Here's my take on the rest of the series. We have 2 home games (1 guaranteed) and 1 on the road if we can secure game 5. I think that if we can blow Utah out (win by 15+) that the momentum will shift enough going into Utah that we'll have a good chance of beating them at home again. Utah BARELY scraped by in game 4 and I think it's become evident to them that we could very well roll them with RA back and the home court advantage(I almost wish they had home court given the circumstances with our roster this year). I realize RA doesn't seem like a superstar piece to have a dramatic effect, but he keeps T-Mac somewhat fresh for the 4th quarter, whether it be to dish out assists OR points. T-Mac can pick his poison in the 4th, but as long as he puts out points or assists he has a big effect on the game and distracts Utah's defense enough for guys like Landry to get their's inside and for Battier to hit his corner threes. T-Mac has his back to the wall and I believe that he'll come out tomorrow balls to the wall so to speak with something to prove. I hope like hell he doesn't "make a point" by getting himself ejected but rather by flipping the switch that everyone knows he has inside of him and taking it to the hole with that "to hell with the contact" mentality. It could be his last game of the season and he'll have all summer to soak his knee and shoulder if he doesn't come up big. It seems more of a will issue than a skill issue as he seems to dazzle us more rarely now with ridiculous dunks and hustle plays. He still has that in him... maybe not for 40 min a game, but he can pace himself when we ACTUALLY LEAD A GAME FOR MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES. I think playing from behind is a big part of the mental and physical drain plaguing him right now... especially with the opposing team's stars sitting on the bench resting while their bench protects the lead. So for tomorrow, I wish him the best. He's a great guy on and off the court and I hope he shows us why he's still a great guy to have on our team tomorrow.
Good point, thought it's still hard to determine what's what since our best scorers (now Yao-less) are extremely streaky shooters, and not streaky as in complementing-streaky...but as it they could all suck at the same time. Sure, our supporting cast is actually stable, but they don't provide the impact in terms of points to really change anything. I really hope Tmac improves his offence to get around those Utah double teams (and BJax will stop missing those oppurtunistic shots...)
I've noticed that BJax has been hitting more clutch shots off of screens from the elbow rather than the wide open threes he's been taking. We should get him more of that.
Recent 2 games were very close after Rafer's back and we were in the road. If we can win all the home games in the future, accutually we just need to win a tough road game. It means we still have chance and it's really possible. It's not the time to say give up. Hate after all over. Now let's fight!!!
T-Mac needs to stop shooting 24 foot jumpers....Its like he tries to make the shot from the longest possible distance to get a 2pt fg....might as well take a 3... T-Mac is no Kobe... shooting is not his strength... driving and dishing on the other hand is... Hes almost unstoppable when he goes to the hole.. So as long as we play smarter than the Jazz we can win... We gotta take it one game at a time though
Let's put Loren Woods in there to do a Jason Kid foul on anyone that drives the lane-----anyone comes within a foot of the basket/Mr. Woods--clothes line
Shooting is not TMac's strength? Wow, that's something new. When he gets it rolling you can only think about stoping him. He's been pretty agressive the whole series but I agree that he needs to take it inside more often.
I cant even remember the last time T-Mac had a good shooting game... Maybe the 13 pts in 35 seconds... but since then.. I cringe everytime he jacks it up. And its that dumb fade away shot from like amillion feet away that gets to me.. He does it about 2 or 3 times a game... Why must we make out shots so difficult. Has anyone noticed How easy it is for Kobe to get a good balanced shot? It seems like T-Mac is trying too hard to create and hes fading away in different directions making his shot that much more difficult to make... If Kobe had T-Macs shot selection hed be shooting just as bad In my opinion. I think everything that happens to T-Mac stays in his head too much... honestly I dont think any of us have the answer for T-Mac.... We just have to pray that he somehow figures it out on his own.... cus thats the only way its gonna happen.
whenever i watch the games on tv, go to the toyota center, buy a jersey, etc., i am a paying customer. you add thousands of fans like me together... so yeah, it damn sure is my money.
