Addition by subtraction (Tmac Apologists need not click)

I'm sorry is Joey Dorsey the next Dwight Howard?

 

Actually, no single player could pull that off. 10 out of the 22 games, McGrady scored less than 20 points, so don't go nuts making like he was Jordan for the run. He played hard and within the offense (until the final couple of games).

We don't have the 22 streak without Scola.
We don't have the 22 streak without Landry.
We don't have the 22 streak without Shane's D.
We don't have the 22 streak without Alston playing out of his skull.

We played together as a tight, unified team. And McGrady (along with Alston) went into a serious slump afterwards.

 

Did Dwight suit up with McGrady? Was he a second round pick? Where are you trying to go here?

 

It's all about risk vs. reward. If we keep T-Mac the risk is that he may never find his stride and he ruins our chances this year. However we have seen what he can do when healthy/motivated or whatever the problem is does not exist.

On the flip side trading T-Mac has equally large risks that a lot of you gloss over. Make a big trade and there's two problems.

1) Do you get equal value? McGrady may have his struggles, but he also has shown the ability to get out of bad times (look at last two years). You risk a very large decrease in potential.

2) you risk ruining the foundation of this team. This team is at it's best when it runs through T-Mac...when he's healthy. That's the way it's structured. Making a huge midseason trade runs the risk of ruining the chemistry and confusing higherarchies. Basically, no one would know who should take what shot at what time.

Frankly, I side with the more conservative approach. We know we have a good team when the parts are playing well. If T-Mac can get past this funk I firmly believe we'll be pretty much unstoppable. Would it be wise to risk losing everything because we're in a tough stretch? A lot of you are saying trade for 10 cents on the dollar...that's terrible reasoning. You make a move when your in a position of strength, otherwise you'll get screwed.

 

Bottom line: if T-Mac has become some kind of team cancer he needs to go.

Also, the Rockets have accomplished nothing in the last two years, or since McGrady joined up. It's not like there's a record of accomplishment that would argue for keeping McGrady.

 

Im saying the Magic were a first round playoff team. Things went sour with McGrady + injuries, so they "shook things up". Kinda like we are doing now. They went on to win 30 - 40 games for the next 3 years and just now are back to being decent. Even now they aren't contenders, maybe top 10 in the league.

I'm not interested in being a 30 win team for the next 3 years, just cause knee jerk wannabe GM's have given up on the team. Maybe you are ok with that, I am not.

Bottom line is, you make moves based on critical thought, not emotion. You don't move McGrady UNLESS you get something that makes you better. In order to get better you have to fully understand what you have now, which alot of you do not.

For **** sake, people are trying to trade him for Wally/Marbury or Larry Hughes. These are all horrible moves, I mean just awful. I am just as frustrated as the next guy with McGrady, but still we must play our cards right.

 

i agree

x110

 

If McGrady's a team cancer just getting rid of him makes the team better. It's addition through subtraction.

And no one here has given up on the Rockets--just on McGrady.

 

Duravas- I was happy the rox got artest, but I also said morey needs to finish the job and he didn't. When healthy, which is rare, the rox can through limitations matchup with La. The problem is they can't beat La in 7. They might win a game or 2, but its not going 7.

DD- I've created threads and I don't think you can build around yao. I don't think he impacts the game for long enough stretches. He's limits what your team can do offensively and defensively and until he gives up summer ball, he's going to always have stamina issues. I think he's a piece as well as Artest, I just think this team isn't constructed to maximize what they have now. Adelman doesn't like playing deke or hayes because it kills his offense. Everyone wants to run this adelman offense, but when you don't have slashers that can finish in traffic or big guys that can make penetrating passes, its not going to work. So when I'm asking for atheletes, I'm just asking for guys that can play, but also guys that will cut with purpose, finish in traffic, fill the lane on breaks and defend their position. Some posters think having atheletes mean a team full of stromile swift/darius miles type of guys. I look at Utah and they have atheletes who can play. When they transition, you see miles,brewer,ak-47,milsap, boozer and all those guys finishing at the cup. When they backdoor cut, you see guys finishing the play. Until the rox get rid of or limit the baatier,head,alston,barry, and hayes types, this will always be a offense that hit prolonged slups because 35% of your shots come from 23'9. That means no easy baskets. See the sig for more details.

 

Finish the job how? By trading for Tim Thomas? Having Scola or Landry on the team instead of Tim Thomas is certainly not what's keeping us down. And trading for an upgrade at PG is easier said than done as well.

edit: I just saw your trade suggestions in your sig. Not bad. Who knows if the other teams would go for it, though.

And if the Rockets are fully healthy, they could potentially beat the Lakers in a 7 game series. I don't see how the matchup is so lopsided that one could claim they would win at most 1 or 2 games.

 

Yao can't consistently make that pass. He reacts so slow that the defense has time to prepare for it.

 

i am just tired of hearing some say "why trading him now when his value is low and get 30 cents for a dollar".

this crap sounds familiar and has been out there for a couple of years. look what we have now. a spoiled former superstar at the lowest point of his career - physically and mentally.

how many of you have thought "damn, had morey taken that offer from the pistons..."? well, think this. in a hindsight, how 'bout a trade was done right after the dallas series?

if you bought a stock for $100 a share, when it drops to, say, $60 (this number is a lot higher for me in real trading), it is time to cut the loss. you can't just say, "why can't i hold on to it until it comes back", or "i just hate to get xx cents on a dollar." it may never come back, and get however many cents on a dollar could be the best thing you can do.

i could be wrong, but i'm talking from my own years' of experience - in terms of cutting a loss.

 

Durvasa- I have yet to see a team win the title when they can only play 1 way. The Rox can only play 1 way. Their defense is good, but the pf and can get out quicked. I never said against La its lop sided, but the rox have no answers fors for gasol. Now odom can be handled by artest, but now that means neither landry nor scola are on the court which now makes you a very, very small team and defecient in rebounding. They bring in Ariza, the rox bring in Barry. There are some matchup problems.

I just think the Rox can trade tracy and get a guy who can get his numbers, but how many can replace his impact? Marion and Wallace would probably give the rox a atheletic wing that can play and plays hard, but look at marions numbers in the playoffs when the games have slowed down. Again, if we can do what my sig says, we would be a lot better and can run the offense better.

 

Horry? Nah. Gimmie OT. Still, I stick by T-Mac. If an obvious trade comes down, the Rockets need to take it. I loved the idea of Rip and Billups. Hell, I love the idea of Rip and Prince/Sheed; what kind of crazy D would that be? But on the other hand, Rip is 30 and Prince 28. And Tracy healthy is better than both of 'em.

T-Mac quit on the Rockets the other night. He quit. It's plain and simple. He shouldn't have been playing if he'd been hurt. He should've given that time to Von Wafer and (sigh) Luther Head. I'm still not ready to give up on McGrady.

But if an obvious trade comes? Yeah. I'll bite.

 

trade him,at least better than now

 

hey you say it better then I do!!

 

Tracy's gonna be important if we make it to the playoffs... where he has never underperformed.

I'll agree he doesn't look like he's trying, and part of that has to be psychological, but I'm gonna venture out to say it's also because it's the way he's always played. He's used to standing at the 3 point line and calling for a high pick and roll. However, he doesn't have the quickness right now to take it to the basket, so he's taking tough shots.

I think once he gets enough confidence that he can regain his athleticism, he should be okay.

A lot of athletes have the skill to succeed, but its those few with the right mindset that excel.

I think once the playoffs start, we should see a different Tracy.