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

Maybe for the same reasons people give McGrady a free pass for not getting to the second round year after year after year?

 

you know what i honestly think it is?
Me being impatient, im sick of this stupid Tmac- Yao era.
every year, as rocket fans we are disapointed.
We quickly come to excuses..
"jvg", "too many injuries", "just WAIT til they are both healthy"

NO!
screw that
im tired of this ****.
I want the rox to win big

 

adelman CAME into the season saying steve would start over alston. he couldn't even beat out mike james.

steve was a star, so? gary payton was a star but he sucked/struggled in his latter years. payton still had a few games where he gave you "glimpses" of his hey days. but players decline you know. steve has declined (a lot).

like i said, adelman watched steve through preseason, practice... he came to that conclusion for me. there's a reason a player rides the pine on the bench. it's not for any reason. steve and adelman never had any problems. so what's the other option? he's not good enough to get on the court.

you're talking about ONE GAME and that should tell us he still has game? there's a reason the dude is still in the NBA though. EVERYBODY in the NBA can give you ONE good game every 10 games. that's why they're NBA players. steve right now is still an NBA-caliber player. and that's all he is. i hope i'm wrong but from what we read right now with his out of shape-ness, i don't think so.

and for all the things tmac gets for his injuries. steve's injuries are actually VERY chronic and they don't appear to get better. steve's game was predicated on extreme athleticism, quickness... he never had a game where he can rely on where his athleticism goes out. as a result, you'll never see the same guy again. all we can hope is a decent role player. and that's a BIG HOPE.

 

well, being hypocritical is not good.

but like i said, nobody is giving him a pass. there's a reason he's not very well liked on this board. tmac came to this city with the expectation of bringing us a championship. he hasn't done that.

i think most of us would welcome a trade IF it makes us at least better (or the hope of getting better). if tmac is traded tomorrow for billups and hamilton, i welcome the trade with open arms. yes, the disappointment now has extended for 4 years.

but no trade is imminent. you and I know if this team stays healthy, we ARE a championship-contending team. you and I know if this team stayed healthy last yr, the team would have gone very far. so let's hope for the best and they all stay healthy for next yr and see what happens.

after next yr, if we're in the same position, tmac will most likely be traded b/c we won't let him walk for nothing.

but comparing steve to tracy is not very smart. steve was never on his level even at his best. an injured tmac still demands more on the market right now than steve ever would, even in his prime.

but again, this is probably the last yr (or 2) that tmac will be a rocket if we get the same results. as rocket fans, let's hope for the best. role players are slowly being added each year (though very slowly). we're getting more and more balanced. it's inevitable that this team will reach its potential.

 

I think that I felt good about the Tmac deal and I still do. We got one superstar for the price of none. Even though he still hasn't shown the old Tmac from Orlando that was dominant I think he still has it in him the only question is when will we see it again. Now that he and Yao will have some type of a team and good players around them we can see what they're really about, also a little luck healthwise.

 

This thread is funny. Francis supporters vs McGrady supporters.

The irony is, Francis and McGrady are the two most criticized star players on this board. Those who joined the board after the trade should look back on how Francis was hated here. But the Francis hatred was not nearly as vicious and irrational as the T-Mac hatred IMO.

Also, those who say the Francis-Mobley-Yao team was beginning to gel, are the same people who want to deny the fact that the TMac-Yao-Battier-Scola team is also beginning to gel and they want to gut the team just to get rid of TMac.

 

You are kidding Right?
People were literally Blaming SF for *everything* known to man
In fact. . . People Blamed SF for things that happened WHEN HE WAS NO LONGER ON THE TEAM!!

Rocket River

 

i don't know why people hate players. i understand disappointment because I'm also obviously very disappointed the past 4 years b/c I, along with other rocket fans, thought we would hoist a trophy by now. but again, we still got a year or 2 of this duo. let see what they can do.

but yes, the tmac hate is borderline vicious.

 

understand this, steve is still beloved in this city. when he signed back here, we welcomed him with open arms and A LOT of fans clamored for him to play, chanting his name... trust me, he is appreciated. when he first came onto the court last yr, dude was like the beatles for a few seconds.

steve was criticized, not hated. big difference.

people on this board last yr actually said tmac FAKED injuries (that's just going overboard), didn't want to play for this team, didn't get along with his teammates, bickered with yao... along with other false garbage that you would only make up if you really dislike the dude.

 

I don't know how you can say he gets a free pass when he is constantly stepped on for his failures. And you tend to get some people giving you a bit of slack when you have a career playoff average of 29/7/6 but still lose.

And citing improved play in the postseason as an excuse for playoff failures is a lot more acceptable and reasonable than citing "emotional" issues as the reason why Steve Francis went from a 20/8 player to a guy that has played a combined 54 games in 2 seasons and has struggled to even get off the bench the last few seasons.

 

There is a huge difference here. Francis-Yao had two years, and there was improvement. McGrady-Yao has had twice as long, and has been stuck in the very same position that was deemed the ceiling of Francis-Yao.

Nice trick of inserting Scola and Battier into the equation to make it look like McGrady hasn't been here that long.

I hate to pull the seniority card, but (and don't take offense to this, because it's not a slam or anything) you've been here for all of six months. RR has been posting since the beginning of the Francis era. He has better perspective on this issue than you do.

 

Have you forgotten that Rockets were 2 to nothing in both series and played 7 games?

Did you forget that Yao has become with help of McGrady the best center in the game?

Also 22 streak, 52,55 games won in regular season with injuries don't count?

All I'm trying to say is that Rockets are better team after that trade and I think that team just has no luck.

 

Barring an incredible offer or a hideous first half, I just don't see the Rockets trading Tracy. However, if the Rockets lose in the first round - yet again - I'd be stunned if T-Ming weren't broken up. There's only so many seasons this experiment can continue without results.

 

I think I was in the minority who hated the trade. The Rockets were still young and improving. I thought it was dumb to break up the core so early, esp. after a playoff stint. Now, I think the trade has made the team better but it's still missing some pieces needed to win a championship.

 

A Francis-Yao duo was not going to go deep into the playoffs, and once again hindsight to the injuries and decline of Francis, as well as the fact that since T-Mac has arrived Yao has been missing 20-30 games a year... there is no way that team would have had near the success that it does with T-Mac, who has led the team to 3 50+ win seasons.

The Yao-T-Mac ceiling is very high, and while they haven't scratched the surface of the potential they have, they have much more potential than a Francis-Yao duo did. That alone, if NOTHING else, is why the trade was a HUGE steal for the Rockets. People act like the T-Mac/Yao era is over....the team is still improving, is getting younger, and last year had the most successful season in over a decade DESPITE the injuries. With the Western Conference getting older and many stars jumping to the East (Brand, Garnett, Allen, Marion, etc...), the Rockets' future looks as bright as it has in over a decade.

 

so are you saying that old dude from 1st and 10 on ESPN has more insight on sports in general? seniority is nothing.

we never would have thought of championships with steve francis as our main guy. that's just the way it is.

 

Not quite. If a fan was 5 years old in 1994 and another fan was 15, who do you think will have a better recollection of the championship era?

Out of curiosity, how old are you?

True, but thats b/c the cornerstone was meant to be Yao. In general, dominant big men are the cornerstones of championships (with the exception of jordan's bulls, 2004 pistons (you could possibly make an argument for the wallaces), and the bad boy pistons)

 

I am not talking about sports in general. I am referring to your and RR's respective perceptions of McGrady's treatment on this board, relative to the amount of time both of you have been here.

 

yao still has to want to be the cornerstone. we're still waiting for yao to reach that dominant stage and be that superstar in the playoffs.

and i'm old enough to see the hakeem era by 1988 so i'm sure i know what i'm talking about when i refer to steve. so sad i miss the ralph sampson and hakeem days though.

 

I've already addressed this. Theres no need to bring Yao into this discussion (about tmac and francis) in this manner.

Defend yourself however you like. The fact that you avoid this simple question about your age is far more telling.