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In 2004-2005, when he arrived here, McGrady had a WICKED left elbow post-up jumper that he'd take, usually off a fake, spinning CLOCKWISE. I can't recall ANYONE else that has ever had this shot (granted, I don't know what his percentages were on it, but it looked sick when he took it). Jordan and Kobe and Karl Malone all had great traditional ones from the right elbow spinning counter-clockwise, but I've never seen anyone else regularly take the shot that McGrady came here with.

After 2004-2005, the shot disappeared from his repertoire, never to be seen again. Why?

My best guess (without watching tape) is that it required a good amount of elevation to get off without being blocked, so his injuries kept him from being able to get it off comfortably/safely, but I don't really know where it went. Any thoughts?

p.s. At any rate, I'd rather Scola's J from there at this point, as I'm sure it's more reliable.)
p.p.s. At the risk of inciting the standard silly argument here, I thought this was neat.
http://www.wagesofwins.com/Magic77-09.html
Tracy McGrady is ranked 4th in the history of the Magic. As one can see, once upon a time McGrady was a very productive NBA player. That is no longer the case today. With the Magic he posted a WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minute] above 0.200 each season. He has not done this for the Rockets since his first season in Houston. And now that he is 30 years of age, we might suspect that McGrady is not likely to reach the 0.200 mark again.

JVG. offensive graveyard

hahaha JVG let tmac run rampant. So does RA. The only one to blame is himself. I remember under JVG we had two plays: Pick and roll with yao and tmac & Give tmac the ball. Both of which has tmac with the ball. Idk what his shots per game were with orlando and houston, but I'm sure they aren't too far off which means it isn't the system....

Heh well, neither post really responded, but to answer your question...

Year - GP - FG-FGA - PPG - Shots per game
Orlando
00-01 - 77 - 788-1,724 - 26.8 - 22.390
01-02 - 76 - 715-1,586 - 25.6 - 20.868
02-03 - 75 - 829-1,813 - 32.1 - 24.173
03-04 - 67 - 653-1,566 - 28.0 - 23.373
Houston
04-05 - 78 - 715-1,660 - 25.7 - 21.282
05-06 - 47 - 410-1,011 - 24.4 - 21.511
06-07 - 71 - 638-1,480 - 24.6 - 20.845
07-08 - 66 - 548-1,307 - 21.6 - 19.803
08-09 - 35 - 188-485 - 15.6 - 13.857

i.e. The meltdown started in 05-06, a 47 game - i.e. injury filled - season, and went downhill from there. As I've said before, at least it wasn't Francis, as his meltdown was far worse.

(01-02 was probably McGrady's best year)

When you say left elbow jumper do you mean that 1-step jab step then spinning back around for the turnaround? I've seen him do that numerous times as a Rocket, and yes it's classic McGrady.

People can hate T-Mac all they want, and it's deservedly so for all the shenanigans he's pulled like his timing of his season-ending "announcement," the ridiculous stuff he says in the media, his work ethic, etc. etc. but let's try not to have a revisionist history here. T-Mac was the cog that drove the Rockets engine since he came here until this year and was very productive every year he's been here (and actually on the court) outside of this year.

Yeah er, I suppose meltdown is the wrong term. This year was the only "meltdown" year, but he definitely wasn't as productive as he had been earlier since at least the 07-08 season.

And yes, I meant this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKEfFCpwiE , but from the opposite elbow, still spinning the wrong way (and pulling off the whole thing a lot quicker, and without the hitch). On second thought, it's possible that my reduction in seeing the move could be related to his 47 games in 05-06, no cable in 06-07, and knee injuries / spotty FSN reception the last two years, but I still haven't really seen it since 04-05.

Until 03/04 the Magic surrounded McGrady w/3pt shooters-Armstrong,Miller,Garrity. He would drive,draw defense and kick out. He also would drop incredible dunks on people until he started wracking his back after really vicious dunks. He worked on his 3pt shot and started to fall in love w/it.
After really messing up his back in 05/06 he stopped driving to score and started driving to pass-good for his teammates,bad for fans who expected him to take it strong to the hoop.

In his two injury-shortened Rocket seasons the Rockets attempted 2 FEWER FGAs a game. Could be a reflection of his high assist-to-turnover ratio,but it's more likely it's the fact that as the shot clock winds down T-Mac can get off a shot. W/out him the Rockets would routinely get 24 second violations,sometimes 2 in a row! No matter how bad McGrady's shot was,a few would go in and occassionaly there'd be an offensive rebound that would lead to a score. There's never a score on a 24 second violation!

LOL that video moofs showed was this year---which I find hilarious because of all the injury issues, amazing athlete, I'm really hoping he comes back strong for his contract year, Chad Ford spotted him at Jordan's trainers gym working out hard, he looks like he really wants to prove people wrong.

Never underestate the initiave of one in a contract year.

McGrady's working with Tim Grover, that's enough for me to see some light in the tunnel, and expect a huge recovery in his game. He'll be back. As much as I doubted him, and still do deep inside, that intiative alone to get a trainer and do something he hasn't ever done before...work, it means things are changing.

DraftBoy10 wrote:Never underestate the initiave of one in a contract year.

McGrady's working with Tim Grover, that's enough for me to see some light in the tunnel, and expect a huge recovery in his game. He'll be back. As much as I doubted him, and still do deep inside, that intiative alone to get a trainer and do something he hasn't ever done before...work, it means things are changing.

You terribly underestimate injuries.

McGrady is a few years late working with Grover, who's also worked with MJ, Kobe (after Kobe's knee injury), Wade, and probably the entire Bulls team for the past 20 seasons or so.

But the fact that McGrady's taking initiatives is something to be optimistic about.

McGrady's got the skill, he just needs someone to really maintain his body, if he can be durable he came become a 20+/6/5 guy on this team on good percentages, I wouldn't be surprised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ueY-JDUUg

2:12 mark

The above video is awesome. Sometimes I forget how great T-mac was and sometimes I wonder how much better and more durable he could be if he had Kobe's work ethic.

I think he learned that move from Hakeem. He never pulled that off in his ORL days.

DraftBoy10 wrote:Never underestate the initiave of one in a contract year.

McGrady's working with Tim Grover, that's enough for me to see some light in the tunnel, and expect a huge recovery in his game. He'll be back. As much as I doubted him, and still do deep inside, that intiative alone to get a trainer and do something he hasn't ever done before...work, it means things are changing.

Yea thats pretty cool. I am with TMU that he should have done this a long time ago. I think he works hard but that work ethic had slipped in the last few years. Probably hasn't put in strong work since his first season in Houston. Grover is a basketball trainer unlike his former trainer who he found in a golds gym and hired.

I agree with you as well in believing that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. What is his motivation. Money...winning? I dunno. But I do know that we'll probably see a different McGrady next season and that will benefit this team.

Good percentages? T-mac has worse shot selection than Kobe. It doesn't matter if you give him 10 shots or 30 he's gonna build a house.