[USA TODAY] T-Mac on Yao, "He's funny, I love being around him."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/rockets/2004-11-01-tmac-yao_x.htm


Yao, McGrady aim high with Rockets
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY

HOUSTON — Not surprisingly, the cover of the Houston Rockets freshly minted 2004-05 media guide features Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. So begins the NBA's next Great Adventure pairing of a star center and a shooting star.

The last one, headlining Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in a Hollywood soap opera of clashing agendas, produced three NBA championships — and one divisive, misadventurous ending.

Where is this one headed?

The buzzword in the Toyota Center as an era of youthful promise but unanswered questions unfolds: "United We Win." That's the team theme proclaimed in bold, capital letters across the top of the media guide, right over the pictures of the new tandem in town.

In their early relationship, they echo that at every turn, assuring everybody who asks that a dominating presence inside and a scoring machine outside can share the ball and coexist happily ever after.

Yao: "Tracy is an unselfish player. He has two scoring championships. Nobody will say he's not a good player. He wants the next level."

McGrady: "I'd rather go out and give Yao the ball 30 times and have 10, 15 assists and score 15 points. I'm a scorer, but I'm a basketball player. I can adjust to anything. I'm not a selfish player. It won't be an issue. Obviously, the media will try to divide and conquer the two of us, but as far as whose team it is and whom the offense should run through, once that comes up we shouldn't play into it. Just play ball."

Jeff Van Gundy is orchestrating the show and promises it won't turn into a sideshow.

"Everybody is questioning how Yao and Tracy will play together," the Rockets coach says. "That's the least of my concerns. It's how we all play together. I don't see any problem with those two.

"In no way will there be a tug of war over the ball. Both are very willing and able passers. The only way you win in this league is to sacrifice and share, and I don't think Yao and Tracy will have any problem with the sacrificing and sharing part."

They are a work in progress, still young in NBA years. Yao, the 7-6 center who came aboard the Rocket ship three years ago out of China, is 24.

McGrady, the two-time league scoring champion who joined Houston in a blockbuster, seven-player trade with the Orlando Magic last summer, is 25 and starting his eighth season.

Comparisons to O'Neal and Bryant and another Houston ring-toting tandem —Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, who won together in 1995 — come with the pairing of two of the league's marquee names. But both comparisons are premature, Van Gundy says.

After all, neither Yao nor McGrady, who collectively boast six All-Star appearances, has made it past the first round of the playoffs.

With O'Neal in Miami, Yao is now the most dominating force in the West. He's already established himself as the ultimate team player.

"There's no better teammate in the NBA than Yao," Van Gundy says. "He's truly selfless. I see it similarly with Tracy."

Not everybody agrees. When McGrady was traded after a season in which the Magic lost 19 of their first 20 games en route to the worst record in the league, Orlando general manager John Weisbrod painted a picture of McGrady as an underachiever who didn't work hard.

"He's just covering his (rear)," McGrady says. "That's what he had to do."

Still, McGrady is the one who has the biggest adjustment to make in his move west, Memphis Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown says. "That's because he's going to be put into a different style of play, meaning tempo, meaning half-court execution, working through a post guy. He's never played with a player the magnitude of Yao."

But the timing is right, says Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who coached McGrady in Orlando before he was fired last season.

"This is a great opportunity for Tracy," Rivers says. "This is his chance to answer critics and do the things that he doesn't do consistently ... just the intensity question all the time, defensively and offensively. Coming off the year he had last year, but more importantly the team, this is the perfect time to coach Tracy. You have a chance of really getting him to do it right all the time. He wants to win, and I think you're going to see that this year."

McGrady says that's what he's all about — winning games, not scoring titles. It's not the first time he's had to share the stage, he quickly reminds. "People forget, I was playing behind Vince Carter (in Toronto) before. I would be the one who would give him the assist or play defense. So my role is basically the same here — playing defense, with the offense going through Yao and the offense going through me."

They are still learning about each other on the court and off it. "He's funny," McGrady says. "I love being around him."

Says Yao: "Tracy is really quiet. I'm used to Steve Francis— yelling, happy, talking. He's different."

It's different on the court, too. McGrady says he was caught off guard during the preseason with all the open shots he was presented. "Playing with a guy who demands double-teams leaves me open on the perimeter one-on-one, and that's something I'm not comfortable with."

That's a scary adjustment to have to make. So is this one. "The game is easy now," McGrady says. "A lot easier than what I expected."

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...y02110204nov02,1,2039827.story?coll=orl-magic



T-Mac, Rockets launch NBA season


By Rick Maese | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 2, 2004


HOUSTON -- About 100 children formed a giant circle, and Tracy McGrady walked along the inner perimeter. They were doing basketball drills on the outdoor court at Sunnyside Park, and McGrady was offering some pointers.

A giant 15-foot Houston Rockets jersey loomed in the background, an unmistakable reminder that McGrady was far from Orlando and far from the Magic. This was his first community appearance with his new team.

"You got it going on," he told one kid, as he walked along the circle and watched each micro player toss a ball between either hand.

"Like this," he said to another another. "Pretend you got a bug in your hands."

"You know what you doing," he told a third. "I don't got to say nothing to you."

Tonight the NBA season tips off, and McGrady makes his first regular-season appearance in a Rockets' jersey. The debacle of last season is behind him now, and McGrady has focused his past couple of months on assimilating to a new community that has welcomed him with open arms.

"I love it here," McGrady, 25, said last weekend. "You don't really know what to expect coming in, but everything has been real good."

It's obvious that Houston loves him, too. Red jerseys featuring a large No. 1 on the back are all over town: from the Houston Texans' game to the shopping mall to Sunnyside Park, where neighborhood children showed up Saturday for a special basketball clinic. McGrady lent his name to a city youth league here that will benefit children all over Houston who couldn't afford an organized league otherwise.

"Everyone in Houston is so excited to have T-Mac," says Sarah Joseph, the team's director of community relations. "With him and Yao [Ming], people can't wait to see what happens."

Before McGrady arrived at Sunnyside, former WNBA star Cynthia Cooper joked with the children that McGrady "is gonna land here in his helicopter." McGrady arrived instead in his BMW and turned on the same charm that wooed Orlando for four seasons.

He grabbed the mic: "I'm excited about being here with you guys."

Yes, it's the same T-Mac that Central Florida knew so well. In fact, as he heads into his first Rockets game, McGrady says he's reminded of his time wearing Magic colors.

"I haven't felt this good since those first couple of seasons in Orlando," he said. "Those were great years. Everything here is feeling like that right now."

He calls it a "fresh start" and said he spent much of the summer thinking about what he was leaving in Orlando and awaited him in Houston. He came out of it realizing, "This is the right place for me."

"Last season, to me, I don't even call it history," he said. "I forgot all about it. I imagine it never even happened. I have some great memories of being in Orlando, but I just forgot all about what happened last year."

In case you forgot, the Magic finished with the league's worst record, 21-61. As the season drew to a close, McGrady and Magic management got into a battle of egos, and McGrady was traded to Houston in June as part of a blockbuster trade.

The move pairs the two-time scoring champ with Yao, the NBA's tallest player, forming what could be league's most dangerous inside-outside duo.

McGrady finished practice Saturday and bumped into Yao in a corridor outside the locker room. He got as close he could to the 7-foot-6-inch center's ear and told him: "We got to get this [championship]."

Though they lack a solid point guard, the Rockets have much of the personnel in place. McGrady finally has a big man to divert some of the attention. "We can do like Kobe and Shaq," McGrady says.

The Rockets finished the preseason 3-3. McGrady struggled shooting the ball at times, and the team still hasn't jelled.

Coach Jeff Van Gundy said after Saturday's practice his players can't afford to be as selfish in the regular season. "[McGrady] has been fine as a group we need to play better," he said.

Van Gundy drew the ire of Magic fans when he chose to sit McGrady out of the Oct. 23 preseason matchup between Houston and Orlando at TD Waterhouse. McGrady said that whole weekend was a little odd for him. He never set foot in the Orlando house he's owned for the past couple of years, choosing to stay in the team hotel.

"It felt weird," he said. "But at the same time, I needed to be around my teammates and also get used to being in Orlando and not being at my own place."

Over the summer, McGrady, who's originally from Auburndale, was negotiating to build a new house in Orlando but changed his mind. He said he wants to wait before deciding where he'll live in the offseason.

Getting used to Houston has been a slow process. McGrady said he was able to visit a shopping mall once -- "It was early in the day" -- and quickly learned that his new home has more sports fans than Orlando.

"They have a team in all the big sports here," he said. "And they care for all the teams and support them."

McGrady signed a contract extension with the Rockets Monday (terms were not disclosed). He'll build a future here but won't likely forget what Orlando meant for him. Right now, it's still hard to call Houston "home."

"It takes a while," he said. "Florida -- that's home. There's only one home. I'm comfortable here, though. I will say that."