[USA Today] Rocket ride suits McGrady

<font size="+1"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/rockets/2005-04-27-mcgrady-cover_x.htm">Rocket ride suits McGrady</font></a>
By David DuPree, USA TODAY Posted 4/28/2005 1:38 AM

DALLAS — Houston's Tracy McGrady wants to be great. And for the first time in McGrady's eight-year NBA career, his wish could be realized just when the league needs it the most.

<img src="http://images.usatoday.com/sports/nba/_photos/2005-04-27-in-mcgrady.jpg">
Nuggets coach George Karl says Houston's Tracy McGrady "is the most talented skill player in the league. He's better than Kevin Garnett and he's better than Kobe."

With LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett not even making the playoffs, McGrady is fulfilling the star role and making fans take notice in his first season with the Rockets.

In leading them to wins in the first two games of their best-of-seven series against the Dallas Mavericks, McGrady has showcased all his talents and previously untapped leadership skills. Game 3 is Thursday in Houston (9:30 ET, TNT).

"True greatness in this league is defined by what you do in the playoffs," says former NBA coach Doug Collins, a TNT analyst, "and Tracy McGrady has gone to that level now. We are really seeing something special with this kid."

Not only did McGrady hit the game-winning jump shot with 2.2 seconds left in Game 2, he has been brilliant from buzzer to buzzer in both games. Sitting out only one minute in each, McGrady is averaging 31.0 points, 8.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks while shooting 52% from the field, 44% from three-point range and 91% from the free throw line. (Related item: McGrady's leads the way in playoffs)

"I'm just trying to stay focused. I'm just determined and I'm hungry," he says. "I'm tired of getting to the playoffs (with Toronto and Orlando) and being bounced out of the first round. I've been in the league eight years and I think it's my time. I'm with a good supporting cast, a good coaching staff and I believe now."

McGrady has the perfect basketball body, a supple 6-8, 210-pound frame with long arms and big hands. He also has uncanny court vision and is blessed with speed, quickness and a deft shooting eye. No one in the league is more skilled around the basket when it comes to getting a shot up in traffic.

Because the Rockets got off to a slow start (6-10 in November) and the MVP machine had focused on Miami's Shaquille O'Neal and Phoenix's Steve Nash, McGrady had been somewhat of a forgotten man even though he was sixth in the league in scoring (25.7) and added 6.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists a game.

"I'd put him up there with anybody for the year he's had and the impact he's had on this team," says coach Jeff Van Gundy. "I want him to succeed because he really has put a lot into this year, into analyzing himself and what he needs to do to go from being a great player to a great winner."

<b>Showing up for real</b>

The last time McGrady was in the playoffs was in 2003 with Orlando. The Magic had a 3-1 lead against the Detroit Pistons in the first round and McGrady said how good it felt to be in the second round. The Magic haven't won a playoff game since.

McGrady isn't about to make that mistake again.

"We have to stay grounded," he says. "We haven't done anything yet. We know Dallas is a great road team and will come out (tonight) very aggressive. We're definitely in the driver's seat, but we aren't going to get too comfortable."

McGrady is, however, as comfortable as can be playing with his new team. He has bought a home in Houston and plans to spend the majority of his offseason in the city. He hopes to host a charity weekend in Houston this summer.

But it has been a long, tough journey. McGrady is only 25. He has won two scoring titles but was traded from Toronto and Orlando when he became unhappy with the situations there.

In Toronto, he wanted to get out from under the shadow of his cousin, Vince Carter. In Orlando, the team lost 61 games last season and McGrady was blamed for it.

Once he was on the trading block, Houston gave up three starters from a team that made the playoffs — Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato — to get a player with a reputation of quitting when the losing started and of being an aloof underachiever.

It was a no-brainer for Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson.

"We didn't go out looking for this trade," says Dawson. "It just came to us and he wanted to play for us. It was just too good a chance to pass on to put him together with Yao (Ming). We knew we were getting the scoring, but the passing and defense have been great. He's what every coach and every franchise dreams about having."

<img src="http://images.usatoday.com/sports/nba/_photos/2005-04-27-mcgrady-yao.jpg">
The combination of McGrady and Yao Ming, behind, has proved difficult for NBA defenses to contain.

Imagine that, after the hollow feeling of winning scoring titles instead of playoff series and constantly hearing he has to do more to get his team to the next level. McGrady is playing in a city he loves, for a coach he respects and with teammates he believes in.

"I pretty much played like this the last three or four years, but now I have guys around me who complement me," he says.

"Before, I wasn't able to make my teammates better to get us to the next level. But now I have guys who I believe in, and it also helps to have a great coach. Jeff has made me into a complete player and made the game a lot easier."

More than the marvelous individual skills, what rings truest about McGrady with his teammates is how he never leaves them behind.

"I think this is really the first year that he really has had confidence in the rest of his guys," says Rockets guard Jon Barry. "That was the problem in the past. I think he just feels really good about the guys around him now and he always makes the right play. I can remember watching Charles (Barkley) and Magic (Johnson) on TNT a while back, talking about Kevin Garnett and that a superstar has to take the big shots.

"I totally disagree. You have to make the right play and Tracy makes the right play. He's given up game-winners to myself, Scott Padgett, David Wesley and on down the line because it was the right play to make. That's all you can ask a superstar to do and he does it time and time again."

Although a private person, McGrady is even the Rockets' go-to guy off the court — willingly meeting season ticketholders or corporate sponsors and participating in community events.

"Whenever I've needed him, he's been there for appearances or anything," says Nelson Luis, the team's director of media relations. "He's never disappointed me. He doesn't ask for favors on the road or anything. He just shows up and does what he is supposed to do. He's a low-maintenance superstar."

<b>Change of scenery the best thing</b>

In Van Gundy, McGrady is playing for a coach who demands he take his game to that next level — and he is eager to do that. He has shown in this Dallas series that he can control a game perhaps as well as any player in the league.

"Jeff has brought back that defensive intensity in me," says McGrady, who asked to guard Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki and has seen part-time duty on him.

"When I was back in Toronto, playing under Butch Carter, if I didn't play defense I didn't get on the court. I kind of got away from that in Orlando because I became a scorer and it was kind of tough for me to do it at both ends."

McGrady has welcomed the change. Despite winning his second scoring title in a row last season, the Magic had the worst record in the NBA and McGrady wasn't happy.

"It was a very humbling year for him," Van Gundy says. "You don't lose 19 games in a row and not look within for what's going on."

As the losses mounted and everyone in Orlando grew more frustrated, the blame was understandably focused on the star player.

McGrady says his body language was misinterpreted, partly because of his laid-back manner.

"No one understood what I was going through," he says. "I was angry, angry because we were losing."

The Rockets have yet to see that bad side.

"All the things you heard about him, that he was lazy, selfish and that kind of stuff aren't even close to the truth," Dawson says. "He is as glad to be here as much as we are glad to have him. There are a lot of great players in the league, but he is special, special, special."

Collins has watched McGrady's evolvement and marvels at it.

"The passion is just oozing out of him," Collins says. "The other day was the first time I've ever seen him swing his fist after he made a big shot."

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is also a big McGrady fan.

"Tracy is the most talented skill player in the league," Karl says. "He's better than Kevin Garnett and he's better than Kobe."

McGrady shies from comparisons, however, for one simple reason: "I don't have any jewelry to show for it," he says.

"I'm not at Kobe Bryant's level because he has three rings. That's what this is all about."