Rockets land a Superstar

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2560014

No doubt, the Rockets landed a superstar

Perhaps last season, as miserable as it happened to be, was the best thing that could have happened to Tracy McGrady. There was a brutal 19-game losing streak. There was a dip in his shooting from 45.7 to 41.7 percent and a slide in his scoring average from 32.1 to 28.0 points. There were 61 losses, a fired coach and a good deal of pouting. Amid all this, there was a major dent in McGrady's status as a superstar and the league's best perimeter player.

After the season, as the possibility that Orlando would trade McGrady turned into a reality, whispers trickled throughout the league that McGrady was a divisive presence with the Magic, that he skipped practices and generally was lazy. Those whispers originated in Orlando, of course, the subtle sort of smear campaign that often pops up when an All-Star is traded. Magic general manager John Weisbrod even openly questioned McGrady's status as a superstar last week, saying, "I think a superstar is defined by wins, by making the players around him better and by making the team better. On that part, my perception is a little different than most."

But McGrady is a superstar and, arguably, the best player in the league. Now that he is in Houston, he will reassume that stature. McGrady, remember, had three tremendous seasons in Orlando before last year's debacle, and he was just too good during that span -- a good shooter, passer, rebounder, ballhandler, creator -- to let one bad year spoil his reputation. In those three years, he averaged 28.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists, with just 2.6 turnovers.

Weisbrod is off-base when speaking about McGrady's ability to win -- he managed to get the Magic to the playoffs three times with virtually no supporting cast. Last year was a tough one for Orlando, and McGrady -- who seemed to give half-hearted efforts -- is partly to blame. But if Magic management wants to lay the losing on McGrady's shoulders, shouldn't it credit him with the success of the previous three years?

McGrady will get better in Houston, and the Rockets will be a title contender. He has been criticized as selfish, but he averaged 5.2 assists in his Orlando career, and the Magic never really gave him anyone worthy of receiving a pass. He is injecting himself into a situation where he will have to sacrifice his own offense for the betterment of the team -- particularly for the betterment of the league's best young center, 23-year-old Yao Ming.

During his introductory press conference in Houston, McGrady seemed to mention Yao at least twice per sentence. Clearly, years of playing with starting centers such as Pat Burke, Andrew DeClercq, Shawn Kemp and Steven Hunter have opened McGrady's consciousness to the benefits of playing with a big man. "Me and Yao can be a dominant force in this league for a long time," McGrady said.

Bear in mind, McGrady has done this willingly. Because he had the power to opt out of his contract, he had some say in where he wound up. He decided he wanted to go to Houston, even though it meant giving up shots to Yao. That's a mature decision for a 25-year-old, and the notion of McGrady freezing out Yao so he can score 30 per night is ludicrous. McGrady is a solid midrange shooter and will be tough for defenses to handle when teamed with Yao on pick-and-rolls. McGrady must be double-teamed, and the result will be easy baskets for Yao or easy passes to open teammates.

Most impressive, McGrady decided he wanted to be coached by Jeff Van Gundy, a tough taskmaster who plays a slow-down, defense-oriented game. Van Gundy will help dispel the myths about McGrady that have been showing up in unattributed insinuations around the league.

McGrady is not lazy -- just look at the work he put in on his body, transforming himself from a lanky pushover into one of the league's strongest shooting guards.

McGrady is not an awful defender. He's 6-8, long and athletic, and though his defensive effort has not always been top-notch, he recognizes that must change under Van Gundy.

McGrady is not a selfish player whose style begets losing. The Magic would not have made those three playoff appearances, and he would not have chosen to play for Houston if he did not have a championship in mind.

In the Magic's defense, the team had little choice but to trade McGrady because it was unable to make the kind of dramatic improvements to the roster that would have persuaded him to stick around for the long term. A package of Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato is a pretty good haul for Orlando. But Weisbrod is wrong to tarnish everything McGrady did for the Magic solely because he had one bad year.

If it was that one bad year that pushed McGrady to Houston, though, then that one bad year will lead to many more productive years.

Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News.

Although there aren't too many that have a negative view of T-Mac, I thought this article did a great job of addressing the T-Mac concerns.

 

Darn, I guess I didn't look back far enough. Sorry to the repeat.