He was never great. Great players elevate their team and it's not all about scoring points. You can have a haircut or a bloody face and a knee injury and come back to inspire your team. When you say "its on me" then that doesn't include your team. When you praise Kobe Bryant and not praise Ron Artest or Yao Ming on California Radio, then it doesn't help your team. This is greatness, going to LA on national TV and beating them. Better than any individual performance. team performance, many heroes.
The negative psychological impact of having McGrady on the floor can't be overstated enough. Here you have your 20 million dollar player out on the floor, the talent is there--but no effort, no hustle, no passion. When you have one of the world's top 10 basketball players on your team, you can't help but look up to him. You also can't help but follow his example when he starts to lag on D and throw up wildly contested jumpers because he's too scared to go to the rim. Leadership starts from the top down, even if it's negative leadership. McGrady was a negative leader. Why should you give your all out on the court when your most talented player isn't? He's being paid more than you, has more recognition and fame than you ever will, so why should you put your body on the line when he limps away into the background, counting his millions on the bench? They say true leaders lead by example. Tonight we saw the kind of true leader we have in Yao. The rockets are tired of the leader they had in McGrady.
TMAC: "I never had a Tim Duncan" Artest: "I got Yao Ming on my team! We are coming after everybody!" One of these things is not like the other
At some point can't u just let go? You're like a woman scourned and heartbroken. One of the guys you truly love as a rocket quit before the playoffs because he couldn't accept clyde starting. Nevermind clyde was a better player or that he wouldve been awesome off the bench with sam and mario. Its the same bs about the same person. Its what I always tell people, tracy is just a man. He's not jesus or god, just a man. Just like yao,jordan,dream and any other great player. No matter what they can or can't do on the court doesn't change the fact they're human. People trying to make them more than human because they make 20m per doesn't make since. The 400m jordan was worth couldn't stop those kids from killing his dad or him cheating on his wife. This whole tracy thing really brings down the quality of this board big time.
Despite having earned everything that's coming to him at this point, you have to respect all those who are still standing by their man. Denying any embarassment on T-mac's part & "it will be too complicated for reporters to explain that 'he didn't play' every time they mention his teams' records" etc. are obvious. But only the most intense fan could say the Rockets would have had at least as much success with a healthy tracy... instead of Yao?! Takes swingers.
Yeah, I missed the split second they showed McGrady at the 2nd game he went to. Ban me. Hope you enjoy cheering your boy on next year for the Clips or whatever trash team he ends up with.
Yeah, Tracy since his Magic days, has made those type of players better because they are limited in the way they score if they score at all. They're content watching the "T-Mac show" until he decides to get them involved. It's the guys who actually have talent that Tracy doesn't make better. Guys who are good at getting to the hole become stand still 3 point shooters.....Guys who are good mid and long range shooters see their % go down because they can't get in any rhythm because of his ball stopping tendancies. Ever wonder why NO decent ball player (besides Grant Hill) has come out saying that they wanted to get traded to a team that Tracy's on? Before you say Artest, I think that he saw the success of the "Big 3" in Boston and thought that him, Yao and Tracy could duplicate that. On a side note, back when Tracy was blowing up with the Magic, my friends and I were saying that it looked like he had made a deal with the devil after he left Toronto. Nine years later.....Fame, money, scoring titles, unbelieveable, even freakish talent BUT no team success, injuries, ridicule from his peers...the list goes on......kinda makes you wonder
