I take Tmac 20/7/7 everyday. Well its more likely to see him at 15/5/5, but at least his a good passer to Yao. An injury at this time may be the best for everyone, as he may just sign a much smaller contract due to his condition.
We are lying to our self if we say we dont miss him. When the game is close and again we cant get the ball to Yao, Artest starts jacking up jump shots that bascially have no chance of going in. We need Tmac to run the pick and roll at the end of the game with Yao, basically the only way to get Yao into the play. Brooks is too small and not enough of a big name to get calls. We need Tmac as much as Tmac need us!
I've heard it all before, and I still don't buy it. I can't defend McGrady as a person, but as a basketball player, he still makes us better when he's even close to healthy... even when he's shooting 42-43% and taking 15-20 shots/game. I just don't care enough about the subject anymore to argue it further, though. We may never see him play another game, at least as a Rocket, so it's a pointless argument.
^^^ To elaborate on why I said I can't defend him as a person, I fully acknowledge that he has done and said some really stupid s***, and this year he seems shadier than ever. I'm not a blind McGrady supporter... but I know full well that poor shot selection or not, he was a hell of a good player to have on the floor.
The problem is the "pounding the ball inside for success" when your star player can't even get the ball to pound it inside. Then what? McGradys numbers may have been down since he went to Houston but I think he still effects the game way more than a lot of other NBA stars. Just look at what he did during the 22 game winning streak. The guy receives more double teams than most perimeter players in the league and is also a better passer/creator than most of them.
It's not about whether the Rockets are better without T Mac. That's never been the issue. It's about whether the Rockets can find better ways to spend their cap money than resigning him. As for 2009/2010, it fits perfectly within Tracy's reputation and demeanor for him to come back next season motivated, focused, and drama free, since he'll be in a contract year, but how long will Tracy continue to man up once his extension is signed? My guess is not for very long. Not for very long at all.
one thing that has been true of tracy, and i'm a supporter of his, is his motivation doesn't last very long, during reg. seasons that is. he'll always be motivated and play hard in the playoffs. but the thing is, he slacks off in the reg. season, unless it's a "key" one for him. that's why he'll bounce back great next yr and probably the year after that. but who knows beyond that?
I completely agree with this statement. Those of you who think the Rockets can trade a $20-something million contract, you're f***ing crazy. The one thing I said to a friend about the Rockets loss in game 2 was, "That's why we need McGrady. There was no one on the floor for the Rockets capable of taking over the game like McGrady can."
If you look at potential alone, we are an elite, champhionship calibre team with T-Mac and the bench that CD has developed over this season. This is only POTENTIAL though. In practice, T-Mac didn't play the style that we needed him to play, in order for everything to work like a well oiled machine. While I believe that T-Mac can enhance the Rockets next season, it is really a BIG gamble. A safer choice would be to trade up his contract for a player who is slightly under an allstar level (i'm just being realistic with what we could get). This is only if you want to make changes for next season. I actually like the idea of taking the gable and seeing how T-Mac can contribute next season. I say this because we would only be gambling for one season. We could end up with a bad record next season if it doesn't work, or we could end up in the finals. Either way, T-Mac would be off the books by the end of that season, so if it doens't work then we can just not resign him and use all the $$$ for a suitable replacement. I actually like the position the Rockets are in as far as the next 2-3 seasons goes. There are a lot of opportunuties.
Let's just agree that with or without McGrady, we were going to beat the Blazers in the first round. The two teams the Rockets were assured of beating in the first round were the Blazers and Hornets all along. A healthy McGrady would not have reduced our chances of a victory. Luck of the draw, I think McGrady is just a cursed soul and he is the embodiment of Murphy's Law: whatever could go wrong will. If you are superstitious then you definitely don't want this guy anywhere near you or the team. Whatever, I am not too emotionally invested in McGrady coming or going next season. I am OK either way and will cheer for him if he ever puts no those Rockets unis again, regardless of how I personally feel about him.
Have to wholeheartedly disagree. In all likelihood, McGrady would have shot us out of this game tonight and we'd be on the wrong end of the 2-1.
