[KHOU] Charles Barkley: Rockets have 'disrespected' Tracy McGrady

Ok ... I think you are assuming too much here.

First of all, none of us know the real story with regard to McGrady's injuries and work ethic while in rehab. I do know I have heard whispers about him not working hard enough before last season, coming back from those injuries.
I also know I heard him talking in the preseason last year about how he was "in the best shape of my life", but yet in November and December the Rockets gave him time off to get in shape.
Not sure how you go from "best shape of my life" to needing time off for conditioning in less than 2 months, but whatever, no one really knows.

Just last week RJustice told a story about the Rockets sending some execs up to Chicago to see him work out, and Arenas was there.
When he asked the Rockets people why they were there, they replied they were sent to discuss rehab progress with Tracy at 11am.
Arenas replied by laughing, saying "he's never here that early", and that sure enough, Tmac showed up 90 minutes late.
I know NBA players have different lives/schedules than normal working people, but still, showing up after noon?
And late to a meeting intended to show your bosses how hard you are working?
Those are not signs of a guy killing himself to get back and help the team.

I'm not sure Morey or anyone with the Rockets knew what was going to happen with Tmac coming off micro-fracture surgery.

If you are Morey, already doubting his committment to rehab and offseason work, wouldn't you stick a carrott (more minutes) out there in front of him to potentially motivate him to work harder?
What was Morey supposed to say last July?

Morey: "Tracy, we've kind of moved on without you. You may need to accept a smaller role, including less minutes, and possibly even coming off the bench. We need to be sure you can help us on the court, and not hurt us, like last year, when your constant in-and-out shenanigans almost ruined the team, and we didn't really gel until you left for good, when we finally won a playoff series for the first time since you got here."

Do you think this would inspire Tmac to work harder than ever?

Instead, he probably was doing what any smart manager does...telling his people what they need to hear to get the most out of them and maximize his assets.
A healthy, productive Tmac this season would have only given Morey more leverage to make a deal now, so of course Morey was going to tell Tracy whatever he thought would push McGrady to play at that level again.

And did you ever consider maybe he wasn't lying?
Maybe DM and RA honestly intended to use McGrady right up until the trade deadline, but that his lack of committment and progress in rehab left him a shell of himself?
Again, we don't really know the answer to that, but I know the little I saw of him convinced me his minutes should continue to go to Ariza and Budinger.
If you can't earn minutes with your play, yet you are not content with the minutes you do earn to prove yourself, what were the Rockets supposed to do?
Appease Tmac by forcing him out onto the court for 30+ MPG and take that valuable time away from more deserving, younger players who will actually still be here past June?

Telling a selfish, lazy guy like McGrady "don't worry, we don't want you anyway" is akin to giving him a green light to take the season off.
Telling him "work hard and see what happens" at least gave the Rockets a chance to have a valuable trading chip, instead of just an expiring contract.

 

Whats laughable is that you dont get it. It was about seeing what he could do out there (which wasn't much) in relation to our at the time surprisingly streaking team. The main point is, Tracy McGrady would be here right now, playing in a Rockets uniform if he just would have shut his mouth. Theres no way to argue against that. He had to be a diva and he got the boot, plain and simple.

 

Barkley is an obese alcholoic attention w**** who holds a grudge against the Rockets. Who cares what he thinks. Hes a POS!

 

Exactly,
it's the exact opposite of this team's personality.

It's not like a Carl Landry who gets his teeth knocked out for playing hard.

It's not like Aaron Brooks, the shortest dude on the court, taking it to the hole and not settling for 3 pointers

It's not like Scola posting up taller dudes.

 

He got the boot in a messed up way. The organization handled the situation poorly.

 

obviously Houston TV does, that's why he's been on TV. People of Houston who remembered him love him.

 

I semi agree, Rockets could have been more subtle for appearances, definitely, but just as some argue for Tracy, I think there is a bit of a frustration factor. Your Rick Adleman, sitting in the office, and you hear word that Tracy is down the hall in the locker room dictating what his playing time should be, to the media, you probably blow your top too and tell that guy to pack it up.

 

The thing Chuckles doesn't mention is that any player bothering to take note of how the organization is treating T-Mac also probably also took note last year when they were letting their ailing superstar screw with the lineup every other day, to the detriment of the team.

Nobody who's paying attention could possibly think this situation is the Rockets fault.

 

do you think tmac would do worse than ariza right now?

 

Ariza's not coming off surgery and he's not getting paid $25 million dollars.

His role is not to be the best player on the team.

Tmac was given 7 minutes because Chris Webber mentioned that coming back was hard from surgery and small minutes are a must.


would could should if but = Tmac

 

Impossible to say. I don't think the fans have seen enough of his play to judge that, so again, I'm going with the assessment leveled by Adelman. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say he'd likely put up better numbers, but not be a real benefit to the team. Again, there's no real way for us to know.

But it'd be damned hard to play worse than Ariza. :grin:

 

im not really asking about all the other factors, just a simple question. because the main thing people say about tmac/adelman is that adelman doesnt think tmac can contribute according to what he saw on the court.... im saying WTF IS ARIZA DOING ON THE COURT THEN?! lol, this rant belongs more in the "i HATE ariza thread"

 

wow, everyone got their own view, but what you just posted is just wrong.

 

Ok,
who would you rather have play than Ariza? Tmac is not an option because he's been put on exile.

This is a realistic question. based on our current ACTIVE roster, who would you play instead of Ariza?

 

actually, i would rather tmac play but that's not my call. that's why i think it's BS that 'adelman didnt think tmac can contribute' because i think he can contribute a heck of a lot more than ariza (he's a better scorer/passer).

my beef is rockets organization hid behind that premise. just come the fck out and say you want to move him and dont want anything to do with him (which they eventually did)

and there is no one else to replace ariza... which is sad and i regret everyday that the rockets signed ariza.

 

Somewhere out there tinman read Charles Barkley, clicked post reply, reread the title and his head

Spoiler

 

I guess this part irks me. Was he really put on exile or did he exile himself? But I completely agree with you. Honestly, I see Ariza having some of the same problems Clyde had with Houston. Ariza is a great 3, an amazing 3. He does his best work slashing to the basket and making strong plays to the rim. Unfortunately, this team runs him as more of a spot shooting 3, and in some ways he looks even like a 2 in our roster. I'm not sure if it's RA or whomever, but Ariza needs to make more moves to the rim. If we wanted a player who just shot too many jumpshots and didn't create space for his teammates we would play Tmac. Ariza is on the court because he has the potential to play at the level he did in LA. You are spot on correct when you say no one else fits the build. Ariza and Brooks will garner 60% of the shots taken as long as this team relies on the 3 ball and the mid range shot. End of story. No one else lives better in that range.

 

this is not a good way of solving problems. Best thing would be leaving all behind and move on.

buy him out or trade him
It clearly does not favor the organization with another 3 months of bad press

 

Okay, I went out on a limb and thought tinman would completely avoid this thread. He did his best to avoid making any comments about the subject of the thread.

Funny stuff.

 

Coming from the man that shows no respect to....

Spoiler