tracy in his prime can do whatever he wants on the floor offensively. but with his injuries, you want him to do things closer to the basket. he's still so tall for his position, and has such a great midrange jumper, that it's a win-win situation. and i'm sure you'll see that. brooks' speed will allow him to create things from the perimeter. tracy doesn't have that speed anymore. however, his skills/talent will still make him a lethal force if he operates primarily from the high/mid post.
I think you're right. DM probably will be able to convince Les not to take back mediocre or long term contracts which will hurt us in the long run for McGrady. No one else is likely to be moved.
True that. T-Mac has lost a great chunk of his explosiveness since the back injuries. He needs to dominate the ball less and trust in Aaron's playmaking skill. I'm sure he's witnessed Aaron's outstanding performance on Halloween. If he adapts to his new role that's a win-win, if not his day in Houston is counting.
Brooks and McGrady played very well together. I believe in the year before last Rafer recieved a suspension and we saw an extended period with Brooks/McGrady starting and healthy. I remember that those games were some of our best basketball that year. I don't envision any probelms with those two whatsoever.
If the organization decides to re-sign McGrady, we may see in next summer Morey offering up a package of Landry and our 2010 1st-round pick for a higher lotto pick to upgrade the front court. I believe I heard a rumor on this year's draft night that Morey was trying to obtain the 13th pick with Landry.
tracy will respect you if you got skills. aaron got mad skills. there won't be problems. tracy and brooks will be beautiful to watch.
Aaron didn't do much ballhandling back then. He mainly served as a shooter. We need Aaron to be the 1st option from now on. This means much less touches for McGrady. Is he OK with that in a contract year?
3 game is a small sample to say aaron is ready to be a first option player. we'll have to see how mcgrady is when he returns. what mcgrady has to do is relieve the ballhandling duties to aaron. before with rafer/sura/luther/bobby J, those guys can't penetrate and cause havoc in the paint. that was why tracy was asked both to be a playmaker and scorer. now that aaron has that ability, tracy should just focus on scoring and defense. no more multi-tasking for mcgrady. that should make his job much easier. if he's truly healthy (seeing arenas/o'neal), i expect him to make a great return b/c he's not expecting to carry the load. however, i still expect to see him shoot 17-18 shots in this offense playing out of the high post.
How about the Rox vs Lakers series? I gave up the thought of winning it all with McGrady being our first option when he couldn't even get himself quality shots in the 06-07 playoff series vs Utah. There was a moment I realized McGrady's athleticism had declined so much that he couldn't blow by Matt Harpring. McGrady is still a pretty good player when he's healthy but if he wants to be a part of the team's success he needs to settle for a Ray Allen role. Brooks has to be the main guy and has to be competent for the job for us to be a contender. That's sad but true.
Disagree, Brooks is explosive but he isnt a cornerstone, he is just a piece. He is great when he can penetrate and his shots are falling, but he is almost worthless when he can't. McGrady is still an asset to the team when his shots arent falling, he is terrific at finding the open man or the mismatch and getting him the ball.
We don't know what McGrady is great at, we don't even know if McGrady will play again, or be able to.... He WAS great at some things, but whether he can be again is entirely up in the air. Brooks looks really good so far, penetrating and not penetrating...best PG we have had in YEARS on this team. Been saying that forever...and I completely agree.....we can not go back to MeMac ball.....AB has to be option 1.......and if Tmac is comfortable in a contract year being option B and is healthy...great....but how does that make Ariza feel if he is suddenly option 3? There is more to this than just plugging him in......right now, he does not fit... DD
I think thats the next step in the evalution of AB, he needs to develop the ablity to make people around him better with his penetration when his shot isn't falling. That looks to be happening early this season so if he keeps it up he could become an incredibly important piece to a championship team.
So far 8.3 assists a game without a real finisher on the floor with him is pretty darned good. And he is making great decisions with the ball......not bad for a guy going on his 40th start in the NBA. DD
Unfortunately Brooks is the best guy we have to rely on in the 4th quarter. Neither Yao nor McGrady has the ability to get it done. McGrady is great at finding the open man sure, but what if the opponent's defense is so good that no one is getting an open look by moving off-ball and counting on you to creat the offense for them? Just like what we saw in the 2 series vs Utah? I'm not sure McGrady is able to do that anymore.
Well he was still able to do it last year while hobbling around, so I can only assume he will be atleast somewhat better than last year. If not, fair enough, we just have to wait and see.
relax, i'm one of the fans who are EXTREMELY high on brooks (i was against the nash trade proposal someone brought up). i love AB and think his potential is high. but a first option type of player is a franchise player. brooks is never going to be that. he's going to settle into a 17-18 points, 6 assist type of guy and that is an amazing player already. mcgrady can do more than ray allen. like i said, putting tmac at the high post will do his game and career wonders. tmac not only can score from there, but also make plays (that all depends on if he's healthy or not). i do agree that the ballhandling duties should lie with brooks primarily now. tracy should look to score primarily from now on.
Really? That is all? I mean really? How were you able to figure out that all Brooks will ever be is what you say above? I mean you say it with such certainty, please, let us know. DD
a healthy tracy mcgrady fits any team. ask any GM/coach/player/sports watcher. don't let last year define who he is as a player. if he's truly healthy, he'll fit into the team just fine. i have zero doubt about it. you cannot assume tracy will do what he has done b/c he never had a PG like aaron brooks who can penetrate withe ease. remember, tracy didn't play with THIS aaron brooks before. AB will make his game easier. and tracy will make AB's job easier. ariza will continue to get the shots he's been getting: open 3s, penetration off of passes, and fastbreaks. he's not getting many 1-on-1 opportunities if i'm watching the game correctly. ariza is a perfect player to play with tracy when he plays at the high post.
from years of watching NBA basketball. i claimed ariza is going to be a phenomenal player on this team (not a duplicate of shane battier). i proclaimed he's one of the best spot up shooters in the L. and i'm right so far. we'll see how good brooks really is when teams start to double him more and try to take the ball out of his hands. portland tried to do it for a few possessions late in the game last night and brooks struggled with it. and what can brooks do without the ball in his hands? he can't post up. he can't create his own shot at will. he's going to be a 17-18 points type of guy (b/c he doesn't get to the line enough to be a big time scorer so it basically depends on his jumpshot). and his playmaking has improved A LOT. i wouldn't be surprised if it goes up to 7 or 8, but he's no chris paul or deron williams b/c he doesn't have the height/vision. in summary: 1) lack of ability to get to the free throw line -> no way he averages 20+ points. i've rarely seen players who average 20 points for a season getting to the line 3-4 times a game. 2) his height.
