May.1 at 10:33 am

Sesa says:
Kenny G is a Mormon?

May.1 at 10:44 am

riggs says:
lol @ ginoblis hair back then

May.1 at 12:12 pm

Tariq says:
I’ve seen that 13 pts in 33 seconds sequence before, but after viewing it again, I can safely say that Mac is a loser. He just doesn’t have the right “mindset.”

May.1 at 12:15 pm

Zee! says:
The longer this goes, the more time the Lakers can rest. It’s gonna be ugly in the next round.

May.1 at 1:43 pm

Tariq says:
Also, there have been many, many great Russians over the span of history: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov, Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Lev Yashin and Anna Kournikouva’s Body. But whatever these people have contributed to mankind is far outweighed by the disservice AK47 has inflicted on humanity with that horrid video.

May.1 at 2:50 pm

Tariq says:
Hey Russ, Sorry to go off-topic, but I just wanted to quickly ask if Stackhouse was traded from Philly because he “couldn’t co-exist” with Iverson or if there were other reasons. I’ve been looking for answers online but can’t find any. Sorry.

May.1 at 3:23 pm

albie1kenobi says:
that was possibly the one of the most amazing 10 minutes of my (viewing) life. i remember watching it live and i just couldn’t believe it was happening.
and Tariq, you gotta explain the loser mindset on that. i just don’t get it.

May.1 at 3:24 pm

tenorca says:
I see that Russ is still spicy from that Dirk Nowitzki hate-a-thon yesterday. That little offhanded comment pleased me.

May.1 at 3:25 pm

albie1kenobi says:
also, that “music video” was the worst thing in the history of western civilization. how did you even KNOW about this ridiculousness, Russ?

May.1 at 3:44 pm

RV says:
great, finally get a post on the game and none of the replies to it are relevant, i hate y’all

May.1 at 4:01 pm

RV says:
the rockets are holding the jazz to 86 points this series, thats 20 under their regular season average, ever before this blow out they were holding them to 16 under. I get that based on the rosters, the series seems over, but other than that, i’m not sure why no on seems to thinkt he rockets can push it to 7 and maybe even win it.

May.1 at 4:11 pm

RV says:
also, the reason why this team has done what they have this season is due to literally never quitting any game or any play. That’s why Tmac, battier, and Rafer will need surgery this offseason, Its also reported a couple other players will need minor procedures.

May.1 at 4:48 pm

Tariq says:
albie: I was being sarcastic. I’ve been defending Mac relentlessly these past few days. Ever since they went down 2-0, a lot of people have been saying he was a loser (I think you were one of them, RV, right?) So this clip is a reminder of what Mac has to do in order for his team to win. If he had scored TEN points instead of 13 in the last 33 seconds, they would have lost. Which is a metaphor for his career in a way.

May.1 at 5:22 pm

RV says:
Tariq, i’ve never said he was a loser, i’m not even sure what people mean by that, i said he wasn’t an emotional leader like a KG or leader by example like Kobe. I also said his body was breaking down, and i also said he was complacent. I’d only call him a loser if he was a dork or if his teams never reached the playoffs.

May.1 at 5:26 pm

RV says:
oh yeah, i also said he didn’t challenge himself like Kobe and he only goes off when provoked like when Korver d’ed him up and then he got that near triple double. That’s probably what you’re thinking off because it has to do with his mindset, but not having the right mindset and being a loser are not the same things.

May.1 at 5:59 pm

Tariq says:
Maybe it was LZ then. Or someone else, I’m not sure.

May.1 at 6:14 pm

FLUXLAND says:
I was one of the people to call Tmac a loser.
By definition of the free dictionary dot com:
1. a)One that fails to win. (cannot win 1st round) b)One who takes loss in a specified way. (”It’s all my my fault” - sarcasm) (and crying like as schoolgirl is hardly graceful).
2. a)One that fails consistently, especially a person with bad luck or poor skills (again, fails to get out of 1st round..bad luck or poor skills?) Not sure how Tmac doesn’t fall under these definitions in some way. As RV said, being a loser and having the right mindset are not the same thing. Not to mention that clip is from the regular season. So, sure he may have it during the regular season, but it appears not so much in the playoffs. Does it matter someone get 45/12/7 during 3 qs when he does NOTHING in the 4th? I’d rather take the guy that goes 0/0/0 for 3 and then lights it up in the 4th. The difference between a winner and a loser, for some of us, is having IT when it counts. Tmac does not have it, as proven thus far. Also, obligatory blasting of everything Russ writes: TOTAL GARBAGE.

May.1 at 6:24 pm

Tariq says:
Flux: Hmm…so by the dictionary definition you’ve provided, which is: “One that fails to win” And which you parenthetically interpreted as (can’t win in 1st round), I can interpret in another way, to wit: (can’t win championship) and conclude that anyone who hasn’t won a ring is a loser: Stockton, Malone, Ewing, Barkley, Reggie Miller, Dominique Wilkins…etc. That’s a mighty fine bunch of losers we got there, no?

May.1 at 6:29 pm

FLUXLAND says:
What other word do you use to describe one that fails to win a contest of any kind? Unlucky? Unsuccessful? Not the winner? Participant?
The one definition that works for me up there is: “one that fails consistently”.. how does this not define his 1st round exist? Yes, all those listed, in the context of basketball competition at its highest level and not winning its top prize.. by definition are losers.

May.1 at 7:02 pm

Tariq says:
Well, the definitions you use: “one that fails consistently” or “one that fails to win” are relative definitions. Win…what, exactly? A game? Someone like Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who was an all-star in the NBA, never even made it to the playoffs (I don’t think). But he’s not a loser. A loser is someone who quits, in my book. Someone who doesn’t even WANT to win. Basketball is a team sport.

May.1 at 7:03 pm

Tariq says:
Oh, and those “losers” I listed are all hall-of-famers. “Hall-of-Fame loser” has a kind of oxymoronic ring to it, wouldn’t you say?

May.1 at 7:23 pm

FLUXLAND says:
I’m not sure how it wasn’t clear that I was referring to his 1st round/playoff performances. Win.. what, exactly? I was under the impression every players/teams goal is to win a ring. Wouldn’t those that do not win one be considered losers? Obviously, if we cannot agree on what one is (a loser) then we cannot agree on who is one or is not. Getting into the Hall of Fame has nothing to do with this. It encompasses your body of work within basketball, not the mention, it’s not reserved for players only. So, why don’t players just aim to make the HOF? Also, why are some players/sports people defined as “winners”? Does making the all star team make you a “winner”? Does getting inducted into the HOF make you a “winner”? Again.. all based on your personal definitions. You seem to take objection to ppl who define Tmac as a loser because it doesn’t fit your description.

May.1 at 7:27 pm

RV says:
well, Deke just guaranteed a game 7, not exactly who i was hoping for..

May.1 at 7:43 pm

WhaHuh says:
Did All those players you listed win a conference final? they were winners at the secondary level. T-Mac hasnt won a conference final yet, Dirk has.

May.1 at 7:44 pm

albie1kenobi says:
ahhh good ol’ FLUXLAND, the site’d be a lot less interesting without you around here. and i don’t mean that in a sarcastic way either. you have a slightly different interpretations on things than most of us around here, and that’s fine. just curious (and i’m not saying this to be confrontational at all), do you find yourself disagree with people a lot of times in every day life?

May.1 at 8:04 pm

FLUXLAND says:
albie..I haven’t commented in 24h. I highly doubt it’s become less interesting. Not sure how to answer you question, but perhaps this will help. I find myself conducting intelligent debates with a variety of people, the majority of the time, and also I seem to try and look at any given situation and topic form every conceivable angle while never convicting myself to one particular POV. Not to say I don’t hold certain convictions. I suppose the handle FLUXLAND is more appropriate then I ever realized. My diverse background and life experiences might be also a reason behind having different interpretations, as you say, then most. Also, don’t think I didn’t read your last comment regarding the Isiah debate I was having with Russ and others. I just didn’t want to answer you in the comment section and your site didn’t provide an email.. that I remember, anyway.

May.1 at 9:20 pm

RV says:
we could have just left it at “tmac is a loser in the playoffs” and ended the argument there, but at least the replies are more relevant now, Houston-Utah still on for tomorrow

May.1 at 10:09 pm

RV says:
” McGrady told Sports Radio 610 about a deal his teammates made with him. Basically, they said that if they took care of Game 5, he had to score 40 in Game 6. McGrady’s response, “I can do that.”"

May.2 at 12:14 am

haris says:
to fluxland: the problem isn’t that you deem tmac a loser. facts are facts, dude has never advanced so yes in a strictly dictionary definition sense, it’s quite clear how you’ve assumed he is a loser. however, the problem arises in the corollaries you make, namely that he doesn’t have “it.” for someone hellbent on defining layman terms, care to tell me what exactly he doesn’t have? because i’m trying hard to look for it but i keep running into problems. for instance, how about the fact that tmac is a top 5 scorer (in playoff history), or the widely held belief that he has never had the better team in a playoff series, or even that he has the greatest scoring increase from regular season to playoffs of any active player. now given that you’ve taken on the dictionary to operationalize your definition of loser, what would you call someone like dream? with your logic, hakeem in his umpteen years in the league was only twice a champion, and in more than ten seasons ended up a non-champion, or in your book (the dictionary i’m guessing) a loser. simple arithmetic would lead me to believe he’s been a loser exponentially as many as times as he has been a winner. given your definitions, he has “failed (more) consistently” than he has won. however this does not allow me to conclude hakeem olajuwon is a loser. my point is you can’t selectively isolate moments and draw holistic conclusions from them. the difference between a winner and a loser is a qualitative measure, not a quantitative one. if you make a 3 at the end of regulation to force OT but miss a shot in OT and lose the game, yes you’ve lost, but you’re far from being a loser. for every moment tmac has failed, i can counter with one where he has overcome. how about scoring almost 90 pts IN detroit in 2 games. yeah they lost game 7 but you think a team, even a volatile as one like the pistons, can’t figure out the simple equation: stop one guy = stop offense. he has taken teams far in series, where they shouldn’t be in the first place, so by virtue of that alone calling him a loser is simply ignorant of the facts.

May.2 at 4:13 am

Mayor of Lovetron says:
I remember that game where McGrady scored 13 in 33. The best part was when Craig Sager interviewed Popovich after the game and asked him “so what happened out there tonight?”….to which Popovich replied with “pff..how the hell am I supposed to know why guys get hot? Guys get hot sometimes”, then proceded to look at Sager with a disgust that would have you believe Sager asked him something about his favorite sexual positions. Brilliant. Also, excellent title. If hell had a theme song, it’d be Kenny G’s soprano playing the same scale over and over again.

May.2 at 4:29 am

Tariq says:
haris: CO-SIGN!

May.2 at 5:44 am

FLUXLAND says:
He doesn’t have the ability to make his team mates better or utilize them to benefit the team. All the personal achievements you are listing are impressive, but his teams success sucks. And this is a team sport, right? And if you are regarded as a player with a superior talent then most of your team mates, does it not stand to reason more “blame” will be directed at you? Other players have done much more, with less talented team mates. (Say, AI.) Look at his comments: “It’s not on me (I), I have team mates”. His attitude seems to be: I do my job, you do yours…team failure is off my shoulders. I would expect a guy with that much talent and ability, to recognize his responsibility is to do whatever necessary to ensure team success. Sacrifice his personal, for the benefit of the team. It’s as if he thought, that as long as he achieves the personal, he’s free of criticisms. Look at the teams he was on, look at the rosters. Do you know how many players would kill to be surrounded with that talent?
And Tariq mentioned quitting as a measure of a loser. Dude quit on Toronto, quit on Orlando, dude is going to quit the Rockets. According to you, he’s just a victim of circumstances (other teams, crappy team mates, his sore back, personal issues off the court that he used the one year but failed to elaborate on, injured team mates, needing more money and spotlight). I guess maybe you are more acceptive of excuses for his failures, I for one am not. And at what point do the excuses end? The argument was as RV pointed out, he’s a loser in the playoffs. Taking into account his body of work within basketball and the mere fact he made the NBA, it would be hard to define him a s a loser. Not impossible, just hard. People keep mentioning it’s a team sport and that’s my point as well. Dude seems to play by himself out there. Also, care to explain his 4th quarter Copperfield acts? Once again.. this will all fall under what your definition of a loser is and under what context. It’s clear that no matter what argument you are/will be presented with, you will not see him as a loser. Which may mean you are slightly bias towards him. And in that case, is there much of a point in debating this?

May.2 at 6:59 am

Hursty says:
i like basketball.

May.2 at 7:06 am

Hursty says:
to say that tmac is a loser is a stupid one. reasons 1. he wins more than he loses in general. 2. He is better than 99.9998% of people who play basketball in the world. 3. He has only been a + seed once. (last year and this year). 4. he has the 4th highest playoff scoring average in NBA HISTORY! 5. hes never had consistent talent around him apart from last year and this one. ( the 2nd of which i anticipate will go 7 games.) if he had yao on this team then the series would be over right now. They woulda won G1 and G2 and 5. along with the steal in utah for game 3 they wouldve won in 5 games 4-1. theyve played better than utah almost the whole series and didnt have skip for 2 of them.

May.2 at 7:45 am

Tariq says:
Hursty: CO-SIGN! (Except for the part about the series being over if Yao were healthy)

May.2 at 12:04 pm

RV says:
if rafer AND yao would have been healthy this series would have been over in 5

May.2 at 3:46 pm

albie1kenobi says:
FLUX, i just spent 20 minutes looking for that Isiah post, so now i know what i said. so if you did have a reply, i’d like to hear it. to save you some time, it was on 4/18 and the title is “isiah thomas has been…” appreciate your thought, good sir. (i don’t have an email address attached to my site because i believe in internet privacy.)
as for this post (and the posts about dirk), i think the fundamental problem of the debates we are having here is that we don’t have the same definition of “loser”. but i will say my piece here: there really is only so much one person can do in a team situation. for example, you can have a brilliant general, strategically he’s unparallel, physically he’s stronger than 50 people combine. however, if his troops are untrained and underequipped and vastly outnumbered, there’s no way he can win. he can lead and do as much as he can, but at the end, a war cannot be won by one person. and regardless of situations, there are times even when you do your best, it’s still not enough. and if that’s your hardline definition of a loser, then sure he is a loser.

May.2 at 7:25 pm

FLUXLAND says:
albie.. ok.. agreed with most of what you wrote. But you touched on something that may be the foundation for my thinking behind TMac. That being: doing your best. Can you really say that he has done everything he can to bring out his best? What about his recent 4th q performances? Statements of being tired? Does this give you the impression of a person who has done everything they can to maximize their talent? This the same criticism I have of Nash, Barkley, Ewing and a few others. Never dedicated themselves 100% to the game or developing all aspects of it. Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, even other much less talented players have killed themselves to become what they are/were. I believe a person with as much talent as TMac just thinks that talent is enough and his team mates or other factors that determine team success and therefore can be blamed for its failures. You lead by example right? He has never done that..people can’t follow your talent. They can follow your work ethic, preparation and dedication. As to a reply.. fluxland at hotmail dot com.

May.2 at 7:44 pm

FLUXLAND says:
You get out of the game, or in life in general, what you put into it. You wanna half ass it and rely on you talent alone.. fine.. but don’t cry after and wonder why you can’t get out of the 1st round or why you never won a ring. The man cheats the game and the fans by not maximizing his talent to its fullest potential. His choice, just don’t expect me to say: oh its ok.. he’s just a victim or circumstances and bad luck. Get the f outta here. Preparation, focus and dedication are 90% of the battle.

May.2 at 8:21 pm

albie1kenobi says:
FLUXLAND, that’s also a very good point there. only thing i have to say is how do you know he didn’t prepare, focus, and dedicate? i mean, do you know his practice/training habits? do you know his body/mind conditions? none of us know that. he’s certainly no machine, so why is it so out of line that he’s tired? this man has known to be injury prone, yet look at his physique. do you not think he work hard to improve his body to avoid injuries? dude was leading the league in scoring in his orlando days, single handedly making the sorry magic team a playoff team. is it unreasonable to think that he wreck his own body trying to carry a team on his now famous bad back? we see what’s available to us and interpret them with our own set of values and definition. and maximizing full potential is subjective, how do you judge potential anyway?
at the end of the day, not everyone can be the best at what they do (otherwise there wouldn’t be a “best”).
[apologies for the somewhat incoherent argument, but dude, it’s actually been enjoyable having this discussion with you. no bull.]

May.2 at 9:01 pm

RV says:
i do know that it took him about a month or so of bad shooting to finally come in earlier before games to get extra shooting in…i think this goes with what i said about him being complacent. His attitude is, “if it happens, it happens, if not, then it doesn’t.” He’s said said a lot of times. He’s a passive person. He waited so long to get the extra shooting because he kept saying he was “just missing shots”, he figured one day it would just comeback. Another thing he also ALWAYS says is, when they ask him what he did differently to shot better the last game than the one previous to that, he says “nothin was different, the shots just fell tonight”. That his passive and complacent attitude right there. If his shot is off, oh well its off, if he’s hot, then he’s hot. Guys like Kobe make adjustments, if not within a game, then at least from game to game. If you’ve watched tmac enough you can tell if his shot is on or not by the way he pulls up and releases the jumper, so there is definitely something different, its not just him “missing shots”.

May.2 at 9:25 pm

FLUXLAND says:
No worries about incoherency… if anything I’m the one who does that on the regular, as you have pointed out before. You are right, as with all players and discussions about them, we are not there. But unlike with Jordan and Kobe for example (and other less talented players), I have never heard about TMac being “obssesed” with the game, never heard of him being a gym rat, never heard of him summer in and summer out killing himself, improving his D, brining team mates together to make the chemistry and cohesiveness better.(I doubt it with comments like: “its not on me.. i got team mates”) Maybe I missed it, I dunno. But with the guys that are considered the best, this is a constant year in and year out and former coaches and team mates always bring it up. I’m not taking away from his injuries, sure, but you can compensate in other ways. And would you have to kill yourself if you just spent some of your time figuring out how to utilize your team mates or working on other aspect of you game other then carrying the offensive load? You are right, how do you measure potential.. I dunno, but when he came into the NBA.. there wasn’t much talk of his game being limited, not to mention what he has accomplished from (my observation) talent alone. Yes, at the end of the day..not everyone can be the top dog.. but man oh man I just seems to me this guy could have done much more then be a 1st round stepping stone for many others. Maybe he just doesn’t have IT.. whatever that may be. Maybe it’s just bad karma like I believe some players have. I just wonder at what point do the excuses stop and to be honest I don’t remember a player ever been “allowed” so many. Every year it something. It’s like everyone feels sorry for the guy, and I don’t understand why, while never questioning him. (pleasure, is always mine.. as you are one of the few.. at least in this corner of the cyber world.. that exhibits patience to understand where I may be coming from without using words like: delusional and stupid with sarcasm and ridicule)

May.2 at 9:36 pm

FLUXLAND says:
There we go.. RV with an example. That doesn’t sound like someone who is worried about improving his game or winning anything but lifetime shoe contracts and scoring titles. Or for that matter worried about team success or bearing any responsibility towards his teammates. Perhaps not a loser in the purest overall definition.. but def. not someone I consider a “winner”.

May.2 at 10:19 pm

RV says:
in the pre gamw interview, just right now, Drexler told tmac he thought he played a great game 5 mainly because his shot selection was very good, asked tmac why, tmac said he studied game film prior to the game to see which shots he could get….so even he, truly knows its not just about “the shots falling”

May.2 at 11:08 pm

Hursty says:
whats with all the long posts today.

May.2 at 11:09 pm

Hursty says:
just like to say that were in sh!t right now. down 28-14.

May.2 at 11:14 pm

FLUXLAND says:
It’s all this discussion of TMac being a loser.. or not! Whatever..

May.2 at 11:18 pm

Hursty says:
hes not. leave it at that. there are a lot of players who arent stars in the league who haveny gotten to the playoffs much less the 2nd round.

May.2 at 11:33 pm

Hursty says:
this is fu(king ugly.

May.2 at 11:41 pm

Hursty says:
Tmac= really fu(king hot!!!!!

May.2 at 11:43 pm

RV says:
nah Hursty, his shots are just falling

May.2 at 11:46 pm

RV says:
Tmac is gonna end up with like 60, the rockets are gonna lose, and once again we’re gonna hear that Tmac isn’t getting help, in this game he just took his teammates out of the picture, but he’s hitting his shots, unfortunately the D aint there tonight

May.2 at 11:50 pm

Hursty says:
set a rockets record for points in a half with 28. drexler and hakeem had 27.

May.2 at 11:50 pm

RV says:
nope, the D is back, rockets come back from 20 down to almost tying it at the half

May.2 at 11:51 pm

Hursty says:
getting there. Deke is doin good for a 53 year old man.

May.2 at 11:52 pm

Hursty says:
haha RV. that was so much better, no foul on battier?! dude, wtf!

May.2 at 11:53 pm

RV says:
LOL, man, that call on Scola hurt us, but it was such a bad call it actually made me laugh, the Jazz had a guy on each of Scola’s arms and both pulled him down to the floor, foul on scola! the playoffs….where so stupid that its funny happens…

May.2 at 11:53 pm

Hursty says:
ironic that a guy like Melo is on the slam website adds for the Jordan brand….

May.2 at 11:55 pm

Hursty says:
im not laughing at it. BS. tmac was hitting his shots but he was SO aggressive!

May.3 at 12:13 am

Hursty says:
final score predictions: 94-91 rockets. possible OT game.

May.3 at 12:32 am

RV says:
tmac (or adelman) f*cked up, he changed his game to start the third and started passing, but thats not gonna work, these guys werent int he offense in the 1st half so its like starting a game, they’re not warmed up, now tmac goes back to shooting, but he’s posting up, thats not what was working earlier…

May.3 at 12:35 am

Hursty says:
this games over it seems. Skip is done for the night. kobe is unofficially the MVP. just leaked out.

May.3 at 12:35 am

RV says:
nah, the officials are letting utah run away with this one and the rockets changed up their game play, they’re looking at a good ass kicking

May.3 at 12:38 am

RV says:
those utah fans are weird, its like in the movies, where the teens end up in a town in the middle of nowhere and all the people in the town are zombie like, everything they do is too calculated

May.3 at 12:40 am

Hursty says:
steve novak is in, ok….

May.3 at 12:42 am

Hursty says:
like cheer on baskets? they play gangsta rap in Utah.

May.3 at 12:43 am

RV says:
i can’t wait for yao to play next yr, he’s got what tmac lacks, that competitive edge, the whole series Yao has been having seizures on the bench, really has been into it, cheerleading like crazy, he’s gonna back extremely hungry

May.3 at 12:46 am

RV says:
when they cheer on made baskets they all start at the exact same time and stop at the same time, when the camera is on them they try to do what would seem to be “the” thing to do, but they can’t, one guy tried to clap to the beat of the music and was way off, the whole time just staring intensely into the camera…it was disturbing, if anything

May.3 at 12:47 am

RV says:
nice of tmac to come back to the party after that 12 minute smoke break

May.3 at 12:48 am

Hursty says:
i hope so. I wonder what would happen if they played an entire season together? theyve played well with only 1 star at a time and better with both. the record would much better at least.

May.3 at 12:50 am

Hursty says:
‘he was too tired’ ‘both teams tried hard’ (for 3 quarters at least) houston gets only 2 out of 4.

May.3 at 12:54 am

Hursty says:
williams 5/8 3 pointers.

May.3 at 12:55 am

Hursty says:
tmac has 39. It wont matter though.

May.3 at 1:10 am

Hursty says:
113-91. fu(k.