Tmac interview "McGrady: I don't spend a minute with scouting reports. Really. I know these guys. They might put in some wrinkles here and there, but I think most players don't read the scouting reports. You don't need a scouting report to know what Utah is going to do from game to game. You know their plays. They're going to pick-and-roll, pick-and-roll and pick-and-roll." How can the Rockets expect to win with this kind of lack of dedication? I mean Yao says he is doing nothing but studying their playbook and here we have our supposed leader saying he doesn't even study. Well no wonder that Harpring has been owning him with back cuts, and playing tough...it wasn't part of a pick and roll, but I am sure JVG had it in his unread scouting report. COME ON TMAC ....You have to pay the price for success. SHEESH ! DD
If this is from an offensive standpoint, Jerry Sloan much like our own assistant head coach is a coach who doesn't change his style no matter what. What they are doing defensively is a problem.
But doesn't this scream of arrogance? I mean Tmac is 0-5 and has blown 2 very winnable series. He should be doing EVERYTHING he can to get to that next level.......if he cared. DD
It does. And I don't like arrogant players, so McGrady, stop being arrogant and show everyone that you deserve to be MVP!
DD did you find that from the Utah board? I saw it was posted on there like last night. I'm surprised no one posted it sooner.
I think it actually was posted, maybe a few days ago (before the Game 3 loss IIRC...maybe even before the series started). I certainly remember reading it before. edit: Here it is: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=128032
Oh I agree. I was a little surprised it didn't get more attention in that thread to be honest. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy, since I could have sworn I had already read that. And yeah, I didn't exactly like hearing Tracy say that either. Whether or not he studies them as hard as someone like Yao, it certainly wouldn't hurt to go over them I would think.
DId you see Tracy blocked Harpring at our home court in game 2? that was beautiful defense, baby. But in Game 4, he could do nothing but constantly draw fouls on that freak. what's the matter with T-mac? T-mac, it's your time to take over.
Did Tmac really said that? I can't believe it. You can never learn too much about your opponent. Do you really think that the good team being good team is only because they're more talented, they also learned as much about the guys they are gonna face as possible. TMac, step up and play better.
I've been posting a couple years on this aspect of Tracy's personality. That is why I think Phil Jackson works on the emotional/psychological aspect of a player by prescribing books/movies. Tracy has some growing to do in this area and he'll get there as most humans do. It is my hope that he gets there while he's still young enough to play the game. I thought Barkley finally got it around 97,98, 99 but his body wasn't the same. His comments were much more tamed than the late 80s, early 90s. Jordan's comments in the mid-eighties ("...the opponent is at my mercy...bla blah...) got him no where. He finally got it in the 90s. He started buttering up the opponents and let others praise him... Tracy needs to imagine himself as an audience to what he's saying. He needs to ask "if I were a fan, how would I react to the comments I just said"..."if I were a teammate, how would I react to the comments I just said" " if I were an opponent, how would I react to what I just said"...I guarantee you he hasn't learned the habit of asking these questions or he wouldn't fall into this trap year after year. I guess we can't blame Tracy for not having role models early in life to correct him. On the other hand, we all grow no matter how old we are.
look at how warriors is doing the job on dallas. Say all the great thing about the opponent and come out own them. And now look at tmac, talk all all big with no action to back his words up.
TMac probably isn't the type of guy that excels when he reads scouting reports. He plays by emotion and pure adrenaline. Honestly, few people can remember all the details of a scouting report. The scouting report is probably more important for the coach to read. And once the coach reads it, his best option is to only give a few tips to each player. Few people can take an abundance of information and translate it to the field ... things happen in sports like basketball in milli-seconds. That's why it's best for the coach to just give a few tips to each player ... something that is simple and the player can remember throughout the course of the game. I'm surprised that almost none of th replies in this thread acknowledge this fact. This is pretty well known for many other sports, not just basketball. Rocket Zoom
I don't think the point here is how useful the scouting report is on improving tmac's performance, it's more about his attitude towards opponents and how he always talks big but fails to deliver, eg. getting out of the first round.
