McGrady: If traded from Orlando, Rockets are first choice

boy that is some height there.

how tall is jim jackson.

you have cato at PF at 7ft.

might be the tallest starting lineup in the history of the NBA.

 

Hmm, Shaq is a good passer, you have to give him that. Although I certainly think Yao is far more skilled than him. Just a wild dream, if you can put Yao's skills in Shaq's body, what you gonna get??? Especially Yao has a lot more years ahead to add to his repertoire.

One funny note was the president of Yao's Shanghai team made a comment just before he came that Yao is more skilled than Shaq in almost every aspect of the game. He got really laughed at by the media here. The response was he was crazy and the only skill Yao could be better at is FT. Now we can see he actually was right.

 

Remember ASG last year, the western for a moment had five 7 footers on the court. That was pretty crazy.

 

sorry if somebody already cought this, but this report said that the rockets made the playoffs as the #8 seed, either I have very bad memory(which is possible) or the rockets made it as the
#7 seed, just makes you question the integridy of this reporter.

 

yup, someone pointed it out already.. too late..

 

I kind of knew the people in this post would not let that one go by, i truly believe that a lot of people in this site have more credibility than some of the reporters out there.(not me I'm a dumb@ss)

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...31,1,7319499.column?coll=orl-sports-headlines

Unhappy ending to T-Mac saga? Blame Weisbrod
Published May 31, 2004

Kid GMs say the darndest things.

Like John Weisbrod, for instance. The new Magic general manager lucked into the No. 1 pick last week. It gave the franchise hope. Not that it needed it.

"My feeling that hope is back came before this lottery," Weisbrod said.

Presumably, he was referring to his March appointment as the top personnel guy, or maybe he goes by czar. This much is true: Tracy McGrady didn't stand alone in line waiting for extra self-esteem.

You think McGrady's stubbornness and sense of worth is killing this franchise? How about Weisbrod's?

It's all easy to see now. The McGrady era is careering toward disaster. The superstar has started naming potential trade partners, and he dampened the No. 1 pick euphoria by stating his belief that there is no impact player in this draft. Without a miracle, McGrady will leave the Magic this summer.

Then it's decision time. Who gets the blame?

McGrady has his faults. But this will not be his fault. He's not the bad guy. The Magic, led by Weisbrod this time, will lose another superstar because of ineptitude.

Hope?

Nope.

Not with a dope.

OK, so I just went overboard in order to use some rhyme. Honestly, Weisbrod is a very smart man. But his initial dopey decision-making will gut this franchise.

A month into this assignment, Weisbrod put McGrady in an impossible situation. He revealed his intention to get his superstar, who can opt out of his current deal after next season, to sign a contract extension this summer. If McGrady balked, Weisbrod said he would pursue a trade. In theory, McGrady is just supposed to look at a remodeled roster on paper and decide the franchise's future.

Short of some inexplicably lopsided moves in the Magic's favor, I don't see how Orlando can create a roster sexy enough for McGrady.

The Magic only have a little more than $6 million in salary-cap exception money to spend. Outside of McGrady and this No. 1 pick, power forwards Juwan Howard and Drew Gooden are the team's only tradable assets.

Weisbrod began this process believing that, as a rookie GM, he could take his 21-win cap-strapped team and make it a playoff squad in one year. It's embarrassing to even suggest such a thing.

It leads me to believe that Weisbrod wants to trade McGrady. He despised his superstar's handling of losing. He considers McGrady a ballin' prima donna, which is true to an extent. Then again, all great NBA players have some prima donna in them.

As a rookie GM coming from an all-for-one hockey environment, Weisbrod can't accept this. His ideology won't allow it. Weisbrod understands he never could build a team in his image as long as McGrady is here. It will always be T-Mac's team, not J-Weis' team.

Weisbrod wants to win his way. It's why Weisbrod fired Doc Rivers, a good but headstrong coach. It's why, sources say, the green Weisbrod refuses to use the consultation of the demoted John Gabriel. It's why, quietly, Magic employees work with trepidation now.

McGrady is the only guy not in line. He's a star in a stars' league. He does not trust Weisbrod, and Weisbrod does not trust him.

Preparing for a potential trade, Weisbrod already has begun a public-relations battle. Because he knows McGrady is so young and honest, Weisbrod is staying quiet and letting McGrady talk. That way McGrady comes off as the guy wanting to bail. Fans lose respect. It softens the backlash. It's an old trick the Magic always use when bracing for controversy. And this is sure to be a firestorm.

Some hope, czar. Some hope.

Jerry Brewer can be reached at jbrewer2@orlandosentinel.com.

 

Gotta keep on playing the height game:

PG - Mobley 6'4"(played the 1 as a rookie) and backup Jim Jackson 6'6"
SG- McGrady 6'9"
SF - Nachbar 6'9"
PF - Cato 7' and Badiane 6'11"(ok that's a slip in)
C - Yao 7'6"

The average height of this roster combined with JVG's defense is probably something the NBA has never seen before.

 

We are not going to get McGrady and keep both Mobley and Cato, if either.

 

I think Francis + Mobley or Francis + Cato is feasible, if T-Mac and the Rockets drive a bargain together. We can still manage a very tall lineup with those two gone.

 

I just got up, am not really awake, and can't figure out what you;re saying. I suspect it's a joke I'm not getting.

 

I thought you were saying that Francis, Mobley and Cato will be gone in a trade for T-Mac. My opinion is that a package of either Francis and Mobley, or Francis and Cato for T-Mac will be enough if T-Mac put more pressure on the Magic management and the Rockets hold their stance. And even with Mobley and Cato both gone, the Rockets can still manage a tall lineup by signing Brent Barry and put MoT at the 4. You were initially right though, Mobley and Cato won't probably both stay in Houston if a deal goes down. I was a little carried away.

 

It's the East. They're sick of losing. If they can get a West starter on their side, I think they'll vote for him alot. I'm not saying it's smart, but it's what most fans would do. Other players have bad circumstances or are old news. Iverson didn't even make the playoffs, Kidd seems to be on a decline with boring NJ, Marbury didn't even start over Francis the last few years so I don't see why he would now. Labron could beat him but he really should have made the playoffs and I think he'd play starting 2 anyway if he made it. Paul Pierce's bandwagon is up on cinderblocks.

Wallace
J ONeal
Vince / who cares
Labron
Francis

Of course, T-Mac would ordinarilly start for the East but since he'll be in Houston starting ahead of Kobe for the West, no problems. Check out this West lineup:

Yao/Shaq
Duncan/KG/Brand
Dirk/Rashard
T-Mac/Kobe/Allen
Nash/Cassell

That'd be the most fun all-star game we've seen since we had 3 representatives in about 97?

 

ya'll bunch of haters. its sad to see that houston rocket fans arent loyal to their players. francis needed to step up and show his leadership in the playoffs, and dude nearly averages a triple dble againt the lakers for the series.

disgrace.

learn to love your team and its players. hes the franchise.

tmac is lazy, doesnt play D, and takes too many games off. hes a great player, but i dont want him at the expense of losing francis.

 

tamc is clearly better than franics. He did play D in toronto, but im guessin their coach in orlando didnt stress it enough, didnt francis plaiy crappy D last year. Francis always plays good aganist the lakers so dont give us that he carried us through the playoffs. And the nba is a damn business not no damn loyalty crap.

 

the nba is a business, does that mean the fans should have that state of mind. thats sad to see that you think that way.

so u want our team to be like LA. its a business, lets get all these hall of famers in and try to cheat our way to a title.

francis played his best D last year out of all the years in the league. THATS OBVIOUS.

man, sad to see a SENIOR MEMBER not notice that francis has stepped up his D. and what does that say about francis that he always plays good against LA, he steps up agiainst the great teams.

 

well im in it to win. I am a fan of the rockets. Im willing to give up things to make the team better. Its like a business, you take certain actoins to make things better. IN this case we would most likely win more. So nothing is worng with that. I want the rockets to win a championship and not be medicore.

 

okthom,

If the Rockets get McGrady. And both him and Yao lead the team to a successful play-off run....you're not allowed to cheer. Because as you know, your loyalty will be in Orlando with Francis.

In the end, it's always about the HOUSTON Rockets. City loyalty of a team.

 

actually, my loyalty will be with the rockets.

born and raised in houston, but reside in cali. so i got love for my team, AND ITS PLAYERS. that doesnt mean that i like everybody on the team and want them to remain a rocket for life.

come on now, its tha franchise. you cant doubt his willingness to improve and his efforts to sacrifice his game for the better of the team.

tmac thinks hes bigger than the game. cried his @ss out of toronto because he couldnt stand being in vinces shadow.

got what he wanted and went to orlando. now look, he wants out. whats gonna happen when he sees that this team revolves around yao. hes gonna cry his way to another team.

rocket fans are to quick to abandon their star players.

all i can say is, oscar robertson, magic johnson grant hill, and steve francis are the only 15-5-5 players in their first five years.

the only thing that has dropped for francis is his scoring avg. though his shooting avg is down, look at the reason why.

he doesnt look for shot first, so when he does get the shot he has to chuck it up.

ya'll dont know nada bout ball, wait and see if we get tmac and you'll see his @ss cryin bout can gundy cuz he has to play D.

 

I don't care how much T-mac "cries", and I don't care how much Steve "tries", all I care about is WINS and positive results IN GAME. Hell, if effort/heart were all it takes, lets keep Steve, sign Pig Miller (who we can ask to TRY and get an offensive game)and give Braggs(who we can ask to TRY and develope a jumpshot) starting time. There we go, the alltime "tries" rockets team. We can remain loyal to those three forever, or until retirement while we watch other teams improve drastically and whipe the floor with us throughout. You can't make players be what they're not and you can't keep them around when what they are isn't what this team needs.

Quit using the damn "its tha franchise!" "houston quits on their stars too quickly". Half a decade, without seeing any results from all of Steve's "tries", not one is too quickly? And don't give me the "he plays better d now", bullcrap. Cat plays better D, he actually improved and did become a better defender. You can go on and on about that with Cat, because it's true. Steve improved his D as much as Piatkowski has, which is nothing.

And my god, about that Oscar Robinson, Grant hill comparison. That's all i can say about it.

Francis has ALWAYS chuck up shots, my god, haven't you been paying attention? Where do you think he gets half of his turnovers from? He has always chuck up shots, either by forcing one against his defender when he has nowhere to go, or by trying to drive through a crowd only to dish it out blindly and hoping god guides it to a fellow teammate. His avg did drop, so did his ppg, his assist and rbp in the meantime remained the same. That's Steve for ya, "same old same old" season after season.

Again, for those dense at mind. Yao is a good example of a player having to change his game into something that isn't even in his natural talents, and still improve in ONE year. Cat is a good example of a strictly O "ball hog" player, who shows the capability of learning by suddenly showing good defense in ONE year thanks to JVG. Those are true examples of true imrovement and learning. Stop painting a false image of Steve. He tries, yes, that's good, we applaud him, we acknowledge his heart/effort, he has a good attitude. No one non biased denies any of that. But also, no one non biased sees that as all it takes to win in this ever changing, ever competitive league. So, please STOP the crap, please!