McGrady:'When did wanting to play become a problem?' Here's the answer [Chron:Feigen]

Regarding Battier, I know it's apples and oranges to some degree but you can still watch both guys and see who is more effective. It's not even close, really. Regarding his shooting, I think it will be decent. I think his 2 point FG will get better but he isn't going to be a better 3 point shooter than Battier has been for us. The "developing player" tag is sorta BS for Ariza. He's in his 6th year. He is what he is. Same thing with AB. What you see on the court is about 90% of the best he will ever be.

The bottom line, is that Battier and Ariza are redundant. I think Battier should have been moved for a big or Ariza should have been passed over and the money used on him should have been spent on a big. He's a good value but that doesn't mean there wasn't a better fit for this team.

 

All in all I think the fans from the city of houston should have more respect for T-mac, at least root for him. He was at once the most elite players in the NBA. We should feel lucky to have had a player like him. Other cities have to take what they get. Just watch a t-max tribute on Youtube, or 13 in 33. No matter who or what he is, we all should at least root for him to come back strong and play for the rox one last time. The guy was special here. He has given this city a certain recognition. All people know about houston is that we had a problem. NASA! thats it. People like t-mac have kept us on the "map". All im saying is we owe him the chance to show us he is the man.

 

You are quite possibly one of the most arrogant posters on Clutchfans.

 

Interesting take....especially since McGrady hasn't been the most famous player on any Rockets' team he's been on.

 

What an ignorant statement.

Ariza is 24 years old. When Steve Nash was 24 years old, he averaged 7.9 ppg and 5.5 apg. Look at him now.

Nash is an extreme example, but it proves the point. When a player is given freedom and an expanded role, he will improve dramatically (assuming his prior role was limited and he has the necessary potential).

 

not disagreeing with you... but what do you anticipate him to improve? ball handling? i have little confidence in that.

 

Hakeem gave this city recognition. One of the best centers to ever play the game. He still holds the most blocked shots record by far. He brought 2 championships to Houston.

Now that's what I call bringing recognition to Houston.

Tracy hasn't done jack but bring useless hype to this city.

 

How old was Jason Kidd when he had microfracture surgery?

 

I don't think he'll ever be a great ball handler, but hopefully better than Wafer was. The area with the most room for improvement is probably his shot selection. Hopefully he'll find his comfort zone and stick to it.

 

Why is asking someone a question arrogant, it is a legitimate question.

DD

 

I'm not necessarily correlating the quote to his arrogance; it's just something I've observed from reading his posts. As for his question, it's been answered.

 

Valid question at first but Kidd's game is nothing like McGrady's game which relied a lot on athleticism.

 

He was 31 when he had the surgery in 2004. You could argue he came back pretty strong from that surgery...

Kidd (2004), Stockton (1997), Doug Christie (1991), Zach Randolph (2005) and Stoudamire (2005) all came back well from microfracture.

Others did not, notably: CWebb, Penny, Mashburn, Brian Grant, Terrell Brandon & Allen Houston.

McDyess has been pretty good afterwards although not the athletic freak he was before.
Kmart has been decent after microfracture on TWO knees...although his statistics took a dive post-Kidd/post-microfracture.

The jury is still out on Greg Oden, but he'll probably be ok too.

 

I was just trying to help Dave out since he asked 4 or 5 times and got no response he said. Their games are different for sure but Jason Kidd is pretty active, he rebounds, runs fast breaks, etc.



Thanks PolarBear, I hope Al Gore keeps ya safe.

Can we count Greg Oden as being over 30?

 

Let him play one game, he can take a million shots (thats only 2 less than normal), he can be the only one that shoots the ball, he will score 45 points and then trade him! Bye, Bye T-mac go chill with "The Franchise" and talk about what good Team Players you both are!

 

Not only do I disagree, but I strongly disagree. That's the least of the problem. I think we all empathized with his injury problems. Here are the major things McGrady really did wrong:

1. Admitting he quit on the Magic. This allowed Rockets fans to point out this admission as proof he quit on the Rockets anytime they weren't happy with his performance.
2. Announce his plans to have surgery before discussing it with the organization. That incident first led to speculation that he did it in order to ruin a trade the Rockets had lined up and later has been used as an example of how he isn't very concerned with what the Rockets organization thinks of his actions. i.e. They aren't on the same page.
3. Tell the press he predicted the Rockets would lose that playoff series. I mean, yeah, everybody was predicting the Lakers to win, but when you're on the team you should probably show support and confidence in your team mates. At least publicly. Sheesh.
4. His recent stunts of announcing his plans without conferring with the team. All in all, they've made it very easy to look at McGrady as someone separate from the team. He clearly doesn't seem to be on board with the team first mentality that has taken over with everyone else.

Clearly, he's done wrong. Has he done enough to deserve all the hate he gets around here? That's debatable.

 

Great list. Stockton and Kidd were the only two successful cases over 30. Neither of them had games that relied on blinding speed, athleticism or explosiveness. Doesn't look good.

 

When Nash was 24 he was only in his 3rd season.