How do you feel about acquiring T-mac 4 years ago, and how do you feel about him now

I have contended from the beginning that we made the trade to soon in Yao's career and that we gave up too much to get back TMac. Talent wise, he was the best player in the trade. But, you can't give up three starters and get back TMac and have to take on Juwans contract.

In defending Steve, Yao was nowhere near the player he is now or even was in years 3 and 4. That had little to nothing to do with Steve, but more to do with Yao getting accustomed to the style of play and getting more stamina and bulk. Steve didn't play the best brand of ball to fit in with Yao, but in no way was Yao ready to be the go to guy at that point. People act like Steve and Cat played a game of keep away from Yao and that just didn't happen. Yao constantly lost the ball when it was thrown to him, he couldn't establish his post, and he had a hard time getting down the court.

If they thougt it was time to bust up that group, I just think they could have gotten better pieces by splitting Cat and Steve up. They wouldn't have gotten as talented a player as TMac back, but I think they could have put together a better team.

 

I don't think anyone has forgotten all the hugs and kisses those two used to share on the basketball court. You can call it chemistry if you want, but I thought Steve was going to lose it when Cat was traded. If history has shown us anything, it's that you need a dominating, healthy center surrounded by complimentary players to take you to a series final. The hell with the second round. Those centers and players not ready for prime time were Moses Malone and Hakeem....

 

Yea but which guard during that playoffs didn't destroy Payton during that year's playoffs.

Steve had like 7 turnovers in the first game where we lost by 1, and dribbler the ball off his feet when we where down by 2 with like 30 seconds left in overtime in game 4(?).

 

Well the only player I hated to part with was the Cat, he really stepped up defensively and with Jim Jackson made like a gazillion 3s that season.

I wouldn't call Cato a key piece the only reason Cato was our starting PF that season was because Eddie (RIP) shot at his girlfriend and Mo Taylor couldn't play defense. Cato was like a bigger, slower version of Hayes.

 

They also SWEPT a whole Division

Yao and TMAC ain't done that

Rocket River

 

Go ahead and agree with the whole post, you know you want to!

 

And still ended up missing the playoffs, the NBA should have given us a wild card playoff birth that season.

 

Yep that deal was amazing and this was with T-mac in his prime still.

 

If TMac was in his prime when he got here, he sure forgot to play like it.

 

As my display name tells, i was a huge Tmac fan. Actually, it was tmac and his professional life experience prior to being a Rocket that first attracted me and made me both a mac fan and a NBA fan.

Fours years' same old stories have pretty much squandered any bit of my patience and love for him. I came to realize that emotionally disassociating myself from him is the only way to make my life as easy and meaningful as it should have been.

For me, four years experience of a fevernt mac fan was only another dream that never came true but suddenly i woke up ,realizing that all in all, i was just having a dream...

 

And does anyone remember the Lakers vs. Rockets playoff game in which the Rockets were in position to win and one "dribble happy" point guard decided to dribble the clock out and settle for a jumper instead of penetrating, as he had earlier in the game, resulting in a Rockets' miss and ultimately a Lakers' win? In saying this, this current discussion is pointless. The Rockets lost with both players (Francis and Tracy), yet only with one of them can we really say that we had any chance of winning. To me, that is what makes the trade the right decision by the Rockets.

Believe and say what you will, but that Rockets team of old was never gonna produce a championship the way it was constructed. The same has been the case for the present team IMO. Tracy is forced to do too much offensively: often setting up the offense, creating his own shot, making the better entry passes to Yao, setting up our "feet in the mud" role players, often getting us defensive rebounds, playing over 35mins (I believe). Whether people want to admit it or not, Tracy has been responsible for over 40% of the total team offense especially in the playoffs if not more. (One must also consider all of the blown scoring opportunities that he has gotten that our players like Hayes, Head, Scola and etc. have cost us. Tracy should have a let 8 assists practically every night if players would just hit their open shots and layups!!) How many points from threes are the result of a T-Mac pass from penetration? How often has Yao been set up with nice feeds for easy buckets by Tracy? I am a Francis fan, but let us not kid ourselves into making this wasted comparison.

And the Barkley trade was one of the worst in the franchise's history. How does your addition (Barkley) takeover the low post from arguably the best low-post player ever to put on a Rockets' uniform? I am still upset about it. How do you justify moving Hakeem from the low block to the three point line and/or top of the key for Barkley??!! If you want to talk about ball hogs (Barkley and his coast to coast "5 second big butt" back-ins), he by far has been the worst in franchise history!!

 

Definitely one of the greatest trades in Rockets history in my opinion.
I mean, if you look at it now, Tmac is still averaging 20 + points a game, whereas Francis & Mobley have struggled the past few years. (Not to mention Cato is yet to be heard from). So I definitely am fond of this trade, Tmac is a phenomenal player, and he has accomplished so much as a Rocket (of course, we all want a championship, which WILL come).

Great trade, btw good question.

 

At first I was jumpin' all over the place. We were finally getting our first SuperStar since Olajuwon was shipped off to Toronto. Tracy really helped elevate Yao's game over the next year or so bringing Yao into Super stardom. But then as much as I liked Tracy as a player, I really started getting fed up with all of his "It's on me!" attitude. I feel that Tracy really started becoming all about me me me. "I did this...I did that"..."I just force my will on teams." My wife and I loved the "Me Mac" nickname someone gave him. Look, I don't mind a little bit of chest pounding every now and then but his attitude in my opinion is wearing out his welcome in my book. Even though I don't think it will happen, I think we should trade Tmac while he is still worth something.

 

If we could do the trade all over again, knowing what he know now about how things would turn out regarding with regard to injuries and whatnot, I would still do the trade over again.

I think Mcgrady is five times the player that Francis + Mobley ever were or will be.

... that being said, I still think it may be time to trade him for someone who isn't made of glass.

 

See, this is where most people seem fed up with him, but it has never bothered me because that attitude has not translated to him being a ballhog or ball stopper since he has arrived with Houston. On the court he is very unselfish and is what makes the offense click. I think that is what has been lost in translation, with everyone forgetting about his actual play and rather focusing on his "attitude." I've heard it all; he is soft, he is fragile, he doesn't have a killer instinct. Whether those things are true or not is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is that he is one of only a handful of guys that yearly puts up a 24/6/5 type statline, and is one of only a handful of players that can put a team on his back and carry them. That is what is most important, not what he says off the court or how he is not realizing his full potential.

 

This is my honest and passionate view:

THE TRACY MCGRADY TRADE WAS THE GREATEST TRADE IN HOUSTON ROCKETS HISTORY!!

This move was a brilliant move by Carroll Dawson and the Rockets organisation. It landed us a perennial all-star, which is almost impossible to acquire from another team, especially arguable the BEST player and especially scorer at the time!

Thats my concise view of the Tracy McGrady trade. People who argue we gave up 3 starters, are insanely shortsighted. Look at where they are now?!! Steve Francis?!! Mobley?!! Cato??!! where are they?! are they even starter quality players these days??!!!

Whatever we gave up to get T-Mac, IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

GUYS, PLEASE TREASURE OUR GREAT TRACY MCGRADY WHILE HE IS STILL PLAYING IN HIS PRIME!

 

Whatever criticism everyone has at our great T-Mac, I think is simply nonsense and probably not justified! Some people here question his attitude, ok, let me tell you, did he request a trade in public like Kobe Bryant? Did he have feuds with the star center in the team leading to his trade(expulsion) from the team?

Lets think about it carefully

 

Easy there. What about the Thorpe/Drexler swap that preceded Clutch City 2? The acquisition of Barkley which finally put the Rockets over the hump against Seattle? Getting Steve Francis for Michael Dickerson and change?

Heck, I wouldn't even put it ahead of the Pippen deal.

 

I am so sick tired of people dissing Tmac. If you don't like it, buy a Lakers jersey. what's the point calling yourself a rox fan.

 

Well now, that comment sounded rather parochial and narrow-minded. All I'm saying is that it seems a little unreasonable to assert that "all true rockets fans love tracy mcgrady" or "all people who do not love tracy mcgrady are not true rockets fans."

Like many of us, I was for the trade. And now I'm for another trade.