[10th ANNIVERSARY] Tracy McGrady: 13 points in 35 seconds 12/9/2004

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Funny how ya'll forget How Good Dwight has been for us in the playoffs. Sure he quit last year, but you see what happens Harden has to lead a team by himself. Has Harden ever been the best player on our team in the playoffs? I mean we made the greatest comeback with him on the bench.

I like Yao but you are delusional to think he was a difference maker. I think we lost because of him. Yao was a great traditional center in an era with no other good centers. When Yao matched up against big teams that tried to play him straight up he was a nightmare. But the problem is he had two really big weaknesses.

1. Pick and Roll Defense
2. He could not get the ball if you fronted him.

The teams we played in the playoffs those years were probably his worst matchups. Dallas and Utah both run tons of pick and rolls and exploited his weakness. I honestly think we win those two series with Dwight instead of Yao.

 

I remember Yao Ming actually winning a playoff series.

They didn't pass Yao the ball enough back then, we had players who enjoyed jacking up lots of 3s.

 

I'm that video, it looks like the guys would fall into the pool any second. Kind of dangerous

 

He squandered his time with Yao by having the best second half of the season by any team in the West the first year they were together, and then losing to the Mavs in the 1st round because it was a Donaughy fixed series (we dominated Dallas's play style games 1 & 2, and we're still a couple possessions from a win in 3 & 4).

He squandered his second year by voluntarily injuring himself and Yao for a large portion of the season?

He squandered his third year by having a tremendous regular team season despite a COMPLETELY new coaching staff and personell. Then losing to a Utah team in 7 with a team that had starting power forward Juwan Howard and sixth man Luther Head, along with the worst mismatch the Rockets could imagine with Yao facing a front court of Boozer and Okur?

He squandered his fourth year by carrying the team through a 22 game win streak (half of which was without Yao due to season ending injury) despite an obvious knee injury that he played through to keep our playoff hopes alive, eventually losing in 6 to a Utah team that would go on to the Western Conference Finals.

His fifth year is where you can place a burden of blame on him. Unfortunately, people will overlook his first four years to simplify the argument so that it fits their narrative.

 

Did he play 22 games in the streak? Go look up the boxscores

He didn't squander anything, he just failed.

 

He missed the first game against the Warriors, and then played the next 21. Dam, looks like you got me.

 

was he the best player each game? or was it a new hero every game?

why did other players like Kobe or LeBron or Tim Duncan or Dirk succeed?
Isn't he better than them?? Oh, he's not.

 

You're coming back with rather oversimplified arguments. Was Jordan the best player in every single finals game he played in? Was LeBron? Was Curry/Klay the best player in every Warriors regular season game when they broke the player?

Sure, Mac may not have led the team in scoring in every single game (although most he did), but his presence and underrated playmaking ability forced defensive game plans to change to him, which opened up the gates for other "heroes" to shine in the occasional moment.

I never made the case that McGrady is better than any of those guys. Their longevity, consistently superior surrounding casts, and work habit with regards to taking care of their bodies lended them to having a superior body of work than McGrady. However, to say McGrady wasn't on par with said stars his first four years in Houston would be flat out ignoring logic, empirical data, and common basketball knowledge. You addressed none of my original points, because they don't fit your narrative that MCGRADY FAILED, despite the given circumstances and context surrounding his first four years. It kind of reminds me of Fox "News" viewers in the D&D who will undyingly argue that Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Atheist socialist Wall Street sellout who wants to sell America to foreign interests.

 

You're making excuses for McGrady.

We traded Francis/Mobley because we thought adding McGrady would make us a championship team or at least contenders.

Facts are facts. We didn't even pass the first round when he played.

You are bringing in random stuff that's not even Rockets related, that means you have been defeated.

The funniest thing is when Harden was having trouble in the CONFERENCE FINALS, the McGrady fans pounce on him and say that their idol was a better leader. LOL.

Look dude, I've seen Clutch City, my standards are high. Dream didn't make excuses. But Tmac goes on TV and says he wished he never left Toronto.

I hope you see the difference or at least understand why those numbers are hanging in the rafters .

 

your standards are low. you are satisfied with the "harden era" when we have nothing to show for it. lol! are you sure you ever saw clutch city?

i wish hakeem never went to toronto.

 

you notice how nobody questions if Harden can lead the Rockets to the conference finals?

that's because he did it.

 

Bringing in random things to make a relevant analogy to emphasize how you ignore crucial aspects of something under discussion is not failure. Unsurprisingly, you ignore that as well, as you've done with most of my points.

You can't truly think that we weren't contenders during the time McGrady and Yao were healthy, do you? Sure, we lost in the first round, but how many contenders have we seen fall in the first round or two of the playoffs in the unbelievably competitive Western Conference in the past decade? Mavericks, Spurs, Clippers, etc.

Context matters: injuries, colossal mismatches with a unique talent like Yao, and an admittedly rigged playoff series don't diminish what McGrady brought to the court for the Rockets in his first four seasons with the team.

 

Fans of T-Mac can try to bring up context all they want, but it wasn't just the Rockets where T-Mac failed to lead the team past the FIRST round (first, not 2nd or third). They can spin it how they want, but facts are facts and the facts are:

- Never left the 1st round on any team he lead
- Quit on at least 2 of the teams he was leading
- Only made it out of the first round when on bench
- Booed by multiple teams he was the franchise star for

 

The discussion at hand is TMac's first four years on the Rockets. I'm not going to be lumped into the realm of all TMac lovers. I know he made mistakes throughout his career, and how that led to his downfall. I know he was never a leader of men in the NBA. However, were now moving away from the discussion because nobody wants to talk about the nuances of those four years since it doesn't fit their narrative :/

 

No one had ever said he was a bad player. He was arguably the most talented player in his prime. Even with Yao hurt or sucking, he should have been able to carry us farther than just the 1st round, but nope. He was a diva, someone who wanted the fame and glory of a leader without being a leader, and ultimately a quitter. I still remember Artest had to put himself back into the lineup while trying to rehab a sprained ankle, because T-Mac was playing "Guess which game I will play!"

 

there is no narrative, there's only Rockets history.

 

I remember that too, REP. Ron was a LEADER and he was TOUGH.

 

thank you, josh smith.

harden led us on the bench.

 

So I'm going to try and put myself in your shoes here:

-He should have carried us past referees rigging the Dallas series in '05.

-He should have played through knee and back injuries that he never quite recovered from and lead us to the playoffs in '06 despite Yao missing most of the season as well.

-He should have turned Yao into a superb pick and roll defender and forced management to get them a bench scorer outside of the mighty Luther ahead to alleviate some of the offensive pressure off him (despite still averaging near 30ppg) so that they could beat the Jazz.

-He should have healed his knee from what would eventually need microfracture (despite playing through that injury during the 22 game win streak) and carry a lowly Rockets team with rookie supporting cast members past the eventual Western Conference finalist Jazz.

My question to you is: what should be have done differently those first four years?