... i was in a long*** line at the social security office gettin bored when one of my home boys called and said we got t mac i jumped up and down and yelled we got t mac baby.. most ppl there didn know what i was talkin bout oh well it was awesome man....
i was in europe checking clutchfans everyday for the news. i was so sure the deal would go down.. then it finally did when i was in Rome. i went insane in an internet cafe
same here. i was using hitting up internet cafes every time we had a free 30 minutes or an hour to try and read what had been added to the 2200+ post thread and everything else about it. i basically didn't even have time to post about any of it. i don't actually remember when it became official but man it was a hectic saga. and the astros were trading for beltran at the same time so it was tough keeping up with everything.
i was in the philippines on vacation when the whole TMAC deal was going down, man i didnt have a computer or anything so i was missing out, i saw it on NBA TV a day later though and i went to an internet cafe and read every news article about it.....but i never got to see it on espn with all the interviews
I don't know where I was, but I had already made a decision that if SF was not traded I was not going to follow the Rockets until he was. Five years of misery was my limit. And I was serious. When the news broke, I was in disbelief. Francis for TMac, you had to be kidding. That was an insane trade, certainly one of the most lopsided in NBA history.
Until the Rockets make it out of the first round of the playoffs, people really need to back off this one of the most lopsided trades in history talk. The team upgraded by five games and lost to a lessor team in the playoffs. One of the most lopsided trades in history happened last offseason but he Rockets weren't involved.
I am surprised you think that Dallas was a "lessor team;" I thought they had much more athletic talent than the Rockets, just too many guns. I felt like the Rockets were playing two or three on five most games. With the exception of the last game, the Rockets played well. I would have much rather played the Sonics. The entertainment level of most regular season games was so much greater that the previous five seasons of often unwatchable play there is really no comparison.
The Lakers went to the NBA Finals, if you are trying to argue that a team that lost in the second round was better than them then you are blind. I will concede that this year's team played better as a team, and there is value in that but to say this is one of the most lopsided trades in history is just wrong. Orlando actually improved and had a still had a shot at making the playoffs before Hill got injured and the guy Weisbrod traded Mobley for hardly played. This is no knock on Tracy, but unless you're trading for a guy who almost automatically guarantees you a shot at the Finals, Shaq or Duncan, than it isn't one of the most lopsided trades in history. The Rockets have been involved in some of the most lopsided trades in history, Mo Malone and Elvin Hayes. Unfortunately it is the wrong end they were on.
Upon reflection (and the fact the trade actually happened), my anger at SF went away. I still follow the Magic very closely because of him. so do i. i'm not quite sure why, but i just respect steve francis. he wasn't a great pure PG and made bad decisions but he played hard everynight and cared about winning. i just wish that the rockets would have made the move to get a true PG and move him over to the 2, because i believe if that would have happened early on in his career he could have become "the franchise" that everyone expected him to be. he's still a great player and i wish him all the success in the world, and i wish all the people in hear that talk about him so bad would realize that he wasn't the reason we weren't winners when he was here. but hey, everyone has to have the scapegoat right?
Why do Shaq and Duncan guarantee you a spot in the Finals and Tracy doesn't? When Shaq didn't have Penny, Kobe or Wade he never got past the first round. Same with Duncan. He has had costars in Robinson, Ginobili, Parker and great role players in Elliott, S Jackson, Elie, Horry, Steve Kerr, Porter, Johnson. The T-Mac deal is not one of the most lopsided in history, but the Rockets clearly got the better end. We traded a top five player for two misfits (Francis and Mobley). Every GM in the league would do that deal in a heartbeat. The only exception, Weisbrod, got fired because of it.
I was sitting on my couch in College Station watching TMAC speak on tv. Yao's draft, I was in Saudi and had no idea about it till like 8hrs later.
