So what with all of the stats, we still haven't gotten out of the 1st round with this dude. We were better office with buddy ball between Francis and Mobley. I'm not bashing him, he's just mentally soft and now he's physically soft. Every guy you mention in comparing him with would have gotten past Dallas with a 2-0 lead coming home and 7th game against Utah. We all know Kobe, Lebron, etc... would have delivered in the clutch. SheMac isn't clutch and never will be in the playoffs. Too many failures have impacted him mentally and now physically. Stick a fork in him he's done.
Well until the rockets get to the second round, he wont really get a chance to prove what he can do there. Your logic is flawed. I always knew KG had what it took to have post season success, but until he got a chance to prove it, he was seen very much the same way tmac is seen now. Great player, but cant take his team to the next level. He's a champion now and he probably has a few more to go before its all said and done.
So let me ask you this then...What do you think of Dwight Howard. I know he's young, but every one watches him play and agrees that he is a dominant force. His team plays in a much weaker conference and yeh they won a playoff series last year (against the Raptors) but when faced with his only real challenge(the Pistons) he hasnt performed anywhere near the level of Mcgrady and his team has lost 8 of 9 games. Does that make him soft? No. It simply showed that his TEAM wasnt good enough. He was the best player on that team, yes, but no one player wins or loses a series. When you start judging individual players by the success and failure of their teams, there is something very wrong with that.
if the rockets win a few series (and maybe a championship) this year, i hope they say the same things about tracy b/c realistically, nothing's changed. next year, he'll still "paces" himself during the reg. season and what not (well maybe not, contract year and all)
<br> And by your logic didn't he still need Cassell to get out of the first round? <br> Doesn't that say something about the T-Mac situation?
yao's only been "the star" for the 06-07 series. and what about shane? what has he done in the 2 series v. utah?
<br> True, but Yao has been a pretty big disappointment in the playoffs. He gets taken out of his comfort zone so very easily.. <br> And really, are you comparing Shane Battier to Sam Cassell or Latrell Sprewell? Come one now....
True: 1. T-Mac gets paid $21M a year 2. T-Mac has never gotten out of the 1st round 3. T-mac is often injured 4. T-mac isn't the scorer/player he used to be in '04-'05 5. T-mac scores alot in the playoffs, but there alot of stars that havent scored as much as him in the playoffs, but have had more success. 6. There are alot of fans that dont like him because he doesn't represent the Rockets right by not playing hard for someone that gets paid $21M. 7. Thats why this thread is stupid and you continuously finding excuses for him is stupid. 8. People will believe what they want to believe. It's an opinion, you're not gonna change anyone's mind.
T-Mac is our best overall player despite his physical and/or mental issues he has gone through. The thing is, he is very fragile physically and gets hurt easily, which triggers him to get down on himself. So once he is physically back to normal or close to normal, he will be stronger mentally and you will see his performance improve. All I'm saying is that he is getting better and by the end of the season and playoffs he will be ready to go, just pray he doesn't get hurt the rest of the way. We should be worrying about the rest of the players showing up cuz I know T-Mac always shows up but the other guys and role players got to step up when the defense takes the ball out of T-Mac's hands. I think our supporting cast is prety decent this year, so we should be getting out of the 1st round if everyone is healthy and playing.
you're wasting your time. Do you realize who you are arguing with? Tinman is only the greatest Rockets fan ever. We are just mere pawns in his grand scheme to school the entire BBS.
Sure something satisfies me...some play off success! I don't care who leads us to a play off series victory...TMac...Yao...Rafer....Wafer....I dont care. I am a Rockets fan...period. And why is it that Tracy only fans or Yao only fans always want to make every discussion about Yao vs. TMac? Niether player is capable of putting a team on their shoulders through out the play offs. Moses Malone could do it. The Dream could do it. Tracy and Yao...not so much. TMac has had a total of ZERO play off success. Yao has had ZERO play off success. They have both failed in the first round...period. Hopefully that changes this year but until they are playing in the second round no one can claim first round success.
Kobe has won multiple championships. When Kobe and Shaq were winning championships they were doing it with a horrible supporting cast. When the Rockets traded for McGrady the talk was that the Rockets had the new Kobe and Shaq. For many reasons that has not happened. Yao has never been as dominant as Shaq...not even close. He is better than Shaq now but Shaq is no longer a superstar...but he was. Yao Ming is a very good player. The Rockets are lucky to have him but he is no superstar. He does not average 10 rebounds a game and even worse cant seem to get the tough rebounds. Many teams have been able to shut Yao down at the end of games through out his career. Yao does make a difference though. Yes teams have to game plan against him and he is extreamly accurate from inside 10 feet. Yao Ming is a wonderfull team player and always puts the team ahead of himself. Yao Ming is arguably the best center in the game today. There are many things to appreciate about Yao Ming but he is not an NBA superstar. At least not by my definition.
comments like this i wonder if you actually watch the NBA rather than the rockets. 1) derek fisher? heard of him. ask most people and they would name him as one of the clutchest role players in the game. there's a reason utah went deep the first year he was there. 2) rick fox?? remember him. he was considered a premier defender, with a good 3pt shot, and good passing skills. 3) ron harper? remember him? dude ran the triangle and was a massive influence on kobe's growth 4) robert horry? you must remember him. how many big shots did he make to help the lakers win games in the playoffs. 5) glen rice? sure he only averaged 16 pts for the lakers. outside of last yr (but then yao was injured, rafer was out for 2 games), the talent level of our role players AREN'T EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE. we have rafer playing 45+ minutes for god sakes in the playoffs. we had luther head playing backup PG/SG. we had ryan bowen and david wesley playing big minutes. we have shane battier (a better defender than fox but nowhere close offensively). are you even serious? i can name you MANY TIMES their role players make hte big shots to win games other than shaq and kobe. can you name me one role player on our team that has made a big shot in the playoff? NAME ME ONE.
You just have no idea what PER means: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_Efficiency_Rating "PER largely measures offensive performance. Hollinger freely admits that two of the defensive statistics it incorporates -- blocks and steals -- can produce a distorted picture of a player's value and that PER is not a reliable measure of a player's defensive acumen." High PER is mainly related to points, assists and touches. Check http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_2008.html TMAC only has his name in three categories: points, PER and usage pct (basically touches) . Now do you still think he is great?
no i also referred to his efficiency rating from NBA.com last year. i don't think basketball reference keeps those. he was top 5 to end the first round last year in regards to NBA.com (kobe was #1)
I guess I need to ask if you are serious. No one....and I mean no one considered those players to be anything close to one of the better supporting casts. Rick Fox or Shane Battier? Rick was a jurneyman type player and nothing more. Derrick Fisher certainly was not considered one of the better point guards in the league. Always thought of as a good defender and solid but certainly just a role player. Glen Rice - only there for one championship and ancient. Big Shot Bob definitely hit some big shots and none bigger than the last second shot against Sac but do you know Horry never averaged more than 6 points and 4 rebounds a game? Ron Harper? are you kidding me? Really? He was old when he played for the Bulls. Kobe and Shaq averaged over 50 points a game between them during their 3 championships and the Lakers never had more than 3 players average double digits in scorng. Yes the Lakers had some timely contributions from Big Shot Bob and Derrick Harper but that suporting cast was not one of the better supporting casts in the league. Certainly the Rockets supporting cast for Yao and TMac is much much better than the Lakers had for any of those 3 championships.
Rick Fox always had Peja's number when the Kings were the only real competition agasint the Lakers. Fisher was a good wide open 3pt shooter and a great flopper. Horry is the clutchest role player on the planet. In no way were the Lakers championship team or any championship team as a matter of fact a bunch of nobodies.
