Houston's superstars are ALWAYS overlooked, whether it's T-Mac or Yao. Just ask people around, that's always been the case here in Houston. You play for Houston and you almost guarantee you will be overlooked by the national media. The only way to get yourself noticed is to kick the door down and be the best attention-w**** you can be...or as some call it, "pulling an Arenas".
Alot of my friends don't believe me when I say TMac is playing at the same caliber as Kobe this year, but I think if the Rockets can keep this up longer, more people will begin to take notice.
i hated it last year when he got injured because i just knew that everyone would forget how good he is. now that he's back to mac form, albeit a little different from vintage mac form in orlando, everyone is probably thinking, "oh yeah, that mcgrady dude is not that bad." glad to see that he's getting the props he deserves
I'm glad T-mac is starting to get the respect he deserves. People have finally stopped saying "Well, T-mac is good and all but what about his back?" and have started saying "This Rockets team is okay, but with Mac they are a championship contender." Someone here said that without Tracy this Rockets team wouldn't be so hot (even with Yao). I couldn't agree more. With Yao we'd still be a playoff team, but likely just a first round exit-er. I hope Tracy stays with the Rockets til he retires (hopefully 5+ years down the road). Tracy/Yao is going to make a fierce combo for the better part of a decade if Mac sticks around; T-mac has been my favorite player since he was with the Magic and I couldn't imagine seeing the guy in another uniform. Finally, my MVP list goes a little something like this. I agree with most people for the most part: 1) Steve Nash: The guy is an amazing player. What else can you say about Nash? He can score, pass, do the intangiables his team requires, and most importantly lead a great team. Without Nash the Suns are like the Rockets, good, a playoff caliber team, but no where near a title contender. Nash makes his team much better when he plays, and could very well be the best player in the league on the best team (I'd still rank the Suns ahead of the Mavs with Nash). 2) Dirk: Gotta go with Dirk for number two. I hate the Mavericks, but I love Dirk. Always have. He's a talented player, and he brings a lot to his team. The Mavs are another team that would be good without their star but not great, Dirk gives them the edge they need to be considered the best team in the league (with the Suns). Dirk is a proven leader who is hungry for a title... he is deserving of being in the top 3 for MVP. 3) T-Mac: The man, the myth, the hero of H-Town; Tracy is our guy. Without Tracy this team is a team without a title chance. Yao gives us an edge over opponents like Utah, LA, and Dallas and the chance to be the champs, but without number 1 we'd be a team fighting for the 7th or 8th seed year in and year out. Tracy is that rare player (along with Kobe and perhaps D-Wade) who can take a team on his back in the final minutes and win it. He is a true leader who is the number one guy in Houston, even though a lot of people think its Yao. It isn't. If Tracy keeps it up he might seriously threaten Nash for MVP honors. 4) Kobe: The best all-around player in the league. Love him or hate him (or love to hate him) Kobe is the best in the league until Lebron and Dwayne prove otherwise. He gives a mediocre, injured Lakers team a serious shot to make a lot of noise come playoff time and possibly upset some contender teams for their own title shot. He's sure proven that the Lakers' management wasn't as dumb as a lot of people thought for keeping him and not Shaq, hasn't he? 5) Gilbert Arenas: Agent-0, the Hibachi, one of the best players in the league. Arenas is a scoring maniac who can also lead his team to heights unknown without him. Agent-0 gives a decent Wizards team a legit shot to beat out the Pistons, Bulls, and Cavs (and whatever other good teams play in the east... who knows?) for the Eastern Conference title. Arenas is going to be a perennial MVP candidate over the next 5-7 years who will always give his team a shot at the ECF. 6) Lebron James: I guess I'd go with King James here cause... why not Lebron? His team consists of Gooden, Hughes, Varejao, and 10 other guys who wouldn't start on the Celtics. The Cavs are legit EC contenders, and when people say Lebron is overrated I can't help but cringe.
ESPN Sportsnation MVP Race Poll Results http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollResultsState?sportIndex=frontpage&pollId=43248 Vote for TMac (ESPN poll located near the right side of the webpage) http://espn.go.com/
man more than ever i feel that t-mac should be the mvp without a doubt.he is just leading the rockets man and playing unbelievable basketball.mvp all the way
The poll on main page is about Roger Clemens now, but having T-Mac mentioned as one of those 4 MVP candidates is huge, especially since its from ESPN who are Rockets haters. 3 straight 30 pt games after the All-Star break, if he keeps his play up he is MVP in my eyes.
I know T-Mac is your boy... but come on, try to see the other side. T-Mac at his very best, in his Orlando years, could not take Orlando past the first round. T-Mac dominant, in 2005 could not lead the Rockets past the first round. Are you saying that McGrady is better now than he was then? It is very doubtful. A championship team starts with a dominant big man, this is how the league has always worked. Jordan is the ONLY exception to this rule, which is another reason why he is so great. Without Yao, or with a passive, deferring Yao, the Rockets will not make it past the first round. The past record of McGrady clearly indicates this. The Rockets need both players dominant to win a championship. Making McGrady the #1 option takes the Rockets back to 2004-2005, which would be a huge disappointment.
Dude, he meant yao needs tmac more than tmac needs yao. it's just the truth and record indicates this. BOTH need the other.. but tmac has more of an impact. period.
Here we go again with the Yao is better than T-Mac argument and T-Mac isn't the same. Comeon we don't need this garbage, they are both vital pieces to our team, T-Mac is having an MVP season carrying the Rockets who everyone thought would be below .500 right now w/o Yao. Give the man his deserved credit, the guy makes Rafer Alston, Chuck Hayes, Mutumbo and all the rest of the guys on the Rockets team so much better when he is on the court with them.
Is it a question anymore? I remember when the MVP was praised for playing both ends of the floor, leading his team through injury and by example. T-Mac is bringing it this season like no player has in a long time. Unlike Wade, he has lifted his team without his big man, unlike LeBron and Arenas he is not leading this team to an average record nor and only focusing on scoring. He has made his court vision as much as a weapon as his scoring ability, without them being mutually exclusive or detrimental to each other, unlike Bryant. Finally, unlike the favourites, Nash and Dirk. He is not surrounded by all-stars and borderline all-stars. Stoudamire, Marion, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Devin Harris...these are talented players. While the Rockets role players have done a tremendous job stepping up this season in the absense of Yao, they are still prone to poor showings but Tracy is there to lead them to victory. The fact is, and this is a compliment to Phx and Dallas, not an insult to Nash and Dirk; their teammates come ready to play. Every game. McGrady is the MVP of this season. There is no question.
Is it a question anymore? I remember when the MVP was praised for playing both ends of the floor, leading his team through injury if necessary and by example. T-Mac is bringing it this season like no player has in a long time. Unlike Wade, he has lifted his team without his big man, unlike LeBron and Arenas he is not leading this team to an average record and only focusing on scoring. He has made his court vision as much of a weapon as his scoring ability, without them being mutually exclusive or detrimental to each other, unlike Kobe Bryant. Finally, unlike the favourites, Nash and Dirk. He is not surrounded by all-stars and borderline all-stars. Stoudamire, Marion, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Devin Harris...these are talented players. While the Rockets role players have done a tremendous job stepping up this season in the absense of Yao, they are still prone to poor showings but Tracy is there to lead them to victory. The fact is, and this is a compliment to Phx and Dallas, not an insult to Nash and Dirk; their teammates come ready to play. Every game. McGrady is the MVP of this season. There is no question.
Yes, he is. He's not as explosive but his all-around game, bball IQ and ability to make other players better is much more than what it used to be. Case in point...I remember the first season tmac saw triple teams and zones in Orlando ....he sucked...and his excuse was he hadnt seen that type of D before (always the drama queen). The present tmac knows how to read the D and pass out to the open man. If his jumper becomes consistent like say ray allen or redd, whoa......
McGrady could not have been better than he was in the 2005 playoffs. He averaged 30/7/7 on 46% shooting. I argue that the supporting casts are in fact close in quality. PG: James + Sura >> Alston + garbage PG play was not an issue in 2004-2005, it is this season. The Rockets even had 2 quality PGs to share the minutes. SG/SF: Barry, Wesley, James (he played SG too) vs. Shane, Bonzi, Head, and Snyder: Snyder is out of the picture right now. Shane has been awesome, and Head has been good. Bonzi hasn't been very good, slow on defense, and a turnover machine on offense. I'd say it's even here, given how well Barry, Wesley, and James played that season. PF: garbage << Juwan/Hayes, but didn't Juwan get torched by Nowitzki for 53 points in one game that season? At least Ryan Bowen contained Nowitzki somewhat. C: Mutombo then > Mutombo now. In 2004-2005 Mutombo had more energy and had a greater impact than he does now. IMO he was one of the main reasons Yao's minute dropped from 2003-2004 to 2004-2005.
I didn't say Yao > McGrady. It is nearly impossible to fairly compare the two players because they play different positions, both put up huge numbers, and both play totally differently. I'm fine McGrady for MVP, no one can deny that the Rockets have overperformed with Yao sidelined in large part due to McGrady, but he seems to be implying that the Rockets should go back to making Yao the secondary option. I believe that would be a mistake.
I still don't agree with this statement, but right now there is no way to argue against that. It bothers me, though, that the McGrady fans are willing to bash and marginalize Yao when Yao doesn't even have a chance to prove them wrong. When the supposed YOFs (there were a lot more than just YOFs) were calling for McGrady's head in November, at least he had a chance to silence them by playing better.
I just wanted to note something that the Orlando announcers mentioned when I was listening to the Magic game on the online radio today. At the last timeout where tmac made that curl around the screen and made the shot that sealed the game. They had a "mole" announcer in the huddle (or at least close enough to hear what they were saying) and JVG let Tmac draw up that last play. Tells me that Tmac has a very high IQ, or there is no way a coach would let him pick the crucial play of the game.
IMO Tracy can't win MVP even though he deserves it. The NBA and its fans just overlook the Rockets and him and are too focused with Nash, Kobe, and Dirk.
