Chicago Tribune: Mcgrady unhappy in Houston

You really don't want rick carlisle,But it aint the coach, these two dudes have never together in 4 years won a playoff series. The responsibility is on the stars you can't blame the coach every year,If you want Rick carlisle you should have never got rid of Van-gundy.

 

I'd think it'd be dumb to trade McGrady at this point even with all the problems he's having right now, because it's arguable his value is at an all-time low and we'd likely not even get 50% of his impact to this team in a trade at this point. He's likely going to be on this team, whether it's for the better or the worse. Hopefully better.

 

GOD I HATE RUMORS!

 

Rick Carlisle is way better than Jeff Van Gundy. Rick Carlisle can coach half court offense and coach better defense than Jeff Van Gundy. And Rick Carlisle gives rookies a chance to play. Something Jeff Van Gundy refused to do.

 

No. No there wasn't. The myth that McGrady was ever better than Kobe was perpetuated by fans that forgot to watch the playoffs.

Yeah, and Garnett was the youngest player in the league when he had some of those players (Marbury, Brandon). Brandon who was constantly injured, Marbury who's possibly one of the most detrimental players in the NBA, and Wally who hits the injured list as much as Brandon.

Don't ever compare Kevin Garnett's plight in Minnesota which lost unprecedented draft picks to McGrady who had all the talent he needed in Toronto, left it for Orlando, quit on Orlando, and is currently half-assing it on a talented team in Houston.

I would hardly call 16.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 3.5 APG "Veteran All-star material", nor would I call 12.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 2.2 APG that either, which are Sprewell's numbers during his time in Minnesota. That's certainly a lot worse than anything Yao Ming has produced with his time playing with McGrady, and nothing close to Vince Carter during his prime. In fact, those look closer to Mike Miller than "veteran All-star" (So if Sprewell counts as a star Garnett played with, Miller counts as a star McGrady played with. Unless you want to be biased about this?).

No, that was Cassel's best and only All-star season when you take into account wins and statistics. Unless by "arguable best season" you meant to say "I'm a Tracy McGrady fanboy."

And like Sprewell, they both quit on the Wolves the next year for cash. Yeah, great veteran leadership.

Houston can replace T-Mac with Kobe, Iverson, LeBron, Carmelo, Wade, Pierce (the list goes on), and the Rockets would just continue dwelling in mediocrity or below .500.

Garnett's the MVP of Boston right now, and as usual is putting up ridiculous numbers. The only other player that would have the same effect as KG to Boston would be the best player in the league Tim Duncan.

Really, it's disgraceful that you compare a player with such heart, talent, and loyalty like Kevin Garnett to Tracy McGrady.

 

Here's a Chris Boussard quote from ESPN.com that best describes what makes Garnett great, and why it's blasphemy for any basketball fan to compare T-Mac to him:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080101

 

To set the record straight, i think Tmac needs to address the media about rumors about him being unhappy.

 

Offense, sure. Defense, no. In 4 out of Carlisle's 6 years coaching in the league, JVG teams have held opponents to a lower FG% than Rick's teams did.

 

get rid of Mclady...and for you TOF's just because...

TMac is a loser dosent make you a loser...

you probably were one already...

LOL

 

Did anyone catch the Sports Illistrated NBA preview edition on the Rockets section on the part called (opposing scouts take) they wrote "I love Mcgrady as a player. but i don't want to hear the guy talking about what he plans to do after he retires. I want to hear the guy talking about championships"..

After i read that i did not think nothing of it , but now I think it's sad that when i think about it it's kind of true. The guy has no heart to be a leader even though he tries to be and no passion to lead by example
WHERE'S SAM CASSELL WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

 

I watch the playoffs every season, and I have yet to see Kobe do what T-Mac hasn’t done, which is lead a team past the first round and beat a better team to get there. Since Kobe has had to carry a team he has went lotto and lost to a better team in the postseason twice. T-Mac has done the same. While T-Mac has had Yao in two of his playoff appearances, we still lost to a better team both times (Mavs and Jazz). And please don’t give me the Kobe would win with Yao arguments because in the postseason last year Lamar Odom played better than Yao, yet LA’s series didn’t even go 7 games.

The only thing I have seen Kobe do is have championship success playing alongside another top 5 player (Shaq), and considering I have seen Hardaway make the conf Finals and Finals, and Wade win it all playing next to the same dude I’m going to assume A HEALTHY pre Houston T-Mac could have done the same thing.

Being injured is half-assing it? T-Mac had a lot of talent in Toronto, before he even blew up (pre Orlando)? T-Mac and KG have shown me the same thing…they win with help and lose without it. Both are stars but neither is elite ELITE in my book….i.e. Hakeem who played with complete crap most seasons but still managed to drag a team to the playoffs.

I take it you didn’t watch too much of the T-Wolves that season. One of the main reasons for their success was the ability of Cassell to make big plays when it mattered…i.e. be clutch. Sprewell was good at this as well. This has always been a big knock on KG…hid desire to take over and close a game. It’s one of the reasons most predict success for the Celtics, since Pierce and Allen have a knack for closing and the team won’t have to rely on Garnett to do it.

He is the MVP now but he also has two other potential HOF’ers next to him. This is the same dude that has shown us his teams will be garbage without help. That is not Duncan like impact. I really don’t see a Duncan led team going lotto if he is healthy as he has a bigger impact on the interior. This is why the great centers always have a shot. How many times did Kareem, Hakeem, Robinson, Shaq, Ewing, etc go lotto?

How so? His only time past the first round was when he had quality help and the only team that played in the postseason that could be argued as better…they lost to. KG was T-Mac pre T-Mac (he can’t get out the first round).

 

I guess by this standard, Biggio and Bagwell, and A-Rod for that matter are crappy players since they never did anything in the playoffs, right?

No to mention the fact that T-Mac is 4th or 5th in scoring (all-time) in the playoffs according to NBA.com, albeit in only 32 games. He may not have the same killer instinct that Kobe has, but to say he has not performed in the play-offs is ludicrous.

 

If players had to address every stupid concoction by sportswriters with a horrid reputation then T-mac would have to call a news conference every day.

First of all, there's not even rumors, it might not even be a rumor because it makes no sense whatsoever. Even Bulls fans don't buy it and even Bulls fan think there is no way Houston is dumb enough to trade T-mac for Nocionio and Henrich. Why would we do that?

This whole thread is just a load of B.S.

Some of you hate T-mac for whatever reason, guess what! You won't get your wish! This is still t-mac's team and you might as well root for his recovery because without him we don't have a shot of doing anything this year.

 

Amen. When Kobe leads a team out of round 1 without another top 5 player let me know. It’s just hard to build around a guard, and Yao was not dominant in the postseason last year. T-Mac wasn’t dominant either…..

 

I like the trade but i wouldn't give up Novak......perhaps get another team involved that way we wouldn't have to get rid of him.

 

But you'd give up t-mac?

Before you guys wish T-mac away, remember that Yao shoots 53% with t-mac this season, and without him he's down to a meager 39%.

Still want to dump away t-mac?

 

I don't buy this. When has McGrady been quiet about anything? And if he is unhappy, who isn't unhappy with the performance of the team so far? The season has been a disaster, mostly because we hired the wrong coach for this team. Adelman may be a good coach, but we have maybe 2 or 3 players on the roster who fit his style offense. Personally, I wouldn't have fired Van Gundy, but if you are going to fire him, replace him with a coach who will get the most out of the current roster. Larry Brown or Tom Thibedoux would've been a much better hire for the team.

It also wouldn't hurt for our coach to show a pulse during the games and not be a statue sitting in a chair.

 

A-Rod can get out of Round 1.

Okay, then Houston's not winning a Championship. Is that [your wish? To keep McGrady, but never get past the 1st round?

Well, I guess you got your wish then.

So does that make him a better playoff performer than Duncan? Using that flawed logic, you're saying that he is.

Playoffs is a lot more than just racking up points. Watch Duncan, watch Wade, watch LeBron, watch Billups, watch Parker - it's about winning.

Kobe has led a below-average Lakers team to the playoffs twice. McGrady left Orlando in dead-last his final season. Kobe plays in the West next to Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Houston, Utah, and Denver. McGrady played in the East.

Let me repeat: T-Mac led an Orlando Magic to what? Dead last in the entire league? Good job! They could have replaced him with a frying pan, and they would have done the same.

That's a lie. Yao averaged 25.1 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.1 APG and 1.6 BPG playing against a half-court Utah Jazz team. Odom averaged 19.4 PPG, 13 RPG, 2.2APG 1.2 BPG in a fast paced series against the Suns.

Odom has never been a reliable 2nd option. Yao's consistent 20+ 10+ should be enough support for any wing player. And Kobe would take that trade in a second. Stop being a McGrady fanboy and face reality.

Wade carried the Heat through that season, and into the playoffs. He was having Jordan-esque performances (performances we could only wish McGrady could emulate once).

And Penny without Shaq has made it past the 1st round. When was the last time McGrady made it past the 1st round? Please answer this before you try replying.

When you're injured as much as McGrady is, it isn't "bad luck." It's not a one-time thing like Duncan 2 seasons ago due to overplaying, or a result of hitting the floor too many times like Iverson/Wade, it's because he has Larry Hughes/Baron Davis character syndrome. You can go to an Orlando Magic board and a Toronto Raptors board and ask them what they think of McGrady. You'll get your answer. In fact, ask them whose better "Kobe, Garnett or McGrady."

You are confused. Tim Duncan rarely closes out games. It's way too difficult for a pivot powerforward or center to close out games. That's why the Spurs rely on Parker, and even more heavily on Ginobili at the end of games to close. That's why the Lakers relied on Kobe Bryant during his time with Shaq. That's why the Heat relied completely on Wade.

As for Garnett's team's being "garbage" when he doesn't have a "potential HOF" next to him. He made Cassell an All-star for the first time. And for that year, when he had decent talent around him that imploded the next year because they were nuts, he carried them past the 1st round. Saying Garnett has played with more talent before Boston when compared to McGrady is idiotic. Comparing Cassell (who didn't become an All-star until he played with Garnett) to perrenial All-stars like Vince Carter and Yao Ming in their primes who played with McGrady is a joke. Stop doing it - you're only making McGrady look worse.

 

+1 ...

 

T-Mac's tune would change in a second if we started winning. Winning cures a lot of problems. Notice how quiet Kobe has gotten this season?