The only reason people hate Tmac is because of that 23 million dollar contract. If he was making 5-8 million a year people would have a completely different attitude on him. Going by just the numbers... yeah, not really that impressive. I wouldn't even consider this year because of the constant injury trouble, but if you account for his best seasons as a Rocket, its not Kobe/Lebron level %s by a long shot. But what if we consider him just a 3rd scorer? Or even a 4th scorer depending on how the rehab goes? Suddenly what he brings to the table isn't that bad. He can get to the basket, knows when to pass the ball, draws a double team, can shoot the mid-ranged jumper with some effectiveness. If Adelman can keep the offense with McGrady on the floor from being "give it to Tmac and let him go to work" then we are fine. Tmac can play the role Von Wafer played. Stand out on the 3 point line, when you get the ball make a play to the basket and either pass or shoot... or if you are open take the 3. The only negative Tmac brings is that when he is in the game the offense tends to turn into "give him the ball and let him score" but we've played without him for long enough now that he could essentially become a role player... kind of like Scola, that can just turn it on and look like the Tmac of old for random stretches. When he isn't doing that, just tell him to play like he's Von Wafer.
I wish there was a way to post TMAC's 4th quarter #s in the playoffs as a Rocket, for those arguing he can be our closer. Not the regular season, but playoffs, wins and losses both...
I dont see it you guys can say as much as you want that Mcgrady abandons ADelman offence but im pretty sure the evidence int he last two years point to Adelman adopting his offence to the talents of T-mac and Yao Ming
that's criticism. as least he's being fair about it and not just rambling like most tracy critics are. both sides are never going to agree on every issue. but i do agree with people syaing it's "ONLY" tracy who does not follow adelman's offense. that is utterly and absolutely FALSE. ron artest and yao don't either. adelman adjusted his offense for yao after last yr seeing how he can't play in the high post and we play halfcourt style with yao in there, hence very little fastbreak and the energy lacks compared to the 2nd unit. and ron rarely follows adelman's plan as he keeps jacking t-mac like shots, and make a worse clip. but yet they ALWAYS use that argument.
Yes, Artest occasionally makes poor decisions, but he makes up for it with his defense and hustle. Not to mention he's making less than half of what McGrady makes.
again, fine. those are ron's "assets" to this team: defense and hustle and I definitely respect him for doing those things b/c u can't never get enough of that. what i'm trying to say is the tracy critics argue that the reason they don't want tracy is b/c he doesn't follow the "offensive" gameplan. that's the PRIMARY reason why they think tracy hurts the team. and yet artest does it 10x worse. and artest should make less. he's never been better than tracy mcgrady UNTIL THIS YEAR, and a one-legged mcgrady nonetheless.
also, occasionally is the understatement of the century, in regards of his poor decisions on offense.
Yes, thats the primary reason why McGrady hurts the team. The secondary reason is that he's a poor defender. The third is that he has a poor work ethic. The fourth is that he's not worth anything close to what he's being paid. And actually, IMO, Artest has about 4-5 bad offensive possessions per game. They do hurt the team, but because of everything else he brings to the table, I can live with it. There's a big difference between Artest making less than McGrady and Artest making less than half of what McGrady makes.
1) when has his defense hurt us before THIS YEAR? 2) when has his poor work ethic hurt us before THIS YEAR? 3) when was he not worth his money before THIS YEAR? he's been all-nba teams every year except for 05-06, when he was injured. 4) artest has about 4-5 bad offensive possessions per game??? obviously you and I need to watch the game together. the first quarter of game 7 v. the lakers had 4-5 bad possessions from artest ALONE. and before this year, mcgrady was worth his money, regardless of whether you agree or not. he's been all-nba every year, and finishes among the MVP votings... and that's all you can ask of your highest paid player in regards to individual stuff. and he helped us to high seedings. again, THIS YEAR, tracy is a VERY bad player, on and off the court. that we can agree with. PS - i suggest you watch artest more on offense. he rarely cuts, moves, stands in a spot and waits for teh ball. when he gets the ball, he just does his own thing and rarely looks to pass, and will only pass if he gets in trouble. there's a reason our offense is VERY stagnant with the starting unit. and there's a reason he's been VERY easy to defend in the playoffs, having only FOUR good-great offensive games. FOUR.
1) our defense has been statistically among the best the last 4 years WITH mcgrady. you can say he guards the worst player or whatever, but he plays 37-38mpg and our defense didn't suffer. (this year, it did) 2) his work ethic wasn't a problem in 04-05 did it? his work ethic in the offseason before the 05-06 season was the reason he got the back problems b/c he bulked up too much with muscle thinking the promise after the 04-05 season. he battled back from injuries in 06-07 and 07-08 to make the all-nba teams. really? (this year, it did) 3) like i said, all-nba 3rd teams in 04-05 (which should have been 1st or 2nd) and 07-08, all-nba 2nd team in 06-07. (this year, he sucked). i guess this year really compounds the frustration of all the playoff failures that tracy was supposed to deliver. and find. but really, there's a reason before this year, he was among the MVP voting leaders till the very end. why? because they actually did respect what tracy did. but again, this year, he sucked. so if you're going to use this year to judge tracy's career as a rocket, there's nothing anyone can do to change your mind. it's been set.
Sorry, but you can't ignore this year, especially since he had microfracture surgery. Going forward, this year is more relevant than anything he might have done when he was on all-nba teams. In game 7, Yao was injured and Brooks was struggling. And since Artest was our next best offensive option, I don't fault him for trying to create something. So because he put up good stats in prior years, we're supposed to ignore the fact that he didn't rehab properly and potentially cost us a title? IMO, he's worth what the Rockets paid him.
look, i've criticized tracy myself through this year. i do agree that he's been beyond terrible, and even worse off the court. and if he's traded, i'm fine with that. in fact, i've a supporter of trading tracy in the offseason so the team can avoid distractions going into next year. but unlike most of you, i do give the guy respect for what he has done the past 4 years, regardless of his playoff failures. i believe he has done his part. this year, not so much. and if the team decides to move on from tmac, then let's move on and continue with this core of players. so no, there's no irony
Sometimes you don't know how good it feels until you unclot the blood that clotted up the veins. Who clotted up the blood? Just to name somes...Rafer, Head, Tmac. Yes we got rid some of them and we play without them and we are a much better team as demonstrated how deep we gone in the Playoffs. And how resilient and consistent our offense and defense are. So if this does not give you a reason how the blood is now flowing freely, then you don't know what is going on.
1) i never said ignore this year, but please also respect what he has done before this year (he just didn't put up "good stats"). he battled through multiple injuries the past 2 years and played taking numerous anti-inflammatory injections just to play. but you're right, this year with the microfracture surgery, it should make the organization look hard whether the team should keep tracy. and like i said numerous times, i prefer we trade him. 2) artest just didn't struggle in that game 7. i just pointed it out just to prove that he EASILY has more than 4-5 bad possessions a game. like i said, he only had 4 good-great games this playoffs. i don't care if brooks was struggling, scola and a struggling brooks are better options than ron artest trying to create. he should have stuck with playing a shane battier role and take shots when he's wide open.
Beside Wafer and Tmac, we don't have a SG athletic enough to penetrate and attack the basket. Battier isn't going to do that...it's not within his game. Artest is ineffective. So we still missing someone that can attack and penetrate. Tmac might just do that if he's healthy....but still not consistent enough.
Call me crazy, but...I think maybe you should have kept the notion this was a rediculous question....Before you jump the gun....it's just that you said forget basically all the stuff that matters, imo.... character is what determines the numbers, usually, etc, etc.....but, let's pretend that aint true, lol....so pretending that aint true......he helps because he draws they double team? does he not? which creates open shots. we like open shots, don't we? lol. more could be said, but for the sake of you all's eyes....
to touch on further....imo, there's not "one thing" he does that makes him valuable....he's proven he can win. has he done it lately, no. do u really believe he's "cursed"? ur choice. long story, short, and i know this is what a LOT of people wanna hear....his mindset is screwed right now. he even will admit that. that's the problem. fixable? yes. if he improves his mindset just a little? it will greatly help the team. very valuable imo. see: Steve Francis after being sent from Vancover to Houston. all a mindset.
