The T-Mac theory is three-fold. 1. T-Mac only "steps up" when everyone else is playing poorly. Thus, unlike years past when he wanted stats, he doesn't care about that anymore, and having 2 points on the stat sheet doesn't phase him as long as it's coupled with a win. This is not necessarily a good thing, because if his teammates are playing well, he gets lazier, takes more jumpers, plays less hard, etc. While we all love aggressive, drive to the paint T-Mac, it does take a toll on his still recovering body, thus, it makes sense that he "picks his spots" and tries to take over when others are struggling. However, he is just one man (an injured one at that) so we fall just short. 2. Yao playing poorly affects the team more than T-Mac playing poorly. This is because even if Yao is off, he is still the first option. The team still tries to force feed it to Yao, and I don't know how many turnovers I have seen from Yao getting fronted and teammates throwing it away. When Yao is off, they still try to work him into rhythm, but it gets worse and worse as his confidence gets shook. It effects all aspects of his game, he gets blocked and killed on the boards by midgets, gets stuffed on the rim, etc. On the contrary, this year when T-Mac is off, he doesn't force it. Rather than jacking up 25+ shots to get his 30 points on 40% shooting, he takes 5 shots, and looks to pass the ball and get others involved or rebound. He doesn’t “impose his will” and despite having some god-awful games on the stat sheet, many have said that this year’s T-Mac is much more efficient than years past. 3. T-Mac’s lateral quickness is gone. His first step is still great, and he can get by his defender on offense because he knows what direction he is going and can put all his momentum in that direction. However, it’s a whole different ball game on defense. He has to gamble on defense every time just to stay in front of his man because his quickness isn’t there right now. Thus, if T-Mac gambles wrong and puts all of his momentum in one direction, he gets blow by easily. That’s why I thought that they should have put T-Mac on more stationary guys and less athletic guys. Now, that we know T-Mac’s defense sucks, you couple that with all of the energy he expends on “good offensive games” and his defense suffers more in those games. And that is a third reason why we play worse when Mac has a good game.
more like we're bad because he holds the ball so long whenever he makes his move. if the shot goes in, great, but if it misses that's the cause of our stagnant offense.
Yep. I'm saying we should trade T-Mac for Steve Novak and filler. We need shooters to surround Yao! (sometimes I wonder why I try)
When TMAC was the play maker, we were a worse offensive team. When TMAC feels comfortable with his offensive game and feels he should take all the responsibility, we usually lose. We need someone to take the ball out of TMAC's hand. That's why a PG is crucial to TMAC and this team. Rafer is not enough.
I'm not sure I agree with the premise. When I look at the splits last year -- what he did in wins versus losses -- he's far more efficient in the wins and therefore scores more points, he gets more assists in wins (his teammates are probably better, so not a surprise), and he shoots a little less frequently. I would say on average he clearly plays better in the wins than losses, at least based on last season. And on average, he may take a few more shots in the losses, but that's to be expected if his teammates are struggling.
T-Mac has one more year on his contract than Iverson. Detroit probably would not have gone for it, even if we wanted to do it (I don't think we would).
some thoughts T-mac was spoiled in Magic, now he starts to realize basketball is team work but he still goes back to personal show at clutch time, he doesn't understand it's better to keep high pressure on opponent to build an early lead, so all the starters can have a good break at 4th qt instead of psycho torching at the last 0.8 second.
From what you all say, can I conclude that Tmac is imcompitable with any team that hopes to win? He is perfect only for the Magic then, and the Sonic last year? Anyway trading him is too huge for Morey to decide without talking to Les.
No.. go back and watch the Celtics and Trailblazers games. Tmac wasn't the reason Yao was missing dunks and layups. And in the Trailblazers game the offense was actually good. And the reason we sucked offensively against the Celtics can be explained by the fact that they are one of the best defenses in the league and TT is their assistant coach, knows everything there is to know about Yao because he worked with him in Houston. And it doesn't explain how Tmac had racked up 7-8 assists in some of these games either.
are you saying tmac caused yao to miss dunks and layups? artest to shoot 3-16? poor rebounding and defense? how do you explain a winning record with tmac since he's been a rocket? and in the 3 games we've won, you seem to forget that we've played sub .500 teams? the 2 games we've lost, we played the champs (with only tmac and scola playing well) and lost to a lucky shot. the theories are definitely fun to read though.
Everyone talking about years past, read my post. I'm talking about this year, with an INJURED T-Mac. Not in years past when he's been (relatively) healthy. His picking his spots is because he's injured, his lack of lateral movement is because he's injured, etc. I'm sure we'll be fine once he gets back to 100%, but right now a lot of people are over-reacting.
but this theory is still funny b/c in the games we lost, we were RIGHT THERE to win if we just make ONE layup/dunk by yao or get 1-2 rebounds that yao missed. how does tracy control those things when yao gets blocked by the rim or miss point blank layups? your theory about tracy stepping up more when others struggle is right. and he has to do so. kobe does that when he played with shaq, usually only takes over if shaq is in foul trouble or struggles (hence scoring more in 2nd halves back then) or each of the big 3 of the celtics usually take a backseat when 1-2 go off. i think you need to watch more. had we make 1-2 layups in those 2 losses, we're 6-0 and you're gonna say otherwise? it's absurd.
I think you have a team where Yao was gone for a long strech last season, and Artest is new, and you have a lot of guys like Landry, Scola, Brooks, Berry, and Battier is out - it's a lot to re-adjust to. Folks, yall need to ChilLAX! It's the start of the season, guys are feeling their way around. They have to re-establish chemistry and be competitive. Artest and Rafer are shooting poorly. T-mac is readjusting to Yao, Yao is getting his legs back, Artest is adjusting, we need Battier, and you got Berry who is new to the team as well. Rome wasn't built in a day. And let's not forget last season how Yao and T-mac were play vituoso basketball before Yao got injured. Why not give some time to let that re-develop. I swear....people have short memories.
And by watch more, don't just watch the Rockets. Watch the Lakers, the Celtics. They're best players aren't on full go 35 mins a game. Kobe "turns it on" during certain parts of the game. Sometimes he doesn't turn it on much at all in a game. Look at Ray Allen. He killed the Rockets, but usually he's the third option. That's the luxury of having 3 superstars. If we didn't have Artest, Tmac would've had to give a lot more effort last night in order to win. This would've made him a lot more tired and worn out for the Lakers game. Tmac is fine (albeit the injuries). He's a great player and does more good for the team than bad. It's a shame how easy it has become to take the things Tmac does out of context because we haven't been able to ultimately win with him yet. That's why he gets all the blame.
McGrady couldn't control that. But if you think McGrady played such a great game against the Celtics, ask yourself this: When Ray Allen was going wild on us, who was supposed to be defending him? Its easy to blame Yao b/c he obviously had the worst game, but its foolish to think that he was the only reason.
We really need to get rid of T-mac, it seems like every year he has some excuse for not playing his best. It's his leg, his back, he has a cold, he has a freaking headache and he blames it on that, trying to make everyone feel sorry for him. We need a true leader, or at least someone who isn't afraid to drive the ball to the basket.
