Why somebody would lie about being a Rockets insider is a good question. But it's happened before with stuff being posted about draft day trades, cryptic nonsense, etc, etc. Complete rubbish where the person who posts it just disappears for a while and takes no responsibility for being wrong. That's part of the reason for skepticism. Over the last, say, 3-4 years alone, the vast majority of predicted claims by "insiders" has not come to pass. I guess you can say it's a case of the majority (phonies) ruining it for the few (legit insiders).
If you didn't see this year that this is Yao's team then I don't know what you're watching. Before his injury he was literally carrying this team on his back and probably the leading candidate for MVP. Tracy is having a bad season (he was before he got hurt). TMac doesn't have the consistant attitude to be a leader. Sometimes he gets fired up, other times he does nothing. He's more of a private person. He's cut in the Duncan mold in that regards but they just aren't the same player. As for the rest, I'll pass on that lame argument
KAS13ah, you have about the most easily yanked chain out there, on a BBS full of very-yankable chains. You really took Apostolic/A3P0's post to heart huh? I never doubted your lofty insider status that you remind us groundwalking, earth-dwelling muggles of (email clutch if you don't believe me...) on every possible occasion, for the record (though the Reggie Bush fiasco certainly shook my faith to its very core). So....I'm happy you grace us with your presence on this board despite the slings and arrows- God knows it certainly makes for some funny stuff on occasion.
Actually they would. Rafer is probably the most vocal guy on the team and if we're talking about the guy who will step and say something or is liked and respected by all his teammates it's Rafer. It's up to you to believe it.
The Reggie Bush thing was the only thing I've ever posted (insider wise) that I was wrong about. It shocked almost everyone. You can only go by what you're being told in certain situations and it ended up being wrong. At the end of the day, if all that stuff didn't start happening the week before the draft (allegations he took improper benefits, signability,ect..) I think we would have picked him. Mario came late into the picture. I was wrong and admitted it. I was just posting what i was told. Like I said, continue to pos whatever you want. I'm sick of arguing with you and all this stuff. It's a waste of my time. You can continue, I'll pass. I just thought his post made sense and I was already in the process of doing many of the things he said anyways, so I respected his advise.
I agree with you more than 110% and not to mention he's a Turnover Machine!!!! the last thing we need is turnovers!! Rafer is a far better PG than vspan, I like vspan but he's just not ready to play more than 10mins and I do believe he will be a good PG in the future but we dont need him to be starting and playing a lot this season, specially this season when its hard to stay on top with this tough western conferance. and about JLIII, he's proving to be a good fit and I think he should get some time to play in every game. Did you guys notice JLIII only played a little over a minute and had 4pts and 1 stl. in last nights games vs. NJN
Yao was carrying the team when T-Mac was injured. So what? We were losing games despite his monster performances. Yet when Yao's out and a banged up T-Mac is playing, we can still win games. We destroyed the Nets on a 2nd game of a back to back. There is a huge difference in the W-L record when T-Mac is in the game compared to when he's not playing. Forget the stats, it's all about the W-L, and I see based on the records that T-Mac is way more valuable to this team than Yao. Our team is best obviously when both are playing, but if I could only choose one to play, I'm taking T-Mac. Just look at the records!
Fine then, take the high road. I'll accept your surrender. You should just know that we only respect posters that make claims and have evidence to back them up. I shouldn't have to email Clutch to see what's true and what's not true. You make the accusations, so YOU should be responsible for backing yourself up, not Clutch. I have no idea if you have inside information. All I want is real evidence that T-Mac is slacking off. You better come with proof when you make accusations like this: WHERE DID ALL THIS COME FROM? WHERE'S THE PROOF? Were you conversing with Nash and T-Mac and they agreed that they have the exact same back problems? And Nash decided to play through it and not T-Mac? Yao got injured and I don't see him playing the next game. This sounds a lot more like your opinion than "inside information". If this is just your opinion, then fine that's cool. We all have our own opinions about players. But you're trying to persuade us that they're facts when you've yet to give us any evidence.
We are getting way off topic but I can't let this pass. What you say may have some merit but one reason is because our offense isn't diverse enough when Yao plays. When Tracy is gone all the other players do is feed the ball inside and watch Yao. When Yao is gone, the other players are encouraged to get involved into the flow and step up their games. I blame this on JVG's poor offensive coaching and over-reliance on Yao.
Rockets were not horrible in Tracy's absence so far this year. Their record doesn't look good, but they lost close games, many on the road, and many against at least decent Western Conference teams. They also just had a convincing win against the Spurs without Tracy McGrady, so it's not like they are total crap without McGrady. Strength of schedule factors in greatly in this "record without star player" comparison. The team can compete without either star.
I am not doubting that you might be closer to team information than most here, but there are people who pretend to be insiders. I don't know why, but the name "Troy Baros" comes to mind. Not sure if that was before your time on the BBS, but that was a guy who pretended to be Steve Francis' "special friend" and wasn't...well, until Clutch put it in his moniker.
That is a good point. The other players are watching Yao. When Yao is not double teamed, he should take the shot every time though. The only time he should get the other players involved is if they actually move around, get open, or cut to the basket (which does not happen consistently). If the opposition does double Yao, then he must get the others involved. With T-Mac though, he has the ability to distribute the ball even when he's not being double teamed. That is one of his assigned roles. He is our point forward. Yao should not be penalized that he doesn't distribute the ball well enough because his main assignment is to put the ball in the basket. I want him taking 20+ shots a game. Players don't stand around to watch T-Mac though, because they know he's a pass first superstar. Very unselfish. They will try to get open or cut to the basket, because they know T-Mac has amazing court vision. That is why he is more valuable than Yao. Unfortunately, other posters misinterpret T-Mac's unselfish play and and believe he's not interested in the game and doesn't play with heart.
Yao was not only carrying the team when T-Mac was injured but he also was carrying the team when T-Mac was playing. This is undeniable. There is a reason Yao and not T-Mac won a player of the month and was on the short list of MVP candidates. Tracy McGrady had a losing record without Yao last year, Just thought you know. Using a losing record to devalue Yao is asinine especially after Yao played western conference teams and Tracy has played two Eastern conference teams. One of which is second to last in the Titanic division.
2-5 is still 2-5. What about all the games we lost last year without T-Mac? The games this year were close losses on the road, but losses none of the less. T-Mac is one of the best road players in the game, and I know we could win all of those games we lost on the west road trip if T-Mac was playing. I'm not saying we're total crap without him, but the records over the past two years suggest we need T-Mac more than we need Yao.
I'm not trying to devalue Yao, but instead promote T-Mac as more valuable than him. What was our record when T-Mac was playing but not Yao last year? It was a losing record? Well, whatever it was, compare that to what our record was when Yao was playing but not T-Mac. Compare those numbers and tell me who's more important to this team. Look, I love Yao. It was awesome that he won NBA Player of the Month and is considered an MVP candidate. But without Tracy McGrady, I'm not sure if we can get out of the first round or if we can even get to the playoffs. Before Yao got hurt, it was awesome seeing him take 30+ shots and getting 30+ pts and 10+ rebs, but we were losing to teams we would normally beat with a healthy T-Mac. He just can't distribute the ball and make his teammates better the way T-Mac can. Yao is definitely capable of involving his teammates, but not to the extend that T-Mac can. That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying T-Mac should've won player of the month or be considered an MVP candidate or that Yao sucks.
I get your point but Yao is our MVP, not Tracy. If T-Mac from 04/05 was still around, I might agree with you. But that guy is gone forever. On involving other players, I hate to be repetitive but our dull, boring and predictable Yao-only offense (when Tracy doesn't play) is the fault of JVG, not Yao. The big fella can only do so much.
Extremely fair question from Prosun and some backing info from long time member SJC. We await your response KAS13.
What about the 21-61 or something like that TMac racked up during his last full year without Yao? Last year was last year, with a old, short, dilapitated cast of players that got shipped out. It was just bad outside of McGrady and Yao. Guys who got major minutes on that team-- Bogans, Wesley, Ric friggin Brunson, etc, have all been getting considerably less time this year. They were outsized and out-talented by a large margin. Besides, Yao was working on an infected toe for the first part of the season. Neither last year's team, or the 21 win Orlando team are relevant to this year's team. This is not to say the Rockets don't miss TMac, even in the current diminished version. They miss him not so much because of his scoring, which now he doesn't do very efficiently. They miss his size on defense, especially with Wells/Snyder either out or less than 100%. Head was exploited by bigger guards when he plays large minutes. They also miss having an extra ball handler on the court. Alston being the only one who could do PG things relatively well brings a lot of pressure on him and leads to Alston's mistakes.
Don't these statements contradict each other? You're only fueling my argument. T-Mac is also our best perimeter defender in addition to our best distributor because of his size and long arms. There's no doubt he's been shooting poorly since his return and at the beginning of the season. However, the Rockets just illustrated that we can still win despite a poor shooting performance by T-Mac because of everything else he brings to the table. Now let's say we're playing with Yao and not T-Mac. If Yao has a very inefficient scoring night, face it, we will probably lose. Yao is a definite shot blocking and rebounding presence, but like I said earlier, he just can't involve his teammates the way T-Mac can. In addition, it was unfortunate for T-Mac to get that back spasm in the Wizards game because he started to put up a number of efficient scoring games just in that week. He played awesome in that Wizards game before getting hurt (shooting 10-21 FG), he went 9-13 in the blowout win vs the Bobcats, 13-25 FG in our home blowout win vs the Warriors, and started off well in the Cavaliers game (3-5 FG) before getting knocked out by a Mutombo elbow. It really looked like he was returning back to form (like in 2004-05). I believe that once he improves his conditioning, we will see that T-Mac return. I am already pleased that he is still driving to the basket and posting up. He said he was worried about re-injuring his back, but give him credit for not becoming an exclusive jump shooter. He is penetrating and getting the others involved. BELIEVE!
