T-mac's impact on the 22 win streak: fact of fiction?

It really was a total effort we had different guys that stepped up every game during the streak...like skip most notably against the lakers,there were times when landry and scola had big games bobby jack etc...and DONT FORGET MOUNT MUTUMBO and the impact he gave us defensively in the paint...wow...

since then our players have improved dramatically esp brooks and scola...cant wait to see what this team can really do

 

First of all, how is someone not supposed to take whatever you claim to be your point out of context when your title is about Tmac's impact on the 22 win streak and whether it was fact or fiction.

Is the point you are trying to make that the Rox will shock the NBA this season? If so why didnt you make a thread titled "The Rox will shock the NBA this season" rather then tie some stupid point back to Tmac and the win streak from two seasons ago.

Its like me making a thread titled "Yao's injury will have not effect on the team this year" and then trying to say my point was AB is really fast. And by the way, its not half the board taking your comments out of context, its the entire board cuz no one seems to think you have a clue what you are talking about.

 

How much impact you ask well how about the 12 games without Yao. That's when he came and balled hard.

 

If I remember correctly, T-Mac was pretty much into the system.

He comes back from a knee (?) injury, and he starts out off the bench. Then gets back to the starting lineup.

 

Oh, come on now, guys.....

...we're not still on this thing with Do-the-Rockets-need-Tracy McGrady-or-don't-they, are we?

Oh well... it IS the offseason, after all...

Here's what happened (to me) during the streak....

The Rockets were finally able to develop some sense of what they needed to do to implement aspects of Rick Adelman's high post offense with a decidedly low-post player in Yao Ming. No matter what anybody else thinks or says, if Yao's on this team, Yao's going to spend most of his time down on the blocks.

What the Rockets were able to do was to involve some players who could take advantage of some of the offensive opportunities their new offense granted them. Luis Scola, Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks, all rookies, made the largest and most significant strides in that department. Those guys complemented the defensive-minded Shane Battier, Chuck Hayes and Dikembe Mutumbo, giving the team something it hadn't had in years—and that's balance.

And during the early part of the streak, McGrady had to adjust his mindset to how the team had improved and evolved from his one-man-show, not to mention working himself back into shape after being hurt a bit. He moved off the ball more, and ran through sets as they were designed, often being a decoy and setting up capable teammates who could score.

McGrady didn't like it all that much, but he saw the benefit of working with the new concept. McGrady can be dense at times, but he's not stupid.

When Yao went down in the middle of that streak, surprisingly, not much offensively needed to change for the Rockets, at least from Adelman's standpoint. He was having to tailor alot of his sets to Yao's presence (and rightly so). You don't run a lot of high post, backdoor cuts with a 7'6" monster out about 15' away from the basket.

But Yao's injury gave Adelman the opportunity to incorporate a bit more of his Princeton offense's more fundamental principles of player read-and-react and ball movement. And of course, having a Tracy McGrady waiting in the wings when things got a little tough or tight wasn't a bad fallback plan, either.

Rafer Alston played out of his mind during that streak, which is why I've always been the most critical of Alston's play for the Rockets. He wasn't shy about shooting the ball, but he let his weakness at it linger and blossom into something of an unspoken rule that the league would let him shoot as much as he wanted. He'd help the Rockets lose as much as the opposition.

People actually got to thinking that the Rockets couldn't win without Rafer. That's how significant Alston's contribution was. And why it was mind-boggling to see him not improve his jumpshot after so long a time. Maybe nobody had asked him to before Rick Adelman got here, but it sure seems to have gotten through to him somehow.

What did McGrady mean to all of this? Just about what he's probably should have meant since he's been a Rocket: a player with superlative talent that you can ask to take a big chunk of the team's responsibility to score when things are desperate. And to be a guy who, in spite of himself, could handle taking a backseat to other teammates if things go well.

There's no streak without Tracy McGrady. Nowhere even close.

There's no streak without Luis Scola.
There's no streak without Carl Landry.
There's no streak without Aaron Brooks.
There's no streak without Rafer Alston.

Funny, what teams can accomplish in this league, isn't it...?

 

If and when he returns, he needs to start off of the bench .

 

Great Analysis.

I think most importantly, our entire team just "clicked" at the right time. We were horribly inconsistent up until the start of the streak.

Part of it was the tough transition from the CD/JVG era to the RA/Morey era.
When Yao and Tmac have the ball in their hands 95% of the time to score/create, its tough to not rely on them so much...

and it turned out to be one of JVG's biggest faults and what we witnessed in Cleveland with Mike Brown...too much dependence on ONE PLAYER to do EVERYTHING...Jordan never won a title when he was averaging 37 ppg, 8 apg, 2 spg, 2bp on 50 % fg.


So obviously, the Rockets had a hard time implementing RA's offense, and getting Tmac to create less, even though he was very good at it.

Also, Yao was rarely 10 feet away from the basket and rarely had his face looking at the basket, unless if he was late getting back, when JVG coached us, that was very difficult on Yao as well.

Also, Rafer doesn't fit RA's point guard, which is a scoring/shooting point guard. Terry Porter, Jason Williams, Mike Bibby were all good scorers, creators, penetrators, and shooters. Rafer was only good at taking care of the ball. He was still playing 42 + minutes per game, since AB wasn't ready and Luther was Luther...

Shane Battier also didn't fit offensively as well. He's used to camping out in the corners. He has no ball handling skill, he has limited post up moves, and he is a defensive specialist, however, he was our best small forward.

Chuck Hayes was also our starter...he fit in well under JVG, but was an offensive liablity then, and was an even bigger one under RA. But, Scola and Landry weren't ready right away.

Then on top of that, Tmac's injury didn't help the consistency matter. However, that allowed Scola, Landry and Brooks to develop a little bit.

Once he came back, Yao was smarter and more comfortable away form the basket and knew when he had to dominate inside.

Scola was the starter, and quite effective at scoring and rebounding. Yao never had that solid power forward in his career before, so that made a world of difference for him...took away a lot of pressure off of him.

Battier began to move without the ball a little more and was able to rebound better because of that.

Alston also became more assertive when the defense allowed him to be...he didn't force it too much. If you remember, he was a much better finisher that season than in 2007. He didnt settle for floaters as much, but instead got to the basket.

Then Tmac, being able to watch the talent around him develop, knew he didn't have to do everything. He had 2 post up guys in Yao and Scola, a hustle guy in Shane, and a point guard who was willing to create now. Tmac could just go in and focus on scoring and if they needed him, he could create.

Also, Brooks, Landry, Hayes, and Deke were a solid bench and Head and Novak were also there as shooters.


I think, more than anything, the Rockets and RA just figured it out. It was a tough transition, but they made it work.

We were easily title contenders if Yao doesn't go down with an injury. Probably finish in the top 3, avoid Utah, and I think we would've beaten LA and the Spurs that year...neither were that impressive in the playoffs.

 

....and, just to keep the good times rolling...

...a lot of people (myself included) have likened Aaron Brooks to Tony Parker in San Antonio, at least in terms of the player he could most likely develop into....

....but thinking about Rick Adelman as the Rockets' coach, and how he prefers his guards to be more of jumpshooters than ballhandlers/creators per se (Mike Bibby and Terry Porter come to mind)...

..I think that Adelman may see Aaron Brooks becoming the type of offensive player Mike Bibby is, in the halfcourt. Brooks can shoot. And he has some confidence.

Brooks coming clean off picks at the high-post elbows set by Scola or David Anderson (who by all accounts is a good jumpshooting big man himself) would be interesting to watch....

 

Well, I think AB is too small to consistently finish inside. Parker is 6'2 and 195 lbs, vs. Brooks who is maybe 5'10 and 165 lbs.

He is atleast 4 inches shorter and 30 lbs. lighter...big difference in terms of being able to bump people off. So I think its better off that AB doesn't try to be Tony Parker...but maybe more of an Iverson type who was just great at creating contact and flopping a bit to get to the line a lot.

But the difference between them is the fact that AB can actually shoot a good %. Plus, thats better for RA as well. It will be very interesting to see if Brooks will be able to get the ball back to Scola or Anderson if teams over play him...his lack of height may hinder that as well.

Phil Jackson does the same thing with the Triangle offense by using scoring/shooting point guards:

Paxson, Armstrong, Tucker, Hodges, Kerr, Harper, Fisher, Shaw, and Farmar.

On almost any other team, most of these guys would rarely be used since they are not strong ball handlers and have almost no creating ability (except Harper)...all they do is hit open shots.

I think Aaron Brooks will be much better this way, because his size limits him way too much...think of Calvin Murphy. He was a better scorer and shooter than he was a point guard, because he was only 5'9.

 

theres something wrong with the WAS game. how can he have 11 points on 6 field goals MADE?

 

Sorry, but that thinking won't get you very far in basketball.

Ask the Laker fans how far they would get playing well as a team...and no Kobe.

Even during our big wins without a star, someone stepped up big. Problem is, when you don't have anyone who can do that on a regular basis, your progress is limited. That's the point of stars...their output is generally consistent.

I can't think of very man NBA champions who didn't have a star or a player that was playing at a star level.

 

...and, if I may add something to this VERY good point.....

...when people think of "stars" in the NBA, most of that perception is based on marketability, moreso than overall production.

It's why the San Antonio Spurs can win 4 NBA titles in a 9 year span and still garner ridiculously low Finals television ratings....and why people think that the Detroit Pistons that won the title in 2004 didn't have a "star" on their roster....

What field goal percentages and PER ratings and all of these other stats routinely fail to account for is the IMPACT a player's presence on the court can have for both his team and to the opposition.

It doesn't mean that the numbers don't matter, or that the numbers lie—it means you've got to have something routinely consistent to build your team around if you want to have any chance at all to win....

 

I knew there was something about you I liked.

If I wasn't married (and happily).....

 

Everybody knows T-MAC was da man during that streak. They started talking about him as an MVP canidate during that time that right there shows you how much impact he had on the team. Please give T-MAC da credit he is due for that streak.

 

*AMEN*

 

Negative points for fumbles. Duh !

 

My opinion, he was a major factor, but obviously not the only one. Rafer played very well, as did the rest of the squad. To me Rafer really stepped up his play though.

 

Of course he had an impact, they all did. Rarely do oraganized professional teams go on 22 game winning streaks. Especially in a team sport where there is parity and great competition like the current NBA where it is even less likely to happen.

 

IT WASN'T JUST ABOUT T-MAC OR RICK ADELMAN NOR THE YOUNG GROUP OF SCOLA, BROOKS, AND LANDRY WHO STEPPED UP, "THE SCHEDULE" PLAYED A CRUCIAL PART THAT LED TO THE 22-GAME WIN STREAK.

IT MAY HAPPEN AGAIN NOW THAT THE YOUNG GUYS ARE MATURED ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO WIN PLUS THE NEW ADDITIONS LIKE ARIZA, ANDERSEN AND POPS PLUS THE RETURN OF T-MAC AND THE PERFECTION OF THE RICK ADELMAN PLAYS BUT THEN AGAIN IT WILL ALL DEPEND ON THE SCHEDULE WHICH WE ALL KNOW RIGHT NOW IS MUCH TOUGHER THAN WHAT THEY HAD DURING THE STREAK.