McGrady likes chances of returning to top form

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Tracy McGrady could not have sounded more certain. He said he is lighter and leaner than he has been in years heading into training camp. He is strong and healthy. The back pains of last season are reduced to motivations.

Then he went a step further. With so much of the Rockets' past season about the injuries and illness that wrecked it nearly as soon as it began, McGrady insisted that with a return of good health the Rockets would return to the contending status they expected a year ago.

"We can compete and we're going to compete against those teams," McGrady said. "We will compete with the best in the West. We have what it takes. We have to stay healthy. With me and Yao (Ming), we will be a great team in the regular season. The coach (Jeff Van Gundy), his strategy and how he prepares us, we will be a great regular-season team and defensive team. And now we have the depth we didn't have the year we played the Mavericks (in the 2004-05 first round.)

"If we stay healthy, I think we're up there with the best of them."

McGrady, speaking Wednesday from the NBA Store in New York, where he was promoting the release of the video game NBA Live '07, spoke of his return to full strength, of Yao repeating last season's second-half surge and of the addition of "shooters" Casey Jacobsen and Steve Novak.

McGrady said he has been talking to free agent Bonzi Wells about joining the Rockets and expects a decision from Wells in the next few days.

"He's going back and forth," McGrady said. "He's really interested in us. He loves the city, loves the team. I don't know what he's going to do, but it would be nice to have him on the team. C'mon Bonzi."


Pieces in place
That said, McGrady sounded as if he believes the Rockets have all they need already.

"It really doesn't matter at all," McGrady said. "If I'm healthy, it does not matter at all. I will lead the team. And I will defer to Yao. Yao is ready to take on the challenge of leading us this year, so it will start with Yao. I know I can get my game off at any time. ... But getting (Yao's game) off, getting his confidence early will help me even more."

The Rockets also might need a confidence-building start to the season after starting poorly each of the past two seasons.

"Yao and Tracy both started slow," Van Gundy said when asked about Yao competing in the World Championships. "I think it's imperative Yao and Tracy get themselves ready to play."

With practices to begin Tuesday, McGrady said he is ready.

"I'm leaner than I've ever been," McGrady said. "It's going to be a real exciting year. Last year was out of my control. Something happened after the first game. I'm on a strict diet to get lean and cut. I'm just motivated. I just wanted to get back. I feel we can be a great team, especially with Yao being a better Yao and Shane Battier adding depth to the team.

"It's being motivated, something to come back and play for with a chip on my shoulder. I'm disappointed that last year turned out the way it did. I expect myself to be one of the premier players."


'The time of year'
He looked the part on Wednesday when he appeared on the NBA Live cover and happily cited the postseason success of his immediate predecessors on the cover, Dwyane Wade and Ben Wallace.

But he sounded as if he was excited by more than a hope for a continuation of a video game trend of good fortune.

"This is it," McGrady said. "This is it. This is the time of the year. I feel extremely good."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com