Good work, hamza. There is no question that TMac has had great personal production in the playoffs. The big questions for Rockets fans are: 1. Will we see the TMac of the past (or something that comes close) any time soon or is it really a thing of the past? 2. Will personal production ever translate into advancing or will his game need to change? I don't think any of us knows the answers. Based on this season, the answer to 1 seems like no, at least for this season and if this is so, then the answer to 2 is that he needs to change his game ....
I am in the belief that superstars are made in the playoffs. Both McGrady and Yao have yet to prove it because they haven't won a playoff series. However you can't tell me that just because they didn't win against the Jazz in 2007 that they didn't carry the team on their backs. Shaq earlier this season said "...that the superstars that have championships, it's rarely the superstars that do it. It's mostly the other guys that do it..." Meaning the role players. The role players have improved since 2007. Say McGrady and Yao go deep in the playoffs this year were they superstars all along?
WHAT TRACY BRINGS TO THE ROCKETS IN THE PLAYOFFS? POINTS!! IT'S UP TO EVERYONE ELSE ON THE FLOOR TO STEP IT UP AND I BELIEVE THIS YEAR WE CAN!
My bad but thanks for pointing that out to me Mr. BBS police man. <br> You don't get it. You can't compare McGrady to Lebron or Kobe because neither of those guys have the monkey on their back that Tmac does. Kobe has won 3 rings and carried another team to the Finals. Lebron has carried his team to the Finals, damn near did it last season and is so good that you can expect any team he is on to be a contender for the next 7-8 years. McGrady has been on bad teams but he has been on good teams too and he still hasn't been out of the first round. You can quote stats all you want but as a Rocket fan I am all too familiar with McGrady flameouts in the 4th quarter only to turn the channel to see James dueling with Paul Pierce in the 4th quarter of playoff games and nearly carrying his team to another Finals berth. Do you think there is ANY GM or coach in the league who would rather have Tmac in the 4th over Lebron or Kobe. Hell, take Tmac from 2004-2005 and you still wouldn't find anyone that prefers him to James or Kobe. Why? Because there are winners and losers in the NBA and stats don't tell the whole story but anyone with an eye for basketball can tell the difference.
<br> Don't be an ass, I didn't say anything ridiculous, its just annoying when a huge post like that is quoted in its entirety <br> <br> Its you who doesn't get it. I never said T-Mac is Kobe or Lebron. I said his stats are near their level, even at this point in his career, and that is a very valuable asset to the Rockets. I'll state it again, the whole point of the post was to combat any notion that Tracy McGrady is not critically valuable to us in the post season...
but the thing is tracy will be there for the stretch run and playoffs. it has happened every year. tracy should be the least of your worries. i'm sure he saw tapes and with more practice, he's now seeing the team can be good without him (like last yr) and be great with him. he'll adjust. you should be worried about if brooks ,wafer... can maintain their level of play like this in the playoffs b/c we need it.
hamza, I don't blame Tmac for last year's loss. But the comparison to Lebron and Kobe is misleading. Tmac can't carry the team past the first round. Doesn't mean we don't root for him. For this year, Yao Ming is by far our best player and Tmac has to adjust to that. Ron Artest was brought in for this also. He has to adjust to that. Tmac has to play team ball or else we won't get past the first round again. Dream didn't have to be the best SCORER every night for the Rockets to win. However the best player isn't always the one who SCORES the most. That's the problem I have with Tmac worshipers, they just love scoring. I would rather have Tmac turn into Robert Horry. A player who makes key plays like steals, rebounds, blocks, and hitting game winners. We have enough talent on this team to score lots of points. We want winners not scorers. When Tmac learns that, we'll win.
btw, before anyone makes a point about T-Mac "not playing with heart" I have to say look at these stats... <br> <br> Basically, what I'm saying is that he was used the most in the playoffs, and he was playing through a bum knee that has been giving him obvious fits through this season, and a messed up shoulder. Yet, he fought through the pain, took a cortisone shot and was used the most out of all the players in the playoffs. If that isn't heart/care, I don't know what is... <br> Btw, I meant to include that in my original post, but I'm not sure if it is showing up or not..
tracy knows it's not about scoring. that's why his rebounding goes up, his assists go up, his steals go up, his blocks go up, his intensity goes up... in the playoffs if all tracy does is score more points in the playoffs, who the hell cares? if you take more shots, you should score more points. but he does A LOT OF OTHER THINGS too. yes, this year, yao is by far our best player. and he will adjust to that. he always wanted it to be yao's team. and hopefully yao will step up and shoulder the team in the playoffs like the best player should.
i think if people actually saw tracy play in the playoffs, they have nothing but respect for the guy. i think their frustration comes from tracy's inconsistency/injuries/drama in the reg. season. if tracy plays like the playoffs in the reg. season, i think we have none of this. but injuries may have frustrate them regardless lol.
He only played 6 games, his off minutes were probably less than 48 minutes total. That's a very small sample and the -22 is very unreliable. The on number is more meaningful.
