The Truth- What McGrady brings in the Playoffs

Don't forget TMac only shooting 40%, that's not a good number. In comparison, Kobe scored 30+, 50% on the same Jazz.

 

I don't think the West is that good this year, so this year is probably the best chance for us to make it past the first round. And how Tmac plays is gonna be very important to the Rockets and what they'll do with him.

Excluding the Lakers, Spurs, I believe the worst matchup for us is Portland.

 

He should look at KG. he became a role player. KG proved he couldn't carry a team by himself. with the Wolves he needed Cassell and Spreewell. I believe Cassell dropped 40 points twice in a playoff series that year.

And with the Celtics, all three of them played roles. Ray Allen can certainly light it up, but they all accepted Pierce as the main scorer, Allen the spot up guy and KG the inside/defense guy.

Nothing is wrong with being a role player.

 

you're right. the west is down this year. i think when tracy is focused, there's really nothing you need to worry about. tracy is one of those players who tend to just turn on the switch (but that can be bad during the reg. season). he actually tries as hard as anybody in the playoffs.

like i said, if we make it out of the first round this year, it's not going to be b/c of tracy. you'll get the same production that you always see from him. scola being a game changer will be a difference. brooks coming off the bench to neutralize rafer's struggles will make a difference. artest and wafer coming off the bench and extend/maintain leads or cut into deficits will make a difference. we never had that before. when tracy and yao go out, it was a wrap. not this year. this is where our team will be for the better.

tracy has to adapt obviously in terms of playing harder more consistently and treat more games like it's the playoffs. when he plays harder, he'll be fine within any offense. and it's good to see he looked to drive more v. philly.

but i agree, portland is a dangerous wildcard simply b/c they're young and have nothing to lose. but i don't think they're ready to take that step simply b/c oden is not ready.

we gotta take the 2nd/3rd seed by making a run NOW. that's why it's good with this schedule, we have more practice time to regain that elusive chemistry.

 

See, I don't think his role is reduced, it is just different.....I think he needs to be more of a facilitator AND more of a finisher....

Let others create, and let him score.

I don't mind the number of shots if they are within the offense.

DD

 

c'mon now tinman, KG was in no way a role player even sam was there. sam may have been a go-to guy down the stretch, but KG still got his 25, 15 and 5 in the playoffs that year.

in regards to the celtics, you're right. yao should be our main scorer. artest should be the beast off the bench. tracy should be the all-around guy who should take over only when necessary (b/c he remains the only guy capable). they gotta play more games for the roles to be more defined that's all.

 

I seriously doubt the IQ of Hamza and the school system he is from because he posted this kind of stuff. No wonder George.W.Bush was elected as president of US of A, Twice. Err.... Oh well, this is a free country, anyone can go vote.

 

Oden is not ready, but they have a size advantage on us. Plus who knows how many minutes Deke can play. Brandon Roy, we have no idea how good that dude is in the playoffs, maybe he has another gear. Plus Aldridge can shoot from the outside. Bigs that can shoot from the outside usually screw us over - see Okur and Boozer.

Remember a young Denver team with some guy named Deke beat the #1 seed in 1994-95.

Portland is dangerous dude.

 

Say whatever you want about his inability to advance in the postseason, the truth is he ALWAYS goes out swinging. Just like whenever KG would lose in the 1st round every year, his saving grace were his fantastic postseason numbers that you could count on. Sure, T-Mac has had some problems closing out games but with our wealth of talent if he even plays at half of that level we should be in good shape provided somebody [ahem, Yao] proves he can be 'that guy' in the 4th quarter to help finish games.

We've all seen enough of T-Mac to know he still has "it". We just have to have to make sure everybody is pulling their own weight, making contributions and reducing the pressure off of our stars. If we do that we're golden. If we play 'stand around and watch T-Mac try to do everything' we're screwed.

 

they really have, lol. This is all due to the TMac wars of course. northeastfan, you have your opinion and I respect that of course, I just wish you werent so biased in your arguments. and hamza good job on the stats to refute the arguments.

 

Good post hamza.

 

No refutation ... different statements.

hamza says TMac has had great number in the previous playoffs. No dispute here.

I say he has negatively impacted the team recently. Two different statements covering different time periods.

What neither of knows is which #1 we'll see in April. We're both hoping for the same thing, but we just don't know.

 

that was a 5 game series. in a 5 game series, upsets can happen easier. in a 7 games series, the better team always wins. so i don't see you'll see an upset.

if portland beats us, it's b/c they're on a roll to end the season and play superb ball or we still haven't meshed. but we'll see.

without oden being a big factor, i doubt they can beat us.

roy may be a very good player, but i don't see him doing much v. battier and ron at all. i think he'll be shut down (he did earlier this yr until he got some lucky shots to go in) and that was without shane. in a few more months, those 2 will get better and defensively we'll be much better.

aldridge destroyed scola and that matchup concerns. i don't doubt scola can get his in return, but aldridge just toyed with him. but remember hayes?? he shut him down with complete ease.

their bench is explosive with outlaw and fernandez. but we can easily combat that with artest, brooks, wafer, and landry. we simply have more depth.

and ultimately, we have more starpower. yao and tracy will have a lot of mismatches if we do match up with them.

at the end of the day, it's all about our chemistry, rhythm, and health. if we have those things, i think we'll be fine v. any team but the lakers. we've proven we can play with the spurs and we match up perfectly with them. yao and duncan are a wash. artest will have a field day with that team. and tracy usually torches bowen. and we have more depth off the bench than they do.

but we'll see. the playoffs are a long ways away. i just want this team to get better every game. by march, we'll know if this team can reach its potential or not, barring any major injuries.

 

unless you expect tracy to hobble around in the next 2 months like he had for 95% of the season, then yea, expect not a big improvement.

 

T-Mac needs to win, not score. If the Rockets are going to win T-Mac needs to concentrate on moving the ball.

If T-Mac wants to jack up another 25 ppg on sub .400 shooting the Rockets are probably going fishing early again. If he moves the ball, plays within the offense and concentrates on creating for the rest of the team the Rockets might get somewhere.

In other words, he needs to change his game up.

 

I loved reading this thread and the other 'numerical evidence' thread. It really just proves what i realized a long time ago. Despite all of the statistical analysis in the world people will believe what they want to. In the other thread some people were making comments on how the stats speak for themselves and in this thread people are saying stats aren't all that matter. Interestingly enough, the stats only told us things that were unbelievably obvious. Tracy Mcgrady has played well in the playoffs and very poorly this season. I guess it will stop posters from straying from the obvious truths, hopefully.

 

Rockets/Nuggets/Mavericks - our best hope for 2nd round. But at this rate, we'll get Spurs/Lakers. Hopefully, Yao starts throwing elbows.

 

Yah a lot of hypocrites out there. Stats are only facts when it gets twisted to their desire.

 

Actually, I'll offer a contrary view ... I think these threads have been enlightening. I liked the threads by badgerfan and northeastfan, that did indeed confirm that McGrady is hurting the team with his recent play (injury, conditioning, constant waffling about playing or not). The stats confirmed what many already knew and felt.

And, I appreciate this thread -- this is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to see McGrady proponents throw out, some real food for thought. And hamza has done a good job in showing the caliber of player McGrady can be in playoff situations.

Of course there ARE some that are absolutely committed to their positions, but I for one feel better after having gone through this process. Throwing McGrady under the bus is pretty cathartic after all the crap he's put on the team this year, and seeing the data in this thread also gives hope, that if #1 is still on the roster come first round, it's far from being a terrible situation.

But desperately though, all of us are looking for the team to execute and get it done. Doesn't matter who carries the load, just need to win the games, advance through the playoffs. Well, all of us, except the ones who voted for option #2 on tinman's thread.