I remember last century when we got all excited about a trade. Then, we got Scottie Pipppen. I fear that McGrady will be like Scottie. not the player. But the person. Doesn't McGrady seem like the type of Pippen personality that we saw here before? Moody. Highly skilled. And couldn't mesh with another tough personality even though he was a player named Barkley? Will he handle Gundy demanding defense and sacrificing 6 points of his scoring average? Man, I am not totally against him coming here. But what makes us think that T-Mac will be happy here knowing that there is a worldwide famous player who will always have double the reporters at his locker room than his? I thought he said he wanted Shaq to play with him? How is he going to handle Shaq being on possibly Dallas ready to dunk on his mug and possibly wrestle the WC in the playoffs? I thought he said he wanted to be on the same team as his buddy Shaq. Hey! Maybe Shaq will come here for cheap? Man, this guy reminds me alot of the Pippen trade. But to take risks is to succeed. I guess its worth it. Maybe the trade doesn't happen. But alot of people are going to be fired if this doesn't work. Starting with CD. Then Gundy himself.
Sometimes you have to roll the dice. In many people's eyes steve francis and cuttino mobley were our ticket to 1st and 2nd round playoff exits. McGrady is a big gamble, but if we hit this right.. it could mean multiple championships.. if it doesn't work out, we trade him and reload, simple.
His talent is a known commodity. His competitive fire is what we're gambling on. I'm hoping for something like Kobe as far as overall drive, but I'm praying for none of his baggage. With something big actually at stake, I think he'll be the bull in the china cabinet as far as him just breaking everything he sees.... defenses... Kobe's face... whatever.
Pippen was already spoiled with all his championships. Tracy hasn't seen the 2nd round of the playoffs. And you can't compare Barkley's personality with Yao. Two totally different folks.
Pippen was old and disgruntled. McGrady is young and disgruntled. Also, Pip had to defer to 2 post presences. I would have to believe that McG and Yao will be equal in this offense.
Also, remember Pip was annoyed because he wasn't allowed to post-up and was basically forced to spot up for a bunch of threes. JVG LOVES to post up his guards and small forwards. So McGrady actually is a lot like Pippen in terms of his game, though he's a better shooter and not as good a playmaker or defender, but I don't think he'll have the attitude problems. And if it doesn't work out and he demands a trade, I wouldn't mind getting a return on him along the lines of Shawn Marion and a lottery pick.
Pippen wasn't the top 5 player though jp dude.. in the other thread i thought exactly and this trade reminds me of pippen.. getting all excited... i just hope he doenst pull a pippen on us
I fear the same thing. At least with Francis and Mobley we know we have players that will show up and give their all every night. You can talk about how little Francis has done in his career, but McGrady hasn't done much more and led his team to the worst record in the league this year. I don't like getting Howard and/or Lue for Mobley/Cato, those two are at best second string players and won't be starting for a team that wants to go anywhere. I think we'd be better off tweaking what we have, and if we give up Francis get somebody that we know will show up and is willing to not be "the man" on the team. McGrady left Toronto because of that, he could leave us in a year because of it. We know Steve did at least make an attempt to change and still wants to be here. There seems to be an obsession with "Superstars", but I guess the Pistons/Lakers series wasn't enough to prove you can win without loading your roster with stars.
I don't think it's anything like the Quitten deal. Pippen was brought here with huge expectations. He was supposed to come in here and lead. The problem was the world already knew he was not a leader as he exhibited many times after MJ left him to hit curve balls. He crumbled under the pressure. As outlandish as it may sound, T-Mac has no where near the expectations that Pippen had. His youth and history trying to carry the Magic with no help lessen those expectations, IMO.
But T-Mac is coming here as the FINAL piece. And I know he thinks he is better than Kobe. Will he stay within the team concept when they face each other. Spoiled from 94-95. Thats my problem. Egoless teams. Even Hakeem was egoless to some extent. Funk it. Go for it if I can talk rings. But I still fear this mofo. His attitude is not good.
We were going nowhere with Francis, Mobley and Cato. Their play this past season was much the same as their first year in the league. No improvement, same boneheaded mistakes game after game. Enough already. Changes had to be made. At times last season the offense looked like they had never practiced together. Van Gundy is a fantastic coach and will make McGrady an even better player (defense) than he already is. All we need is a decent point guard and this team will be scary, very scary. With the Lakers being dismantled, only the Spurs, Mavs and TWolves stand in our way of a Championship.
Most good players have egos, it's when the ego gets in the way of the team concept that it becomes a problem. Kobe for instance didn't just develop an ego this year. Most great players know what's good for them.
i fear he will be the next penny, and sure he will be, tehy even wore the same jersey # for the same team and rox derserve the curse next season for betray their family memebers. YES, We will SUCK!!!
Agreed!! We weren't one of the top teams with our roster...now that we're getting T-mac..and hopefully adding other pieces as well...we can maybe contend! FOR QUITE A FEW MORE YEARS! WOOO
You fear the unknonwn. I fear the known is not enough to win. I fear the known more than I fear the unknown.
I disagree, McGrady is not the final piece being brought in. The Rockets are simply placing another pillar to go alongside Yao and build the team from there. With McGrady and Yao, the Rockets have a great foundation being laid to build upon...I'd liken it to rebuild/reload, more on the reloading side. There is still the 6.9 million trade exception that can be used to acquire another player to contribute. There are other holes on this team that need to be addressed. Acquiring Tracy McGrady should be the first step.
