Tracy McGrady "I'm playing tonight"

[Andrew]

Worst case scenario, the Heat would get the benefit of McGrady's expiring contract giving them plenty of cap room to re-sign Wade and make overtures towards another significant free agent. If he can do anything for them this season, so much the better.

[Modifly]

It's sad to see things turn out this way. It'd be tough (for me) to see McGrady leaves the Rockets. Eventhough things hasn't been pretty, I still had fun watching him play in a Rockets uniform. Houston will still be my favourite team and McGrady will still be my favourite player. Best of luck to him and I really wish he doesn't land in a crappy team.

[shadowgrin]

New York should make a run for him.
Curry-Nate-Darko for T-Mac. New York gets a dependable scorer while Houston gets 2 big men in Yao's absence and a bench spark in Nate.

[Modifly]

The Rockets dont need Eddy Curry. I mean, what can he do? David Andersen is better than him. And Darko?

On another note, fans over at Clutchfans.net are coming up with speculations that maybe Rick Adelman is the problem. Interesting read.

1. We know Yao didn't really care for him. In fact, he didn't have a clue how to coach Yao and we saw greatly declined production, plus an injury, from Yao running too much. He still doesn't have a clue how to reintegrate Yao.

2. Mishandled the Von Wafer situation during the playoffs. Wafer was just a little bit emotional in a heated game and "King" Adelman couldn't handle it. Instead he allowed his ego to damage team chemistry.

3. Gives greenlights to headcases who can't play. First Artest and now Ariza, both shot at career low clips. Ariza is so frustrated with himself that he's taking swings at people and crying during games. Yet King Adelman is unwilling to second guess himself and realize that when a player can't handle his role, it's time to reassess.

4. Now McGrady, who just wanted a chance to prove himself, and would have resigned with us at a reduced rate, is on his way out. McGrady would have signed with us for cheap and is probably better than anyone else we could have gotten with that money, yet King Adelman "can't find a place for him" with one of our wings injured and the other one shooting in the 30's. If playing time has to be earned, at what point does Ariza shoot himself out of the lineup? Yet because of King Adelman's ego, we don't get to see if it would have worked. It would NOT have hurt the team to give McGrady 20 minutes for three games when he would have been taking minutes away from Ariza.

There has been alot of blame on what the main problem in Houston is. It is not Tmac like all you haters think....it has been in fact under our noses all this time. Rick Adelman. He has shown bad relationship with his players. One example is with Steve Francis and how Adelman exiled him from the team and forced Francis into retirement. Now the present example is with Tmac and how his coaching has taken the 2 time scoring champ from elite status to a role of a benchwarmer. Facts are facts and Rick Adelman kills the careers of star players. Also look at what happen to Yao Ming. His injuries have gone up a significant amount ever since Rick became coach. The injuries are linked with Rick's non-big man friendly offense and ineffiecient rest management for Yao. I rest my case... Adelman has to go!

And this article over at hoopsdaily just support the speculation. Basically, it's about Adelman's bad management by comparing McGrady's case with Tim Hardaway.

http://www.hoopsdaily.com/content/deja- ... id-adelman

The last part of the article above says:

Admittedly, Tracy McGrady has been more prone to injury than his peers, but so had Tim Hardaway. Adelman made the wrong assessment of one player, so one must now wonder about his assessment of McGrady. Some might support Adelman by arguing that McGrady is too old. The fact is that countless of NBA superstars are older: Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter (McGrady's cousin and two years his senior), and Kenyon Martin (who is not only 2 years older but has had the same micro fracture surgery). All of these players are key contributors on contending teams.

The question that Houston Rockets and McGrady fans should ask is: is Tracy McGrady truly done or is Rick Adelman running him out of Houston as he once pushed Tim Hardaway out of Golden State? The last thing Rocket fans want to see is a Tracy McGrady buyout (like the aforementioned Bonzi Wells), landing T-Mac on the Phoenix Suns or the Miami Heat for the playoffs. Only time will tell if we are witnessing the saga of Tim Hardaway part.

Interesting.

Now dont get me wrong, Rick is a great coach but how he treats and handle his player is a whole different thing. Having "favourites" isn't good, and not giving a player playing time simply because he's not in your good graces isn't the right way to do it.

[Andrew]

It's certainly food for thought. I think T-Mac definitely didn't help the situation with the way he surprised the Rockets with the announcement of his knee surgery last year and likewise announcing possible comeback dates this season but it's quite possible that he's copping too much of the blame here.

[Modifly]

True, T-Mac didn't help the situation with all those things he's done, but the Rockets and Adelman didn't handle the situation properly either. Why bring him back at all if you're going to play him 8 minutes and nothing more? At first Adelman said that he'll play McGrady 8 minutes for 6 games and then re-evaluate his progress. McGrady looks better and more comfortable every game he plays. Note that Adelman never said anything about increasing McGrady's minutes even if he plays well e.g. the Clippers game. Maybe this shows that Adelman has no plan to play McGrady more than 8 minutes right from the start? Maybe Adelman played McGrady just because he had to do it and because the pressure was on him too? Then after 6 games, McGrady feels that he should get more minutes, he was frustated and told it to the media instead of his team and coaches, which isn't the right thing to do, but then again he's not requesting for more minutes. He just feels he should be playing more. It's so obvious that Adelman doesn't want him around anymore, and it's also obvious that this is because of his personal preferences towards McGrady. True, McGrady is at the core of all these problems, but maybe Adelman's in it too. Had Adelman handled the situation better and not treat McGrady like this because McGrady isn't one of his "favourites", the situation might have turned out the opposite. Shame, really. At the end of the day there's faults on both sides and a fresh start for both of them is probably the best way out.

By the way, I've just bought his #3 jersey.

[Andrew]

It's possible that McGrady made his complaints public because there was no working out the issue with Adelman behind closed doors, much like the situation with Larry Brown and Trevor Ariza a few seasons back.

[shadowgrin]

he's not requesting for more minutes

McGrady feels that he should get more minutes, he was frustated and told it to the media instead of his team and coaches, which isn't the right thing to do....He just feels he should be playing more.

Wut?
I don't get your point Modi. If he wasn't requesting for more minutes, why did he get frustrated and say it to the media? Isn't that an indirect request, T-Mac hoping that by gettting his point across the media that he would be playing more/given more minutes?

[Modifly]

You're right. Maybe I got trapped in all those drama myself. Anyway what I was trying to say is that T-Mac didn't do anything wrong when he feels he should be playing more minutes. What he did wrong is when he made his frustration public instead of telling it to the coaching staff.

[shadowgrin]

If it were up to you, where would you want T-Mac to go either by trade or buyout?
I want him to be traded to the 'Cats.

[Modifly]

The Bobcats? Not a bad choice.

If it's up to me, I want him to go to a team where he will actually get playing time and the chance to return to his 2007 form. I want T-Mac to go to a team that is willing to take a risk and would give him a chance to prove how much of his old self he can be. A chance to see how much he have recovered from the microfracture surgery. I mean it's a win-win situation. T-Mac is an all-star caliber player, the risk is worth taking. Do experiment on him. Give him big minutes and if he plays well then great. If he doesn't and ended up pulling the team down then bench him. I don't see how a team cannot benefit from T-Mac's presence. This is something the Rockets failed to see.

So maybe teams like Bobcats, Wolves, Warriors? I don't know. Any team really. Personally I prefer a buyout. The Rockets' roster is fine as it is, there's no need to acquire any more players.

[shadowgrin]

If T-Mac is really serious about proving himself and being 'hungry', I guess he can take on whatever Larry Brown throws at him.

[NovU]

It's obvious Tracy has rights to be frustrated about his playing time since he's still a superstar in this league and all star voters confirmed it again this year. So I don't think anyone should really be blaming him although he may not be the same player from peak of his career, which makes his doing somewhat understandable. What's frustrating for Rocket & Tracy fans is Rick not being able to utilize Tracy to be more effective. I'm sure Modify is one of frustrated fans, who still holds high hopes for Tracy and Rockets at the same time.

The Bobcats already has a star in Gerald Wallace, and the team isn't going to become a contender with Tracy being there. Why not come to Heat where amazing happens.

Worst case scenario, the Heat would get the benefit of McGrady's expiring contract giving them plenty of cap room to re-sign Wade and make overtures towards another significant free agent. If he can do anything for them this season, so much the better.

True that. But I'm not sure at what cost he could come to Miami. It'd be really hard to give up JO since we need his size and he's starting to play ok again, and also holds value in expiring contract. I'd also hate to give up Haslem since he's really solid 6th man off the bench, so I'd like to see him come to Miami as a free agent next summer @ right price. But again, big man is our priority and chance of Miami landing him is slim probably...

[Andrew]

So maybe teams like Bobcats, Wolves, Warriors? I don't know. Any team really. Personally I prefer a buyout. The Rockets' roster is fine as it is, there's no need to acquire any more players.

Out of those options, I think the Timberwolves might provide the most appealing mutually beneficial scenario. He could probably start for them or at least see decent minutes as the sixth man and as an expiring contract, he needn't interfere with their rebuilding plan. A McGrady for Blount, Cardinal and Wilkins swap would work and wouldn't hurt the Rockets much either, as those three players are in the last year of their deals as well.

[NovU]

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/player ... NBA&id=473

The Rockets and Tracy McGrady have come to a "mutual agreement" to trade McGrady, a person with the Rockets said.

T-Mac won't play while the deal is being worked out, and while no trade is imminent, he is likely to be moved prior to the Feb. 18 deadline.

Ok... I am not sure if they got news this from a reliable source, but I guess all of us sort of knew this was coming in some ways. The question is, how soon and where will he be. It'd suck, not being able to watch healthy capable players like T-Mac till Feb. 18.

[shadowgrin]

The Bobcats already has a star in Gerald Wallace, and the team isn't going to become a contender with Tracy being there. Why not come to Heat where amazing happens.

Bobcats badly need offense. T-Mac can provide that. Allowing Crash to go insane in the defensive end.

[Andrew]

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NBA&id=473

The Rockets and Tracy McGrady have come to a "mutual agreement" to trade McGrady, a person with the Rockets said.

T-Mac won't play while the deal is being worked out, and while no trade is imminent, he is likely to be moved prior to the Feb. 18 deadline.

Ok... I am not sure if they got news this from a reliable source, but I guess all of us sort of knew this was coming in some ways. The question is, how soon and where will he be. It'd suck, not being able to watch healthy capable players like T-Mac till Feb. 18.

The same thing was being reported yesterday, sounds legit to me given the circumstances.

[Modifly]

I'm sure Modify is one of frustrated fans, who still holds high hopes for Tracy and Rockets at the same time.

You're right. But it's Modifly.

The latest from NBA.com:

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/12/29/rock ... ef:nbahpt2

The part from that article that frustrated me:

Houston coach Rick Adelman said on Tuesdays that McGrady never progressed to the point where he was ready to increase his minutes.

"He's been hurt for over a year," Adelman said. "The thing that people want to write about is who he was two years ago, and he isn't that right now. We have a whole team here and it's not just about what he wants or what he was going to want, or what was going to happen. It was about what can he do to help us win, and that was the bottom line to me."

In February, doctors said McGrady would need up to 12 months to fully heal. Adelman said he stuck to that timeline all along, believing McGrady still needed a month or more. He said McGrady wanted to accelerate that timeline, and that led to the impasse over playing time.

Screw you Rick.

[Lamrock]

Wanna trade coaches? Only caveat might be that Nate might demand that Morey trade Landry for Steve Blake.

[Modifly]

No thanks. My hate for Rick is just a temporary one because he wouldn't give my favourite player playing time.

[Andrew]

Adelman has a point but at the same time, he seems to be making some assumptions and spinning some tales of his own owing to the fact that McGrady obviously isn't his favourite person right now. Running McGrady down in public doesn't seem like a smart move when you're trying to trade him either, kind of like the Pacers exiling Jamaal Tinsley last year.

[NovU]

It is also interesting how Ariza shoots so poorly but as a team, the Rockets are still winning. I always wondered how the Rockets would play if T-Mac replaced Ariza as a starter when healthy, but I guess we won't be seeing it happening. The chemistry for the Rockets shoud be really clicking in all cylinders. I guess Rick didn't want to jeopardize that with increased role of T-Mac.

[Andrew]

Perhaps, but that's assuming that McGrady would refuse to fit in and go out of his way to be a team cancer. I don't think he's been given a fair chance to demonstrate whether he would or not, with Adelman making assumptions based on the two of them butting heads. Who knows, maybe Adelman is making the right call here but it seems he's got it in for T-Mac given past events.

[Modifly]

It is also interesting how Ariza shoots so poorly but as a team, the Rockets are still winning.

Because other players bailed him out, that's why the Rockets are still winning. Everytime Ariza has the ball, I'm risking heart attack. The potential that he will jack up bad shots or drive into the lane and throw the ball in random direction is so high. Ariza is the perfect example of a role player trying to do too much. I don't understand why Adelman give him the greenlight to shoot the ball. He jacks up about 20 shots a game, fortunately that is starting to decrease. I'd rather have Brooks or Budinger take 20 shots rather Ariza.


@ Andrew Your previous two posts are spot-on. Right now people are starting to question whether it will be easy to trade T-Mac, if at all.

http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/12/rock ... oving.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3160 ... -situation

Playing him only 8 minutes a game wont help either.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=179557

The Knicks have scouted McGrady and D'Antoni has watched a few of his games.

"Not bad,'' D'Antoni said. "but you couldn't get a good read when you only play six, seven minutes.''

Now it will be difficult to move T-Mac.

[Andrew]

And as I said, harder still with Adelman badmouthing him.