what you mean with his one man team? look at some his Orlando teams they are NOTHING compared to this current one. They are where they were because of Mcgrady
Same type of questions can be asked of Yao as well though. Will he ever be able to play against fast pace teams consistenly? Will he ever be able to do anything once teams front him? Will he ever reduce his turnovers? Will he stop letting little guys push him around and make him settle for fadeaways? Will he ever become clutch? Will he stop being soft? etc etc.
Thanks you very much for posting that. That was a great interview. I wish more players could like that in interviews instead of saying the same old same old. That is the one thing I love most about Rasheed Wallace! Dude will say whatever is on his mind and in his heart. Hopefully Mac makes it out of the first round this year and then gets a ring next year with Yao!
tmac was rarely complacent during the reg. seasons except for his last season in orlando and the last 2 yrs in houston. in 04-05, i felt he did everything the team wanted him to do. he deferred early, when yao wasn't ready, he stepped up. i feel after the 05-06 season and all the injuries piled up, tmac stepped back a lil bit in the reg. seasons b/c he doesn't want to put too much stress on his body and get hurt (which i don't like but i feel where he's coming from). but in the playoffs, he ALWAYS steps up. for the most part, he does what most superstars have done in the playoffs: does EVERYTHING (scoring, passing, rebounding, and even defending). in orlando, his team was never good enough (not even as good as wade's supporting cast right now and look at wade's heat). in houston, yao was not a star in 04-05. and last yr, tmac finally looked human in the plyaoffs and he still put up 25, 5, 7. tmac has always put up 110% in the playoffs. i never doubt his effort when the playoffs rolls around. but ur right, the reg. season, tmac does become complacent. but that really began after the 05-06 season, not every reg. season.
when u don't win, ppl will point to the intangibles. ppl said the SAME EXACT things about peyton manning before he won. the things u heard about manning b4 his SB win were: 1) never won at any level 2) never step up in big games 3) gets nervous in big games 4) will he be setting records statistically and never win a ring? and u heard the same things about his brother before the win this yr. peyton and tmac are the greats of their sport. but when u don't win, people will always question that by bringing up "other" aspects like heart, motivation... deservingly or not, i underestand where ur coming from. all the greats get it before they win.
Good analogy with Peyton Manning, even though some people will jump to conclusion and think that you're making a direct comparison of basketball with football. And if it weren't for my *cough status *cough, I would've made a thread making this comparison earlier. Like Tmac, Peyton just could not get over the hump, ever since his college days, where he never won a championship even though his team was always in the top tier. Then when he got to the pros, he always stumbled when it came to overcoming the Pats in the AFC championship, until finally he defeated them last year; but ironically, it was their defense that stepped up in the end against Tom Brady. Granted, Tmac is not a perennial top player like Peyton is to the NFL, but he is certainly the BEST talent to NOT ever win a playoff series. But the point that should be stressed here is that no ONE person can do it alone; at some point the team has to step up and make some plays, and most importantly, timely plays. People say Lebron did it against the Pistons, but Tmac basically did the same thing-scoring multiple 40 point games-against them in '03; the difference, in my opinion, was that his team was better than Tmac's team. I'm certainly not discrediting anything that Lebron did though, because what he did was something that Tmac could not do, and that is knowing NOT to make guarantees before its all said and done.
Nah, I'll take the good with the bad. All NBA players have flaws. I.E Steve Nash = no defense, Jason Kidd = No shots, Dirk = soft, etc. They aren't perfect but they do help the team a lot. I hope the Roxs do well but my expectations isn't too high since the west is incredibly tough. It's better then saying we will lose first round of the playoffs and bring it up over and over
Very good interview from Tracy there, the guy comes across as genuine and you can't deny he is correct when he said no matter what he does he will still be a target. I have said it many times before, this team is very lucky to have not only good players but good people in general.
Sorry Tracy, if you never make it out of the first round, it will define you, at least in the public opinion. However, this is your chance to change all that right here right now. The Rockets are close enough so that if they play well they can get a favorable matchup in the first round (Dallas just lost again and have the same number of losses with the Rockets now; the Suns and the Hornets look like they have problems). If we get to the top four or five and don't draw the Lakers, the Spurs, or the Jazz, I believe that we have a chance to beat all the other teams in a seven game series. This is your chance Tracy, your one chance to show the world that you are a winner. If you can lead this team to the second round and beyond in a competitive conference like this without Yao Ming, you will never hear that first round BS ever again.
!! Indeed, if T-MAC leads us to the second round or even further, WITHOUT YAO, that will definitely shut people up.
Could anyone imagine how awesome the WCF would be if it was Kobe vs. Tmac??? We're talking legendary games.... The funny thing is, Tmac has never been in a championship game in his whole life, except maybe a State championship in high school. But yea, I'd give just about anything to see Tracy in a championship game, be it the conference or nba championship. Tmac in the playoffs = most exciting bball possible, i love it..
