<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1lcUXFgUK9Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I had a really good time watching Von Wafer during that season. As well as Brooks!
People are saying "check the facts". And then believing in superstitions and "curses" and metaphysical mumbo jumbo that can't be backed up Which one is it, facts and stats or superstition? Vernon Maxwell's quitting, inefficient chucking and being booted off the '95 title team HELPED get them the ring. Addition by SUBTRACTION. No one wants to mention the narrative like that, though.
We traded for Ron on the last year of his contract, that's why he was able to escape to LakerLand when the season was over and it looked like Yao was gonna be out for a long time. At the time, it was a plus for the Rockets because with Ron being on the last year of his contract, it was an incentive for him to play his best so he can get a good contract the next year. I do miss Ron though. That toughness he brought to the Rockets was really refreshing. Then add Kyle "Bulldog" Lowry at the deadline added to that toughness. That team, with everyone stepping up and playing amazing basketball at the right time, we could and should of been champions if the injures did happen to those extents. The "what-if's" of Rockets Basketball. Let's not make this opportunity with this squad be "what-if's" but "what happened".
He got out of the first round, second, and third last year. Not as a big contributor on the team but on the team non the less.
That team was a healthy Mutombo away from the WCF, and a healthy Yao away from the Finals. I think that's the year Yao went down against Portland and then Deke went down second round against the lakers. I remember us having the Lakers on the ropes.
I remember that was the year the Rockets let an easy win get away that would have secured a cake walk to the WCF. Rockets would skipped playing Portland and probably would have met the Lakers in the WCF.
Other way around, Mutombo against Portland and Yao against the Lakers. Both were devastating. Both we devastating, not only to Rockets fans but the NBA. The lost of two of two great great centers, in one playoff both on one team..
Two teams had one thing in common is that both had Very high expectations to start. One with the acquisition of artest and this year with the signing of Howard. I think this squad will go further and have the higher upside.
Love the way you McGrady fans look at his career. He played in 6 playoff gms last year for a grand total of THIRTY-ONE MINUTES. He played NO part in the team getting out of the 1st rd nor any part in any of the other rds. What he did get was splinters in his @$$ riding the bench!!!
Ron, thank you <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hb9CWnqaASQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The person I quoted made a false statement which I used clear facts to prove him wrong. He didn't lead the team but he did play minutes on a team that got to the finals. McGrady was a good player when he got to our team, honestly it was much more bearable watching Tmac/Yao play together than when I had to endure watching SteveFrancis/Cuttino play. Sure the latter had better health but no where near the potential that the former had. What ifs right? McGrady actually played minutes as opposed to maybe someone like Adam Morrison who didn't play a minute (if I recall correctly) in one of the champion teams he was on during his tenure with the Lakers. You can't tell me that Adam Morrison or Tmac didn't make it past the first round because their teams CLEARLY did. I look at McGrady's career as disappointing because if he were healthy he might've been able to achieve more. For the record I never said I was a die hard Tmac fan, I was just trying to correct someone's incorrect statement. TL;DR version You even said he played in 6 playoff games, I don't get what you're trying to quote me and bash me for sir.
Tmac's last playoffs in the NBA <PRE> Season Age Tm Lg Pos G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS 2012-13 33 SAS NBA 6 0 5.2 0.0 1.2 .000 0.0 0.5 .000 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.0 Career NBA 50 38 34.5 7.9 18.7 .426 1.1 3.9 .290 5.2 6.8 .757 1.3 4.5 5.7 5.0 1.1 0.9 2.7 1.9 22.2 </PRE>
Injuries aside, I think the 2009 team was obviously a better team than our current one. We had a good mixture of scoring, defense and utility on that 09 team. If Yao didn't go down I think we could have beaten the Lakers even with Tmac and his 30 million dollar contract sitting out. With a healthy tmac, I think the outcome is even more obvious. With that said, I like this new team and I believe in these players. I think we have the makings of something special. But we're still very young and the western conference is arguably tougher now than it was in 2009. I think Morey still has more work to do, and I think our coaching staff does too.
McGrady=Adam Morrison Two players who played NO part in their teams advancing in the playoffs. The teams they played on advanced but they contributed NOTHING!!!! The Spurs had twenty-one playoff gms this past yr. McGrady played in SIX of them. In those six gms he played a grand total of 31 minutes and scoring ZERO pts. He played just as big of a part as the Spurs ball boy.
Obviously this years team surpasses the roster of that particular team at that time ... With Tmac, I'd say they are really close, but without him, no question this years team, if it is in fact the team going into the playoffs (i.e. no injuries), is going deeper. Aside from Yao, most of the players were over achieving (Brooks, Hayes, Landry, Lowry, and even Wafer to some extent). But next years team is full of guys who are proven (Harden, Howard, Parsons, Asik (hopefully) ... Beverly goes in the over achieving category at this point ...). That's going to give them that edge over other teams that the prior team didn't have. Again, put Tmac into that mix and the discussion changes completely.
That '09 team, healthy, would have won the championship. Anyone who thinks our current team is better must be expecting the title this year.
