http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5734895.html Did T-Mac steal a girlfriend from him at one point in time? The guy seems so biased against our only superstar. I understand that Justice doesn't believe Tracy is a superstar any more. That is apparent in his writing over the past week, but why is he still holding him to superstar expectations? Why not pick another player to blame the losses on? Tracy has been hammered the entire series by AK-47, Harping and Brewer with a lot of no-calls. Yes, Justice... that effects your game. Not getting fouls will make you hesitant to attack the basket and get clobbered resulting in a missed layup and no free throws. It all takes a collective toll. Bad mouth him all you want RJ, but don't act like it's expected when you hold him to super-human expectations. It's like RJ isn't even watching the games.
Because T-Mac is the only superstar on the team (after Yao went down) Because T-Mac is getting paid more than several superstars in the league Because a huge % of the offense flows through T-Mac And because if we win a game, T-Mac will take the glory for the win He is the "man" on the team, therefore we blame him, and he can blame his teammates in private
I love it. (sarcasm) While I have no problem seeing local sportswriters criticize TMac (I like the guy, but he brings some on himself), I do with Richard Justice doing it. The guy spends all 12 months writing about nothing but Astros and Texans editorials, then in the NBA playoffs all of a sudden he starts covering the Rockets. See sig
Don't forget Fran Blinebury. Those two are going to further erode T-Mac already fragile psyche. He's getting ripped, and I feel deservedly so for his lack of "putting his will on the series" especially in the fourth quarter, you know, "money time."
I think the media decides who gets the credit or blame for a team effort or team loss. If T-Mac misses a 3 to win a game or makes a game winning shot, that pretty much defines itself. Otherwise, it's decided by people like RJ who seem to think T-Mac is playing the Jazz by himself. I like Tracy on the court and off the court, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him take his ball and go home when he gets more respect from ESPN than his hometown media. Seriously, regardless of his pay... he is still a human being with emotions and if they keep up with the verbal berating maybe he really will quit on the team and let the team get rolled by ~25 points. As it stands now, he takes it in stride and may make sarcastic remarks to the media, but he still comes and plays his heart out.
and THAT is what i've been trying to say in all of my posts... T-Mac gets paid 20MM a year...do you get 20MM a year to shoot 3-16 in the 4th quarter of Round 1 of the playoffs !?!? in his defense i STILL blame managment for NOT GETTING TMAC some help at the trade deadline...i highly doubt we could have beaten any team in this year's first round, except maybe Denver...we just don't have the personnel...
same reason why george w. bush gets ALL the blame for our current problems. geez, i lost the lottery on saturday....damn you bush!!
In fairness, Justice did write some pro-McGrady articles (Mac for MVP, etc.) but he has come back to his usual stuff. But nobody is worse than Blinebury. It really seems like it's personal for him. Maybe McGrady brushed him off one day or somehow offended him, because it is glaringly obvious that Blinebury is going way beyond journalism with the vitrol he writes in his blogs.
I've edited the first post to include a link to the article you're referring to. Keep in mind, Justice wrote this FIVE WEEKS AGO: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/rockets/5621793.html Give T-Mac nod for MVP They are a team in every sense of the word, a really good team, a smart, resourceful and gritty team. Don't lose sight of the bottom line with these Rockets. There's one other thing to know about them. They've got the NBA's Most Valuable Player. Care to argue? Don't. You don't have the facts on your side. Tracy McGrady defines greatness almost any way you want to define it. This isn't about the playoffs or last season or anything else. This is about here and now. No player has had more of an impact on his team, and no player has had more of an impact on the standings. Isn't that what an MVP is? "He's willing to do whatever it takes," Rockets forward Mike Harris said. McGrady put the Rockets on his shoulders again Friday night in an 89-80 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. He turned a game around and helped make history. That's what the great ones do, what McGrady has done again and again the last few weeks. Master of ceremonies When he was finished, when he'd scored the last of his 30 points and grabbed the last of his seven rebounds, when he'd made the last of those plays that bring you out of your seat, Toyota Center was again rocking with celebration and emotion. Your favorite NBA team has gone almost seven weeks between losses. That's 21 in a row, the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. All the games haven't been pretty, and they haven't all been against winning teams. Don't penalize them for this. "It's an unbelievable accomplishment," coach Rick Adelman said. This was another game that started ugly. The Rockets trailed by 13 points in the first half and didn't take the lead for good until midway through the third quarter. "This was a great test to see how mentally strong we are," McGrady said. "This is pretty remarkable. I am definitely cherishing this moment." The Rockets worked hard on the defensive end, flew after loose balls and kept plugging away. These are the things that have remained even when the shots aren't falling. Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Harris were huge. Still, for stretches, it looked like they might not overcome their own shooting. They missed 14 in a row at one point in the first half and were outscored 21-1. McGrady saved them, by plowing to the basket one moment, hitting a long jumper the next. He set up teammates, grabbed rebounds and made the game his. He went the full 48 minutes again, and in those final seconds was absolutely exhausted. "McGrady can get his shot off whenever he wants, and that is what makes him so tough," Bobcats guard Matt Carroll said. "He gets the perimeter guys open shots." A city is watching This is a magical time in our city, one of those times when a sports team does everything right and captures the imagination of even casual fans. Stay tuned. The Rockets and Lakers, now tied atop the Western Conference, will play one of the most interesting regular-season games in franchise history on Sunday. Then again, no Rockets team has done the things this one has done. No team has rallied around the loss of a great player (Yao Ming) and built an amazing run on emotion, anger and smarts. "They are a great defensive team," Carroll said. "They work as one. I take my hat off to their entire team." There's not a high school coach on earth that wouldn't enjoy watching this NBA team. Some have minimized the streak by talking about the teams they have or haven't played. That's ridiculous. No matter who've they've played, they've won. They've beaten good teams and bad teams and every other team. Now The Streak has become this living, breathing thing that inspires and ignites. They fought their way from 13 down in the first half to a two-point lead after three quarters. Then it was McGrady's time. He fed Harris and Chuck Hayes for short shots to open the fourth quarter. The Rockets were off and running. "Somehow I knew it wasn't going to be easy," Adelman said. "I have to give our guys credit because these last two have been really tough. I think maybe they wanted it too much during parts of this game." But his team ended up taking care of business. They got contributions from up and down their roster. Everything they do runs through McGrady. The MVP.
I know Tmac isn't out on the court playing 1 on 5, but the facts remain: -He's the best player we got right now. -He consistently disappears in the 4th quarter, regardless of the stats he put up. In playoffs, he's a career 45% shooter through 3 quarters and 34% in 4th quarter. -He's too brutally honest for his own good in front of the media. Things like admitting he's tired and injuries bothering him will only serve as more ammunition for the opponents to continue beating him up physically. -His lack of work ethic present in great players, such as a simple thing in practicing free throws when he's struggled all year at under 70%. For a shooting guard no less. -His lack of assertiveness as a competitor. When the going gets tough, he settles for way too many jumpers. Also, in too many interviews and post game conferences, he often believes that he did everything he could and there is nothing more he could do. Tmac, if you have the audacity to say that you waited your time to "take over" (2-8 shooting, 7 points) after winning game 3, where were you in game 1, 2, and 4? How can the team's best player have 1 FGA and go 2-4 from the FT line in the final quarter of a pivotal game? Of course, Tmac didn't lose the game by himself. Rafer should not have let Deron Williams get a dunk right after a timeout, and Bobby Jackson's atrocious 1-10 (wtf???) shooting is absolutely inexcusable. But as the best player of the team, Tmac is expected to either bask in the glory in victories or shoulders the blame in defeats, and so far it's more of the latter. Tmac's potential for greatness is such a tease for us fans. If only he could fully tap into it... The story of Tracy McGrady.
Man, that's all ball baby!! LMAO.. no foul was called on that play?!! I'm surprise Scola still has his head on...
Okay, just read the article... Justice brings up a good point -- why does T-Mac throw his teammates under the bus? If there's one thing I learned about Mac over this season, it's that he doesn't know how to do interviews. He needs to take a course on saying the right thing, or at least say it in a way that's charming the way Barkley does it. I agree with Tracy that Mutumbo should've been put in that last rebound, but you don't say that to reporters. It's bad for the team.
