http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/lopez/4234722.html Power point presentation stars T-Mac By JOHN P. LOPEZ Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle THE best point guard in the NBA this season could be ... Tracy McGrady? If we may borrow from the Rockets' glory days, which could well be on the horizon again, believe it. Of all the tinkering coach Jeff Van Gundy did over the offseason as he pondered the best way to turn last season's utter debacle into sheer delight, the most important was coming to terms with reality. His team might be entering training camp with more guards than most U.S. embassies, but exactly one of them — Rafer Alston — is a true NBA-caliber point guard. You cannot win like that — at least not as much as the Rockets hope to this season. Bob Sura, the difference-making point of the 2004-05 season, has worked tirelessly to get back to form, but despite his best efforts, Sura probably will not return from knee surgery. Mismatches in mind The big surprise and grand experiment as camp opened Tuesday? Giving McGrady, 6-8, more touches in the half-court as the point. It's risky and cannot become an every-possession thing. But the possibilities are endless, considering all the offseason moves the Rockets made. And McGrady has run the offense on numerous occasions in the past, particularly at the end of a quarter or in game-deciding moments. The key factor in becoming a 50-plus win team and earning home-court advantage with a No. 4 or higher seed in the Western Conference playoffs is giving division teams more mismatches than they give you. With McGrady at the point more often and for longer stretches when Alston is on the bench, those mismatches should favor the Rockets, even against division standard-bearers Dallas and San Antonio. "I'm great with it, absolutely," McGrady said Tuesday at the Rockets' media day. "That's one of our best offenses because we have so many shooters now. And I'm going to attract a lot of attention if I have the ball." He'll have help Rather than force-feed point guard duties to hybrids like Luther Head, Greek import Vassilis Spanoulis or even undersized shooter John Lucas III, who had a nice offseason, the Rockets recognized shortcomings. Using McGrady at the "one" will turn those shortcomings into strengths. It's a decision that could potentially drain McGrady of fourth-quarter energy, and there's always the back issue, which shortened T-Mac's year last season. But that's why Alston's presence is so valuable. And in this camp, Van Gundy will implement a slew of new offensive sets aimed at getting McGrady help in bringing the ball upcourt and spreading the floor when he plays the point. Van Gundy thinking offense first? One of the big misconceptions that has hovered over his head during his coaching tenure has been the perception that he pours all his energies into the defensive side of the ball. Truth is, because Van Gundy demands great half-court defense, there are simply fewer possessions in games. Hence, lower scores. That doesn't mean offense takes a back seat. This year more than ever, Van Gundy will bring more offensive looks to the club. In the offseason, Van Gundy added an assortment of new offensive sets, all of them hinging on McGrady's having the ball earlier in the 24-second shot-clock window and playing alongside shooting guards who can hit from outside or score on a drive off the wing. When guards like Bonzi Wells, Spanoulis, Kirk Snyder and Casey Jacobsen were acquired, the point guard question never seemed to be answered. But the Rockets had the answer all along in T-Mac. Van Gundy would not commit to how often McGrady will run the point in the half-court offense, but clearly every move was made with visions of the ball's being in McGrady's hands in the half-court more than ever. "Certainly, you could make the case that he'll be our primary ball-handler," Van Gundy said, "because he's our best decision-maker. You have to surround him with enough shooting." The Rockets have done that. Wells' best attribute is scoring and defense. Jacobsen, Head, Spanoulis, Snyder and long shot Lucas are all scorers first. They can knock down the open jumper, which they figure to do often with McGrady drawing double-teams on the other side of the floor. With Yao Ming's strength as a passer, post-ups from McGrady to Yao figure to give the likes of Wells, Spanoulis and Head more scoring chances as well. The Rockets coveted Wells because they envision a rotation of McGrady playing the point, Wells at off guard, Shane Battier at small forward, Juwan Howard at power forward and Yao at center. Offensively, that has the makings of a team that would answer another problem this club had last season — offensive rebounding, in which the Rockets ranked 24th in the league. All five of those players are solid offensive rebounders. The Rockets also were the second-lowest scoring team in the NBA at 90.2 points per game. McGrady, Battier, Howard, Yao and Wells all averaged double figures last year. Rather than have T-Mac defend point guards, Wells could cover points while McGrady slides to defend the off guard or small forward. The minutes of Head and Spanoulis will depend on how well they defend opposing point guards during the preseason. "You have to have someone who can play a defensive one," Van Gundy said. "You can play anybody anywhere on offense. But defensively, this is where Luther, I believe, would have the best chance to play with (McGrady). "You can get Tracy the ball early in the shot clock and then just space the floor. Our best half-court offense is to get Yao the ball early in the clock and get Mac the ball in some kind of isolation with the floor spread." McGrady said the back problems that have been a question mark since last season are a non-issue. If that's true, the other big question — who's going to play the point? — will be a non-issue as well. john.lopez@chron.com i actually pondering a starting lineup of: T-Mac as point foward Snyder as guard Wells as power guard Battier as forward Yao as center
but this time the Rockets actually have the horses to afford the lack of scoring production from T-Mac.
Gag a maggot off a crap wagon. I just can't believe nor stomach that JVG is scratching his bald nogg'n to come up with offensive sets including ....Juwan Howard. I'm just not buying it. We've heard since last season about we need 3 point shooting and floor spacing, and now we are gonna run McGrady at the point with Howard "one foot nailed to the floor" clogging up the pick n roll at the top of the key. I'm just gonna go vomit. If they are gonna run McGrady at the 1, then the best complements to that are Head at off guard and on defense he defends the point, with Bonzi or Kirk Snyder at the 3, Yao, and Battier. There's your shooters. Juwan Howard??? You're kidding me. The only play I want to see that is ran for Howard is some triangle play where Kobe is throwing him the ball after we ship him and his one tennie shoe that ain't nailed down at the top of the key and Rybo to Lake show for Mihm and Cook. Good night folks. I've gotta get some Rolaids for the heart burn. Running plays for Howard................. Running plays for Howard................. I must be asleep already and having a nightmare!!!!
They aren't running plays for Howard, and the lineups including Howard seem more like speculation rather than straight from the mouth of JVG. If anything, this is what I think JVG has in mind: McGrady Head Wells Battier Yao 3 shooters, a Yao, and 1 slasher in Bonzi.
but Yao has to either get the ball, or bring it up the court; both of which have been problematic. even if he gets the ball in the halfcourt, he still has difficulties putting the ball on the floor without risking turnovers.
that's why i was wondering if Snyder could guard points. he played a lot of point in Nevada and actually stated that if he could check points, then he could be a point.
Great to hear Luthers name in the mix! Sick of all these trade talks about him. I think he will be a very good player for us in the next few years if he has the chance.
dont like the talk of Mcgrady out of position at PG. why try something like that now? we have the ability to play guys in their natural positions and have success. Its not like last year when we had to try new things all the time just to win a few games. basic is the way to go at first. and keep Howard out of the offensive sets. If he wants anything offensively make him crash the boards for once in his career.
come playoff time, this is going to be my starting lineup Head Wells Tmac Battier Yao Given that everyone has complimented Head's improvements, I think he is going to be a very, very decent player all 5 our players can shoot, defend, and all possess "intangibles" thats a helluva alot of intangibles
we were successful a couple of years ago when we have TMac running the point at most stretches of the games. it's when all we have were combo guards. anyway, the article says that he'll only be doing it while rafer rests.
wells, tmac, and battier is a very solid core. if rocks can somehow add earl watson to the mix, in such a lineup, yao getting into foul trouble would be his own fault.
and stop hating on juwan howard - he is a competitor and good team player, and his ugly 20-ft open jumper is very effective, even more so since we have enough offensive firepower now. i haven't seen much of battier or bonzi - are they good spot-up shooters?
