How do you feel about acquiring T-mac 4 years ago, and how do you feel about him now

I liked the trade because Tracy had a much better IQ than Francis and the Cat and because of his greater talent level and passing ability. I never was convinced that he was a clutch finisher and unfortunately he has been able to do it despite having Yao with him.

I also never expected Yao/Tracy to be Shaq/Kobe but you are right they have not been proven to be a 1/2 punch.

We are playing like a team unlike the days of Steve/Cuttino but McGrady is losing his Jordanesque traits and has been unable to attack the basket regularly which is very disappointing. There is some merit in the Pistons rumors but if we do get 2 semi-stars for him,I hope they will be able to have a bigger cumulative effect than having him alone.

 

Something great is going to happen in the city of Houston.

 

2004 - Michael Jordan

2008 - Scottie Pippen

Sigh... as much as I like Tmac, I come to realize he's not Jordan. I wish he was. I thought he was. But he just isn't.

 

No one will be Jordan. Not even Kobe.

We just need him and Yao to stay healthy and we are gonna be okay

 

The only negative thing about the JVG years was our offensive sets allowed opposing defenses to rest in the half-court. And the current NBA's rules penalize that.

Don't get me wrong, JVG wanted us to push the ball, but ball movement was never stresed enough.

And you know what? Tmac diddn't come close last year to leading us in categories GMs are looking at now.

Adleman, Scola, Landry & Brooks are reasons we should expect improvement. I want both Yao and TMac to understand that and I think both of them have reasons to believe they need to change.

But yeah, TMac pounds the ball way too much and it hurts our greatest asset: energy.

 

No doubt
The Francis team was finally jelling . .. then We blew up the team

The Net Gain is basically a few Regular Season Games
and losing in the first round . . . [the francis team lost to the best 1st round opponent we played since the barkley era]
[Lakers >> Dallas, and the two Jazzhole teams]

Rocket River

 

1. I wuold NOT do the Barkley Trade again . . .hell didn't want it the 1st time
2. Francis/Mobley wasn't getting out the 1st round??? How has that worked out for us since???

Rocket River

 

We are obviously 10xbetter team than we were with Francis/Mobley. Do you honestly any team with Steve Francis as the second fidel will win 22 straight? I say keep Tmac till 2010 and force him sign a lower contract and obtain another player wade/lebron/bosh. And we will own.

 

we should have beaten dallas (u know the controversy).

we should have gone far last yr had it not been for injuries.

this team has had so many garbage gone against them. i truly believe we should have advanced deep in 04-05 and last yr. and i mean DEEP.

 

Great trade, he still needs help.

DD

 

this was obviously a good trade, look how steve turned out. i missed cuttino, at least he made to the second round of the playoffs!


Guess who helped him?

 

It's a terrible trade ,in my opinion. Why did Dawson trade our leader for a injuried roster who has never break into the 2nd round in the playoffs? Because of Jeff Van Ganny.Jeff is a good coach,to be fair,but he doesn't fit rockets ,where many geniuse rosters gather together.He is too strict to be accepted by the talented guys like SF3. SF3 is my favourite,he can block centers even though he is just 6'4.he represents not only the rockets spirite but also the belief that never to give up. Most of us are undersized compared to the nba rosters,but we can still play basketball as they do,because we don't think the gap of size will be the barrier againest to the hoop.I'm 5'10,but i can still dunk the hoop,even though on the ladder.
SF3 is our hero for the past ,for now ,for the future ,and for ever.

 

wel this trade was very important to me because it was the trade that got me into basketball.

 

I think it was an excellent deal. What have Mobley and Francis done since? Besides Yao and Tracy are only 28 and 29. Yao has continued to improve every season and we can only imagine where he'd be if not for injuries.

A quick recap of the Yao/T-Mac era.

2004-2005
T-Mac played 78 games and averaged 25.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.7 apg and 1.7 spg. T-Mac was clutch all season and nearly as explosive as his Orlando days(who could forget his 13 points in 33 second performance)?

Yao meanwhile was coming into his own as one of the leagues best big men. He averaged over 18 and 8 with 2 blocks per game giving Houston of the best duos in the league and a legit low post presence.

Tracy and Yao led Houston to a 51-31 record.

Then there was the 2005-2006 season which was a disaster because of injuries. I don't need to elaborate any more.

2006-2007T-Mac started off slowly with Yao dominating as an early favorite to win MVP. Yao was averaging nearly 27 and 10 with over 2 assists and 2 blocks while leading Houston to a 16-10 record prior to his injury. The season looked all but over then but T-Mac carried Houston averaging better than 28, 5 and 6 while leading Houston to a 20-10 record until Yao returned. While Yao started off as one of the favorites to win MVP, T-Mac finished as one of the favorites to win the award. The team finished 52-30.

2007-2008 This was really an amazing season. We didn't even look like a playoff team until well into the season. A 22 game winning streak got us a 55-27 record and T-Mac led the Rockets to an 18-7 record after Yao's injury.

Unfortunately the Rockets haven't made it out of the first round in any of those seasons.

If you think about it though what the duo of T-Mac and Yao has done with so many injuries is remarkable. The first season looked promising with 51 wins, T-Mac continuing to be a top 5 player in the league and Yao continuing to improve. That series of course was controversial and who knows, maybe the Rockets should have won.

Regardless since then Yao has missed an average of 29 games per season and Tracy has missed an average of 21. Still that didn't stop the Rockets from recording the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history and notching two more 50 win seasons.

I think now the team is ready to take the next step if Yao and T-Mac are healthy. They showed last year that they haven't forgotten howto play defense but are also an improved offensive team. I think a better point guard would help but I see no reason why a healthy Rockets team can't win 60 games and make a good playoff run.

Another thing that must be established is the team needs to be run through Yao. He is better than Tracy now and you win with size.

One concern is still Yao's participation in the Olympics. I know why he's playing and I understand but I'm skeptical that he can remain healthy while playing extra competitive basketball this summer. The man is 7'6" and 310 pounds and has had many injury problems so it may be a lot to ask especially coming off another injury.

 

well at the time of the trade, tmac was probably the second or third best player in the league, AND he was my favorite player, so hell yeah im happy. im still loyal to him, so im still happy hes with us. Nobody else shows up in the playoffs except him so im not exactly suprised we havent gotten out of the first round. well we easily should of beaten dallas 4-1 if it wasnt for the bullcrap calls. and that infamous picture of finleys foot out of bounds ( or was it josh howard, i cant remember) but anyways, hes never been a consistent shooter, but yeah he was much more explosive back then and he use to be a pretty good defender as well. even when his shot was off back then, he could take it the basket in traffic anytime he wanted to.

 

What are you SF3 guys on? Did you guys really watch basketball back them then? Before we drafted Yao, both Francis and Cutino tried hard to get management to give up the pick that landed us Ming for Darius Miles. MILES! You could actually see the two of them sulk, Stevie the most when he was sent on behalf of the Rockets for the Lotto pick. They wanted Miles...

After Ming was in the lineup, both Francis and Cuttino would play 2 on five basketball. I spent many games screaming at the TV as I watched Francis or Mobley pound the basketball, waving Yao out of the paint after he'd fight for position below, only to jack up a shot with two seconds left on the clock, or worse yet, passing the ball to Yao with 2 seconds left on the clock. Then they had the nerve to tap their chest and say "My bad" as they ran back down court after the missed shot....

 

Wholeheartedly agreed. At best, the trade was a lateral move. IMHO, it was a mistake.

 

uh, sorry to burst your bubble, but SF3 is mediocre at best and is a shell of his former self.

Terrible trade? Put the pipe down, bro. Unless you are either a Maryland grad or a foolish chinese kid still hangin on that Lo Dao (SIC?) crap, you have to be a basehead

 

why don't you guys asked yourself if francis was so good, what happened to him? orlando appeased him when they first got him. same with NY.

 

shocking that the biggest TMac criticizer on the board thinks it was a bad trade.

So you would have preferred to have kept Cato, Cat and Steve?

We have Steve back and are paying him 1/20th of what we would have been paying him.

Had the trade NOT gone down, we would have been paying the guy $20mm+ for horrible production

I understand not liking TMAC (sort of), but not liking the trade is insane