Exactly right. In fact, I may be grading Tmac more leniently. I just wanted to see him demand the ball in the 4th quarter. YI'd have been fine if he went down shooting. I wanted him to hurl himself into some Jazz defenders and dare the refs to not blow the whistle. I wanted him to go down shooting. Something other than giving up the ball when not doubled. Something other than 1 point in the 4th quarter.
I don't think I disagree with your premise at all... I sure wanted TMac to take over and pull out the game for us. But he didn't, I think he was worn down, he knew his shots were short armed, he was drained and he just couldn't cut the mustard. So that is the TMac we have. He doesn't have the mentality of a Kobe or KG. He is not a warrior in the sense that he believes he can take over the game. He is a very nice player though. We need some more talent around him or deal him. Is that what you are saying? Because I don't expect him to beat Utah from wire to wire by himself. He can't carry the team for 45 minutes. Only about 35 minutes.
You are spot on... he should have tried. But he didn't and I just think that is how he has played since he's been a Rocket except for that one 45 second stretch when he destoyed San Antonio with 13 points to win the game. I don't remember him taking over any playoff game in the last 120 seconds since he's been here, but I have a bad memory.
This is also where stats come in to play. His stats have remain basically the same throughout his career as a Rocket. This points clearly what type of player we have on our hands. When the Rockets sign Swift, you could look at his stats and they basically remain the same with no improvement. If Tmac was committed to winning a championship his stats will reflect it.
Here's what I'm saying - It's one thing to try and fail. It's a whole other thing to not want the ball. To pass on an opportunity to win a critical game. Look back at the prior poster that pointed it out. Tmac passed out of phantom doubles that weren't there yet. That's not wanting the ball. That's mental weakness. - Folks, we need to be able to criticize Tmac and say he's not tough enough. He's not a warrior in the true sense of the word. That is no longer debatable in my mind. - The point of this thread is that I used to want and expect more toughness and desire out of Tmac. I have to accept that expectation is misplaced. - Tmac is a good all around player, but not more than that. - We are further away from a contending team than a lot of people think. We're going to need to pull a Boston and acquire a near star level player via trade. That's the only way we get into contention.
That what's off season training is for to get in that type of condition. Do you see lebron getting tired?
Rileydog- I totally agree with everything you just said. I just am not going to bash TMac because he gave HIS best last night. For what it is worth, that is all he is at this point in his career. You said it best, he is a good all around player. I would only say that if he had more help he would be a very good all around player. He is not Jordan or Hakeem.
LeBron is younger with less milage. There is a difference. What gets me is how do people know what T-Mac does during the offseason and how are they spot on about his conditioning during the offseason?
Please whatever dude. You are not being objective. You want Yao to be the man when clearly he has shown more weakness and softness than TMac. Yao has not been able to carry the Rockets at any point the way TMac has. Sure TMac has not taken us past the first round, neither has Yao! At least TMac has consistently carried us in the regular season. If you were TRULY objective, you would say trade both of them. Kobe who is the biggest star could not carry his team alone past the first round, why do you expect TMac to? But again he has shown us that come playoff time, he delivers. Only r****ds would call last night's game as just a "good" all round game.
It speaks for itself, he's getting tired. 2 years in a row. Bottom line is just like somebody said on this board is except tmac for what he is and let it go.
If we could get Ron Artest (for Battier and others) next to Mcgrady??? Hmmm.... I'd love that. Yao, Scola, Artest, T-Mac, New PG.
What ever if your tired your tired there is no way around it. Just because the words come out or dont come out dont mean its not true players get tired.
Being tired isn't an excuse. This is the f'n playoffs man. Do you see kobe bryant getting tired in the 4th? No, he's too busy hitting the game winner. Did Jordan act tired in the 4th when he was the only superstar on the floor? I don't think so. I think YOU need to "go away", and face reality. As much as I LOVE this team, I know when to admit that it's time to make a change. I'm tired of people saying" go post that ***** on the T-mac bashing threads". That's BS, as far as I'm concerned it's the most relevent topic surrounding our team. Face the truth idiots
You sound like you're convinced I'm some kind of Yao only Fan. That's not the case. My point is this: - Tmac has demonstrated to me that he is not capable of being the lead dog. - I think the jury is still out on Yao. He has not demonstrated lead dog ability, but he is not a 10 year player. He still has room to grow and may become that lead dog. (Personally, Im not that confident Yao is a lead dog, but I leave open the possibility. Not so with Tmac). - My guess is that we have a situation like Boston. Among Pierce, Allen and KG, none of them previously showed they are playoff superstars. They all have holes in their physical or mental games. But together, they have a collective talent that makes them championship contenders. - We need a third piece. Not a role player, but a third high quality player.
This isn't an argument either. It cracks me up when I hear about McGrady's "mileage"...that's one of his self proclaimed excuses too. Go back and look at his year by year stats. Kobe's got more mileage than McGrady does, but you'll never hear it from him. That's not even a comparison of them as players...it's a comparison of their mental make-up. He's a headcase, and at no time does it show more than in the biggest of situations. He's been up 2-0 twice and lost the series. He was up 3-1 and lost the series. This year he's a big ZERO in the fourth quarters of this series. When it counts the most, when it's time to deliver the knock-out punch, he doesn't do it. Sure, he'll muster it up and will his team to wins against the Seattle's and Charlotte's of the league....but against playoff caliber teams on the biggest stage, he doesn't do it. Yeah he's been in the league 11 years, but he's missed A LOT of games in those years too. He's missed well over at least one total season with his cornucopia of injuries. That by itself should save him some "mileage." Not to mention the way he plays. He's not exactly inside banging around with the big boys all the time. He doesn't play with 1/4 of the tenacity of somebody like Ron Artest, Luis Scola....or even Shane Battier. So that should also save him some significant "mileage" as he gets in to the latter stages of his career. HE'S NOT EVEN 30. All you m.f.-ers act like he's breaking down. There's no excuse. Even if he is "tired" it's not an excuse....not in the biggest stage of basketball in the world. Carlos Boozer isn't tired. Deron Williams is hurt, but he's not making excuses and he's not "tired" either. Cut the crap. The bottom line is that this guy, whether intentional or not, in his time in Houston has somehow continually put himself in a position to have a built in excuse in case of failure. This year is no different. This series is no different.
Actually, Artest would be just the risk worth taking. He has sack. He has defensive toughness. He can get his own shot. On this team, he would behave.
You can call out Tracy's motivation and stuff, but you sure as hell cannot take away from the way he played in game 2. Played 43 minutes and nearly got a triple double along with 3 steals and 3 blocks. It's cause of him we were in the game. Though Bobby J and Aaron B did help with some crucial 3s and drives, Tracy kept us in the game and he deserves a lot of recognition. I'm glad Kenny Smith, Barkley, Magic, and Ernie J pointed that out. He deserved it. He played an extremely physical team in Utah and basically like anybody else was drained. Simply put, we missed too many free throws. It's unacceptable when a professional basketball team misses that many free throws. That all alone killed us. P.S. Lay up drills should be re-visited for some of our players.
<BR> Are you tired? Are you TIRED? There's no tired! There's no TIRED in NBA playoff basketball!!<BR><BR>
Listen, I agree T-Mac could have chucked up a few more ill-advised jumpers without legs in the final quarter to make it look like he cares as well. The fact is he was drained and if his shots are going to barely hit rim, why shoot? He kept finding his teammates and sometimes they came through, sometimes they didn't. The game would have been tied by a Bobby Jackson 3 if Kirilenko didn't flop, so why not trust him again? Especially when you know you're going to brick it up. He didn't dawdle around for 3 quarters and then step for the 4th. He fought like hell through 3 quarters just to keep this team in it. It's really easy just to say "oh I'm asking for just 1 fourth quarter push" but it's not that easy to do it. Could Kobe and MJ and Hakeem do it? Most likely. But T-Mac is not as good as they are and no one is saying he is so why are you comparing him to them?
