I refuse to participate in this thread. You guys are unreal. Wake me up when somebody starts a "Why do you despise Tracy McLady?" or "Why do you want to Tracy McLady to be strapped down to a rowboat floating past the Somali coast?" and then I'll be interested.
Because he was a $23 million per year quitter, and he went to the bank with a straight face. Then he blocked a trade. Then he claimed victim status when they wouldn't let him play. I don't hate him as a person. i was actually pulling for him to show something in those 8 mpg appearances. I was hoping he could return to the starting lineup but I guess people smarter than me get paid to make those determinations with good reason.
Tracy Mcgrady was hated long before these past two seasons. Logically, it must be something else. There is a much simpler answer. He did not meet expectations. When Mcgrady came to Houston he was considered one of the top players in the league and many believed he would lead the Rockets to a championship. Generally, people ignore their views on athletes' personality when those athletes are leading their team deep into the playoffs. If Mcgrady was just an average player with minimal expectations we wouldn't be talking about him.
I don't hate the dude. I thought he was our savior when he 1st arrived and really liked him during the 22-win streak. But he checked out and an became something less than a hero and basically gave up on this team. When he 1st came to the Rockets, he was a gladiator, but now he's fodder for the lions. Too bad, to see greatness disintegrate into mediocrity, self-loathing and quite possibly homelessness (from the NBA). I'm ready for the Tmac saga to be over and be just a footnote in Rockets history.
Wrong. Yao Ming only deserves the same level of criticism that T-Mac receives if he: - Constantly pouts and sulks like a diva when he doesn't get what he wants - Quits on the team and let them play 4 vs 5 - Thinks that he is the best thing in the NBA and that people are lining up to sign him up - Gets lazy and botches his rehab - Tries to dictate his own playing time - Burns bridges with every team he plays for TOF's are truly hilarious in the positive light they see this broken diva or how they try to defect deficiencies by trying to point out other players. While the rest of us live in reality, they continue to live in this fantasy world where T-Mac will be able to put up 25-5-5 every game. The chump made his own bed and now he has to live with it.
T-Mac fans can say whatever they want, but facts don't lie and here are the facts: - T-Mac has never been out of the first round no matter what team. You can argue about his supporting cast and what not, but the point still stands and is valid. Everything else is merely speculation. - T-Mac has burned bridges with every team he has ever played for and is regularly booed when he goes to Orlando and even Toronto. - T-Mac quit on the Rockets, especially in the now well known Toronto game. If you quit on the Rockets, you deserve every bit of criticism you get from Rockets fans. You can argue about how this happened to him for this time on this year or how he is misunderstood or misinterpreted by the media. The rest of us will just continue to scoff at how miraculously ONE PERSON (I refuse to call him a man) will ALWAYS be unlucky and misunderstood by everyone else ALL THE TIME. It must be a wonderful LSD trippy world that some T-Mac fans live in.
You are calling ME a YOF? ROFL! I have been accused as a Yao hater more often than not. I've been wanting Rockets to get rid of him for the last few years. Clearly, you don't know what the **** you are talking about.
I could care less about Tmac. The only reason I ever cheered for him was because he was a Rocket and he helped make us relevant. He isnt a Rocket anymore, so I don't give a crap. That said, trying to place all the blame on him and demonize him is weak. It shows a general lack of understanding about how basketball works and team dynamics. Furthermore you can cry all you want over it, but the bottom line is, its just a game. Forming such a harsh opinion of him over how he played the game, while ignoring his life outside the game is just ignorant and shortsided.
To you it might be just a game, but for players it IS their jobs and livelihood. It is his JOB to put in his best effort day in or day out. That was what he was paid to do. If any of us dicked around with our employers like he did, we would get canned. Also, as a huge Rockets fan, I am passionate about games and our team. When a player betrays the team, I will scorn him until kingdom comes. I hardly place all the blame on T-Mac. Of course there are other reasons why the Rockets were not successful as they could have been while during T-Mac's stay with the Rockets, namely bad contracts or pickups by our FO and injuries to key players. For our team's woes, I place just as much blame on Yao. It is just that Yao's humble attitude makes him tolerable, while T-Mac's inability to shut the **** up makes him easy to despise. I have a solid understanding about basketball and am fully aware that it is a team game. This is why my posts on CF have consistently maintained that we do not NEED superstars to win it all, but that it will make things much easier. As far as teamwork goes, it still fits into my belief that T-Mac is not a good teammate and hurts the team is due to his actions, interviews, and above all, indisputable fact that no team he has been on has ever had playoff success. The only way you can win when you are throwing the team under the bus is if you are so good and competitive, that everyone else has no choice but to acknowledge and follow you. Greats like Kobe, Jordan, and Hakeem all walked the walk to match their talk (well when Hakeem use to talk). T-Mac has always talked a good talk, but when has he ever walked the walk when it actually mattered?
