I disagree with the above two. We need the healthiest McGrady possible for the playoffs. If this requires a little safer play in the regular season and a little more deference to other players, fine. If this requires 85% effort by Tmac for now, fine. We will need him to go to the hole more in the playoffs, if taking less hits now while working out of his jump shot funk that is OK. I don't agree. I think there is a 25% physical component too. Lets look at some of his career stats. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?statsId=3179 Blocks and steals, some good measures of explosiveness, are at his lowest levels ever. Both are also consistent with negative trends for 5+ years. He isn't the athletic superfreak he once was, pure and simple. That isn't coming back. But there is some good news too. Look at his APG and A/TO, best ever. His assists are way up. This shows he is smart and adaptable. What we have to realize is Tmac is going through a transition. Yao Ming is the #1 option half court option. But Tmac can be a heck of #2 option, and is also doing a lot of other things well like setting the table. I do want to see improvements in Tmac's offensive efficiency--and see him take less ill advised shots, but that takes time as he learns some shot that used to be reasonable for him are now bad shots. It would also really help if Snyder and Wells were back in the fold, but sadly there are not and Tmac is asked to do more than he probably should in other phases (defense, rebounding, finishing). Patience, Tmac is doing a lot for the team without some big guard/other SF support we expected, and he and the team needs to work towards findings our rythum in May+.
im not going to give him a free pass... I thought Tmac was doing great... when he was taking less than 15 shots a game... his fg% seemed to be going up... and so were his assists... bottom line is this... even if Tmac were to get his numbers up...fg% wise he will always shoot a lower % then Yao... he needs to get Yao the ball... drive in beat his man and draw defenders if he has too...and either shoot or dish it off... you would think in a game where steve nash is involved Tmac woud learn from this guy... what concerns me the most is not that Tmac missed shots...and went 9-26 in the last game... your going to have a bad shooting day... but its that he continued to take those shots when he knew he was having a bad day...Tmac is a experienced vet in the game...and the leader of the team... if he is true to his word that he is a playmaker now...and will do what ever it takes to win... he clearly did none of the both in this game... if he was hurt then he shouldnt have been playing and definately not shooting.. is this the type of play we will expect from our guys when we play against the top tier teams? come playoff time were going to see these top tier teams everyday...
you know i am no expert, but watching the way mcgrady finally shoots better is when he is just freelancing on the offense last nit. that is not called jacking up jumpers u idiot! anyways i really just think mcgrady is thinking too much on the court about his shot and trying to look for teammates. What he needs to do is to find some moment where he can free lance and not be constrained by JVG.
I understand your point(s) and I think the same way but the thing is he's not working himself out of his funk yet. 15 games in and the only game he seemed to have his jumper back was against the Bucks earlier in the season. That's why i'm wondering if he's playing scared or if he's just REALLY rusty. We'll know when McGrady is feeling it because you and I both know that when he's feeling it, he's going to be easily scoring upwards of 25. Even if his percentage is decent, you and I both know that T-Mac doesn't have his shot back yet. We're gonig to have to wait and see because I have a feeling the day his shot finally clicks, he's going to be scoring big. Tracy saving himself up for the playoffs is ideal for the Rockets in many ways...if he's making the jumpshot.
If he consistently can't step up in the 4th quarter, there is no way he will step up in the playoff. Miracle doesn't happen overnight.
I'M CALLING IT RIGHT NOW. I KNOW WHAT T-MAC'S PROBLEM IS. He's not wearing that leg sleeve anymore. That HAS to be it... SOMETHING looked wrong with T-Mac. Something was just not right. Now I know what it is...
I can totally understand if you wouldve just said he was not in good shape/mood. But which one of "back to back" & "was injured" has anything to do with him keeping bricking 20+ shots while missing most of them? if you were injured/tired, just don't force to do what you couldnt do. It's not like in Orlando where he got nobody else that can help him.
just sad to see Shawn Marion kept blocking him. he definetely can do better than that. and now, im kinda thinking he don't know that inside ~~
that's too harsh on him. Everybody wants to win. He just cannot accept to be a No. 2 on the team, especially after a few good games and all those T-Magic hype. He wants so hard to prove that he is still the No. 1 guy on the team, not just wearing No. 1 jersey.
I think the reason people are hating on McGrady (I pledge not to call McGrady TMAC until he proves he's back) right now is not that he shot 2x more than the best player on the team, but the fact he didn't show any heart. I would care less if he shot 3x as much as Yao as long I see that he was giving it all he has. If he drove say 50% of the time, then I don't think you would see as much of a backlash from the fans. I think that's why Snyder has endeared himself to many on the board cuz they know he might be a knucklehead, but at least we see him go balls out and take it to the rack. The greatest example is Iverson. AI always had a poor FG% but guess what, the majority of the Sixer fans overlook it because that kid BRINGS IT. He constantly goes in the lane without regard to his health. And don't give me that Mac is hurt or is saving himself or some other excuse. These guys are getting paid MILLIONS of $$$, while cops and army grunts are getting killed for .0001% of their salary. So if he's scared to tweak his back, then can he givee the fans back their hard earned money. If your're making $20m and we are paying good money to see you perform, then we expect ALOT more for our money. And I think most fans feel the way I do. Damn it McGrady, BRING IT!!!!
Tmac can win with his IQ just like Bird. With him, it is all about choice. He did say those jumpers were too enticing to take, but sometimes you have to pass them up and do it another way. The words of t-mac and VG aren't swaying me. I know what I'm seeing--the thirst of a scorer. We need to change that to the thrist of a winner. Sometimes that does mean to score 70, but against Phoenix that night there should have been other ways.
Agree. He was playing injured and he still managed to dish and score some points. If there's somebody you should be annoyed with, it's Mike James! T-Mac would have put up better numbers if James had not elbowed T-Mac.
I think Tmac deserve a pass too for back to back game and being slightly injured, however... if the shots are not falling , then attack the basket more for a higher percentage shot and if it does not go in , it will allow opportunity to get to the free throw line. Just don't throw up one brick after another .. and another if the long jump shot are not working!! Attack, get to the free throw line damit.
i've always been behind mac. but his performance last night gave me doubts. on the day of the chron article calling mac "team-mac" i see the guy get selfish and try to take the shots to get the rockets ahead instead of giving it to the guy who got us to that point. he looked like a glory hound out there. and to top it off, i read this quote from him: "We made a run at them in the second half but I don’t think we really had enough to really overcome the deficit that we put ourselves in in the first half.” link that's total bullsh!t. the team did bridge the gap and even had the lead for a little bit. but mac and rafer ruined that by trying to take over the game. that was a sad thing to watch.
It is really sad for Rockets fans to watch T-Mac The NBA Scoring Champ to become the Mini-Mac now he is playing. No more T-Mac to the rack.
