Here's a fact for you: There's a whole wide range of emotions between hate and idolatry. You should try them out. But then again that would clash with your compulsive tendency to continue fabricating our opinions for us. Just because we don't wish pain and failure on the guy doesn't mean we're an Orlando fan or think TMac is Kobe. But why do I even bother. You'll just plug your ears and say "la la la" and start another thread explaining why T-Mac sucks because he scored a lot of points in Orlando...
I don't know the details, but it seemed to me that Marbury was doing things much worse. Refusing to play, and things of that nature? McGrady's "drama" this year was trying to play hurt so he went in and out of the lineup. Big deal. His real "issue" was that he didn't tell the team about his surgery first. Again...big deal. Now, I do feel like he should have told them first, but then again, what difference does it make. He made his mind up about his own body, whatever the reasons. Would telling the organization first changed anything? No... People have blown up this stupid hate and fater stuff way out of proportion. You'd think the guy said he hates being a Rocket, being in Houston, that Houston has the worst fans, he thinks Yao sucks, etc. with the way people talk about him here. Sure, people are frustrated, and fet up with him. Ok, fine. But damn, the stuff I read around here is just plain silly and overblown. He attended a damn team shootaround. What the hell are you all bleeding in your panties about?
To say this is to assume that McGrady's injury is completely fabricated. You are living in a reality created by ClutchFans hate, good sir. The coach and teammates don't really seem to share your opinion.
He didn't rehab properly and came into the season out of shape. For a while, whether or not he was going to play was a game-time decision. That kind of inconsistency is terrible for a team thats looking to gel. He's a prima donna player who puts himself above the team. Then he chooses to get season ending surgery. And it looks like he'll be back next year just in time to try to earn a new contract. How convenient. Yeah, that sounds like a real team player.
IMO he did have a legitimate injury and it really bothered him that he couldn't play at his level. He has a lot of pride but doesn't take adversity very well, so its a bad mix. He got confused because he doesn't know how to defer to other guys, and his ego couldn't take playing below the TMac level. So what happens? He started playing mindgames, handled it wrong, and ended up looking like/being a p***y. In other words, IMO the guy is just weak-minded. There's a difference between being a pansy and being an intentional douche-bag.
Given some of his embarrassing performances this season, I'd have preferred if McGrady did refuse to play some games. Marbury pulled his stunts on a rebuilding team. They were not contenders so the effects of his actions didn't really hurt the team. On the other hand, prior to the season starting, the Rockets were legitimate title contenders. At the very least, they were projected to go deep into the playoffs. And then McGrady became a drama queen. We still may go deep into the playoffs, but its a lot more uncertain now. So I'm going to have to disagree with you. I think McGrady's actions were worse than Marbury's.
T-Mac shows up to support his teammates, and clutchfans responds by flaming his actions. Fact is, Tracy has always been viewed as an outsider by many hardcore Houston fans, and for some he will forever hold that role. Don't be sold that T-Mac is purely another fantastic athlete. If that were the case he wouldn't have become the player he turned out to be. Honestly the way the guy is mentioned around here leads one to believe he was Gerald Green but with an inflated contract. We all had great hopes for this season, but it was simply not to be. Championships are meant to be cherished and enjoyed. THey are a rarity, but for some reason Houston fans feel they DESERVE another. It's a shame that we are turning T-Mac into our scapegoat. After all the man has given us a lot of memories. True Houston fans should be praying for a healthy return to action and a renewed mental focus. Sadly most will prefer to root for his demise.
Your acting like he was utter trash this season, which he wasn't. He was at the max good and minimum average. Marbury talked smack about various teammates, his coach asked him to play for the team and denied to, even when they needed him. McGrady played at first because he wanted to help the team, which he rarely did due to his injury.
Dude, the Knicks team actually spoke out and acted out against Marbury. Didn't they have a vote or something. I mean thats pretty bad. Nothing even close to that has transpired here in Houston. As far as his playing vs. not playing, he, like you, thought they were contenders. So he tried to play. Sometimes he did good, sometimes (rarely) great. Other times, pretty poor by his standards. So I guess we'll agree to disagree. I don't think McGrady is innocent in how things went this season, but I hardly think it's as bad as many have made it out to be.
With the exception of a few games, he was utter trash this season. It seemed like whenever he had a good offensive game, he had an equally bad defensive game. So he wanted to help the team (thats paying him $20 million) but he couldn't due to his inadequate rehab of his elective (and routine) surgery in the offseason. Yeah, that sounds like a real team player to me.
Before Marbury's drama, the Knicks were a lottery team. Afterwards, they remained a lottery team. Before McGrady's drama, the Rockets were a title contender. Afterwards, they were not (I dont think we're good enough to beat a healthy Laker/Spurs team). I place greater weight on McGrady's actions because they have far deeper ramifications.
I hear where you are comin from man, but McGrady has more to lose than pretty much anyone else on the squad. It was in his best interests this season to be successful, not just for personal accomplishment but also for his value as a FA. That's why I think he tried, saw he couldn't do it with the injuries, and tried to make the best of a bad situation for himself. Yes, be ready to at least make a decent season next year for a contract. I think if he had a choice, he'd want to be healthy and part of a contending team. His body and ego (admitedly) have made him go another path.
Actually, for his FA implications, its in his best interest for next season to be successful....not this one.
um... this season was HUGE for him. the talent on the team was there. it was this year or never basically for him to achieve playoff success and that's the only thing left that he has yet to achieve in his career. if you don't think this season was huge for him, you're wrong. there's a reason he played early despite the limping was still there and keep playing. as the season went along, his interest changed obviously to free agency and prolonging his career.
I think he relishes individual success more than team success, and once he saw that he was embarrassing himself, he shut it down for the year.
he embarrassed himself NUMEROUS times MONTHS before shutting it down. didn't you see the LA debacle where he scored a total of 4 pts in both games? like you said, he was TRASH in many games this year. if he was really relishing individual success, he would have shut it down IMMEDIATELY after the first month and called it the year. why wait so long? he only embarrassed himself more and more. that missed dunk v. the bucks just told him how pathetic he was and there was no way he would ever play close to a level where he would help the team. tmac, the team, and everybody in the organization understand that the tmac that we've seen this year does NOT make the team better. so the logical choice is to get surgery.
Season ending surgery isnt something that should be entered into lightly. He played like garbage for almost half a season and then called it quits. And don't forget it took him a while to find a doctor that recommended surgery.
Dude you can't really believe that. Theres no way in hell Tracy was a better player with the Rockets than with the Magic. The only year he even came near the level of his magic days was 04-05.
when did I wish failure for Tmac? you think I wish us to lose every year since Charles Barkley left? How about this. I'm giving a quote directly from Tracy McGrady and you tell me how this makes you feel as a Rockets fan: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/02/27/weekly.countdown/index.html "I haven't been the guy who's been fortunate enough to play with Shaq, to play with Tim Duncan. I always seem to have average teams,'' he said. "You take me back in my Orlando days with Shaq? Come on, there are no questions. You take a healthy me and switch me out with Paul Pierce [on the current Celtics]? There's no question. There's definitely no question.''
