23 million and increase on trade value are good enough reasons to play him, I have doubts as to whether he can raise the team to the next level
Some very good reasons to bring him back (other than the "closer" argument that people have been making), assuming he becomes healthy of course. 1. Ball handling big guard to complement Brooks. I remember Brooks being the most effective last year as an off-the-ball pest. 2. Yao feeder. TMac for all the crap he gets is a very talented passer and tall enough to get the ball into Yao, where guys like Alston and Lowry could barely see over their defenders. Of course, this is a pretty big if, but I think even Fat Tracy can take on these roles competently.
Clutch's premise was that on-court performance is the absolute denominator of a player's value. As he pointed out earlier, Tracy, even at his best, was never as efficient as LeBron, Wade, nor Kobe are today ie. Tracy, supposedly, takes shots out of more efficient options; so, there isn't much value to arguing about his attitude and work ethic if he, supposedly, won't even contribute to winning when he shows up. In contrast, would you mind if the laziest bum won you games out of sheer talent?
I wasn't happy about Tracy coming here, but embraced him as a Rocket. He was never a player favorite of mind but as a former scoring champ you had to wonder what could be? new team, new players, Yao at center.... No more of this "it's all on me", "I have no team to back me up stuff" that came out of his mouth in Orlando. But a couple of years of watching him as a Rocket I came to realize the stuff that Orlando's coaches and GM were true. He's a talented and gifted player, but at the same time a "me" player. He's good, but in my opinion a lump of Fool's Gold. I'm wrong on many things and since he's been here have been hoping he'd prove me wrong, but hasn't, only confirmed my beliefs. Orlando was right and we were fooled. And to say that the 22 game win streak was all because of Tracy is another "me" attitude. The Rockets have a great coach and a good but of players. I believe that the other players on that team had something to do with the win streak not just Tracy. This current group that lead us past the 1st round without Tracy, IMO is just as capable in matching that streak... Sorry but just my opinion.
his contract is over next year. you can't trade a player you don't own. that's what makes tmac's situation the subject of so much discussion...
the more talented this rockets team becomes, the less we will need from tracy. since everyone here seems convinced the old tracy is gone (and i am too) then it makes sense that his ability seems to fit more and more onto this team. this means bringing him back is smart. he is a perimeter scorer... not as great as he once was, but can still fill it up. isn't a perimeter scorer EXACTLY what this team needs? a guy who can mix it up with an inside/outside game? we get all kinds of scoring from the inside/mid-range with landry, scola, and yao. what we need to complement them are players who can hit the 3, players who can attack the rim, and players who can run the pick and roll from the outside. is that NOT tmac? granted, he may not be worth the money we pay him next year, but with what this team needs? tracy fits the bill... (assuming healthy - which is an entirely different matter). best case scenario? tmac returns to 07' form, houston picks up a formidable backup center, everyone stays healthy, and the rockets destroy everyone in the post season. second best scenario? tmac is traded for someone who scores from the perimeter (hits the 3 ball, drives to the hole, and can run a good pick and roll). but do you really think we're going to land that player at this point?
McGrady has never said the streak was because of him, i believe thats more of the opinion of the posters here. I still think its foolish to think Mcgrady cannot co exist with the current team. All the numbers add up in my opinion for all the past years. The only numbers that count that is, W in the game columns. Think about the improvements we've had since the first loss to the Jazz in the first year. Scola coming in Scola starting Landry becoming a beast 22 Win streak Artest coming in Lowry coming in 2nd round of playoffs If you want to look at the two negatives it would be: Yao Ming becoming injured and inactive at MVP form in the 2008 season Tracy Mcgrady starting the season injured and ineffective for the entire 2009 season resulting at him becoming inactive. This is a very holistic view of the matter but our W's and overall improvement in PLAYER LEVEL is evident. 2005 - As fans could we feel confident of the players outside of T-mac and Yao 2006 - Whitewash we obtained Battier 2007 - Battiers first year, Rafer Alston was pretty much the third man in the conversation when it was past T-mac and Yao Ming. 2008 - Year of the streak, development of our two star PF tandem 2009 - In my Mind this is the year where Scola really stepped it up and Landry proved that him and Scola can really impact the league. 2010 - PG development and finally a complete team with very little holes???? Both Yao and T-mac have never had a team without a massive gaping hole in it. Look at the current Lakers, Celtics, Magic and Cavaliers teams. Can we really compare to them? Even the Detroit or Spurs teams in the years past, or the run and gun Suns teams. They were complete with no large weakness you would really attack. Our team its either PF or PG that would REGULARLY get abused. You wouldn't see that on a Lakers/Celtics/Cavaliers team. I don't think Boozer or Deron had one "quiet" game in the entire two series we played them. Note those two positions have nothing to do with T-mac or Yao Ming. I think 2010 will be a big year for us and if T-mac comes in with good rehabilitation we should rock. The team is built well, and Morey believes in T-mac some what. It comes off in his comments about his ability and the stats that he brings up about it. In Morey i Trust because I think the pieces fits.
No, its not. Although he can run the pick and roll, McGrady does not consistently hit the 3 or attack the rim.
name the players in the league who can both consistently hit the 3 and attack the rim - more than tmac. my guess is you'll name a couple dudes the rockets have no shot at getting - or are named kobe and lebron. all in all, tmac is pretty good - there's no denying it. this injury might do him a favor and force him to change his game. the guy has the tools to re-invent himself (as someone previously posted). i wonder if the injury and the rehab will strengthen his mental game? i just think we should see this tmac thing through... unless we get an incredible deal. (in morey we trust) not to mention if we had played the jazz in the first round this year? be honest... theres a good chance we wouldn't have even gotten out of the first round playing utah. they really have our number right now... and nobody would think we were better without tmac if that happened.
Are you kidding? I'll name a couple of players on the team. Artest and Wafer. McGrady won't even give us one or the other. He just steps inside the arc and heaves away. Every. Single. Time.
Brooks as well is more evenly adept at both, or at least close. Tracy, especially the last 2 years, rarely drives to the hole. Most of his passing, comes from the top of the key, reposts, cuts etc. These people that think Tracy brings penetration are just loco.
well artest shooting 27% from behind the arc in the postseason? okay... though his regular season clip is good. have you seen his shot selection? i'd prefer tmac's shot selection over his. wafer is good at attacking the rim, but not good enough to demand a double team, thats for sure. but there's no doubt he can shoot the rock. but you're talking about a guy who isn't mature enough to get along with the coach. you may as well call him a cancer just like everyone does tmac. were these guys enough? to make a deep run? to push us over the top? can this team afford to let tmac walk without getting something in return? i am of the opinion that this team is still in need of more. and tmac can give us the more we're looking for. so that ron doesn't have to be counted on to make great decisions with the ball in his hands every night and aaron brooks won't be counted on to score 25 pts a night.
So let me get this straight. You said that McGrady can hit the three and attack the rim. I disagreed, and you're argument is "name other players who can do it better than McGrady." Since we're talking about McGrady, don't you think its irrelevant to bring up Kobe, Lebron, etc...? But I'll play along. Here's a quick list of the players who, IMO, can attack the rim and hit the 3 better than McGrady: Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, Manu Ginobili, Kevin Martin, Danny Granger, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Brandon Roy, and Hedo Turkoglu. It's kind of naive to hope that he'll reinvent himself. The guy has been in the league 11 years and has yet to develop a post game. He slacked during his rehab last summer and during the season. He's not the poster boy for a strong work ethic. Disagree. I don't know if you followed the Jazz/Lakers series, but Okur was playing injured. He only played in 2 out of the 5 games, and in those 2 games, he played poorly. The past few postseasons, Okur has been a matchup problem for us. That wouldn't have been the case if we had played them this year (b/c of his injury). Because of this, I believe we would've beaten them.
who would i rathe have on the wing shooting shots??? ron artet or tracy mcgrady? yeah, i'll go with tracy. at least he never sucked as hard as ron sucked offensively in that lakers series
i never said he was consistent. i only asked another poster to name someone who could hit the 3 and drive to the hole better than mcgrady. other posters brought up consistency.
