I stopped the reading right here: "McGrady doesn’t have to prove he’s a tough guy. He is. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clueless."
Doesn't matter what they write, peole will always look for a scapegoat. Tracy is the best player on the team, so he will recieve all the criticism from the fake fans.
justice is pretty critical of tracy so he's no apologist. what people don't get is that he IS tough. he just tells of every aches/pains that he has that does make him seem "fragile" and "soft." dude basically played with 2 injuries that required surgery and played on last yr when yao went down and helped us fought hard in the playoffs. how is that not tough for you? despite his injury problems, he has just missed about 15 games a year and probably will just miss the same this year? that's not "half-a season" or 1/3 of a season even.
like i've said all along, the organization remains behind tracy 110%. i don't think tracy cares what others say as long as he gets the support from the team, les, and morey. they're the only ones who actually see what he does behind closed doors. i can't wait for tracy to come back at full strength. this team is going to be scary. we got a 10-5 record with a hobbled tracy. just wait.
I am generally very critical of Justice's articles, but he is right on point here. Too many fans have become irrational, and as a previous poster pointed out, they want a scapegoat for the team's misfortunes, and they find McGrady to be an easy target because of his high salary. There is absolutely nothing inaccurate or contrived about what Justice wrote. T-Mac has looked really good when he is pain-free, and he has been a shell of himself otherwise. It's easy for fans to sit in their comfy chairs and demand that he suit up and play through the pain, especially since they haven't experienced it themselves and have no idea how he actually feels out there. You are all hypocrites. The truth is that even if T-Mac managed to withstand as much pain as is humanly possible to be out there on the court, you would all still be criticizing him for not performing up to expectations, being "over the hill", being "lazy", stagnating the offense and generally causing the team to lose games. Oh wait -- you were ALL DOING THAT before he decided to shut it down! Some astute fans have already noticed Ron Artest's pathetic field goal percentage. Obviously his ankle sprain is affecting him. But Ron has a much more rugged body and is better able to withstand pain, so he gets a pass. He was also the anointed fan favorite before the season began, so everybody is fine with turning a blind eye to the fact that in addition to shooting horribly, he's often a black hole on offense and engages in far too many isolation plays. He is helping the team while on the court, after all. Or is he? The point isn't that Ron Artest should be criticized -- in fact, I am a big fan of Ron and I believe he will come around when his ankle heals. The point is that you all want a scapegoat to blame for the fact that the Rockets aren't 19-0, and right now that scapegoat is T-Mac. And you're all hypocrites for it.
He's still a top player in this league. I am glad someone has finally decided to say something about this. We don't need him this early in the season. What we do need him to be is healthy, hungry and ready to take us deep into the playoffs. What was interesting to me was how although he wasn't at fully healthy he still found ways to contribute and help this team. I hope we take this time for Adleman and Yao to strengthen their relationship. Don't forget the big guy didn't get to play the second half of the season. Yao and Mcgrady have some great chemistry together. Mcgrady with this current team (sans artest ofcourse) and Adleman pulled through an amazing season last year without Yao. Now It's time for Adleman to bring out the best in Yao. Our coach needs to keep learning how to use a big man out there. Artest will just have to learn to gel and find where he can contribute. Once all these things fall into place Mcgrady should be coming back hopefully alot healthier and ready to show us why he's worth every penny.
from the way morey described the situation, tracy seems extremely hungry. but he's extremely frustrated he can't be out there playing at the level the organization and fans expect him to play. he knows this is the year that will really decide his fate as an NBA player. people bring up the money, at this point in tracy's career, no money will overcome the criticism of being a "loser." you don't become a superstar by having zero pride. tracy knows if he wants his legacy to be felt in some way or another and not just another great scorer who step foot into the NBA, he has to win. and he knows he can't do that if he is not playing at a high level. and he cannot play at a high level if he's unhealthy. we know he still has it b/c he still has had some dominant games this year (if you actually count, tracy is the player who has had the most dominant games this year, just wildly inconsistent) when he takes painkillers. so if he's pain-free, he's still a top 10 player and one of the best scorers in the L. if he's not, well he's not. and with his 3pt shot coming back, his offensive game should really be something to watch when he does return. and if yao and artest continue to relieve the double teams, tracy should be extremely efficient.
It's not people looking for a scapegoat. Tracy's history is the same as his present. The same issues that plagued Tracy in Orlando has plagued his time here also. When the boy cries wolf so many times, people stop believing in him. That is what's happened here. T-Mac is losing his credibility.
This proves that Justice is a troll, who's more concerned with blog hits than giving honest evaluation. Not even T Mac's biggest supporters describe him as tough.
Damn straight. The Rox only win 30 percent of their games without him. Anyone who says Yao is more valuable than McGrady is clueless.
I absolutely believe that Tracy will come back strong. He's got his 3pt shot back, improved his fts, and he seemed to finish a lot better around the rim this season. It's just that his knee is holding him back.
look guys, i'm not gonna take sides here on this topic but i'll say this, if you've never had a bad knee, and a bad ankle sprain, then you won't truly know how big of a contrast it is, i play soccer and i've had 3 ankle tears, and one knee, i come back from ankle injury in about 3 or 4 weeks, and the knee, well it's been a year and i still haven't fully recovered, no, i'm not trying to compare my low self to tmac, all i'm saying is that a knee injury is so frustratin cuz one day you feel good, then the next it feels really unstable, like it's going to pop out of place, that's a horrible feeling and again, i'm not going to take a side, i'm just going to say that i sypathize with tmac, hope he gets well soon.
The fact is this. Whn T-mac plays through pain, he is half the player he usually is. He isn't Michael Jordan, not many people are. Sure playing, wont make his knee worse. However not playing won't stop his knee from heeling. He can still do rehab work to strengthen his knee at home and in the gym. Instead of limping through every third game. It was said in the article. We can get to the play-offs with T-mac. However, we cannot win in the play-offs without T-Mac. I've said it since the pre-season. We need to make sure we have good chemistry and are healthy by March. The West is tough, so all it takes is one great month, and we are in the top 3 of the standings. We are 4 games behind the Lakers at this time. We are 1.5 games behind Portland, who are second in our conferance. We lead our Division.
Bottom line is: Tracy doesnt play, people say he is soft and should play through his injuries. Tracy plays through his injuries and stuggles, people say he is soft and should pack it up till he is healthy. Tracy ups his game in the playoffs, the team underperforms, and its his fault for never being out of the first round. Tracy scores 40 and he is a selfish basketball player and a ball stopper, he needs to get his team mates involved. Tracy has 15 points and 10 assists, Tracy needs to take over the game. It really gets tiresome everyday reading this garbage. Believe it or not I am actually a ROCKETS fan and will root for all of them, not just one person. I really don't care if Yao has one rebound in a game, or if Artest is shooting 30%, or if Tracy is injured. This team is what it is...our team. I don't know if you remember 1998-2003, but I for one have kinda enjoyed being one of the top teams in the league for the past 4 years. To be honest, people are spoiled by Hakeem. Spoiled by highlights of Lebron and Wade. The Rockets were contenders last year and are again this year. Stop with all the hate.
It is refreashing to read stuff like this. No matter what that man does he gets bashed. Yet Steve Francis who hasn't been healthy for two years and play less than 40 minutes combined is praised as a saviour. It sums up some of these faker.
What's funny is that the same people who trash t-mac's inefficient game seem to have their eyes gouged out before watching artest play. Give me one aspect of the game that Artest does better than T-Mac aside from standstill 3 pointers. He can't finish in the lane, he's not as good off the dribble, he can't dribble as well, he can't find people as well, and he can't iso as well. Man, I miss t-mac.
