Yes McGrady was VERY talented.. That's why he elicits such a strong response when referencing his attitude and work ethic. Just a couple more hours in the gym and a couple years with his mouth shut the man could have been EXTREMELY special.
People who deny Tracy's talent in his younger days are stupid, he had quite a bit of skills and believe it or not, he had a great b-ball IQ. I'm not comparing him to Kobe or MJ like people have (Don't shoot me Tinman), but he was certainly top 3 SG in his Orlando and pre-2008 Houston years. His downfall is a combination of things, his work ethic and injuries. Its truly sad to see him decline but its his fault, he let his ego get the best of him. His legacy will be defined by what he does next year, will it be a legacy of failure? or will he redeem it by working hard during the offseason to become at least a shell of his former self, like a Grant Hill type player or will he come back averaging a little over 20 ppg? That being said he has done some good things in Houston and I wish him good luck, because it seems everyone only remembers him for his problems with the organization, not his good years.
I don't ever expect 25+ PPG again on a winning team, but I think its clearly his knee. I'm not sure if its still bothering him or he is just not confident in it. Probably a combination of both. He also needs to put together 15-20 straight solid games to both get back into NBA shape and shake off the rust to see exactly how much he has declined. The jury is still out on him and we will not know until next season. For those that said it said it is because of his rehab practices, I disagree if his knee is still hurting. No amount of rehab is going to heal the knee. It's going to take time where he completely forgets about basketball and training. I think he tried to begin training too soon to prove to the "haters" that he's still got game and to help the Houston Rockets win. Adelman was spot on when he said McGrady was not ready to compete. The whole drama of Morey and Adelman not playing McGrady because of insurance purposes and the way he announced his surgery turns out to be 98% bogus. I hope he comes back strong next season, preferably somewhere in the East. Maybe he can take Ray Allen's spot on the Celtics. He'd look nice in Bucks uniform if Michael Redd decides to take that ETO. Maybe the Hawks if Joe Johnson walks. Chicago? I hope he doesn't decide to stay with the Knicks because I think he will fail there. But they will probably overpay him when their dreams of Wade, Bosh, or Lebron never happen.
Its not just one thing. -I think it starts with his scoliosis. From the start he's at a disadvantage when it comes to his body moving. - since he had been playing ball a lot longer than he had been "working out", the scoliosis made the working out part much tougher than it should be. Because of it, i think he didn't give full effort consistently during his workouts - not giving 100% forced him to try to get by on talent -Wayne Hall meanwhile didnt help, his workouts were not adapted to tmac's scoliosis, so his workout wore down tmac, rather than helping him deal with it -years of this led to his joint issues, too much wear and tear on his joints, not from overuse, but from using them incorrectly -forced to have surgery because of it, which didn't leave him with a high chance of recovering 100% to begin with... I think the rehab itself was fine, but his knee just wasnt there anymore.
Have we forgotten that he started playing NBA level ball right out of high school? What is that 13 years? I believe the NBA shelf life of a player is around that time period, maybe 15 years give or take. He was bound to start a decline sooner or later just from the fact that he has so many miles on him. No matter if you start playing when you are 18 or 24. You will usually have around 12 - 15 good years to play but your body will break down. Of course you have the freaks like Jordan and Kobe that seem to be able to play forever. Jordan into his 40's. But even the greats will decline but they can cover up the deficiencies by always seeming to add more tricks to the arsenal to make up for lost skills. Tracy spent much of his time with the rockets on his back and unable to progress. He used a lot of his prime up and now that he seems to be breaking down he may be one of the few refusing to notice. No matter how much more time and training he gets he will have to accept the fact he is not the fresh 18 year old out of high school he once was. He must adapt and evolve. Sooner or later he has to accept his roll or move on to baseball.
He was the best and he wasn't rewarded for his on court performance. He was never mentioned amongst the best.
Man o man... watching that first video made me so sad... The things that coulda, shoulda, and woulda been. Just when I thought I'd mostly gotten over it. *sigh* I KNOW we woulda won it all in 2008 and 2009 had we been healthy. Probably had a shot in earlier years, too, but the last couple seasons were ours. And if it wasn't for injuries, we'd still have a championship core together, and everyone here would be happy. Ah well, the future still looks pretty bright.
Mentally weak he may be, but its pretty hard to will your body from falling apart on you. I do agree however, that he seems to throw in the towel when things don't go his way. This seems more like a phase from his teenage years that he never grew out of. The younger sibling who always gets his way and when he doesn't, a tantrum is not far to follow. He seems like a child in a Mans body. Just never grew up.
True Scottie, but you can push through things and learn to trust your body again. Tracy is just not able to do that...he is a wuss. DD
Some on the Sixers mentioned how Barkley would party and get drunk and the next night get a triple double. Barkley was a freak of nature, he's pretty short for a power forward yet it's unstoppable down low. Barkley is much more entertaining when he speaks. Also I think Barkley cares more about team and winning than does McGrady. Barkley took the minimum so we can sign Pippen. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1999.html Rk Player Salary 1 Hakeem Olajuwon $12,943,000 2 Scottie Pippen $11,000,000 3 Brent Price $2,240,000 4 Charles Barkley $1,000,000
oh sure he wasn't. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mcgratr01.html 2004-05 Houston Rockets NBA $14,487,000 2005-06 Houston Rockets NBA $15,694,250 2006-07 Houston Rockets NBA $16,901,500 2007-08 Houston Rockets NBA $19,014,187 2008-09 Houston Rockets NBA $20,370,437 2009-10 New York Knickerbockers NBA $23,239,562
Some are motivated by money and others are motivated by fame. McGrady had the money, but he wanted the fame.
