It was so easy. So doggone easy. On the 50th anniversary of the day the music died, Tracy McGrady brought his game back to life. With one play. One drive. One dunk. La Bamba. Or La Bomba. Either way, it exploded in Tyrus Thomas' face and in his head and even woke the Toyota Center crowd out of its usual slumber. It came with 3:50 left in the first quarter and had tongues dangling from the upper balcony. "I really had to prove to myself that I was able to do that again," McGrady said. "I waited for a long time coming back off that knee surgery. It was a great situation knowing that somebody actually challenged the dunk, not just going up uncontested. It was challenged and I felt pretty good." It might actually have been the first time all season that McGrady really was T-Mac, never mind those few false starts where he pumped in a boatload of points in the first half of the season. This was more than just one play, one bucket, two measly points. It was a move, he says, that finally broke the shackles in his own mind. Gone was the Chantilly Lace and here was the Big Bopper. That's what happens when you're an athlete and you're pushing 30 and you're suddenly thinking about all of the things you used to do instead of just doing them. First, it was all about his body. About building up the strength in the muscles around the left knee. About getting into real game shape. "If you go back and look at my body, my face and everything before I took the time off and look at it now, you'll be able to tell a dramatic difference," McGrady said. But then, it was also in his mind, slithering around like a snake coiled with self-doubt. "Oh yeah," he said. "Before it was, 'Can I do this?' And it wasn't just could it I do it. I was really that I was afraid to do it. I was timid. It was my ego. Tonight I was reacting instead of thinking about it and worrying about it. That's why I was struggling. I was thinking, 'Can I do this?' And this league is too good to be doing that." The league is too good to be playing at half-speed, without conviction, without total commitment and that was McGrady, too, through the first half of the season as his performance rarely raised a blip on the radar screen while his teammates fretted and the season threatened to come apart. Here was a seven-time All-Star and two-time former NBA scoring leader who used to rattle off hits faster than Buddy Holly getting to a point in his career where the uncertainty was growing. At the same time that Yao Ming and Ron Artest and all of the other pieces of the Rockets machine needed him to play with confidence, he was ready to hand off the mantle of leadership. "Now we have so many guys who can score the ball and I think Yao is ready for that role where he can demand the ball and he should be taking 25 shots a night," McGrady said. "That's our guy. That's how we should be playing, inside-out. He's ready for that next level. My job is to be a facilitator and that's what I'm pretty much turning myself into. "I was really put in the role to be a scorer when I in Orlando. I always wanted to be a guy that did everything, a little bit of defense and a distributor. Not a guy that averaged 30 points, 25 points a night. That's not what I wanted to be in this league. But it's something I had to do, because of the team and the situation I was put on. "Here I don't have to do that. I can go back to doing what I want to do. So people looking for me to score 25-30 points a night, that's not me. I'm content with 15 points, 7-8 assists, 4-5 rebounds. That's what I like to do." It was that kind of night in the end for McGrady, finishing with 16 points and 6 assists in 28 minutes. He stuck a handful of mid-range jumpers and banged home one 3-pointer. But it was that dunk that was the difference-maker in so many minds. "Did I see it?" asked Yao. "You'd better ask Thomas if he saw it. Yes, I was surprised to see him jump." Maybe no more surprised, perhaps, than the dunker himself, who landed and turned to face his teammates on the Rockets bench and scowled. "It was good to see them up and cheering," McGrady said, "and good to hear them say, 'Welcome back.' " He says the pain is still there in the left knee and will likely remain until the season is over. But what's gone, he swears, is the fear and the questions that had shadowed his every step. One big dunk for T-Mac, one giant leap for Rocket-kind. "You can't play basketball while you're worrying and thinking," McGrady said. "You can't try to go from A to B to C to D. You just have to do it. "It's all about reacting. It's about being instinctive. When I'm playing my game, doing it my way, well..." It's so easy, so doggone easy. http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/2009/02/its_so_easy_rockets_107_bulls.html dang is that tracy belittling yao? damn that must suck
there's going to be some nights where we're gonna need t-mac to be that guy. we have guys who can score but there's few people in the league who can just put a team on their back and score at will like tracy could. t-mac can be a facilitator but he has to have that ability in his back-pocket still.
Rox will need him to take over games when Yao can't score also he will have knee pain the rest of the year doesn't sound good
definitely good to hear that from Mac, lets start rollin Rockets! nice dunk on Tyrus - Welcome to Houston Baby! lol
Yao needs to take 20 shots a night. And McGrady needs to attack. And Rafer needs to stop shooting or be replaced. And Artest needs to use his strength. That's all folks Oh yeah, consistency and health.
Brooks is just as bad as Rafer when his confidence is gone. That being said... I hope Adelman can can figure out when to ride Brooks and when to ride Rafer.
he still has that ability. he's just saying we have so many options that nights like that are probably rare. but he'll take more shots if necessary.
mac needs to buik up, his frame has not a hurting on his body throughout the years. we need yao definitely to take up to 20 shots, he's the guy. we also need to hit at a good percentage on the 3's. mac knows it's yao. yao is the guy who is going to win us a championship. artest's not shooting well, mac not playing well, rafer's inconsistent shooting, and battier on offense not helping yao though.
man does anyone remember the very next possession, tmac had the ball going iso and then he lost his dribble
didn't tmac say that yao is ready to take it to the next level like 2 years ago? Regardless, Mac looked like his old self with that dunk. Oh btw, screw that facilitating crap he's been talking about. We need him to be the Mac we all used to love, the most unstoppable perimeter player in the league.
Yao should get 30 TOUCHES a night, but he shouldn't get 25 SHOTS a night. The offense should really start with Yao, unless they front, in which case, the entire team has to work together to take advantage of it.
wasn't that play on the elbow against detroit when tmac drove by prince for the semi easy 2 and help us win an iso play?
I just like his hustle and attitude on the court tonight. What he said made me believe he's back and fit into his new role. One good game by T-mac may not be enough, but this might and should be a turnaround point for him. When we have this Tracy, I dont think the path to the trophy would still be closed.
I like what I've seen the last couple of games from T-Mac. He's integrated himself into what is going on, rather than try and take over. Picking his spots, letting the game come to him, and not force things. If the shot or lane is there, take it, if not, pass it around or find the open man if you are doubled. I think he's realizing all the pressure is not all on him anymore to do it all. Yao is as consistent as we've seen him, even with foul trouble. We have plenty of scorers coming off the bench. I REALLY like where this might be going. He still has the fire, we saw a glimpse of it. After the game I reflected on it, and thought...McGrady HAS to see his job is so much easier. No more, "I was tired." He is a facilitator, but now so is Artest. It's really good to see. I know...it was the Bulls. I know, we haven't really proved anything yet. But I like what I see. I hope it continues to materialize.
he has said it every year. and hopefully this is the year yao realizes it. let's see how yao plays in the playoffs.
It seems like every year he comes back from an injury and is out of shape he becomes a "facilitator". Look back in 06-07, he was coming back from the back injury and looked heavier than he usually was; that year he also said that his role for the team was to be a facilitator. Then the following year in 07-08 he comes back in great shape and the talk about being a "facilitator" is gone. I just think, physically, he doesn't feel like he did last year where he was confident in his athletic ability so he reverts back to being a facilitator.
