THE DREAM = CONVINCED!!!

That the rockets will never win anything with Tracy Mcgrady.......last night at the game I felt the need to scream some words at Tracy, and judging by his look towards me I don't think he was happy with what was coming out of my mouth.......I've come the realization that this teams problems aren't it's PG's, PF's, bench players, coaches, g.m's, etc......it's Tracy Mcgrady. Every year since he's been here all those things that I have just listed have changed......but tmac hasn't.........I'm tired of all the excuses of what he does and doesn't have.....Jordan did without a center....Hakeem did without a good staring PG and one title he did it without a PF......The Laker teams of the new millenium never had a solid PF.......Wade did it with a old beat up shaq and a bunch of over the hill vets and inconsistent role players.........Bron took his team to the finals despite their weaknesses....A.I. did the same....................Tmac can't even get out of the 1st round....and last night was a prime example of why he hasn't been able to do that........with a couple of minutes left to go Tmac drives it into the basket and instead of shooting the layup, dunking, or drawing the foul he passes to Yao Ming who wasn't expecting the ball....then on a later posession he shoots a fallaway offbalance 20 ft. jump shot that never had a chance.......I've seen this far too often now and it's time for a change....if the rockets are really "serious" about winning and taking the next step they need to find a way to trade Tmac for some kind of talent........the guy imo might be the most physically talented player the NBA has ever seen, but like the Lion from The Wizard of Oz he lacks "courage".........I will now return home to Thanksgiving Dinner and football.....good day everyone.</p>

 

I don't think it's just McGrady. I think everyone is equally responsible. I was watching that game too (Knicks getting blown out against Pistons), and everyone on the Rockets deserves equal blame. I've noticed that the Rockets are especially incompetent during crunch time: Yao Ming giving up that and-1 layup to Devin Harris, Mike James missing that key free throw, everyone throwing up bricks in the 4th, etc. With a 16 point lead in the 3rd, the Rockets did a poor job countering the Mavericks run. I think the Rockets experience, or lack thereof, is their main problem though. None of the Rockets key guys - McGrady, Yao, Battier - have experience past the first round, so they don't know what it takes to reach that "next level". I think the problem isn't McGrady. If the Rockets were to trade McGrady, they will most likely lose out, anyway.</p>

 

McGrady was carrying our offense for most of the game, Dream. But he doesn't have the right mentality to be a closer. Even LeBron James, for all the flak he gets, attacks the basket in crunch time. Kobe. D-Wade. They all do it. Why? Because when you're a star, the ref is going to call in your favor 9 times out of 10 when you attack the basket. T-Mac is always reluctant to do that.</p>

I thought Tracy played a brilliant floor game for most of the contest. But that last shot he took, a clunker from 20 feet, sums up all my frustrations about his game. If it went in, people would be cheering him. But it was the wrong shot at that time.</p>

Let's also keep in mind that T-Mac's elbow was apparently bothering him. Maybe he didn't have confidence finishing his layups or absorbing contact because of it. I would say that Yao deserves more responsibility for the loss than T-Mac. His stats look nice, but he was spoon fed most of those baskets by Tracy (as was everyone else, seemingly). And he was a defensive liability in the closing minutes when the Mavs went small.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (durvasa)</div><div class='quotemain'>Let's also keep in mind that T-Mac's elbow was apparently bothering him. Maybe he didn't have confidence finishing his layups or absorbing contact because of it.</div></p>

"IF " Tracy's elbow was bothering him so much it would make more sense not to shoot long range jumpers IMO. DREAM makes some very good points, Tracy does not have that killer instinct that we wish he did. Look up the shot chart on last nights game on ESPN.com. In the fourth quarter he took three jumpers ALL at 20ft or more. He <font color="#ff0000" size="4">never</font> set foot in the paint.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blurr#7)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

"IF " Tracy's elbow was bothering him so much it would make more sense not to shoot long range jumpers IMO. DREAM makes some very good points, Tracy does not have that killer instinct that we wish he did. Look up the shot chart on last nights game on ESPN.com. In the fourth quarter he took three jumpers ALL at 20ft or more. He <font size="4" color="#ff0000">never</font> set foot in the paint.</p>

</div></p>

Did you watch the game, or just the shot chart? He got into the paint many times, but he was passing to his teammates. For the most part, he was making good plays. Late in the game, he got into the paint off a pick from Yao. But when Yao rolled the spacing was screwed up, and that resulted in a turnover on the pass.</p>

I don't think he was close to 100%. Here's an account on T-Mac from someone in court side seats (off the CF forum):</p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>1. Tracy was in serious pain last night and without a doubt not 100%. Don't get me wrong, I love T-mac, but his shot was horribly affected by his elbow injury and it was a bit silly of him to try for the final shot when he was obviously injured. At EVERY given moment when he did not have the ball in his hand, he was continuously clenching his right hand in order to attempt to regain some of the feeling in his arm. He was favoring his left the entire night, dribbling up the court with his left, even refusing to give high fives with his right hand. I watched him while on the bench and he was moving his elbow at all times to try and get some feeling back in his arm. The point of all of this information is that Tracy was nowhere NEAR 100% last night, and for those of you saying that he is soft, you have no idea how hard he was working last night. Even when injured, the man left everything out on the court and did his best to take over the game against arguably the best team in the NBA (regular season team that is).</div></p>

If he's to be believed, I think we can give T-Mac a pass on this one. I agree that he should have gone to the basket at the end. That's what we'll need from him in the playoffs, no doubt.</p>

</p>

 

I'm not going to put blame on TMac for this loss either... Just look at the +/- stats for this game. When Mike James was on the floor, the Rockets were -22!!!!! Bonzi -17, Head -16!! The bench is killing the team right now. Now consider that Mike James was only on the floor for 16 mins, and during those 16 mins the Mavs outscored the Rockets by 22 points.</p>

Against the Lakers, James was also a team low in +/- at -12. Against Memphis, James was -11, Wells was -15, Scola was -10.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (durvasa)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blurr#7)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

"IF " Tracy's elbow was bothering him so much it would make more sense not to shoot long range jumpers IMO. DREAM makes some very good points, Tracy does not have that killer instinct that we wish he did. Look up the shot chart on last nights game on ESPN.com. In the fourth quarter he took three jumpers ALL at 20ft or more. He <font color="#ff0000" size="4">never</font> set foot in the paint.</p>

</div>Did you watch the game, or just the shot chart? He got into the paint many times, but he was passing to his teammates. For the most part, he was making good plays. Late in the game, he got into the paint off a pick from Yao. But when Yao rolled the spacing was screwed up, and that resulted in a turnover on the pass.</div></p>

I was at the game, maybe I should have worded it differently. He never took a shot from closer than 20ft. The only reasonI even looked at the SC was because my brother mentioned iton the way homeand I couldn't believe him, but he was right. In more than one occasion he actually had a lay up on the drive but chose to give it up.Patience with Tracy is wearing thin; most of the people sitting around us were really upset and the Dallas fans' constant mention of Tracy's lack of toughness wasn't helping. We keep waiting for that defining moment when Tracy takes over late to win a game (ala Lebron vs. Pistons) but it just never happens.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>He got into the paint many times, but he was passing to his teammates</div></p>

</p>

I noticed in 2 seasons of watching him up close that he does this a lot....he'll get right at the rim and instead of shooting a easy layup he'll kick the ball out to the perimeter............................and last night again showed us why Wade is on another level than Tracy....it just frustrates me, because we all know how good this guy is yet he just doesn't bring "it" every night....</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>but at least he's willing to take those pressure shots at the end of games.</div></p>

</p>

lately I've been questioning him even wanting to do this.....there were many occassions last year in the reg. season and in the playoffs when Tracy was reluctant to shoot down the stretch.....there have already been a couple of times this year where this "disease"has flared back up........</p>

 

I don't think Tracy is as effective scoring at the basket as some other players in the league like Kobe, LeBron, or Wade. He doesn't absorb contact like those guys well, and he tends to miss a lot of layups in traffic. That's my general impression -- maybe the stats say differently. So, when he's close to the basket in traffic and he sees a wide open teammate, he looks to pass more. As long as he's passing to high percentage players (Battier, Head, Yao) it's not necessarily a bad play. If he's getting to the rim and passing out to Rafer Alston, that's probably not a good idea.</p>

I think T-Mac might also lack some confidence hitting free throws down the stretch. He's a below average free throw shooter, for whatever reason. And in the last several games, he's really been slumping from the line. That could also have something to do with it.</p>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>He doesn't absorb contact like those guys well</div></p>

this is true.....I remember watching one play last night where it seemed as if he was knocked off balance when he took it to the lane.........I heard a rumor that Tmac couldn't do certain weight lifting training, because of his back......I don't know how true this is, but this could be a reason why Tmac is still somewhat of a skinny guy....</p>

 

It's funny but even after all the bad things Steve woulddo to piss me off, theway he could absorb impact in the air and still finish always amazed me. It's becoming the same story, too may jumpers and perimeter play and not enough pressure on the opposing defense in the paint. Parker, Kobe, Wade put soooo much pressure on the interior defense by driving the ball relentlesslly itdrastically changes the game.</p>

 

^^^^I agree.....although Stevie would make the bone headed play everynow and th....okay he made a lot of boneheaded plays.....but never did I question the mans toughness or "heart".......</p>

 

I think the quote above is taken a bit out of context in that column. I think what TMac means is, he understands what it's like to have to carry a team and feel like management hasn't brought in the players needed to be successful... like his time in Orlando.</p>

In regards to TMac passing out of drives to the basket, it may just be he feels that an open jumper is a better option than a contested layup. I think Tracy started to attack and finish his drives more against the Nuggets and that's a good sign. What he should remember is this:</p>

Contested layup - 40% chance of going in (with maybe 25% chance of an and-1)
Trip to the foul line - 2 shots, each 70% chance of going in
Kick out to Rafer Alston for a 3 - right now, 22% chance of going in</p>

 

Maybe Van Gundy was the problem? Lets see how far they get this year without VG</p>