that's why i don't read the newspaper! its garbage! and the editor who let it come out, is garbage! come after me! i'm a man, i'm 40!
Let's talk about the bottomline... Championships 0 Playoffs 0 not to mention that he screwed up a 3-0 and 2-0 lead twice. because he couldn't work any harder and too much talking. You need to raise you standards. If basketball is just about entertainment, then Tmac is one of the most gifted entertainers in sports. For me sports is competition, if you ain't number one, then you lose.
Then Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Barkely, Reggie Miller, Stockton are all losers to. what do you mean he could have worked harder. he had 29 (50%) points 13 assists in game 7. it's not he's fault he had no bench.
Blazer, He has accomplished A LOT, but not far enough with the god given talent he was given. There is no doubt that Tmac is very good, but he could be so so much more. He is very Magic-like but only much more athletic.
Wait, did I stumble onto AssholeLakersFans.com? I get that some of you think that bashing T-Mac makes Yao look better or whatever, but this is way too far. Saying he doesn't work hard at all? I admit that sometimes he coasts through parts of a game, but I'm pretty sure that he works on his game as hard as anyone, and he gets results. His game has evolved more than anyone else at his level in the past few years. After LeBron, he's probably the best playmaker at his position in the game. Since he's been with the Rockets, his defense is as good as his offense. His natural gifts make him unstoppable when he puts his mind to it, but his work ethic has made him a complete player.
If you're not inthe front seat, you're not a winner. with magic, they were ahead 3-0 in the playoffs, then you say he got no bench? with rockets, 2-0 lead, blew it because bench was bad?
T-Mac is a winner. We should all strive to emulate him. If you have children, parents, tell your children to emulate him and worship him as their hero. Um..give me a break. T-Mac is one of the most gifted atheletes, but I dont' think anyone can argue that T-Mac has had and does have work ethic and character issues. He's had a child out of wedlock by a woman not his wife. He's been tagged as a lazy bum in his Orlando days. He's had his heart and work ethic questioned. He's even admitted that while playing for Orlando, some games he just didn't show up. Compare T-Mac with Yao Ming. Yao Ming has no such issues. He's probably the hardest working NBA player. Everyone even his enemies respect him, and admit he is a very diligent and classy guy. Inside the gym, and outside the gym. I don't care what anyone says but T-Mac is definitely an underachiever, and lazy. He wants all the glory like Kobe but he lacks Kobe's heart, and determination. In my opinion, T-Mac is a gifted, lucky, loser.
There is no doubt at all in my mind T-Mac is the most talented player in the game. He just doesn't live up to the potential. I look back at what he did in 2002-2003 during the regular season, what he did initially the first 4 games in that playoff series against Detroit in the playoffs that year, what he did in 2005 against San Antonio, what he did against Dallas the first two games of the 2005 playoffs in Dallas............... I honestly can say when I see that I do actually confidently believe that T-Mac, the 100% T-Mac is even better than the 100% Michael Jordan in his prime was. And he's way better than I've ever seen Kobe when he's in that full on T-Mac mode. Here's the big problem though, what happened after game 4 in that Detroit series? What happened after game 2 in that Dallas series? What happened to the aggressive take no prisoners killer instinct T-Mac of the 2002-2003 regular season (which was amazing)? See this is where he is night and day to Jordan so far. Better than Jordan in sheer ability and talent, nowhere near Jordan so far in results. The back issue is overblown IMHO. His back was perfectly fine in the 2005 playoffs and the 2007 playoffs and certainly in the 2003 playoffs. The thing I hold hope to is............ Jordan won his first title at 28 Shaq won his first title at 28 So T-Mac winning his first at 29 might just be the ticket and finally, MAYBE this is the year he puts it all together and maintains it, rather than just being a top 5-10 player consistently and just every now and then occasionally living up to his potential as being #1. I reminds me of how Lakers fans used to say Kobe was better than T-Mac because they would play each other even head to head but T-mac coasted and Kobe went all out. So this means Kobe gave full effort, thus making him "better." BUT, if T-Mac was playing him even without trying as hard then isn't T-Mac really better then? YES, but unfortunately it also means T-Mac is an underachiever at least so far in his career. Hopefully, like Shaq and Jordan before him (who were also underachievers up till age 28) T-Mac will turn it around this year and go on a big run with Yao.
You lose all credibility with this post. The second I see people use ring-count as the "bottomline" measurement of player greatness, I stop respecting their arguments. And how did he "screw up" the lead? LOL. You are obviously a hater. If you still don't have a clue, let me give you a hint. You are talking about team success and failure when we are talking about an individual player.
As a sufferer of back spasms, I can assure you, if you're back is out of whack, playing basketball is farthest thing on your mind. I look like I have polio when trying to walk when my back is spasming.
We are talking about a team sport called basketball. Teams are built around a go-to-guy. In our case, Tmac. That's why he's paid way more than the rest.
You can say what you wanna say but that's the truth. Tracy maybe wasn't as effective scorer in the playoffs (I mean his FG%) but two games with 26 points and more than 13 asist (he had 16 in game 5, 13 in game 7) that's not really bad. I say that again: We lost because of our bench. I know oru startin' five wasn't good either but when the S5 were on the court we were able to catch or even beat Utah. But when Juwan (he's not a rockets anymore ) and Luther came off the bench and on the other hand there were Gircek, Millsap - we were done! I also think JVG slowed Tracy down a little bit cause he wanted his best scorer, best offensive player on the court to be the playmaker of the team...I really don't think Tracy's a looser. I'm so excited about this year and belive me - wait until new season starts and you'll see another T-Mac, offensive T-Mac, not playmaker anymore
You're welcome. Now tell me about our go-to-guy, is he good enough to bring the team to the top or just good enough to raise his stats to get more money?
I call BS again. His game HAS developed significantly. He has become a better defender, a MUCH better passer and playmaker, and a better team leader (even if he still has some work to do in that department). His jumper hasn't improved, but it hasn't really regressed significantly either. He is a much better all-around player today than he used to be. I understand what the guy was saying -- that T-Mac was naturally blessed with many skills that others had to work for, but to say that he doesn't work to improve his game is false.
I cannot believe what some of you guys are saying! By no stretch of the imagination is Tracy a slacker. Some of you are saying that he doesn't work hard or have a passion for the game. Just go back two offseasons ago when Tracy was working his butt off in the weightroom, trying to get ready for a championship run. Since then, he's just been plagued with back injuries and hasn't been able to play at his max level. Having said that, Tracy can still dominate a game if the time presented itself. Also, a lot of you are saying that Tracy passes the ball to other teammates too much, making him look like a "softee". But really why does he do that? Its not because he's afraid in those situations, but rather he just wants to get other teammates involved. In terms of creating plays for teammates, he's better than Kobe, Wade, Arenas, and Lebron. If he was really a slacker, he wouldn't care about getting teammates involved, including Yao Ming. When the Rockets first traded for Tracy, there was a lot of hype as well as speculation about how he would play next to Yao. Well...Has he been selfish? or Has he had trouble playing with Yao? No, which is why I think Tracy does not get enough credit for dedication to this team. Look back to the Kobe/Shaq duo, the Iverson/Webber duo, or you can just look at players such as Lebron and Larry Hughes, or Kevin Garnett and Mike James. A lot of these superstars have had trouble simply fitting in well with other potential all-star talent. But Tracy, in the other hand, has been a PERFECT complement to Yao Ming. And I think its because of his dedication and work ethic that this duo can work. Let's at least give him that much.
