rockets are headed back in that direction. A players-coach who stresses the positives at all times. The center who works relentlessly on improving and leads by example, never making excuses and always ready to take responsibility. A couple gritty power-forwards who play hard every single possesion, not shying away from contact and never giving up on loose balls. I can see the character and chemistry of a great team building before my eyes.... But the one piece of the puzzle that doesn't quite exhibit the qualities of a champion just so happens to be our most talented player, and someone we have to rely on night in and night out. It just kills me to witness Tmac's reactions to those moments in life where others have risen to the occasion, only to see him shy away from responsibity and always have an out for coming up short. You would have thought that after last year's game 7, fourth-quarter loss to the Jazz, where he cited being tired as the reason he didn't show up in the 4th, he would have worked and conditioned himself to the point where fatigue would not be the reason for a loss like that again. I don't quite remember when the last time I heard a champion talk about coming up short because he/she was tired. You might also expect him to speak about how much more he could've done himself, rather than throwing his teammates and coach under the bus for missing free-throws, fouling, and not putting in Dikembe Mutombo to grab a rebound he had his hands on. Do I hate Tmac for this? My wife and friends will probably tell you yes, but I've come to realize that I'm just expecting too much from a guy who has the skillset and talent of a champion, but just wasn't born with the heart of a champion. This has been very hard for me to accept, but I've come to the conclusion that Tmac just isn't what I expected him to be. We've got to take him for what he is, and not rely on him for what we think he could be. It's hard to do so because he's so good. A player with Tmac's talent is often thought of as the cornerstone of a team, not a role player. If the Rockets continue to see him that way, the team will not go all the way. If this team wants to win a championship, they must get rid of Tmac. It's time to part ways, realize that he's not what we all expected him to be, and learn from that mistake. Heart of a Champion? Sorry Tmac, more like Heart of a Chump!
T-Mac has no heart. I agree. Trade him and listen to the fans like this guy... the guy chanting "We want Steve!" because while Steve may lack in ability at this stage in his careeor, he has HEART! WOOHOOO! Trade T-Mac so we can watch him and scorch the Rockets with a good supporting cast. I tell you what. Trade him to Utah(You know they'd take him) and let him come back and dump all over us and get to the 2nd round and beyond.
How is it selective? I posted the box score for game 7. Go look through the other games to see Yao's 8 turnover games and watch the video to see him grabbing his ankles for Boozer/Okur. Go ahead. I like how if Mac has a good game it's "Well we didn't get the win so it doesn't matter", yet people don't dump on other guys for their good games when we lose. GTFO with that nonsense.
I agree with you for most of your arguments except for one thing. The Rockets don't necessarily need to trade T-MaC as long as Yao is the cornerstone of the Rockets. Its just saddening that these two can't have one healthy year together. I really thought they were going to win the championship this year until Yao went down... I think they have enough pieces(a reliable guard who can shoot and drive to the basket might be the final piece) to win the championship and its just a matter of staying healthy.
It's selective because where is your stat for how many times McGrady went to the line in that fourth quarter to Yao? How many points did Yao score in that fourth quarter to McGrady? Your argument is not exactly objective.
I wish we'd save the bash threads until after we drop the series. As Rockets fans we've been in deeper holes before. I don't see us losing this series. It looks bleak now but the tide turns tonight. Tmac will prove you wrong tonight...and then you can jump on board the bandwagon. Will be in TC tonight and the place will be rocking.
Then post it dude. I was just grabbing the stuff I could get quickly from the box score while at work.
Very well put scyman. The historical perspective is a really nice touch and contrasts greatly with the current team being led by T-Mac. It's extremely unfortunate that the best player on our favorite team has to be a whiner, boaster, blamer, and ultimately, loser. These are simply not qualities to be admired, in spite of his incredible talent. His mindset is just difficult to root for, despite our undying support for the team. You can also tell that he's becoming malcontent. I'm all for shipping him out of here for a bit less than equal value, but his injury, and now character, history may get in the way of that.
not a fair comparison. bird-isiah-jordan is the bermuda triangle of "heart" right there. excellence begets excellence and those 3 guys had each other to "train" their competitiveness bird went though wars with the lakers in the 80s and almost was forced out of basketball in college... that made him the ultimate competitor. the pistons were held down by the celtics and basically given the equivalent of a NBA wedgie for years which helped mold isiah's competitive spirit. same thing with jordan, the bulls had to go through the pistons before they learned how to be NBA champs guys talk like jordan was born the ultimate competititor. that's bull****, that's Nike advertising myth and brainwashing on the part of fans. when jordan came into the league he didn't have a clue how to win, let alone win in the playoffs. it's something he learned from the jedi masters. all he did when he first came into the league is put up 30 a night and lose. all that trash talking, the mind games, jordan aped from larry "I'm looking around to see who's gonna finish 2nd" bird. if no bird, no isaiah the jordan we know doesn't exist. who's tmac had? vince carter? grant hill?? I agree tmac is not a good finisher but anyone who played sports knows that you do learn how to win. compared to bird, jordan and isaih thomas of course Tmac hasn't had the success that those legends have but no heart? that's bull****. every year tmac pours his heart into the playoffs. did you not see him crying with his head in a towel? not being able to get it done and not having heart are 2 different things. in sports you dont always get the result you want or deserve doesn't mean you dont have heart
I'm not interested in helping you derail this thread. If you can find the box score you can find a play by play. I said what I had to say.
Right... derail this thread.... while threads like this one has derailed this forum into a Rockets bashing board. I'll tell you who else had a "not my fault" mentality. Hitler... /did my part here.
Sorry Juan, but this is not a Rockets bashing thread. This is a discussion based on 2 articles included in the original post from Houston Chronicle and ESPN FanNation criticizing T-Mac for his attempt to blame his coach and teammate Carl Landry for the game 5 loss. As Clutch said, this message board is for fans, not cheerleaders. Constructive or well though out criticisms are fair game. You appear to be a major T-Mac cheerleader, which is fine. However, you then went on a totally unrelated tangent and proceeded to bash Yao Ming repeatedly about last year's playoffs and was adamant with your fixation on that. Yao Ming, as you may be aware, is injured and not playing in this year's playoffs, which is what most of this board is concerned with at this time. So you tell me, who is going out of his way to bash a Rocket here?
