Tracy McGrady is a softee

[JBIIRockets]

TMAC had 1 4th quarter point and Yao had 2.

Give the Spurs credit, but why didn't McGrady force the issue a little more in the 4th quarter tonight.

The bottom line is TMAC is a talented player, but he's a softee as well. I have denied this in my mind over and over, I give up. McGrady is soft. That can't be argued anymore. No superstar lets their team lose a 74-55 lead so damn quickly.

If he and Yao have dreams of bringing championships back to Houston, they will need to be more physical in the paint on offense. I think Yao is improving in that area a lot, but the bottom line for McGrady is that he hates contact and tries to avoid it when he drives to the hoop, instead of forcing his body into a player, like say a Duncan or Ginobili.

McGrady settles for jumpshots too often late in games. And when his jumper is off, he still jacks it up instead of driving to the hoop every time.

McGrady needs to do a better job of getting fouled, while driving to the basket, late in 4th quarters of games.

TMAC is damn good, but he is not exempt from criticism. He needs to exude more toughness. He needs to grow a pair if he wants to hold the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

Oh wait, never mind, I've heard McGrady repeatedly state to the media prior to the season that the Rockets are "good enough to get to the Western Conference Finals." No championship aspirations TMAC?

Once the Spurs got serious in the 2nd half, McGrady didn't do jack. He folded against one of the best teams in the league, like he is known to do.

[ToothYanker]

Not to make any excuses for our lackluster performance BUT, we were getting hammered left and right. I mean punched in the mouth, armbar, eyepoke hammered. But because Tim the lisp Duncan and the Spurms were the ones doing it, it's considered good defense. I think that may have deterred Tmac going to the rack a bit, IMO.

[slickrick]

Maybe fatigue he started out attacking but as the game went on he wasnt able to get around his man without a pick give it time

[Nick]

Originally Posted by ToothYanker Not to make any excuses for our lackluster performance BUT, we were getting hammered left and right. I mean punched in the mouth, armbar, eyepoke hammered. But because Tim the lisp Duncan and the Spurms were the ones doing it, it's considered good defense. I think that may have deterred Tmac going to the rack a bit, IMO.

And this is the definition of "soft"... a player who shys away from contact/physicality.

[Pest_Ctrl]

The real reason for this lost is the crappy performance of Yao. When your best player goes like 7/22, it is very hard to win games. Props to Spurs defense and referee defense...

[Zboy]

Lack of mental toughness is a huge issue with this team. This team has two superstars who do very well when things are going good for them. But when things are not going well, they seem to fold.

As much as I love Tracy Mcgrady, I am not afraid to say that until Tracy is not afraid to lose, he will never take this team to a championship. Hakeem and Jordan were great because they were not afraid to lose. They both said it publically too.

Yao and Tmac so far are very very afraid to lose. It has cost Tmac a number of playoff series so far. That fear and the subsequent lack of mental toughness is keeping Tmac from being in the company of All time Greats. It is sad because he has all the tools physically.

Ironically, one of the mentally tough players that Rockets did have in Mike James, they gave him up for one of the softest players in the league, Rafer Alston. People can say whatever they want about Mike James, but he brought a somewhat mean attitude to this team. And he could actually stay in front of players he was guarding *sigh*

Lack of mental toughness is another reason Les should have grabbed Phil Jackson when he was willing to take the Rockets job.

Forget all the Xs and Os for a second. Forget all the play calling.

Phil Jackson is the BEST coach to develop a player mentally. He would have made Yao and Tmac mentally tough. His psychological games would leave an impression on the duo. And that alone would have made all the difference.

BTW, this is not just a one game observation on Tmac and Yao. It's based on their careers so far.

[jcee15]

Originally Posted by Pest_Ctrl The real reason for this lost is the crappy performance of Yao. When your best player goes like 7/22, it is very hard to win games. Props to Spurs defense and referee defense...

That is what TMAC has been doing on our 4 game win streak we nneded our role players to step up and they dudnt

[wnes]

As a YOF I have to say Yao should take bigger share of blame than TMac for this loss. Lay off on TMac. He's finding his game.

[AroundTheWorld]

Remember that the same T-Mac brought us back from 13 down within 35 seconds against the same team. Was he a softie then?

[JBIIRockets]

Originally Posted by Sir Jackie Chiles Remember that the same T-Mac brought us back from 13 down within 35 seconds against the same team. Was he a softie then?

Yeah, he was.

I want to see him drive to the hoop more often in 2nd halves of games and get to the line.

[TMac#1]

Yao was horrible tonite, IMO. He couldn't make easy shots, and could hold on to rebounds. McGrady was brilliant int he 1st half, and then in te 3rd qtr he was dropping dimes until he went out. we were up 75-58 when he left, we were like 81-75 when he came back. Bonzi should have been in there for McGrady, considering Yao was struggling big time, and were getting hammered on rebounds.

[orbb]

Yao did ok. The spurs have a lot of bigs and they wore Yao out by the fourth.

One thing is for sure...to contend in the west tmac and yao are both going to have to step up. We are going to have several horrible losses this season, as the team tries to gel. Hopefully we are ready come playoff time. That is what counts the most.

[Chronz]

Blah blah blah, when we're in the finals you guys will never be heard from again, or youll be sayin how much Tmac and Yao have grown. Afraid to lose, what kind of bs is that. No one is afraid to lose, it happens. It took Hakeem several long years to win a title and on the way people were calling Houston Choke city. Yea they really knew what they were talking about.

[c1utchfan925]

wow i didnt mind tracy's play tonight..i just wish he was consistent through all 4 quarters and not just 2.5 of them...do you really want to reaggrevate that injury he had?!?! i know your saying he needs to take it to the hole more, of course thats what hes best at, but you have to take in consideration that he can't carry the team anymore. yao didnt have a good outing but if we had our bench to use we would have easily been able to get back into position to win this game. we were basically out rebounded and out played simple as that tonight (well mainly in the 4th...). its just the begining of the season we do have 3 more games against them...

[boby]

A soft Tmac is better than an injured Tmac, I guess.

[Honey Bear]

Originally Posted by Zboy Phil Jackson is the BEST coach to develop a player mentally. He would have made Yao and Tmac mentally tough. His psychological games would leave an impression on the duo. And that alone would have made all the difference.

He is better suited to handle big personalities. Not sure he would have a much bigger impact than JVG on our powerpuff trio of Rafer, TMac and Yao. At this point nothing can really motivate TMac, and I don't see the comfortable relationship Yao has with JVG now being detrimental to his progress. Rafer will never be a smart PG or make great decisions, but he doesn't really need to be doing much down the stretch.

[pryuen]

Naaaaaaah Tracy McGrady is not a softee. In fact as Yao Ming self-analysed, he blamed it all on the team's mindset and mentality.

Here is what Yao Ming said at a post-match interview.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2006-11-...72568295.shtml Yao Ming thought it's all psychological and has nothing to do with Rockets being an inferior team compared to the Spurs technically/skill wise. He thought that the whole team had not cultivate the kind of tenacity and fighting spirit like the Spurs, and henceforth wasted a huge lead of 19 points. He said: "Our performance in 2H was just suicidal." He still could not explain why the Rockets for so many games failed to close out and win in the latter part of 3rd/4th quarter, after having a great opening in the 1H. "We always have a strong beginning like a tiger rushing out of its cage, but then at the end, wither like a snake." To him, San Antonio Spurs is not any other ordinary team; it is the best of the best in the league. He thought the Rockets need to take the lesson from the loss, and learn to play with such strong teams and not lose their confidence. He thought the Rockets need to learn to play basketball at a higher level. As for himself, he was not so disappointed with his own performance or self-doubted his own capability despite having very poor statistics. "Well, my shots ain't falling ? Be it.....and that won't stop me taking more shots. My average FG% is around 55%. Tonight is just an off night." Yao Ming did not want to find any excuse for their loss. He said: "We have this same problem in the game with Milwaukee. So this problem has to do with ourselves. And this problem has nothing to do with our skills/techniques. It has to be our mindset/psychology. And alot of time, such small disparity will determine the fate of, and separate many teams in this league."

So let's stop blaming our star players. It is a team problem.

But the gratifying thing that I spotted in this article is that Yao Ming is becoming more mature, more experienced. Unlike in his earlier years, after such heart-breaking losses, he would have started self-criticizing and blaming himself for costing the team the win. Now he took it as it was......and as pointed out in the article, he did not start meeting the media/reporter after working out in the gym for an hour right after the game, and he even was in the mood to crack a joke with an US reporter from Fox Sports.

[ritou]

Originally Posted by pryuen Naaaaaaah Tracy McGrady is not a softee. In fact as Yao Ming self-analysed, he blamed it all on the team's mindset and mentality. Here is what Yao Ming said at a post-match interview. So let's stop blaming our star players. It is a team problem. But the gratifying thing that I spotted in this article is that Yao Ming is becoming more mature, more experienced. Unlike in his earlier years, after such heart-breaking losses, he would have started self-criticizing and blaming himself for costing the team the win. Now he took it as it was......and as pointed out in the article, he did not start meeting the media/reporter after working out in the gym for an hour right after the game, and he even was in the mood to crack a joke with an US reporter from Fox Sports.

Yeah, that is the response I want Yao to show. And he also needs to bring that spirit into games.

[Ehsan]

To be fair, our three toughest players were out. Sura, Bonzi and Hayes are the hustle and toughness in this team.

Hopefully, Sura will be logging some backup minutes in a couple of weeks, Bonzi will be in shape and Hayes will be back. That will add a tremendous amount of depth, REBOUNDING, and skill to this team. Those guys are KEY pieces to this team, and having them back, we will be better than the Spurs IMO by the end of the season.

I wasn't too impressed by the Spurs. Completely healthy, same squad for 2 years now (gelled) and playing well. The Rockets need some time. But when healthy we are better IMO.

[Dennisloic]

Yes,I think Rocket just need time to prove their capability.Since this team is still young compared with other team,such as Spur and Heat(though they lost the game with Rocket last sunday,they are champion of last season).I believe that as time goes by,Rocket will be stronger and stronger.