T-Mac? But otherwise, yeah. Our current group of players just don't air dirty laundry publicly. Even last year when Artest/Rafer/T-Mac were having trouble in the locker room, there was almost no leakage into the press. Which shows how badly things must be if we're hearing all this T-Mac stuff publicly this year.
I also had the impression things boiled over last season mainly cause Rafer and Artest really couldn't stand McGrady and obviously Battier was getting a bit sick of it. The rest of the team is pretty much all rookies so like they had no say in the matter. Noone has ever really said what Yao felt about this except for Doc Rocket saying he hated Mcgrady. I can't really say that his been a locker room cancer ala Tinsley. The only people that have been hating on this have been well, us really
"It remains to be seen whether McGrady will ever wear a Rockets uniform again, although one team official said Houston does not have any concrete trade offers on the table that they'd deem acceptable while still allowing them to maintain about $8-9 million in cap space (they could have even more space -- "max space" -- if they renounced several key players) to use in the summer of 2010." Looks like the Rockets prefer to retain the cap flexibility rather than make a cap-killing trade for anyone less than a star.
Dear Morey, Please package McLazy+Ariza for a real SG. We won't be able to hold our promise's and keep him in the starting lineup if he stays, so lets cut this right now before we suffer for 5 more years. Oh, and don't you try to add Mandry in a trade or we will riot! Sincerly, Rockets players
This is the beginning of "this will end bad". My speculation... The Rockets lowball Tracy a buyout offer in the meeting this week. Tracy refuses. Tracy stops reporting to practice (maybe not immediately but soon). Or he may just stop trying at practice at which point he's asked to not report as it will effect the practices and mgt/player views. Now Tracy enters the Marbury territory. Teams that want the cap space will what to ship out Curry type contract(s) which DM refuses. Teams that want to look at Tracy will wait until he's bought out because he's not worth the trade risk. The buyout figure will creep up until it hits DM's max (shortly after the trade deadline). The max will be an amount that will put us just under the LT tax. Once the trade deadline passes, his agent finds Tracy a new home. Tracy accepts the buyout offer because without a chance to showcase what he believes are his remaining skills, he will not get a contract offer for much more tha LLE. Personally I hope that a trade is worked out because I'm not too hopeful on the summer of 2010 and there is always a little hope in the good player(s) you take back with the bad. And it would give the new good player(s) time to gel with the team before Yao comes back. But the bottom line is I don't think this drama will end Monday or Tuesday.
I know the contenders are just laughing at Rockets, knowing eventually they will get to pick up mcgrady for free when hes bought out, and put one of them over the top, ugh the rich get richer while will be stuck in mediocrity for the next couple years thinking ariza will develop into a star.
As I posted previously, in my opinion the Rockets brass is handling this the wrong way and it will bite them in the arse. Why not give Tracey big minutes this past game against a bad New Jersey team. Give him Budingers minutes plus some of Arizas (its not like he's using them well). Then we could see how well he would play for a long strech of time against a really bad team. Then turn things around and let him play some longer minutes against a really good team like Cleveland. In summary, these two games would have been a really good litmus test.
I think if anything, we have learned that Daryl Morey knows he holds all of the cards. Not some or most but all of the cards. TMac has Zero power in this situation. We also know that Daryl Morey will only make a move that he thinks is for the good of the Rockets. No way he trades TMac or buys him out just to pacify him. I really don't see DM trading TMac prior to the trade deadline unless some team steps up to the table with a really great offer. Tracy's crying or his agents demand will have little or no effect on how DM goes about his business.
What kind of message does that send to the rest of your team? Play your own game regardless of what the coach wants and you will be rewarded? Either TMac plays the way the coach wants or he takes the left over table scraps of minutes that the coach allows him to have and he should feel lucky to get those. If his name were not Tracy McGrady he would be lost at the end of the bench and no one would care.
I know right? TMac had so much success putting teams over the top when he was in his prime that this is a no brainer now that he is on the wrong side of 30, coming off micro-fracture with diminishing skills, diminishing athletic ability and a history of poor work ethic.
Has T-Mac not played within the team when he did get minutes? He's kept the ball moving, made the right passes, found open guys, came off screens, attacked the basket, and set up teammates. Sure, he can do more on defense but what else does he have to do? For only playing 8 minutes, I thought he meshed in with the team as good as you can in 8 minutes.
Unbelievable ,as a fan of rox as you are, u even dont know who shane is? shane is the president of US That's why i have never been a big fan of T-Mac, but always a big fan of Shane + Yao
http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/12/rockets_98_nets_93_grappling_w.html TMac has had one game where his outside shot was falling. Outside of that he has shown none of the things that has made the rest of the team such a good team. TMac should study film on Budinger to see how he plays if he really wants to know what the coach expects from his players.
I think the one unknown is just how Adelman feel T-Mac has recovered from his injury. What if T-Mac pulls a Webber? Would such an act be irresponsible when they knew the risks? I mean, they cleared T-Mac last year, and that ended up horribly for us. The problem is that we don't know the motives. If Morey only cares about saving money and Adelman only cares about chemistry, then indeed this is on the team. OTOH, if they are only protecting Tracy from himself, then they're doing the right thing.
By my understanding a buyout cannot reduce the contribution a particular contract makes towards the LT. Meaning, buying Tracy out will not help us get under the tax. Only a trade for a lesser contract or, as people are hoping for, a trade exception (for Brian Cook for example).
See, you think its just all about scoring. I thought we wanted T-Mac to be a team player? Now people are b****ing that his outside shot isn't falling? I guess we should ignore how he was able to set up guys for open shots, came off screens and kept the ball moving instead of being the dreaded ball stopper. In basketball, its more than just scoring. T-Mac didn't go into games looking to drop 30. Especially not in 8 minutes. First game back, the team actually played better when he came into the game. They didn't miss a step. T-Mac only scored 3 points but his presence was felt.
Maybe you should re-read my post. You obviously stopped at the first sentence. I said he was not doing the things the other Rockets were doing.
