So TMAC wanted to be the man. Now he can't handle being the man on a rebuilding team. He gave up on his team last season. TMAC basically called his whole team trash to their faces. His coasting through games defensively is well noted: along with uninspired practices. So the simple question: do you have any reservations about TMAC's heart? TMAC is the better player (I believe most would agree) but IMHO Steve has more heart. And from my perspective, I'm not mad if we get TMAC, but I'm not mad if we don't. Yet, I will have questions about TMAC's heart and probably won't respect him as much as I respect Steve until he shows some heart.
i'm pretty sure he'll show some heart when he looks at Yao Ming and believes that he finally has a team that he can actually work with.
am i worried about a 25 year old superstar who can take over games and who can give the rockets that killer instinct. No
Maybe TMac got sick and tired of playing with teammates who had no heart. The fact TMac wants to play with competitors is a good sign. Otherwise, he'd coast it in a safe environment ala his cousin.
If there is one thing Rockets fans can agree on......it's that we hate Karl Malone! =) What I'm saying is I would hate to go through the "Pippen" episode again if or when everything is not going as well as planned. And when "Star" players actually have to work for something...(imagine that) I'm sure it was easy to say "I'm pretty sure he'll show some heart when he looks at Grant Hill and believes that he finally has a team that he can actually work with." Nothing is set in stone, and when things aren't idea is when you need your Superstar to step up. Even if not to fix the initial problem, at least to set in motion positive steps. McGrady's imaturity and lack of leadership last season with his teammates and his team still is fresh in my mind. I was also thinking, franchises seem to have sterotypes. Detroit: tough - blue collar - defense LA: showtime - flash - snobs ( ya I said it) Houston - heart (our championships kind of copywrited it)(and you can question our players brains, but not heart) I seriously don't want to turn into a "LA" type franchise
Well I guess the consensus so far is that talent outweighs attitude. Everyones comments have made me think more. I still can't say I'm not worried. But like I said, I'm good either way...at least we have something to talk about in June. And ya, I would be extremely excited if we got TMAC (but you should of seen how excited I was when we got Pippen ) Anyways, nothing like raining on a parade. Carry on
He told the team in December, after ripping his teammates, that he wanted out. He proceeded to mail in much of the rest of the season. Yeah, I'd be just a little concerned. But that's just me, having watched the guy for 4 years.
Remember the Red Sox saying the same thing about The Rocket? If you are in a bad situation and no one, including management cares about the team, it will be kind of hard for you to keep you motivation up as well.
I have to agree with dskillz and other people saying the Magic have taken the heart out of TMac. A lot of competitors full of heart will get frustrated when they can't get anything out of talentless bums. It takes the fire out of them. A new environment will do TMac a lot of good. We have a better coach, better management, and better fans. As long as he doesn't bring a showtime attitude with him, he'll do pretty good in Houston. And even if he does, I'm betting JVG can beat it out of him
T-Mac for one never said he wanted to be the man. He signed with Orlando knowing Hill would be there, and that Orlando was trying to sign Duncan. As much as he shouldn't have bashed his own teamates, I have to say he had no choice. The Magic surrounded him with crap and they got what they deserved. Except for T-Mac, all the starters on the Magic shouldn't have been starters, some of them shouldn't even be playing in the league.
I couldn't imagine Hakeem, Jordan, or even Kobe not giving 100% effort because of crappy teammates. So I am somewhat concerned.
Kobe has never had to play with crappy teammates. You don't know what he would do. Hakeem: Remember Hakeem's "injury" that almost led to a trade with Miami? That was about $. You can argue someone who might have been faking an injury also doesn't have heart. It was also the same time when Hakeem had a bunch of mediocre teammates by his side. Hakeem was not the most mature player or person early in his career. McGrady just turned 25.
DLS Heart goes only a short way if you dont have the ability to play team, basketball and Francis was not able/willing to do so while playing the position of Playmaker Point Guard. JVG was foolish to try and make him into something that he isnt.
T-Mac's Attitude is questionable, as is his compatability with JVG From Hoopsworld http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_8464.shtml McGrady's Attitude Makes Houston Unlikely By Bill "The Rocket Guy" Ingram for HOOPSWORLD.com Jun 2, 2004, 07:27 Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy is not a man to mince words. In fact, you have to be careful what you ask him because he might give you an answer so blunt that you can't print his response without being creative with your wording. This will certainly be the case when Jeff is asked about Orlando Magic star Tracy McGrady, who told the Orlando media that a team he considered a great prospect for his services was the Houston Rockets. The deal would have been fairly simple. Steve Francis to Orlando and a re-signed McGrady to Houston. The Rockets go after a point guard, possibly dangling Cuttino Mobley as bait for a name interesting enough to actually run the offense Van Gundy has been trying to teach Francis. In return the Rockets get the kind of premier scorer that could form an unbeatable combination with Yao Ming - one like Shaq and Kobe give the Lakers. Well, don't get excited about that just yet. Depending on who you listen to Van Gundy may not see McGrady as actively as McGrady thinks he's being seen. Jeff Van Gundy goes after certain kinds of players, and that doesn't include players who quit on their teams before the end of the season as McGrady did in Orlando this year. In case you missed it, McGrady, citing a nagging injury, opted not to play in the final three weeks of games for Orlando. After scoring 17 points in 40 minutes during a loss to the Heat on March 24th, McGrady told the Magic he was finished for the year. At that point the Magic had lost six of seven and already had a strong foothold on the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Still, it is unheard of for a player to simply choose to take the last three weeks of the season off unless completely debilitated by an injury. If you know anything about Jeff Van Gundy and his work ethic, you know he's not about to bring in someone with this kind of attitude. Add McGrady's reputation for having a casual approach to practice and working out . . .it's easy to see McGrady is not an easy fit in Houston. Steve Francis has played his last game as a Rocket - that is all but assured. The fact that the Magic and Rockets have even entertained this idea shows that Van Gundy has plans that do not include the team's former franchise player. Van Gundy has said many times that he likes Francis as a person, but that he can't seem to reach him professionally. The Rockets are going to look to bring in a player who can find the 7'5" Chinese guy in the paint. They will not, however, bring in a player with a reputation for being lazy and quitting on his former team. That is simply not the Jeff Van Gundy way of doing things. theSAGE
Trade for T-Mac??? Let's Ask Doc Rivers First from USAToday madSAGE http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/magic/2003-11-20-mcgrady-answers_x.htm McGrady lashes out at critics By John Denton, Florida Today PHOENIX — Criticism coming at him seemingly from all sides, Orlando Magic star guard Tracy McGrady angrily fired back Thursday, denying that he had anything to do with the firing of head coach Doc Rivers. Magic guard Tracy McGrady scored 20 points in Orlando's 96-89 loss to the Suns. By Paul Connors, AP McGrady also disputed the notion that he is a selfish player. He pointed out that he leads the Magic in assists (5.4) and stressed that "if I don't do what I do, we don't make the playoffs and probably don't even win 30 games." McGrady scored 20 points and had seven assists and five rebounds in Orlando's 96-89 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. (Related item: Box score) The loss was the 11th in a row for Orlando, which won its opener and has gone on to the worst start in franchise history. It was the team's first game under Johnny Davis, who replaced Rivers. The season has already been a dreadful one for McGrady, an all-star and an all-NBA pick each of the past three seasons. Orlando lost 10 consecutive games following a season-opening win in New York. That losing skid not only caused McGrady to briefly ponder retirement, but also cost Rivers his job Tuesday following a loss in Utah. Cleveland coach Paul Silas, one of Rivers' closest coaching friends, has been critical of McGrady, hinting that his lack of support for his coach led to the firing. Prior to Thursday, McGrady's strongest comments regarding Rivers were that "when you're not winning, changes have to be made." "You just knew when Doc got fired that there would be some comments out there that T-Mac had something to do with it," McGrady muttered following the team's Thursday morning practice. "I ain't had nothing at all to do with that. I had one run-in with Doc Rivers in the four years that I have been here and everybody wants to take it out of context that I had something to do with him getting fired. It's ridiculous and it's funny to me." McGrady said he wanted to say more, paused for just a second and then reloaded. He said his one run-in with Rivers, which occurred late last season, was quickly forgotten. "I had a bad game and we bumped heads," McGrady recalled. "But after that we were two professional guys and we dropped it and moved on. We didn't even talk about it any more. Everybody is bringing it up now that we didn't get along and that I had something to do with him getting fired, and that's (expletive). People outside just don't know what they are talking about." Magic Chief Operating Officer John Weisbrod said that while he often consults McGrady, Rivers' future was not up for discussion. He said that McGrady's frustrations played no role in Rivers being fired. "Sometimes players are good resources to talk to about players around the league and acquisitions in free agency, but this wasn't one of those circumstances," Weisbrod said. "But when it comes to decisions like the one we made, players play, coaches coach and managers manage." McGrady had one of the most efficient seasons in NBA history last season, becoming just the seventh player to average at least 30 points (32.1 ppg), six rebounds (6.5 rpg.) and five assists (5.0 apg). Despite those numbers, former Georgetown University coach John Thompson blasted the Magic star earlier this week on his Washington, D.C., radio show, questioning the quality of McGrady's points. Thompson then expanded on the issue Thursday night during TNT's broadcast. "Don't give me the number of points you score and the number of shots you take; let me know if you're taking care of games when they are on the line," Thompson said. "That's why they are giving him $93 million. Great expectations come with that. So stop whining." Thompson said McGrady's mention of retirement last week was detrimental to Rivers' future in Orlando. "That gave the impression that he was unhappy with Doc," he said. "This is a player Doc cultivated and helped become a star. And the first time he runs into difficulty, he's talking about quitting. "McGrady made the statement that he can relate to … Davis. Sure, he can relate to an assistant. Johnny is a good man and probably a good coach, but he has to tell Tracy — and excuse my vernacular — but it ain't a sin to take responsibility." McGrady then took issue with ESPN analyst Tim Legler, who questioned his defense and his hustle recently. He said he was "too flexible to be all bent out of shape over what over people say," but clearly he was angry. "I heard Tim Legler make a comment — I'm going to go off (emotionally) now — he says I don't play any defense and all I do is score," he said. "I play defense on the best player on the other team and I score for us. I have to create for my own guys and do a lot for my team. That is my job, but it would be nice to have another guy next to me doing some of the same things. "Tim Legler, I don't even remember him playing. He won the 3-point contest, but is that all he did? I don't remember (anything) else. I don't even remember which team he played for. 'Tim Legler, you have something to say to me, address me personally.' "
B-ball, I seriously do have concerns about T-Mac and I don't want to see the Rox get suckered into a bad situation with respecto to injury, attitude, and salary cap constraints. Even you have to admit that these are very real risks when it comes to T-Mac. Insofar as his heart goes... let's face it. It was ego that brought him to Orlando. No sharing of the spotlight with fellow cousin Vince where the two of them, as a tandem, might have taken the Raptors to finalsville with the talent btw them. Sure, T-Mac has every right to follow his star. But there are other clues into his thinking too. Even his dealing with the media w/ respect to his off-season trade speculation. Why leak out this talk about going to Dallas with Shaq??? It's very unprofessional to say the least. How players handle adversity is about as good an indication of their leadership abilities as any, and quite frankly, the whole Doc Rivers incident brought out some of T-Mac's true colors as a "leader." On and off the court, I honestly see folks like Kobe as far greater leaders than T-Mac. There are better players to pursue in the offseason and I'll keep SF over T-Mac anyday. theSAGE
