This is not a Tmac bashing thread but perhaps a change in order for the team to maximize their success. After seeing the last few games and seeing trade threads, I'm not sure if we need new players as oppose to just a new rotation. Debate all you want but Tmac has been inconsistent (showing both good days and bad days) and if you're honest with yourself, you'll know there have been more bad than good. I know many of you wont be happy hearing Tmac off the bench (neither was I before giving it some thought) but think about the Lamar Odom scenario. Lamar coming off the bench has made the 2nd unit of the Lakers a lot more versatile. Aside from that, you already have Kobe and Gasol (and Bynum) running the offense for the first unit. And in our case, we have Yao and Artest who don't necessarily need Tmac to get their shots. Tmac has stated himself that he has been playing with basically scrubs his whole career prior to this season. And what has happened in those times? Hes been forced to dominate! It was a one man show in Orlando. In the playoffs against the Jazz without Yao and Rafer, Tmac played an absolute different game and you could see his determination. We've also stated a lot that Tmac has been settling for jump shots which probably explains why he's been having a lower if not unpleasant shooting percentage. I know many of us including myself would like to see him attack the basket more just because hes easily capable of that and it would also make games more exciting to watch. The thing is though, with Yao and Tmac on the court, I think the whole team including Tmac just tends to just dump the ball into Yao to work in the post rather than trying to drive into the lane. In short, if you put Tmac with abunch of 'scrubs', he'll take more initiative and have a more aggressive playing style. (I use the term 'scrubs' loosely and non offensive as I believe we have a really good and deep bench) But with Tmac part of the 2nd unit, he'll still have Barry to dish out to for the 3, Landy to feed in the paint for easy dunks, have Chuck Hayes play solid D and not take away McGrady's shots, and perhaps another offensive threat so that Tmac won't always be double teamed. I think RA had something like this going in the NO's game for a short time, which is what spawned this idea. Either way, it's just a thought..
I like this idea. The Rockets starters will be much more effective and maybe Tracy can still occasionally impose his will on other second units.
Does anyone else find themselves opening these threads purely because they are curious about whether the OP has been a member for more or less than 1 month?
No. I want Yao and Artest to be the main offensive force as they don't need play makers. I dont want anyone making plays for Rafer seeing as he can't really shoot.
Yeah, you're right! Because I don't praise Tmac in the best way possible, I am clueless fan hating on the Rockets..... ugh, I am tired of people like you.
they're 1-on-1 players so you want a JVG type of offense in the first unit since we don't have any passers or playmakers? yao and ron stop the ball just as much as tracy does.
Are you implying that he should not start? I Totally disagree with that. However, if you're saying he should play more time with the second unit, then sure, that could work. He plays well with them, as they play with more energy and at a faster pace than the starters. Tmac is at his best as a high energy player. He should start though. If anything, limit his first quarter minutes so that he can play a majority of the 2nd quarter with the 2nd team.
if you bother to watch rocket basketball, the offensive problems go beyond tracy. but hey, all you do is watch tracy suffer i guess. the OP wants to have tracy off the bench but does not give any resolutions to how the offense will be better in the starting lineup. ron is a ball stopper. point blank and that's not even debatable (even worse than tracy). ron doesn't fit playing with yao b/c yao occupies the post and he always attract big men there and prevent artest from posting up deep effectively. therefore, he'll still be a perimeter player, and we all know what his shooting % is if he hovers around the paint -> worse than tracy on 1 leg (a baffling 33% right now). secondly, tracy is the best post passer to yao. if you take him away, who do you have that constantly looks for yao or be able to pass to yao in traffic or over tall players? rafer is pretty good, but that's it. the best solution is wait for shane to return, put artest to the bench, have the original starting lineup as last yr, problem solved. yao and tracy can return to doing their thing with 3 role players. artest can wander around in the paint as landry and hayes do not attract much attention. and artest will improve our 2nd unit.
i brought up the idea myself in DD's thread of "abnormal fits".. of moving not only Tracy but Alston as well to the bench.. but your approach to it is a bit lacking.. " put Tracy with scrubs and voila! success!" the idea is to move Tracy and Alston to the bench.. to ween the team off Tracy's smothering command over the offensive flow.. where it tends to go as he goes.. that is.. if he's sticking to the offense.. everyone else is.. if he stops.. everyone else does.. and to cease the fall back excuse that seems to encourage this erratic behavior.. Alston.. in the overall purpose of putting an end to this constant tug-o-war in the teams' mentality towards the offense.. to promote consistency and devotion to the motion offense.. and a successfull identity.. to get them to realize we are a complete team now.. and to remove the residual belief that we still rely heavily on Tracy and should allow him to "take over" whenever he feels necessary in order to win.. this is now more prudent.. as he persists.. to still have his "moments" despite the success of our motion offense.. in the late quarters.. even though he's admitted to not having health.. or confidence.. it's a detriment to the team.. in the long run.. it's why we are so "up and down".. i can only see three groups of fans not approving of this idea... 1. the ones that still yearn for the Tracy of old, feeding their nostalgic desire with old Orlando highlights and/or " 13 in 35" videos.. 2. the ones that delude themselves thinking our team is still comprised of Tracy/Yao and scrubs.. 3. people who just can't swallow the idea of a man of his annual price.. being on the bench..
you said it yourself that tracy suffers and all i am suggesting is a better alternative for perhaps tracy to operate. tracy is a good passer no question, but you dont need a good entrance pass in order for yao to get a good shot. most of the passes to yao are just simple bounce pass or over the head pass anyways. and from what i've seen, yao has not depended on tmac for good passes to score effectively.
I agree with most of what you said other than the highlighted part. I don't think he's capable of attacking the rim consistently or else he would. He's lost a lot of his quickness in recent years, injured or not, and he's hesitant to play an agressive game for fear of more injuries. My guess is that McGrady will primarily be a jump shooter for the remainder of his career. He won't ever become the player we need him to be. And while there are at least a couple of good reasons to bring him off the bench, I don't think that will ever happen on a regular basis. The only time we may see it is if his knee doesn't improve or gets worse or he sustains another injury.
