Even if he DID come back, I prefer having the ball in Yao Ming and Scola's hands more often. Tracy the jump shooter can take a hike. Tracy the cutting, slashing, high flying, omfg dunk on your head guy ain't coming back. I hope he does, but injuries and age say no.
Yes, that is a belief.. but are you really seeing this through? Do you really expect this too happen in reality?
Unfortunately, I don't think the numbers from this season are reliable. McGrady never played a single game injury-free this year. The ironic thing about the whole T-Mac situation is that he is EXACTLY what this team needs to become a truly elite NBA team. But it's not likely to ever happen, because in order for him to become that missing piece of the puzzle, he'd have to change his game quite a bit and more importantly -- and more impossible for Tracy McGrady -- is that he'd have to change his attitude. Dream a little dream with me... Imagine T-Mac returning next year in great shape. Forget about whether he's 100% of the old T-Mac -- let's say he's only 75% of the player he once was. No longer T-Mac; now just Tracy McGrady. HOWEVER... Over the course of this last season, he's had to deal with all the difficulties of not fitting in with the team, the embarrassment of trying T-Mac moves and not being able to pull them off, the humiliation of being booed by the home crowd that once adored him, and finally, the bashing he got in the press because of the immature manner in which he handle the whole situation. And let's imagine that maybe, just maybe... Tracy McGrady grew up. With T-Mac gone, Tracy McGrady returns in good shape, ready to blend in and do whatever it takes to help this team get over the top. Knowing that it's not "all on me" any more -- now it's "all on us." He utilizes the amazing skills he STILL has as a playmaker, while still being enough of a scoring threat to keep defenses honest, which allows Yao to maneuver without the constant threat of double- and triple-teams. It allows Brooks to do what he's best at without having to be the only playmaker on the team. *Sigh* Okay, I apologize for being such a dreamer. But the idea of having McGrady be more of a facilitator, as well as a high-post Yao being more of a facilitator, and Brooks being allowed to be more of the scoring PG he is naturally, and all of them doing this in RICK ADELMAN'S SYSTEM?!? Well, I'll admit it gives me a monstrous boner. If I'm still thinking of this four hours from now, I'll have to call a doctor. The catch with this whole scenario is that it depends on a humble Tracy McGrady being willing to give up being T-Mac. And I seriously doubt that will ever happen. In other words: I can dream about how amazing it would be to be in bed with Jessica Alba and Megan Fox at the same time, and it's a great little fantasy. But the chances of that happening are about the same as Tracy letting go of T-Mac.
without tmac we don't have a playmaker, instead we have ron artest dribbling and chucking up terrible shots, or we have yao being fronted and we can't get the ball into him, or we have a aaron brooks who has potential but he's way to inconsistant. we need to have some kind of offense and if tmac can come back to be the player he use to be then we have a pretty good chance next season, if not trade him for something possibly another good playmaker.
That's fine, the point I was trying to get across is that people keep saying he's not coming back... but I don't get where that's coming from. The organization still wants him obviously.. he still wants to come back... so I don't see why he won't be. How he plays and what kind of player he'll be sure... that can be predictable like you have described.
I think the Rockets will try to jettison him, personally. I am not sold that he will ever don a Rockets uniform again.
How so? This thread is not intended to evaluate McGrady's whole NBA career, but his stint with the more recent Rockets rosters.
Tmac has been in this team for like 7 years and averages 6 assists, ron has averaged like 4 without playing here for a full year. Brooks is starting to embrace his starting role, he doesn´t even play pick n roll with Scola and Yao. I expect a lot of improvement from our team offensively this offseason. The rotation is more set, and we can agree that T-Mac is not in it. As i said before, i would love him to buy in this offense and accepted to be the leader of the second unit, but truth is, that our second unit is really good, and i don´t think if tmac will disrupt their offense.
I think Morey knows a washed up player when he sees one. A 30 year old Tracy McGrady with a troublesome knee does not make this team better. Morey will apply the same scrutiny to Artest this offseason as well... we are not overpaying for any aging wings.
I believe T-Mac probably should have shut it down before Training Camp was over. It was obvious that the knee was giving him problems. But I think that because we were going to open the season with both Shane and Ron already playing hurt, he felt he needed to give it a go. Laudable choice, but, as it turned out, a dumb one. When he finally packed it in, we (the fans), having never played ball at that level, especially with a knee injury, excortiated him for his decision. I hope T-Mac will be back, healthy and ready to go. He's the best 2 we have, and sees the court far better than the smaller Brooks. And I also hope his return will be this Fall, and not next Feb. Time will tell.
I'd absolutely love to see T-Mac coming off the bench. But I can't see it happening. Its a contract year for him and he'll want as many minutes as possible IMO. Some team out there will be willing to pay him 10+ million a season I'm sure.
Too bad Tmac had to burn bridges like that. We Rocket fans gave him our full support. No matter how bad Steve Francis sucked, he was always genuine to the Rockets and the fans.
Before we can really pass judgment as to whether Tracy McGrady will help Houston in 2009-2010, a few questions have to be answered (and we can't answer them at the moment): (1) Can he return to his dominant self? (a) Will he be facilitator McGrady? (b) Will he be scorer McGrady? (c) All of the above? (2) Will he accept a role off the bench? (3) Does the organization still plan for him to play next season? (probably a "Yes"... why wouldn't you want a $23 million player playing? Oh wait, Marbury...)
In the 2006-07 season, Tracy McGrady displayed his ability to be a playmaker. In all honesty, I believe the ability to move the ball around and scoring without dribbling the ball is the key to a successful Rockets squad; the Rockets have never had such a player in this Yao-era though. Unfortunately Clutch, all of the points you have made outweigh Tracy's playmaking ability. Another point you failed to mention, T-Mac is somewhat of a turn-over machine.
I agree with you in that T-Mac is still young, the problem is T-Mac the player doesn't think so. A good 5-6 years in him is a complete pipe dream.
don't you think a healthy T-Mac would have shot way better than artest did in the last three games? if i recall we lost game 7 more on lack of scoring than defense.
I never really liked the lineup with yao playing and tmac injured because when we got to the playoffs everyone fronted yao and then our offense looked clueless. when tmac is playing with yao, tmac usually takes the pressure off of yao which is something we need to focus on.
