you think a Chicago Bulls fan would really want Tmac? Over say, a DWade? You may not know this but people who live in a city tend to root for their own. Hakeem was a star at the University of Houston and the city automatically loved him. Dwayne Wade is from Chicago, has already won a championship. You think they want Tmac? Why would Chicago fan want Tmac?
You posted a picture of Yao Ming and Hakeem Olajuwon. That has no relevance to my post. By any measure McGrady has clearly been the best Rocket post Olajuwon. He was the one who lead this team the past 4 years (I'll omit this year for obvious reasons). He's the one who's carried this team the past 4 years (Again.. I'll omit this year for obvious reasons). It seems like everyone forgets the fact that he's been the most important player on this Rockets squad for the majority of his tenure. One year doesn't erase that fact.
What's the subject of this thread? Yao led this team to the 2nd round, Tmac never did that. Tmac and Hakeem should never be mentioned in the sentence.
What part of post-Hakeem did you not understand. Stop cherry-picking. Yao lead this team past the weakest first round opponent this team has faced during the Yao-Mac era; not to mention he did it with the strongest supporting cast this team has seen post-Olajuwon (see the Lakers series).
Tracy couldn't lead any team of his, pick one, any year, past the first round. What part of this thread do you not understand? Stop cherry picking on this thread and stick to the topic, no Bulls fan in his right mind would ever want Tracy McGrady on his team. Stop insulting the post Hakeem era too. Everyone on the planet knows that the Rockets can't advance without Yao Ming, but they surely can without Tracy.
Yes I know who Walter Payton is. Yes I know Chicago is a great sports town. Far better then Houston as a matter of fact cuz they love their teams win or lose unlike half this board. The conclusion Im saying people jump to was that Tmac actually said anything about wanting a trade to Chicago. He has never been quoted as saying anything other then he wanted to come back to Houston. If we believed everything journalists reported from unidentified league sources, Artest never would have been traded to the Rox cuz the Maloofs hate Adelman. As for your Chicago fan comment, of course they would rather have Wade. No team in the NBA would take Tmac over Wade. But Wade isnt going anywhere this year. If the Bulls truly want Wade they would be smart to trade for Tmac this year and have his contract expire to unload long term commitments thus increasing the chance they sign Dwade.
Yao wouldn't have advanced without the supporting cast that we had this year. We had decent scoring from our PG and we had better contributions from our PF position. Please tell me which of the past 5 seasons have we had solid contributions from both positions at the same time? I would argue as far as the SG position goes, Tracy outperformed the Wafer/Artest duo over his tenure with the team during the playoffs (prior to this season of course). As much as people want to give Yao credit for this season, he only advanced because he had a strong supporting cast which became more obvious when he went down. Because of this occurrence I think that the Rockets will be that much better off next season. We need more offense from Battier and the others next season which they have proven that they can deliver. But I do agree that the pre-injury Tracy has been the best Rocket player since Hakeem. Yao has a chance to replace him but he has to dominate consistently against all competition which he hasn't done yet. By no means am I attempting to diminish Yao's importance to the team but because he is the center he is more dependent on his teammates. Yao just isn't currently able to get the ball in the post as easily as it appeared Hakeem did. That's my main problem with Yao's current game.
another leauge source (my ass crack) would also love a TMAC to Chicago(or anywhere) move. buh-bye Tmac.
There is substantial evidence out there that Tracy lead those teams. We got beaten by a better Mavericks team and by Jazz teams that got unbelievably officiated against Yao. Basketball is a team game. Yao, before this year, had no success, whether with Tracy or Steve Francis. We won this year because we finally had a TEAM. We could roll 10 deep with 'pit bulls'. A team full of guys willing to sacrifice and who could play roles that would help the team. We would've won with Tracy. We wouldn't have won if we had had Tracy and DIDNT have Landry, Scola, Brooks, etc. It wasn't because of any one star. A star doesn't win. A team should compliment the star, and the star should compliment the team. You love Horry. Mad Max. Well Hakeem won because he had those guys on his team, and they won because they had him. It's a team sport, gawdammit! Kobe didn't suck in 2003-2005 just because his team didn't win. Now you're probably going to label me a Tracy defender and immediately cast out everything that I said. Fine, but what McGrady does and says is another issue. It's inexcusable. His quote about "I never played with Shaq or Duncan" or whatever the hell was unbelievable. We should trade him just for that and I wouldn't care if that was the reason. BUT you're so mired in your hate that you're convinced TMac would lose 1-on-1 to Ryan Bowen. You put words in his mouth, and thoughts in his head. Worse still - you put words in people's mouths around here, segregate the boards, and constantly derail threads, b****, whine, and moan about everything. When it doesn't relate to McGrady, you MAKE it related to McGrady so that you can hate it. You're flat out whack. Chill.
By the way - Tracy is held accountable for those series losses. I am not absolving Tracy of anything, only saying that he is talented and can be a decent part of a team. Let's not kid ourselves. He's still 0-7 (0-8?) and quit on the team this year. But he's a dang talented player.
But he and others are treating this like a quote from McGrady himself. Please point to the quote that starts or ends with "McGrady said...". That's what this is about. McGrady didn't say anything. Some random league exec NOT EVEN FROM THE ROCKETS OR BULLS said that his brother's girlfriend's 2nd cousin's aunt's twin sister's brother's mother's veterinarian's OBGYN's friend said that they heard this from somewhere. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that he's rehabbing in Chicago.
Uninformed reporter + Tmac rehabbing in Chicago = Tmac shopping for new home in Chicago because a trade is inevitable.
I used to live in Chicago and only moved to Houston in 1992. I was a Bulls fan from when I was a kid during the Jerry Sloan/Bob Love era until Jerry Krause prematurely dismantled the Jordan/Pippen dynasty due to his humongous ego. It was when I turned away from watching the NBA because it was always painful dealing with "what ifs" concerning the Bulls. I became a Rockets fan when they got Yao and McGrady together which started me watching the NBA again and rooting heartily for our hometown team which I have come to embrace as I did the Bulls then. My favorite teams are still the Bears and White Sox although I am starting to pay attention to the Texans lately. My point is I have lived throught the glorious times in Chicago sports and I personally witnessed and experienced the performances of the greatest sports heroes in American history, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Jim McMahon, Frank Thomas, Johnny "Red Kerr, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, etc. They were blue collar, down and dirty all heart, take no prisoners players. These greats would not even allow McGrady to be their ball boy for he would cry like a baby if he were to work with these guys. The Bulls killer Jerry Krause tried to woo McGrady the Bulls after his Toronto days. Krause the *ss met him at the airport with the Luvabulls gyrating (the Bulls cheerleaders) complete with bands and other crazy gimmicks. Still McGrady chose Orlando and this surely is not lost with the Bulls fans. Speaking of Bulls fans, they are as rabid as the NY fans but pretty smart. It is considered a blue collar city and they do not take crap from any player, coach or manager. However, I like the Houston sports fans better. We are gentler and kinder to our sports teams (yes we are!). We are more patient and forgiving and I prefer it that way, it makes watching and following the games more fun and provides a wholesomeness to following sports teams. Having said all of the above, is it any wonder that the Bulls will reject McGrady? I would be furious if they did not as I still harbor some love for the Bulls even if I have been a certified Rockets fan for many years now.
How about a trade for Brad Miller and Luol Deng. It solves the backup center problem, plus he knows Adelman's system and can hit the mid-range jumper and Deng is a solid, young player who runs the floor well and plays good defense. I think they'll be perfect fits with the Rockets.
