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

The Yao/TMac era = Great promise but mediocre results.

 

It was a fantastic trade then, and it is now. T-Mac is underappreciated. It's too bad we haven't had the right combination of players surrounding him, and that injuries to him and Yao have taken their toll on the team's fortunes. But T-Mac for Francis? That has to go down as one of the Rockets' best moves ever.

 

When I consider that Steve Francis was the headline of what we gave up...I think the trade was fantastic. Francis turned into a journeyman. We haven't won a ring yet with McGrady....but I think it's far better than the alternative. I don't really think it's even close.

 

I generally agree that the Rockets teams with Yao + Mcgrady have been significantly better than any Rockets team with Francis, Mobley, and Cato + Yao.

 

You have to also remember the west as a conference has drastically improved ... There no longer is those 2 or 3 dominate teams that cruise past the first round like in the past ... The top teams can go down to even the lowest seeds in the playoffs (Dallas and GS) ... And after the trade sf3 game declined each season as well as tmac but I would much rather have a declining tmac then sf3.
The most important thing to note is the new age of players with freakish athleticism and great talent. They have changed the game to a point where athleticism is basically valued more then anything else. Also, with the western conference being so competitive I highly doubt sf3 would or could have gotten us out of the first round.

Sorry if I have any errors I did it from my iPhone

 

Well, then you basically haven't really got a firm grasp on the McGrady trade.

Compared to the Francis, Pippen trades, yes, they were great trades for us, especially the Francis trade, but they still don't compare well to the McGrady trade. Is Francis a perrennial allstar? What has happened to Francis now? You need to know that we got Barkley, as great a player he is, on his decline, unlike T-Mac where he was one of the best players in the whole league, and full of promise and youth to show for it.

Come on, lets admit it, the McGrady trade is the best out of all the trades you've mentioned, and indeed the best in Rockets history.

 

Maybe because we Follow the Rockets. . .and not the TMACs

Rocket River

 

One Duff beer for you sir !!!

DD

 

Better than the Barkley trade which succeeded in the goal of beating Seattle? Better than the Drexler trade which brought us another championship?

You'd rather have "promise and youth" than tangible results?

 

I agree with one of your previous posts.
Steve, Yao, and Cuttino almost had it done.
They just needed more depth.

Rockets blew the team up for about 6-8 more wins a season.

45-37 when Yao and Francis were getting things together.

51-55 wins with T-wack and same result.

1st round Exit.

 

The thing is they have a lot more potential to go far with T-Mac, who is a legitimate superstar, compared to Steve who was never on T-Mac's level, and for the last 2-3 years has struggled to even see minutes off the bench. In hindsight, the trade was brilliant because Steve has fell off the face of the Earth the last 3 years, Cuttino is a solid role player and nothing more, and Cato hasn't been heard from as well. T-Mac has been a yearly 23/6/5 type player for the team and has carried the team amazingly well when Yao has gone down due to injury, something Steve would have never been able to do. Howard was very solid for 3 years, and now through different trades we have Jackson's expiring contract as a major trading chip to land a legit 3rd option. Ty Lue turned to Jon Barry, who was very solid for 2 seasons.

 

it's fine to voice your opinions, but posters like you are what make this board bad. t-wack? you sound like somebody abused you when you were a child or something.

 

Unless you are going to monitor every instance where a player or a fellow poster gets called a name (I can cite several off the top of my head), there's really no need to single him out like that. Calling your pet favorite player a name doesn't cancel out his valid point, nor does it revoke his Rockets fan card (as so many McGrady (only) fans are quick to try to confiscate).

 

esp as much as people rag on SF

They love to point out how SF has 'gone downhill' since the trade
I would contend he 'went down hill' because of the trade
he was emotionally DEVASTATED . . He *loved* Houston
[can't say I got that level of affection toward the city from TMac]
Then he was WACK again with the Christie Trade
then WACKED again by being sent to HELL . . known as NY
He went there for one coach . . got SWITCHED ON to another coach
who kind of resented that SF was the other coach's guy . . that coach's call


Rocket River

 

it's not just tmac, it's also sometimes people do that to yao too, or luther.

you can say he sucks, or whatever as it pertains to his game. and i'm not singling him out. everytime he refers to tracy, it's usually like that. there's no reason for someone to hate a player that much, unless that guy has some issues for him to hate an athlete so much, esp. one that does not do anything bad off the court.

 

he had a GREAT GREAT start in orlando so no the devastation from being traded wasn't the cause of his downfall. i vividly remember steve being the clear #1 option earlier on and had a few buzzer beaters and orlando had a great start.

but when MOBLEY got traded from orlando, he started SUCKING. it's like he can't be without his best friend. (or that was his reason when he was asked about it in orlando). i loved steve when he was here. dude made the game exciting. but he's done now. from what we hear, he's out of shape (very out of shape). he's no longer looked upon as a great player (or even a decent player) by most people in this league (or at least adelman also thought so).

you don't let trades determine how you play the game. it's a business. i know steve is very toughminded so i know those things didn't really bring down his game. he just started a quick decline. that is all.

the same way tmac has declined a little bit with injuries. steve fell down FAST and HARD. there's no way around it.

he had a chance again in NY with a fresh start. nothing ever came about to where he rebuild his career.

let's face it. steve is done. he won't be a major factor next yr, believe it or not. i know a lot of guys adore steve moreso than tmac in the city of houston, which is also the truth. but another truth is he's done. get over it.

steve brought us great memories during his tenure here. it's time to move on. we're looking towards the future. that future includes a big dose of tmac and yao. hopefully they'll stay healthy and we'll contend for a championship.

 

Great points. I think Steve's problems are at least 50% mental, stemming from all the instances you cited. I just can't believe someone who has a game like he did against Phoenix early last year (after being almost exclusively benched prior) can be completely done physically.

 

um, ever heard of tony delk? dude had a couple of 50 pt games. was he ever a star? same thing with brian cardinal a few years back.

steve is always capable of a good game here and there from now on in his career b/c nobody guards him like he's that guy anymore. it's about consistency.

adelman watches him EVERY DAY. he has no animosity towards steve at the beginning of last yr as he thought coming in steve would be the starter. adelman is a player's coach; he wants his guys to do well. obviously, steve wasn't even beating mike james, who's basically done. that tells you a lot.

mike james had a couple of pretty good games for us earlier on (lakers, jazz...), well, what happened to him then. steve is the same way. you don't get that consistency from steve or mike james (then) anymore. i don't foresee steve doing much next yr. i gurantee you luther head (if he's still on this team) will be in the rotation before steve.

 

I don't know why people are so quick to make excuses for Francis...emotional connection because of how people saw him grow before their eyes? Whatever the case may be, it's not an emotional block for Steve to why he has declined, and it's not coaching or any of that....he has played 54 games combined in the last 2 years due to leg injuries. He will likely never be the same. Hell, we even saw it last year; without his usual quickness and athleticism, he simply isn't more effective than an average/below average backup.

Even if he was never traded, he would have likely still suffered from the crippling tendonitis that he has dealt with the last few years.

 

I'm not exactly sure what you're getting at here. Steve was a star, that tends to lend credence to the assertion that the Phoenix performance wasn't a fluke.

Agreed. It's all about consistency from here on out. There is no room for excuses next year. I hope he can get it together.

Again, Steve lighting up the Suns after riding the pine for so long (even being benched for his HOMECOMING game) makes the whole situation look just a little suspicious...

Well, time will tell on that one.