Tmac didn't want Vince to get all the press...

[fgrep15]

In a feature story in this week's Sports Illustrated, McGrady admitted that he was so defeated mentally by the losing that "some nights I did slack off" and also "I'm not going to sit here and say I played my hardest every night." McGrady said he did not trust his teammates on last season's team and that part of his motivation in leading the NBA in scoring was to protect his image as one of the league's elite players.

http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/s ... CNOTES.htm

[Alcoholic]

Well they are cousins after all...

[J@3]

I've never liked McGrady, and that hasn't changed... I honestly don't see how this happens with people, I mean fine if you don't trust your teammates or whatever but why "slack off"? It just lets yourself down more than anyone else. The season ends, they get a high draft pick, T-Mac gets traded etc but the fact that he's coming out and saying he didn't always try his hardest it's just going to taint his image, which is unnecessarily because he got out of that situation he was in. I know he's doing the whole "but I'm different now I have a new outlook" etc but that's not going to change the fact that people will still see him in a negative way. If Vince gets eaten alive by the press and whoever else for what he says, then I hope the same happens to McGrady. Especially especially because of this:

"It's all about how you handle the situation," McGrady said. "Last year I lead the league in scoring. If I had been on a bad team and had a bad year statistically, then you would have seen my image collapse. I had to lead the league (in scoring)."

Yep, his precious image... can't let that be harmed, now lets run to the press and tell them you didn't always play hard because your team sucked

[Matt]

Carter and McGrady are officially NOT FRANCHISE PLAYERS!!!! Not that Carter ever was

[fgrep15]

Well to be serious, many many many players in the NBA slack off, the thing is that 99% of them don't go out and admit that they do.


To say Carter never was a franchise player is rediculous, he made basketball in Toronto, he was a Top 5 player in the league in 2000, just cause he's fallen off doesn't mean he was never up.

[Matt]

ok, he was for a whole 2 minutes.....hmm, i dont think he was top 5 in 2000.....what about Shaq, Duncan,Iverson, Garnett, Kobe, Hill, Webber??? i'd say they were ahead of him then....top 10 though

[Matthew]

2001 he was, he was right up there with Iverson, Shaq and Duncan and webber.. then the slide happened...

[Matt]

are you saying that Carter was better than Garnett??? IMO that never happened or ever will

[fgrep15]

He was actually better than Tmac in 2000, or at least he was considered better, him and Iverson were considered the top SG's with Kobe being less touted at the moment than they were. Tmac was just winning his most improved award that year, he wasn't put in as a top 5 player by anyone yet.

Grant Hill played 4 games in 2000. Shaq, Duncan, Webber, Iverson, , Carter. You could argue Kobe, Garnett and Tmac, but at that point in time Carter was considered better or just as good as them. Their's also Jason Kidd who I'd take over him.


2000-01
FIRST TEAM
Tim Duncan, San Antonio
Chris Webber, Sacramento
Shaquille O'Neal, L.A. Lakers
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
Jason Kidd, Phoenix

SECOND TEAM
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
Vince Carter, Toronto
Dikembe Mutombo, Atlanta-Phil
Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers
Tracy McGrady, Orlando

[Null17]

i guess it runs in the family

[iKe7in]

I doubt either of them will ever have kids, their sperm won't hustle.

[Jowe]

I always said he was a quitter. He's a team cancer.

[fgrep15]

I doubt either of them will ever have kids, their sperm won't hustle.

I thought Tmac already had a kid?

[Jona]

I doubt either of them will ever have kids, their sperm won't hustle.

LOL!!!!!!!!!

[fgrep15]

Well I know many other players that would feel the same way, look at someone like Antione Walker, he's just padding his numbers on Atlanta, I mean in terms of on/off numbers, he's killing the team, but you shouldn't go out and say that, even if people know it, you shouldn't say it.

Look at guys who get traded to a bad team and don't report, that's the exact same thing.

I mean watch him play now and last season, he's playing the same kind of defense he did in Toronto in Houston right now, and he's fired up and excited about playing, but really how many players would've been happy in that situation.

Tmac and Vince don't know how to talk to the media, they make themselves seem very naive.

[Shakes]

It's a pretty stupid thing to be so blunt about it, but it's only natural that some players feel that way. Lets face it, teams will trade their players in a second if they think they can get the better side of the deal out of it. Why do we expect players will be loyal and give their all for the team when the teams are more than happy to auction them off to the highest bidder?

[fgrep15]

Another example would be to look at Drew Gooden, he didn't suddenly become good, anyone that had seen this guy before would know he could do this, just had no motivation in Orlando at all.

He wasn't close to being the same high energy guy he was as a rookie, and is being again this year in Cleveland.

[GloveGuy]

Am I the only one who finds this issue ridiculous? These guys aren't the only ones who slack(ed) off. If you look at it differently, they're the only ones with the balls to admit they did. The NBA's in serious lack of high-energy guys like Tony Allen or Jerome Williams. More than half the NBA isn't playing to its capabilities.

I'm actually happy that they admitted it, because it makes me so frustrated when I watch players who clearly don't care. I'm about to break my T.V. whenever I watch Paul Pierce or Mark Blount commit silly fouls or walk up the floor. At least Vince and Tracy admitted their wrong-doings and are now (hopefully) giving their all.

[Matthew]

No i find it a joke as well. All these people go "omg, a player didnt give 100% every single play", no player in the history of the game has ever given 100% for every minute he was on the court, not even the dennis rodmans and bill cowens.

[J@3]

I don't give a shit about them not giving 100% for every minute or whatever, but if they come out bragging about the fact that they couldn't be stuffed because their teams sucked that's when it gets a bit stupid.

[fgrep15]

I don't think they were really "bragging", in Vince's case, John Thompson was intereiwing him, and with Tmac, I don't know how it came up, but he was apologetic about it.

[J@3]

Well with Vince it's different because he didn't exactly come out and say it, but T-Mac is an idiot. Surely there's other ways he could've gone about saying the exact same thing, and not making it sound like he's a lazy prick who only wants to play when he's winning. Who's to say the same thing won't happen in Houston aswell. There has to be a line between being being motivated when you're winning, and just being motivated because you're playing basketball. You're not going to win ALL the time, so if he feels like that every time his team starts losing he may aswell retire now because even if he found his way onto a contender I'm sure with the shots he'd lose he'll find something else to whinge about.

[fgrep15]

Yes I didn't like some of his comments, especially the one about just trying to get the scoring title to keeps his rep in the league up.

"It's all about how you handle the situation," McGrady said. "Last year I lead the league in scoring. If I had been on a bad team and had a bad year statistically, then you would have seen my image collapse. I had to lead the league (in scoring)."

[Matt]

that T-Mac comment was stupid, and Vince, he just wanted to get traded out of Toronto. I wonder what Ray Allen will say about this?

[Ataraxia]

who cares, not like we give 100% when where posting.