Oh the drama! Yes, it's happening once again. Another season in the books, but the question remains the same.........Is T-mac one and done......again?
One and done? Come on people, your not really buying into this #### are you? How could you honestly say that one person controls the destiny of an entire team? Is he a magician? I don't see T-Mac holding a crystal ball in his hand before each game! Think about it! That's like saying you will go ahead and play every game of the season 1 on 5. (T-mac vs. your team) If you lose against our five players then you don't have what it takes to win in the playoffs!
Give me a break! Anyone who says that one player is responsable for the outcome of an entire team is mad! If you have followed Basketball long enough, it goes without saying that it requires a team effort to win and to lose! If you do not have a supporting cast around you, chances are you are not going to get far in the playoffs.(umm.....first round exit) Plan and simple!
The media should give T-Mac the credit he deserves. Not dwell on the fact that he has had some early exits. Do your homework, he has been close on several occasions. If the Rockets were healthy this season it would have been an entirely different question facing T-Mac right now!
Prez...agreed. He's just been unfortunate. The injury bug seems to bite him and/or his teammates in the #### every season. He gives his all on the court and sometimes that's all you can do.
"Do your homework, he has been close on several occasions" He has been close? who cares. Close doesn't mean anything. As far as being able to win without a supporting cast Lebron James was able to do that somewhat last year, but I do agree that it is not all T-Mac's fault and the absence of Yao is a huge loss. However, T-Mac deserves some of the criticism he gets because as a start player he should produce in the playoffs. He has 1 point in the 4th quarter of both games combined. I would like to say the media is to hard on him, but 1 point is hard to argue against.
I feel for McGrady. He can't do it all. He plays with heart. He plays to win.
But c'mon, when you've got slow-footed Bobby Jackson (who can't run an offense), a 60-year old center (Mutombo) who moves as slow as a turtle, a young rookie who is prone to ticky-tack fouls in Luis Scola (Kirilenko flop at the end of game 2), and an inconsistent defender who is undersized at small forward (Shane Battier) and your main bench rotation consists of rookies (Landry and Brooks)... how on earth can we expect T-Mac to be able to lead and compete with the Best in the West all at the same time?
It's not gonna happen, and T-Mac is probably out of Houston by next year.
The best thing for Tracy would be to go to the East and team up with Chris Bosh and play in a run-n-gun type of system with a point guard (Calderon) who thinks pass first and shoot second.
oaklanda's fan....over the past seasons T-Mac's playoff numbers have increased. A couple of bad 4th quarters here dont warrent criticism. thanks for the comment
p_rez: His playoff stats have gone up????? In 02-03 he averaged 31.7 points per game. 30.7 in 04-05 and 25.3 in 06-07. and down further to 21.5 so far this year. Two bad games dont warrent criticism however the declining numbers and never getting out of the first round do. He has struggled this year and is not a big game player. In game two on the play where Kirlenko flopped, T-Mac had a wide open three but passed the ball for his teammate to take it because he is scared of the pressure. Big time players don't pass up that shot.
Im with you on this P_rez. Im never selling out my Houston teams. The team came into this meeting at less than full strength. The key cog to this team is missing. The leader of the frontcourt. We beat the Jazz everytime that we played them during the regular season, and won out the season series of most other teams during the season. It is an entirely different offense with Yao Ming on the floor. Without him we have been forced to become a strictly motion offense, and we have been seriously small in the frontcourt after Mutombo. At 42 you can only do so much. The league has gone from a big man's front court system, toa more run oriented full court sprinting type of pace. I myself do not favor it because today's players are coming out with more flaws and worse at the fundamentals of the game. I digress from my point however.
Scola is a good player. For a rookie the guy provides a spark plug for this team. Bobbie Jackson is serviceable, but cannot be the lone option from the bench. Alston is seriously underrated and completely neccesary for our team to succeed. You all see that he wasn't there for Games 1 and 2. The Jazz however are at full strength and have all of their players. Landry is explosive but is still a rookie just like Scola. Both of those guys are undersized for frontcourt players. It takes a hell of a lot of heart to man up and to even try to mix it up with bigger guys night in and night out. Scola is our second leading scorer in the playoffs and our only offense in the paint besides Tracy McGrady drives. What more do you all want from
If u look at the way hes been playing they double team for a whole quarter either the third or the fourth. at those times theres guys wide open that dont hit their shots. If yao was here they would be the team to beat this year the way theyve played. The refs they have calling this game are a freakin joke. they made the worst calls on sunday. One ref blew a whistle for a foul but he didnt know who to call it on or what THE FOUL WAS!!! he called scolia on a foul that he didnt even see and was ####. and when scolia got hammered they called it a regular foul not a flagrant foul like ti should have been. This was in houston i cant wait to see how the refs #### the rockets in SLC. They should be fired and never be allowed to ref again with the way theve influenced this series this year. its horrible
They need to put a decent cast aeound t-mac. He can only do so much by himself. In the playoffs it takes a team to win not a player. T-mac will still be in houston for years to come. hes an elite players with excellent skills and draws alot of attention. The rockets are better with him than without him. If Stevie Franchise woulda been healthy thsi year he would have been a big boost off the bench hes not the same player he was with the rockets before but he can still shoot and that what they need when they double team T-Mac.
The biggest problem T-Mac will have in the West is that he continually ends up facing a better team. The Jazz are better than the Rockets, particularly without Yao. Rarely, and I mean very rarely, does the percieved weaker team beat the better team.
It makes total sense to double team McGrady and force Luther Head and Shane Battier to beat you. I'll take T-Mac in Chicago if they wanna trade him.
reecey...good to hear from you, I have been saying the same thing over and over again, it comes down to b-ball fundamentals,(free throws, lay-ups etc.) if you cant do that then forget about it. To bad Scola wont win the rookie of the year, he deserves it.
Texans fan 19......even though the refs made a few bad calls, you cant blame them for the outcome o####ame. I think they have done a pretty good job so far. It's been about even. As for T-Mac coming back, I hope so! His contract expires next season, but I think the Rockets will keep him.
BleedPRPL&GLD......Yep, I must say I finally agree with a Lakers fan. It's time to do some fishing. I do however disagree with the Lakers going to the Finals. Its all San Antonio now!
KKfromBK........your right you need to force other players to beat you, and the Rockets other starters have not stepped it up.
Greenspire.....good to hear from you as well! I'm still here! Just took a little break, but you can never get to far away when you have sports on your mind. I have to say, the Jazz are looking tough! I still think you have to go through SA and San Antonio is looking unstoppable right now!
Tmac in game 2 was incredible, 23pts 14rbs 9ast 3blks 1 or 2 steals i dont remember and Rockets still lost. You cant blame T-Mac, I expected the Rockets to lose both these games... no starting pg, no starting center and thats pretty much it.
p_rez It just had to happen didn't it ? The guy hoists this team on his shoulders and takes them into postseason play and now ban*g they're one and done ! It's not about him being even close. Which in many respect has been aberration. He's never as such been a real leader and would rather the majority of the time defer to someone else. With Yao out he knew what to expect but the real problem was that his teammates weren't just prepared for the onslaught of postseason play. They just aren't good enough without Yao.
The two in tandem are good apart they're just average at best !
Its unfair to blame T-mac in all the time he has been in the playoffs only one year has he had the talent around him to go far. He is a good player it just sucks that jackasses like Charles Barkely just to name one are jumping on T-mac. Hold your head up man next is our year i can feel it
wrzit....I think the Rockets take at least on game from Utah, starting tonight?
tophatal.......good take, I agree with you a 100%, regular and post season are completly different levels. The Rockets have not been able to match the intensity of the Jazz. I blame it on the rookies....haha! But wait until next year, let them get some good playoff experience under their belts.
Greenspire
You're becoming delusional man. The Jazz couldn't handle the Spurs on an off day let alone on a good day.
We're seeing the Spurs take the Suns behind the woodshed and beating 'em black n' blue.
Does anyone think that particular series is over at this juncture ?
T-mac gets all this negative talk about him how its always his fault. and look what he does. he comes out and performs every night. if it wasnt for him they wouldnt even be here or in the playoffs for that matter. He needs a big man who can shoot and rebound for more than 5 mniutes a game. when your tallest player is 6'9 that plays a decent amount of minutes you have problems unless your name is ben wallace from the yester years he was a beast. if yao was her it would be a totally different series. we would be ahead 2-0 right now and come back with a 3-1 series lead next week.
94-92 Rockets. Sorry boozer its going back to houston biznotch. Rafer has made all the difference this game with out him we loose again. Carl Landry block of deron williams is the play of the game. Go Rockets
Texans fan 19........if Yao was not hurt the Rockets would have finished the season with the best record and would have been playing the Nuggets right now!
With Rafer in the line up now, it spreads the floor a little more and the Rockets are able to make the extra pass and find the open man. It also gives you better spacing for rebounds. Now ALL the pressure is not on T-Mac anymore. I look for the Rockets to come out ready to play again! I hope they can play with the same intensity like last night. If so beware Jazz! Its not over yet! And your right Landry was BIG! I think him getting a tooth knocked out, woke him up! Lets see?
The rockets did win 22 in a row 10 with out Ming.
I hope next year will be better, it is the same thing every year. Injuries. As for t-mac being tired, he needs to get a heart or condition better. I am tired. That is ####. For 20 million he better not be tired. What a waste of a 22 win streak.
I hope we trade him.
exactly p_rez but yet again yao is injured.they need a back up center or a taller Power Foward who can come up behind yao and that can shoot and isnt 40 something years old. Mutumbo is defense and nothing else maybe 1 or 2 buckets a game. Luis Scola is becoming a good Power Foward but hes not big enough to handle the big centers which we need right now. The rockets either need to draft a center to back up yao or sign one in fa that can play some offense and rebound thats not 6'9
The rockets are going to have a late 20's draft pick, so they should just take the best player available. They have needs at almost every position. They need a back up athletic big man for yao who can play big minutes if need be. Carluis Scolandry settled our problems at PF. We need a scoring presence at SF to back up shane battier. We need a starting SG, but since were stuck with T-Mac, we at least need a long, athletic SG with some range and accuracy to back up t-mac (anything but luther head). This is especially important considering the right SG could limit T-Mac's minutes to 30 or less, so he has less strain on his body (less injuries), and he won't get tired (what a weak excuse for him). We could use a consistent PG to, but i think we would be hard pressed to replace Alston with our current cap situation etc. Plus he is the emotional leader for this team, and seems like the only one with and F U attitude sometimes.....
I don't know, but I think being down 2-3 in the first round is better than anyone was saying when yao went down. a lot of "experts thought they wouldn't even make the play-offs :p
Hello all, my name is P_REZ. I have always been involved in sports. From playing, to coaching, to watching, and betting. I am a native Houstonian. Which means I take Houston sports very seriously! The Astro's, Rocket's, and Texan's (Oiler's) are my favorite Teams! I don't always agree with some of the moves they tend to make (via trades, play calling, moving a franchise) but I do support them. Make no mistake about that! I think I am pretty knowledgeable when it comes to sports. I have written a few blog's and will be writting a lot more in the future (or at least when I think certain things need to be addressed) I'll let you be the judge. So feel free to post a comment on my blog's and let me know what you think. Thanks! T/C until next time......... ..........PEA CE!
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