http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/rockets/3671580.html High jinks may do T-Mac good By RICHARD JUSTICE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle HE was relaxed and playful and utterly brilliant. Whatever happened to that Tracy McGrady anyway? Maybe this weekend is exactly what he needed. Maybe this is the thing that will bring that other Tracy McGrady back. He had fun from the start, taking part in a playful pregame routine with fellow stars. And then ... He sailed down the lane for a highlight-reel dunk. Threw down a Kobe Bryant lob off the glass. Nailed a rainbow jumper. McGrady showed the entire package before it was over, scoring 36 points in 26 minutes. Freeze this one and save it. This is the guy the Rockets traded for two summers ago, who led them to the playoffs last season, the guy they're building a franchise around. Perhaps more importantly, he hugged teammates, swapped playful taunts and did a pretty good imitation of the happiest guy on earth. Bryant had promised to turn the NBA's 55th All-Star Game into McGrady's personal showcase. So he passed up shots and kept feeding McGrady the ball as the East defeated the West 122-120 at Toyota Center. McGrady showed why he's still capable of doing special things. Despite the back injury that has sidelined him 13 games, despite the undisclosed personal issues, McGrady showed he still has gifts most NBA players can only dream of. "It was just good to get out and have some sort of (escape from) all the things I've been dealing with," he said. "This was an opportunity for me to have a peace of mind and just go out and have some fun." The Rockets should send Bryant a thank-you note if they make anything out of this season. Or even if they get the old McGrady back. He may have laughed more in these three days than he has this season. He hosted a party and made charitable appear- ances. He met celebrities who were thrilled to shake his hand. He drew some of the loudest cheers when he teamed up with Clyde Drexler and Sheryl Swoopes in the Shooting Stars competition Saturday night. He seemed at ease for one of the few times in weeks. Somewhere amid the glitter of All-Star Weekend, McGrady may have been reminded why he's blessed to live the life he does. This isn't to discount his problems. I can't get inside his head or begin to understand his pain. He has revealed little, saying only that he's dealing with some things. Coaches and sportswriters love to tell athletes they ought to leave their problems at the door and use the games as an outlet. Except we're not the ones dealing with the problems. We may not see the world the same way they see it. McGrady seems sensitive, perhaps overly so. He's prone to brooding. The Rockets' 22-31 season hasn't made life easier. There are nights, like the one against the Clippers last week, when he's as dominant as ever. And then there are nights like Thursday in Phoenix when he seems almost disinterested. The Rockets will be tested in many ways down the stretch. The New York Post reported Sunday that general manager Carroll Dawson and coach Jeff Van Gundy aren't speaking. If that's true, owner Les Alexander must sit them down and get the differences out in the open. He shouldn't pretend no problem exists if one actually does. Van Gundy, meanwhile, could learn a lesson or two from the All-Star Game. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes players perform better with a lighter touch, with a few laughs. No matter how hard he tries, Van Gundy isn't going to turn McGrady into Latrell Sprewell. McGrady isn't ever going to play with Sprewell's fire. McGrady cares just as much. He's just less emotional. On a night like Sunday, when the score didn't matter, he was spectacular. He even looked different, pulling an All-Star headband down almost to the top of his eyes. He was on the receiving end of a fast break one moment, scored on an alley-oop pass from Bryant the next. "Come on, this is the All-Star Game," McGrady said. "You want to see dunks ... 3s ... alley-oops." With the West trailing by two points with 10 seconds remaining, McGrady attempted a 20-foot jumper for the tie. In a perfect world, he would have hit the shot. He didn't. This isn't a season for perfect endings. Maybe Sunday was a step in the right direction. That would be enough.
good times are always better then having to deal with the crap of every day life. heres to hoping tmac gets it all sorted out.
Bad A#$ article, knock on JVG like it even though I like JVG. Props to tmac hopefully he'll start playing how he wants and just chill, props to kobe and yao also for their parts. I hope the article is read by all of the houston rockettes. haha
Evil scum! You have committed a cardinal sin by using the word "rockettes" on this BBS. Now you must pay.
McGrady sure upped the intensity as we hit the playoffs last year. He was very emotional and was the obvious leader of this team. What happened?
I've never liked Kobe the person, but loved Kobe the player...with that said I think what he did by tryin to give the city of Houston their star player all the shots and highlights is really great. I caught myself smiling for much of the game. On top of it, I thought Houston repped as a host.
Very interesting development regarding Justice starting to call out JVG. JVG's welcome is starting to wear thin with even the Houston media. Imgaine that.
haha i can call the Rockets whatever i want ive always been on the bandwagon and right now they are the ROCKETTES after getting whooped up and im the biggest rockets fan but sometimes you just cant get whooped by that much when you were supposed to win going to the break.
