Is it me, or does Tmac seem like our full-time point guard....still. Even with a bad back, he's bringing the ball up the court. Sure, we have guys taking turns at times, but our playmaker is Tmac. We either need a good point guard who can make plays, and/or different offensive plays that get Tmac as more of a finisher, rather than an initiator. As it is, he's double teamed at all times, from the start. If he'd get the ball n the move, maybe it'd open things up more. Another thing, can we have any plays that feature Yao and Tmac working together, drawing attention at the same time? It seems more of a 'my turn, his turn' type thing.
Tracy is scottie pippen with more offense and little less defense.i hate to see him wasted away at the point. he is a damn scorer not a playmaker, play to his strength.
I agree Tracy should not bring the ball up court unless it's a tight game with less than 5 minutes remaining. The ONE thing Rafer does very well is bring up the ball. Luther also does an outstanding job IMO. (Am I the only one that thinks Luther's handles are already average or above for a PG)? When we need Tracy to dominate the show, he should walk or jog down into the offensive end and wait a few feet beyond the 3 point line for the PG to give him the ball. 95% of the time, Tracy walking the ball up court is a complete waste of his energy since we rely on him so heavily on the offensive end.
I agree that TMac's energy shouldn't be wasted to bring the ball up, but with Alston in the doghouse, JVG has to rely on TMac. Head has good energy, nice shooting touch, like you said good dribble, but he doesn't have any poise to work as a PG. He sometimes dribbles like a headless fly, but no offense to him, he's already exceeded our expectation. As a Rookie, he's doing great. I am joining the gang to advocate that JVG really should play him more, and set DA, to see what he can bring from the bench. It's not fair to keep starting DA and while Mochie doesn't even see the floor I would say, let Head start, to play a little PG. He will certainly have TOs, so what? It's early in the season, that's how young players should grow. I really hope that JVG not play TMac at all, for a couple of games, let the guys figure out by themselves. Well, I am just getting disorganized now
I think we need bring a good guard. DA is failure, alston is in doghouse, and his Defence is bad. DW is getting better and more reliable. HEAD is good but timid a little( understandable). Barry is confused.
But in the NBA, you can double a guy without the ball. So if TMac is playing well (which is most of the time), he'll always get doubled if the defense thinks he is in the play. THAT is why JVG wants TMac to bring it up. This way, the defense can't prevent TMac from even receiving the ball in the 1st place. TMac is the best player and he is the best play-maker. While it probably does wear on TMac, the Rockets are better off the more he has the ball in his hands.
He can still get the ball once it's brought past halfcourt, but the full court PG duties are a bit much, imo.
Apparently, JVG doesn't agree with your opinion. If he gets doubled BEFORE he gets the ball, he will have to work twice as hard just to get open and then he'll have half as many touches. The best way to contain an mega-star like Jordan, Kobe, TMac, <fill-in-the-blank>, is to prevent them from getting the ball in the first place. That is really the ONLY defense esp if they get hot. Once they get the ball, no mortal can stop them. It is that reason why I beleive that JVG likes to get the ball in his hands as early as possible. TMac doesn't have to work so hard to get open if he brings the ball up. Just a thought. I agree, it makes TMac more tired. But that is why JVG got Skip. Unfortunately, Skip can't hit the side of a barn with a shot gun. So defenses easily double off Skip (AND the 2guard for that matter).
And what does JVG know? Screens, cuts, etc, should be able to get Tmac open. I really don't see the point in having Tmac bringing the ball up himself. If he's trapped at midcourt, he'll have to pass it away anyway, but he gets it back. Once that ball is past midcourt, I can see Tmac getting the ball, but beyond that, he's just wearing down.
How about Tmac sit his *ss down until he 100% healthy I don't want this to be chronic all year esp if 3 weeks will get him back to 100% Rocket River
Now THAT, I agree with. Hell, TMac didn't even play in the 4th qtr of a close game in Detroit! Just sit him down. We'll take our lumps early in the season but at least we'll have time to make up ground. With luck we can still get in as a 6th seed. As a 6th seed, we know where that can take us!!!! But I've got NOOO problem w/ TMac bringing the ball up the court. Unless we get Jason Kidd, then TMac will always be our best playmaker regardless of our pointguard. It isn't ONLY about TMac getting open...its about TMac getting others open too. TMac obviously makes everybody else better. I say keep it in his hands as much as possible. That's our best chance to win games. If TMac isn't up to it, then were screwed.
Question how does him bring the ball up the court stop the double teams they will wait for him at half court as soon as he crosses BOOM they on him Rocket River
I was trying to agree a bit with Krosfyah, at the time this thread was created, but I'm falling back to my original beef that Tmac needs to be ABLE to play off the ball. As we sit right now, he doesn't do that.
This may be a reach, but I'd love to see Head fill that role. Unfortunately he's inconsistent and tends to fall in love with the 3 from the looks of it. He's already shown he can scramble defenses. It'd be nice to get Yao, TMac, and Head play together for a while with no injuries...
The problem is Head is a rookie. Van Gundy is not going to give him that much freedom. Head is just not at that point in his career yet. He's like Cat in his rookie year. He can only do so much right now.
I've often thought that T-Mac would make a fantastic point guard in the Magic Johnson mold if we had another viable scoring threat besides Yao, or if Yao could score at will like prototypical scoring superstar centers (Hakeem, Kareem). Maybe you can blame that on JVG's system, but that's not the point of this thread.
There was a reason why Tmac wanted Damon Stoudamire. He's having to work too hard right now, handling the ball so much, and running from double-teams.
