[Chron] Rockets regard former teammate fondly in return

damn, yao ming and chuck hayes paying their respects!

 

He should get a very warm welcome. He gave us hope, media attention, and made us "contender". He and Yao were assembled right around the Kobe/Shaq era. I remember hearing them being compared to those two in the same sentence, as far a potential inside/outside tandem. Obviously injuries derailed both of their careers, but you have to love T-Mac leading the 22 win streak, "13 in 35", the dunk on Bradley, and all the other tons of Sports Center highlights. He made us believe that a championship was right around the corner during those years here. If only he had more talent around him, but it was about 1 season too late

 

damn, you deserve some more rep! good post!

 

Thank you good sir, I think if we had a healthy T-Mac/Yao, and this current rotation, we'd be champs by now :grin: !

 

Anyone who has read Speaker for the Dead understands how silly it is to cast people as "good" or "bad".

Tracy had his flaws and moments of bad behavior, but we all do. He also seemed like a relatively nice guy who never got into trouble off the court.

So he wasn't an obsessive gym rat with killer instincts like Kobe. If you haven't noticed, Kobe can be a jerk at times.

 

6 seasons w/ McGrady.

Feels like 3....

 

I used to love Tmac, sporting his jersey every time I went to the games. Now- I'm nonchalant about the whole thing; I would neither boo or cheer. Although there were some pretty damned special moments, it's best to move on from the '..what if's.' Life goes on..

It's another story if he'd accept a vet minimum, as a role player off the bench, I'd support that. Exactly what I think Yao Ming will do (more or less).

 

He quit on the team, then tried to put his interests over the Rockets. If you cheer for Tracy, that's what you're cheering for - and don't consider yourself a Rockets fan.

 

I'm over being bitter. I didn't like the excuses, throwing the team under the bus, not making it out of the first round and not showing true leadership by leaving it all out on the court EVERY game.

He gave the fans hope in which we THOUGHT were legitimate reasons to be contenders again for an NBA championship. Unfortunately for all of us, those hopes never turned into reality.

I'm focused on what this team needs moving forward to be a contender. I'm done with all things T-Mac. I'm over it.

 

A normal appluase would be fine. No need to boo him or anything.

 

OMG...Tracy McGrady...this name should forever be enshrined in the hallowed foundry that is known as the Toyota Centre and the entire city of Houston.

Tracy McGrady, or (perhaps more?) awesomely known as T-Mac, should be recognised as the premier foremost wing player to ever don a Rockets uniform, and even perhaps the GREATEST PLAYER EVER to ever put on a Rockets uniform, if save for perhaps a slight honorable mention to a certain Hakeem Olajuwon if Houston Rockets greatness is ever brought up. But save for a little bit of Olajuwon, Tracy McGrady is the best, the most talented, the most celebrated, the most worshipped, the most discussed, the most heard, and last but certainly not the least the GREATEST OF ALL TIME in Houston Rockets history.

I cannot possibly fathom how some of you immature idiot mentally-r****ded haters are ever bashing this honorable this Houston Rockets figure that is Tracy McGrady. He is perhaps better than any one in the league when it comes to wanting someone to be on your team, even more than Bryant, James, Paul, Bosh and Wade. This guy is the complete package, there is nothing that he could not do and he could not achieve. He is not just a natural athletic freak either, he has total commitment and discipline to the game that none of you little toddlers could ever begin to know a little about. He goes about his business with enthusiasm and passion matched by NO ONE, and his self-esteem has always been held up far and high to bring up and sustain the morale of his teammates. You can say all those awesome things about Batter/Hayes and how they are the world's greatest hustlers and whatnot, but at the end of the day? They can barely pickup T-Mac's shoelace.

I hope each and everyone of us has realised what a great sports star we have witnessed and appreciate his return to his (once-) promised land.

 

Never read the book. And speaking only for myself, the reference of "good" or "bad" is purely on-court. I get the impression that many/most posters feel that a criticism of a player is a critique of the off-court person as well. Not the case for me and shouldn't be the case ever.

My specific criticisms of Grady did not center around whether he was a gym rat with killer on-court instincts. They were that (from my perspective) he was trying to pass himself off that way to the media. And many of the TOF's bought into it.

Yes, Kobe is frequently a jerk. But I'm struggling to think of one HOF NBA player that didn't cross that line at some point. Maybe it comes with the territory. Even Hakeem was a bit of a problem child before Rudy T took over.

 

this guy says it the best: http://www.**********/tmac/4786/

"A game was never over with McGrady on the court."

"I have not forgotten the memories he gave us, carrying this team until his body could no longer allow it. I have not forgotten the sense we felt that a game was never over or that a title was within reach. He gave us The Dunk and The Streak. He gave us hope where it has since been absent."

truth.

 

Tracy will get a standing ovation.

 

not sure why the link is messed up, should be **********/tmac/4786/

 

Click the preview button next time. That will tell you if your link is going to be blocked.

 

McGrady was a quitter. There was a -point- where he would just give it up and not try any more. Screw him.

 

No, it was NOT a fun ride. It equated to ZERO trips past the first round and the infamous "Toronto game." All you have to do is youtube that game. If you still ike Mac after that, then there's something seriously wrong with you.

 

Hear hear!!! In fact the entire Rockets organization should be summarily dismissed for their abject failure to PROPERLY commemorate his glorious return. Instead, they should be unveiling his statue at Toyota Center tonight to permanently mark his momentous return to the city he single-handledly resurrected from basketball purgatory. And we should all fall down to our knees before that statue and bear witness and tremble before the glory and magnificence it represents. And if any of you feeble-minded little haters out there are too blind or intellectually challenged to comprehend any of this, then it's on you.

 

Awww. Come on man. You can't post this vid the day of the game. Now everyone who sees it will boo for sure.