From Insider, no link... Another great article by Chad Ford. Blockbuster moves look great ... on paper By Chad Ford With huge offseason moves come great expectations. The Lakers chose Kobe Bryant over the most dominant player in the league over the past decade, Shaquille O'Neal. The Heat traded away three starters, including two young, up-and-coming stars who had led them to an improbable playoff berth, in return for Shaq. But can one player, no matter how great he is, really make up for the loss of three? The Mavericks overhauled their roster in yet another effort to turn a good playoff team into a championship contender. Will perennial losers Erick Dampier and Jason Terry really be the guys that lead Dallas to a title? The Rockets, just one year into the Jeff Van Gundy experiment, jettisoned their backcourt when superstar Tracy McGrady became available on the trade market. The tandem of Yao Ming and T-Mac looks great on paper, but can the chemistry develop quickly enough to bridge that huge East-West divide? Marc Stein broke down the pressures the Lakers are going to feel this season. Here's Insider's season preview of three other teams that will be under the gun to make good on their dramatic offseason makeovers. HOUSTON ROCKETS Starting Five: Charlie Ward, Tracy McGrady, Jim Jackson, Juwan Howard, Yao Ming. Key Subs: Maurice Taylor, Bob Sura, Dikembe Mutombo, Tyronn Lue. Outlook: With Yao and McGrady, the Rockets now own, on paper, the best one-two punch in the NBA. But before you pencil them into the Finals, Magic GM John Weisbrod suggests you understand why he traded away McGrady in the first place. "He's arguably the most talented player in the game right now," Weisbrod told Insider last week. "If he ever gets his work ethic and mental game up to his physical skills, the sky is the limit. So you don't just give guys like that away without thinking about it. "But, I wanted people who respect the organization and the game. You accomplish that when you get guys who care about winning and the team more than themselves or their numbers. We tried to build this team with guys that care about winning," Will T-Mac play ball with Yao? Weisbrod wasn't just implying that McGrady cared more about himself than winning. He said a few minutes later: "One of the things we had last year and one of the reasons we lost so often was because people left the building feeling fine with themselves. Tracy would say, you know, 'I had my 35, what else did you want me to do?' The other guys would say, 'Hey, I'm just a role player, this is Tracy's team.' " Those are harsh words for a player many believe might be the best small forward in the game. They're also strong enough that the folks in Houston might start sweating things a little bit. McGrady's new head coach, Jeff Van Gundy, is a no-nonsense guy. He cracked down hard on Francis, a three-time all-star, last season, and Francis slipped into a funk, producing the worst stats of his career. Francis' take on the whole ordeal? "It was a tough, tough year," Francis said. "It's tough when a coach asks you not to use your strengths to help your team win. … I'm not saying Jeff's offense didn't feature me, but it didn't feature me enough." Put together Weisbrod's scouting report on McGrady with Francis' take on Van Gundy, and it's not a stretch to wonder how well the two are going to get along this season. For better or worse, the Rockets are going to be about Yao. T-Mac will be a sidekick. Van Gundy is still going to want the offense to run through Yao, taking away some of the offensive freedom McGrady enjoyed in Orlando. He's also going to ask McGrady to give the team a consistent defensive effort every night, something neither Doc Rivers nor Johnny Davis seemed able to get out of him. "What Tracy has to do, and do it more consistently, is play with the intensity of Kobe," said Rivers, who coached McGrady in Orlando for three seasons. "Just the intensity question all the time, defensively and offensively. He has to do it right all the time." If T-Mac responds to Van Gundy's tough tactics with a career year on both ends of the floor, the Rockets will be the sleeper in the West. "I think obviously coming off the year that Tracy had last year … I think this is the perfect time to coach Tracy," Rivers said. If McGrady doesn't respond, he and the Rockets could be in for a high-profile divorce before the honeymoon even ends.
I actually think that it explains a few things. Plus if Steve wanted to be a prick then he could have said these things before he was traded.
I don't think that there's any more that can be said about Steve Francis from the perspective of Rockets fans at this point. He is who he is, and good luck to him. He has nothing to do with our team anymore. "Magic GM John Weisbrod suggests you understand why he traded away McGrady in the first place." --This is the part of the article where it gets stupid. I don't understand how anyone could be so stupid as to believe Weisbrod WANTED to trade T-Mac. T-Mac FORCED a trade by claiming he would not sign an extension, opening the door for Orlanda to lose another superstar for literally no compensation. I'm not so sure T-Mac's work ethic was the downfall of the Magic last season. He seemed to be working pretty hard on the court to me, scoring 30 points a night and all. With Jeff Van Gundy as his new coach, T-Mac's defense isn't something I'm going to worry about, either. Sure, it's possible that this costly little experiment could blow up in the Rockets' faces somehow. It just won't be because T-Mac is some lazy bum. Injuries, depth issues (or both, i.e. Sura) or Yao hitting a developmental wall could all screw the team up. Every team is going to have issues; that's why no one can predict how a season will go. This team has shown that they aren't 100% ready for the season yet. That's understandabe given that we retained what, 3 players from last year? (Boki doesn't count, obviously.) It'll take some time before we can pronounce the T-Mac/Yao duo a bang or a bust. I figure we'll have a decent idea by maybe the All-Star break.
Chad Ford has been signed to a multimillion dollar, multiyear endorsement contract with Haterade. What a coup! Evan
Do these people listen to ALL the facts or other sides of a story? Tmac has never wanted to be THE guy on the team. He signed with Orlando to play WITH Grant Hill and he wanted to come here to play along side, and through, Yao. He has publicly praised Van Gundy and has said, on more then one occassion, that he is excited about the organization and where the team is headed. This is all while he is set to sign an extension to be a Rocket for six more years. He has something to prove after last season and he will prove it. I just think these guys at ESPN just want to stir stuff up just so they seem like they broke some big story or something. And, of course, they fired the only sane reporter they had in David Aldridge. Months of this garbage writing about Tmac this summer and it still continues. I just can't wait till he shuts up these morons this year.
its funny... most of the bitterness is coming from the Magic camp. T-mac has taken his shots, but for the most part its the hockey man and SF3 that are getting the attitdue. I mean, you don't hear JVG saying "if Steve would stop missing team flights, it might have worked out" I mean, Steve got himself all worked up for a PRESEASON game - and he went off... for exactly onw quarter. I hope he feels better, and I REALLY hope that when the Rockets take the court on Nov. 2nd, you see a composed, focused, professional team. THAT will shut up the Chad Ford's of the world
When a player is tradede by the organization, he will keep complaining and shooting at the team, like shaq; when an organization is forced a trade by a player, it will keep whinning, like GM of magic. What I don't get is how this Mr. GM can help magic's ticket sale, money earning, or whatever, by repeatedly acussing T-mac of everything bad. What will you get, man? Don't cry like a baby. -Littlefish
If magic can play decently this year, fans will forget T-mac; if it is a terrible year, Weisbrod will prepare to walk away. Ultimately, everything is determined on the court.
Hockey guy said he wanted Stevie because SF took on Amare. I'm a big Stevie guy. I'm all for him having a great year, a great career. I am glad he brought back the super - sized talent of TMac. Thrilled.
Are you kidding? Tmac drops a negative reference to Orlando or Weisbroad whenever he gets the chance, at least 5 or 6 times and probably more Steve made one commment about how his role in the offense was reduced last year, which it was, but he's the one who's giving attitude? Look, I'm glad the trade happened to, but if there's somebody who's having a hard time getting past it, his name starts with a T
T-Mac and Francis are still bitter about everything, Stevie feels the Rockets didn't give him a chance, and T-Mac feels the Magic didn't get him the team he needed to compete. Both have taken their shots, T-Mac toward Weisbrod and the organization, and Francis, mostly at Van Gundy, but the one who is talking the most doesn't even play, it's Weisbrod. In my opinion all three need to just STFU and just play ball/general manage. And Cuttino needs to STFU about being cheated on, your @$$ got traded, and you're still making millions of dollars. I hated to lose you, but that analogy just doesn't make sense. Did he sulk when other players got shipped out when he was here? I guess he's hurt cause it's his first trade so maybe I should be easier on him.
