you know at this point injuries are not an excuse, they are THE reason why this team is what it is. i'm not trying to make an excuse for anyone, i'm just pointing out the facts. the six guys who are out(five if you take out sura) would be playing every night even if jvg cut the rotation to eight. it takes talent to win and this team as it stands lacks it. that doesn't mean it's impossible for them to win or that they should lay down. it simply means that if they lose it's probably not because jvg can't coach or t-mac can't lead. it's most likely because on a consistent basis your end of the bench guys aren't capable.
Van Gundy can preach the "No excuse blah blah blah" thing all he wants. The fact it, if I wasn't given the tools I needed, yet my boss kept demanding me to get the job done and sang that "no excuse" song, I'd want to quit too. Maybe the coach rather than keep criticizing their attitude, should just tell the players to have some fun. "Hey guys, we are losing players left and right. But what the heck, that doesn't mean we can't have fun playing basketball." Maybe that'd motivate them to play hard. Heck, maybe the shooters would loosen up and make some open shots.
Man . .we could play MADLIBS with you post and it would seem more familier [man . . i like doing this just to spark response sometimes Replace Swift with Cato replace Tracy with Steve once again replace Tracy with Steve Goodness this seems so familiar somehow. . . . PGabriel . .. can you remind me where I may have heard this from Wait wait. . . it is the same stuff I said when Steve was here then of couse I was a FOF and blaming everyone but Francis Amazing. . . .how everything that is old can be repackaged into something new I don't blame T-mac for our misfortunes But I have a severe problem with what seems to be a lack of EFFORT that is about the only thing being argued here Rocket River
It amazes me that some of you guys who know so much about sports can know so little. I'm not talking about wins and losses, or double and triple teams, I'm just talking about the effort in the last two games. Effort counts. Do you think its easy to win championships when your team is stacked? And champions give effort every night, no matter who's suiting up. Teams and players show you what they're made of during the season, game after game. They just don't turn it on and off. Championship players show what they're made of during their entire career. Hakeem almost never had his effort questioned, except when an idiot owner got into a contract dispute with him. But fans never did. No one ever questioned Jordan's when he played on some sucky teams, no one ever questioned Bird's, Magic's, or Isiah's. merry christmas
Tell me how T-Mac didn't show effort in the last two games If anything, T-Mac's style rarely shows any effort. His play is too smooth and it almost never looks like he's trying until it comes time for some clutch shot
I actually agree wtih PGab, Tmac has quit attacking the basket, he has not been himself the last 2 games. Sure he is double and triple teamed, and is probably a little bit down. But, he needs to be more of a leader, when the team sees him down, they surely won't rise. DD
Tmac is the type of player that can score 25-30 points any night he wants to. Even when double teamed he can drive to the basket an anyone to kick it out to other open players. Right now he is only settleing on bad outside shots, with no penetration to the basket. This is exactly how he played in his last days in Orlando when he admitted to not giving 100%. Now he could be playing like this because he is injured, or he feels the season is lost and he quit. I guess we'll find out as the season goes on.
The problem with your analysis is this: defenders are coming over EARLY in the position to double McGrady, cutting off any possible penetration by McGrady and immediately forcing him to pass out of the double-team. IMO, the only way to get around this is if JVG changes things up and sets multiple picks for McGrady to take a jumper (alas Reggie Miller-style). This will require someone else to bring the ball up the court and initiate the offense, with McGrady being the finisher. Do you think there are any players on this team that can do that?
Right now TMac reminds me of Charles Barkley...people know how good you are...don't talk about what you'll do or how in your last game, the defense was at your mercy...what goes around comes around. Make a career-long comittment to not ever refer to yourself through the media and figure out how to win. Sometimes it's through words. Sometimes it's just practicing/working out with your teammates (ala MJ with Scottie and Harper). It's a point guard's dream to be double teamed. I promise you Magic Johnson would have annihilated the defenses TMac is seeing with his coaching on the floor.
Umm...how can you make that comparison?! McGrady had 11 assists in the Raptors game and probably would've had more if his teammates made more open shots. The Denver game no one could buy a basket. No one in their right mind would double Magic Johnson knowing that James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were in the same lineup. I didn't realize McGrady had those guys around him, so thanks for that bit of info that was entirely lost on me for whatever reason.
Agreed. The bottom line is - in the past when T-mac has been confronted with a team of T-Mac plus garbage (the Magic, e.g.) his reaction has been to withdraw, isolate himself from the misery, and admittedly, shut it down a bit. His comments after the Denver game were eerily reminiscent of that attitude. (Hence JVG's thinly disguised retort). As the undisputed heart and soul of the franchise (apologies to YM) it's his job to rise above that. He's still a great player regardless, but the legends of the game had the kind of fire (or at least seemed too) that led them to hate losing so much that it made them angry, rather than withdrawn.
This is where I find Tmac woefully short of being a legend....he does not seem to have that innner fire, at least when chips are stacked against him. Admittadly the rules have changed to allow mediocre defenders to have a longer career....due to zones. But Tmac should be able to rise above it. DD
Everyone keeps saying T-Mac is supposed to rise above the double team and beat them. Who do you think the man is? God? I mean come on. Watch the last two games. T-Mac is getting double teamed right after he crosses the half court line. I want all of you who think he can just drive by them to actually go back and watch the games. See if he even has an inch of space to move. He gets trapped along the sidelines and in corners and the only thing he can do is pass. How the hell do drive past two defenders when you are trapped? Hence the name "trap" It's supposed to stop the movement of a player and "trap" them. I swear, people on this board are ridiculous. NO ONE getting double teamed as frequent and as early as T-Mac is getting right now could beat that double team. NOBODY. Not even Jordan himself. What sucks even more is that we dont have a true PG, so T-Mac is spending all his other energy setting up the offense. If we had a PG, T-Mac could come off multiple picks and just catch and shoot and hopefully his offense would carry us to wins
No disrespect, but who ever claimed that McGrady was a "legend"? He will definitely be a HOF, but I think "legends" are a special group of players that we refer to as Jordan, Magic, Bird, Dream, Kareem, Russell, West, Shaq, etc. Those guys did not only put up great numbers, but also won "the Big one" while carrying the biggest burden of their team's success. I just don't remember anyone ever making that claim, so not sure what you're saying here. IMO, not a single player in the league today besides Shaq and Duncan could be considered "legends".
Not even Jordon????? I did see this commercial where he had this wings and it was day . . no . .it was the night I've seen him split double teams before I think if he attack the basket more he could do more Rocket River
As SuperKnicksFan so eloquently explained: jordon is so foolish that he brings much shame to his family, so to protect the innocent, his name has been altered, so that they may not have to suffer the peripheral consequences.
The truth is that our role players right now are the worst in the league. Teams are realizing that you just need to double/triple team TMac and make the other guys beat you. Unfortunately, our other guys are Ryan Bowen, Luther Head, Juwan Howard, Swift, Baxter, Moochie, and Graham. 1/2 of these guys wouldn't even get garbage minutes on other teams, right now, they are playing the majority of the game.
