I was watching some ESPN today. Jim Rome is Burning came on and he interviewed Barkley. Now, what he said was really just side comments while talking about something else or some other team. I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember it word for word. --------------------------------------- He was asked about the Nuggets and Melo's comments about them quiting but commented: "I really respect what the Rockets have done. They lost Yao Ming, went down 2 games and they never quit. Now, they may not win the series, but they will not give up and you have to really respect that." He was also asked about Pat Riley. He was talking about his "recruiting" trips in the middle of the season and how he almost got a free pass from the media because he's precieved as a "good guy" while a guy like Isiah would have been blasted because he is viewed the opposite. Anyway, the Rocket comments came in as: "A guy like Tracy McGrady gets harped on all the time for never winning a playoff series, which is totally unfair because it's not his fault. I recently realized Grant Hill has never won a series either but you never hear about it. So, a guy like Grant Hill gets a pass because he is viewed as a good guy, while Tracy McGrady always gets hammered because a lot of people percieve him as a bad guy, and it's unfair." --------------------------------------- I thought they were some interesting comments, especially talking about how TMac is percieved. I've never looked upon TMac as a "bad guy". But, I guess with how things went down in Orlando and how some of his comments (like JVG says, he thinks TMac is too honest to the media) have gone against him, I guess I can see how some can look down on his character.
The Rockets have gained alot of respect this year.............. I am proud to be a Rocket fan.........
Barkley always tells it like it is... He knows how hard the Rockets have it and he praises them for working hard.
see, I was (and probably still am) the biggest Tmac fan and I always defend him and say that the criticism is just unfair.. for the Dallas series, he deserves absolutely ZERO blame because he played his heart out and he did really great.. it was one of the best and most dominant individual performances in the history of the NBA playoffs.. HOWEVER, this series, and last year's series, the guy has just been playing like crap.. I've been waiting for this McGrady from the Dallas series to come back for so damn long now.. every time he has a good game, I go "omg, YES, he's back!", then he comes back with an awful performance and chokes.. it's pretty unbearable.. I don't think he deserved the criticism in the past, but starting last year, he's earned it.. he just flat out sucks against Utah.. last year he got owned by single coverage by Fisher, and this year, r****ds like Korver and Kirilenko are keeping him in check and shutting him down! wtf?
I'm starting to think somebody said something to Barkley and Magic regarding Tmac. They went from being a little too hard on him (when he didn't really deserve it) to giving him a pass for playing like an overrated bum. Did he call and cry or say he was going to off himself if they kept hurting his feelings? Stay tuned.
ppl need to stop hating on t-mac......they guy can't do it alone....he is human after all..........also the jazz are not blowing us out of this series these were all winnable game if we had made our ft's.......if we had yao this series would have been over...........and for the rockets to hang in this series i give them alot of credit because i thought they would get swept in this series........a win tomorrow and a win in game 6 we are right back in it........p.s. to all the posters that always start threads like "trade t-mac or yao or t-mac sucks" learn how to play b-ball then come comment on somebody's else's game.........i know half the people on this board can't play worth ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lets go rockets!!!!!!!!!
Last year he averaged 25 pts, 7 asssists, 6 rebounds and 3 turnovers. This year he's averaging 23 pts, 8 assists, 8 1/2 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 turnovers. These aren't numbers of a guy playing like crap. True, his field goal and free throw percentage and 4th quarter play have been pretty bad (with the exception of game 3). But the guy is playing well, considering Utah's defense is keyed in on him and nobody else on the Rockets are hitting they're shots consistently either. He cannot do it all himself. Especially when Utah sends a rotating cast of fresh legs to wear him down.
I know what you mean man, and look at these number, how can anyone stand to look at these horrid numbers being put up by Tracy.... PPG: 23.3 RPG: 8.5 APG: 7.8
you're right, but how does this Tmac compare to that Tmac that played in 04-05? if it wasn't for his past greatness, I would say that the guy is just not good enough and he is just overrated.. but I've seen him do it against the Mavs, he single handedly beat them in the first 2 games of that series.. he had at least a couple of dunks every game.. how many dunks does Tmac have in this series? I can count only 1 .. I understand that greatness is not measured by dunks, but come on now, you can't describe the Tmac that's playing right now as a great player... he is just an alright player who you can stop with single coverage.. I mean, Hedo Turkuglu (sp?) is playing better than him for god's sake..
Mogrod, as you mentioned above that you never looked at Tmac as a "bad guy" and that is because this is not a matter of tmac being perceived as a "bad guy" and Grant Hill as a "good guy" but in fact it is a matter of Tmac being perceived as a Greater player compared to Grant Hill and when a player is perceived as a "great player" it brings a HUGE responsibility and greater media attention. so IMO in this case it is not about who has been perceived as a good or a bad guy.
23 points? from your franchise player who is supposed to hog the ball and score the majority of the points for a team whose other superstar is injured.. if he scores only 23, we need 77 from the other players to treach a 100.. where are you going to get your scoring from? Battier? Bjax? Rafer? Head? Landry? Scola? we would be lucky if each of these guys hit 10 points every game, but what does that give us? 60+23 = 83 , which is just not good enough to win a playoffs game.. once again, it's not like he's playing against triple teams and his teammates aren't hitting shots, he is playing against single freakin' coverage (Korver for heaven's sake), and he still only scores 23 points.. and once again, I'm probably the biggest Tmac fan you can find around.. my moniker has "mac" in it, I've been accused of being a Mac-only-fan several times.. but I just came to realize that he is just not doing enough.. whether it's effort or that he is just tired, I don't know.. but I know that we won't win a single game with him scoring 23 points..
terrible post. you are trying to compare the Raps to the Jazz? The Jazz play borderline dirty D and they have NOT been playing him single coverage all game. They bring help on Mac from all angles. Also, Hedo has help around him. 2 allstars actually
This. Ever since McGrady's "I don't listen to Charles...except cupcakes." comment, Barkley seemed to back off a little. I think the real change came when Magic made his defensive comments about Tracy after game 1. Maybe he reflected on his previous negativity or maybe it was the "*>Barkley" signs in the Toyota center, but his tone seemed to begrudgingly change. He's still a fat fool. And I still wouldn't say that to his face.
or these 3-16 from the field in the 4th quarter through the first 4 games... 36% from the field and an awesome 57% from the FT line... he gets 23 points on 9 of 24 shooting and makes 5 out of 12 FT's...
I swear this myth about double teams will never go away.. dude, I actually thought the same thing, and I've been certain that they are bringing double teams.. but when I rewatched the games, I swear to you that 80% of the time he was guarded by exactly ONE player.. I can upload them for you if you want.. I am not kidding, ONE guy only.. I agree, they're playing him dirty, but that's supposed to get him pissed off more and get him motivated, instead, he just fades and starts passing to Rafer to jack up threes.. how many times has Tracy driven to the basket this whole series? how would you explain the lack of scoring from others? Utah has 6 guys on the court with 2 guarding Tmac? no, he is guarded single coverage, and when they bring help (which happens rarely), they are excellent at rotating and covering everyone.. say what you want, but as for me, Tmac has lost me as a big fan unless he does something great and goes off for the last 3 games of this series.. btw, I have 2 huge Tmac posters in my room, I own an away and a home McGrady Jersey, and I have the Tmacs 3's, 4's and 5's .. which means that I'm not a hater, I'm just frustrated as heck that my favorite player is disappointing me..
If I were to drive into the paint on the Jazz and get hammered without a call by the refs, I would go ape-xxxx on the guy who racked me and knock his teeth out. Ejection. So now you know why Tmac will not drive the lane. He does not want another broken nose and is tired of being bruised for no purpose. I understand Tmac and Battier avoiding contact today to rest their bruised bodies. This series has been many times rougher than any other series I have watched this year.
he's SHOOTING LIKE CRAP, but he's not playing like crap. he avg 25, 5, 7 last yr with superb defense on harpring. he's avg 23, 9, 8 right now -> borderline triple double every game basically. for some reason, his jumpshot isn't as good anymore so he's not as great of a scorer as he once was. but he has NOT played like crap.
