What makes you know that Tracy is motivated now? Saying he's motivated now is starting to become like the boy who cried wolf from what I see and hear. Tracy is probably going to stay one more year here so we can get something in the 2010 free agent class aside from re-signing Yao Ming. If Tracy wants to play with a swagger, humble and motivated I'll welcome him back on the Houston Rockets anyday. However from the Track record as a Houston Rocket he is a quitter, heartless, etc.... Just going with the Track record here.
but the question is incomplete. yao's dedication and heart has never been questioned. a healthy t-mac is worthless if his desire and dedication aren't there.
A healthy Yao. But for this team to contend for a Championship we needed them both this year. T-mac is my fav. player and brought me here as a Rockets fan(If he leaves I will remain a Rockets fan), but Yao is the clear cut answer for me with this supporting cast. But like I said we needed them both healthy to achieve the ultimate goal this year and that is a Championship.
It's a hypothetical anyways, so look at it this way. Would you rather have this year's version of Yao Ming, or the 06/07 version of Tracy McGrady?
but who has performed better in the playoffs? yao has been the undisputed best player now and he's not dominating this series like a superstar should. tmac has always been motivated enough in the playoffs to where you can always argue confidently he's the best player in the series. can you say yao is the best player in this series? or even on his own team?
Have you see vangundy how to use tmac defend other team's star? Have you see tmac play with kobe 1-to-1 in the past? A healthy tmac can defend 1-4 position player... The following is a good small-ball lineup for me. Scola, Artest, Battier, Tmac, Brooks. selfish-shot artest & brooks play with lazy-pass tmac.
exactly. which is why i abstained from the vote. a healthy and dedicated t-mac is who i would vote for only because yao's weaknesses have been exploited.
Yao has been dominating....Not all on offense. We tend to under-appreciate what he has been doing with the rebounding and his ability to alter and change shots. On offense, It's not all his fault you can simply blame his teammates for being impatient and preferring to jack up 3 pointers instead of getting the ball down to Yao. When Yao has gotten the ball in this series, he has taken advantage of it. We've see what he can do with the ball, just ask his teammates to give him the ball and he'll dominate. And just to let you know, Yao performed very well in the 2007 playoffs as well. He averaged 25/10 against the Jazz. Tracy was more dominate but you cannot honestly say Yao folds in the playoffs.
i think tinman brought this up regarding the playoffs. tmac's "dedication" wavers in the reg. season b/c that is a weakness of his. his focus isn't fully there over an 82 game period. but for the playoffs, tracy always brings 110% effort. hell, for ppl who criticize his defense, his defense has been great in the playoffs (note i said playoffs). dont let this year's debacle portrays his rocket career. i just feel like with tmac, even if he had an off game, he would have found some way to make plays last night, esp. with the talent we have on this roster. instead of brooks dribbling like a dumb duck around, all brooks have to do is spot up and shoot 3s, which tmac would give him a ton of. artest loves to spot up, tmac would give him a ton of those shots. and scola would continue to get shots in the 2nd half b/c the pick and roll option is always lethal with tmac.
great players find ways to get theirs. always been the case. will always be the case. if yao wants to make a name for himself, he needs to find a way to get his. you can ask any general fan who their top 15 players in the playoffs right now and yao won't be in those top 15. i just feel we overwhelm the blazers on both talent and experience and yet we have a tough time. it's frustrating.
wow, this is almost impossible. either one can be taken out of the game. t-mac wasn't great in the post-season of 06/07. suffice it to say that both are flawed and both can be taken out of the game as a factor. generally, i'd like to have a strong post presence and let the cards fall where they may. so, given the rockets history with malone, dream, cato (pysch!) and yao, i'd have to stick with yao. i still abstain.
Yao would easily make Top 15. I doubt he would make Top 5 or 10 though. Yao actually has found the solution, but again post players are dependent on their teammates actually giving them the ball. Do you expect Yao to bring the ball up on the court and start posting up on Przybilla from the 3 point line? Wing players have a lot more freedom now-a-days than post players do in today's game. The double standard in the NBA is laughable about how wings and post players work now. They prefer LeBron and Kobe dominating than Yao and Howard dominating.
dwight howard, who i think yao is a better "offensive" player than, struggles to get the ball too and you can see that if you watch their games. the last game -> he got 10 offensive rebounds "to get his." but wing players have more freedom??? ask joe johnson how he's doing. only great wing players can take advantage, not just anybody.
Big difference between those two is that most of the time Howard's points are offensive rebounds, Can Yao do that? Yes, he can. But there's a huge risk of the over the back foul for Yao and even Yao knows that. In all fairness, when I have watched the Magic this year. It's not that Dwight can't fight for position, It's just the fact that his team prefers shooting 3's than Howard scoring in the post. They do have the same problem since He also has idiot teammates that won't give him the ball aside from Alston, it's just that they are not so dependent on Howard scoring all the points than Yao is on the Rockets. Alston is the only player willing to give both of these guys the ball. I've watched the Magic-76ers series and Alston is pretty much the only guy that gives him the ball and that was the same way here earlier this season when Alston was on the Rockets. Wing players do have more freedom since they completely took away the hand check rule and post players can be sandwiched in the post, while in the 80s and 90s they couldn't do that.
Its funny how some people are really getting into this and are using this season about McGrady instead of his overall stay with the rockets. Its easier for a guy who is going to have the ball in his hands almost every position compared to a center. who doesn't handle the ball. Tinman started WW3 on clutchfans with the McGrady only fans and Yao only fans. This should be a fun thread
i really hope he goes for 30+ and 10+. yao still has not played a game that truly defines him in the playoffs. i wish it comes in game 6 and we win.
