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Is T-Mac just a Playoff Flop? Rockets Owner Doesn't Think So
chron.com — Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has spent a lot of time thinking about Tracy McGrady's reputation as a playoff choker. "The thing that bugs me most is that no one seems to look at the circumstances of some of those games.We played Dallas without our starting point guard and power forward, but no one brings that up."
Bukowsky- 262 diggs
- digg it
- jacob1270, on 04/21/2008, -3/+8thats what happens when you are considered "the star" and not part of the team. Utah has jelled into a team with amazing players that play like a team. Deron is amazing !!!!
- Bukowsky, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3As a Lifelong Rockets fan, I have to agree that Utah is an amazing team. But I don't think T-Mac is not part of the "team" because I see him play every game, and with the lackluster support he has, and with both Yao & Rafer Alston out... T-Mac has to carry a heavier load this year, than ever before.
Either Way... It's gonna be a GREAT series! - blackinthmiddle, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3Sorry, but that statement makes no sense whatsoever. Are you trying to say that McGrady's not a "team player? Bottom line, Houston has inferior talent. Stop laying the blame on McGrady. The team is very top heavy; McGrady and Ming. You lose one of those two and you're not going to beat a team in the west in a playoff series, period.
- Bukowsky, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3As a Lifelong Rockets fan, I have to agree that Utah is an amazing team. But I don't think T-Mac is not part of the "team" because I see him play every game, and with the lackluster support he has, and with both Yao & Rafer Alston out... T-Mac has to carry a heavier load this year, than ever before.
- IDIGTHEDIGG, on 04/21/2008, -2/+4Tmac should have got out of the first round after leading detriot 3-1 a couple years ago... without Yao this year he'll have to wait at least another year to get out of 1st rnd
- arial, on 04/21/2008, -8/+1Detroit is in the East
- blackinthmiddle, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1IDIGTHEDIGG is referring to when T-Mac played for Orlando.
- trav12221, on 04/21/2008, -0/+7T-mac was in the east
- blackinthmiddle, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1He's in the west *now*. IDIGTHEDIGG's referring to when he was with Orlando.
- blackdude, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1And they won their last 10 games _without_Yao_; proving that they don't need Yao to do anything, in fact, he might have been holding them back. Mutombo sucks though and he's old as hell, he played so soft Saturday night, looked like my grandma was in there for Yao..
- blackinthmiddle, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1Yao was holding them back? Goodness!!! The Rockets are incredibly predictable right now. Give the ball the T-Mac and watch him work against the three defenders that are surely going to come after him. They go as far as he takes them and he's not enough. Yao is 22ppg and 10.8 rpg. He's arguably their best offensive option and clogs the middle on defense. You think they're *better* without him?
- cgiupload, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1Dugg for using statistics to support your argument.
- blackinthmiddle, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1Yao was holding them back? Goodness!!! The Rockets are incredibly predictable right now. Give the ball the T-Mac and watch him work against the three defenders that are surely going to come after him. They go as far as he takes them and he's not enough. Yao is 22ppg and 10.8 rpg. He's arguably their best offensive option and clogs the middle on defense. You think they're *better* without him?
- rblancarte, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1The easiest thing is to look at the history:
99-00 Raptor - lost 0-3 to Knicks - to be fair, the Knicks were good that year, and on top of that, it was the first playoff appearance for the Raptors
00-01 Magic - lost 1-3 to the Bucks - lost last game at home, Bucks never trailed in series
01-02 Magic - lost 1-3 to the Hornets - lost last two games at home, Hornets never trailed in series
02-03 Magic - lost 4-3 to the Pistons - this is where he earned the tag. T-Mac made his "It's nice to finally be in the second round" comment after winning game 4, and the team lost the last 3 games of the series by a combined 61 points
04-05 Rockets - lost 4-3 to the Mavericks - they blew a 2-0 series lead (winning both on the road), and lost game 7 by 40
06-07 Rockets - lost 4-3 to the Jazz - again lost a 2-0 lead in a series where the home team won every game except game 7, where the Jazz won in Houston.
Now maybe the guy doesn't have a full team around him, but regardless of that, his team hasn't gotten it done when he is playing. Because of that, this is a tag he is going to have to wear. Is it too bad? Yea, because T-Mac is a great player, but, for good or ill, you are judged by what you do playoff time, and right now he isn't getting it done. - charbo187, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1actually back then the first round was only a 5 game series and orlando was up 2~1 or 2~0 when McGrady made the "nice to be in the second round" comment
- arial, on 04/21/2008, -8/+1Detroit is in the East
- arial, on 04/21/2008, -13/+3I think The Rockets are just playoff choke jobs. We'll see tonight.
GO SPURS GO!- onetimer, on 04/21/2008, -3/+4Spurs? Bandwagon much?
- arial, on 04/21/2008, -2/+2Nah I've been a fan all my life try again.
- ProjectGSX, on 04/21/2008, -2/+7Speaking as a Spurs fan, youre an idiot. To call an entire franchise choke jobs, when they destroyed the Spurs in the playoffs in 95 is just plain stupid.
The Rockets will lose to the Jazz but it has nothing to do with choking and everything to do with the beast of a chinese center they have in street clothes watching the game.- arial, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3I'm talking about the past few seasons not all time. Everyone knows in 95 they were bad ass.
- onetimer, on 04/21/2008, -3/+4Spurs? Bandwagon much?
- Ryan166, on 04/21/2008, -0/+8Real informative. I thought the Rockets owner would have came out saying T-Mac is a choke artist. duh.
- Kireblade, on 04/21/2008, -1/+4Utah is one hell of a team and might win the West...despite their great streak, Houston is the underdog this year, so there's not as much pressure as there was last year.
- jkr801, on 04/21/2008, -0/+2As a utah fan I must they probably wont get past Lakers...they are the only team that controled us at home this year...
- goldenratiophi, on 04/21/2008, -10/+4In the butt.
- TomT223, on 04/21/2008, -1/+3He can't do it all by himself. If Yao was there Utah would not be double and triple teaming T-Mac.
- bicyclethief, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1Superstars do do it all by themselves. Look at LeBron in the playoffs last year. He pretty much beat the Pistons by himself. You don't think he gets double and triple teamed? He still manages to carry his team though.
- ProjectGSX, on 04/21/2008, -1/+6Yeah LeBron was awesome in the Finals that year. And they got swept.
- bicyclethief, on 04/21/2008, -3/+2Hmm, let's see: Last year, a third year player carried his team to the Finals and lost against a Spurs team that's won 4 championships out of the last 8 years.
Please STFU already.
- bicyclethief, on 04/21/2008, -3/+2Hmm, let's see: Last year, a third year player carried his team to the Finals and lost against a Spurs team that's won 4 championships out of the last 8 years.
- ProjectGSX, on 04/21/2008, -1/+6Yeah LeBron was awesome in the Finals that year. And they got swept.
- Bengals1us, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1Last I checked the Jazz beat the Rockets last year with Yao!
- senorpuerco, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3Did you watch the game? The Jazz showed an occasional help defender, but McGrady was mostly covered by one guy. They switched off Brewer, Kirilenko, and Korver. If you can't score when you're covered by Kyle Korver, then you are officially not a superstar. McGrady can explode for one game, but he cannot carry a team the way a superstar is supposed to be able to.
- bsolidgold, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1Hey, Kyle Korver is an excelent defender... don't sell him out like that.
It's true, there were very few double/triple teams agains T-Mac in game 1... I don't see him as a threat, he's over-rated IMO.
- bsolidgold, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1Hey, Kyle Korver is an excelent defender... don't sell him out like that.
- bicyclethief, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1Superstars do do it all by themselves. Look at LeBron in the playoffs last year. He pretty much beat the Pistons by himself. You don't think he gets double and triple teamed? He still manages to carry his team though.
- r00tus3r, on 04/21/2008, -0/+8Seriously, he has NEVER been on a contender. The Rockets had a great win streak this year, but it was always doubtful that they would make it deep into the playoffs with that squad. It just isn't good enough period.
- Bukowsky, on 04/21/2008, -0/+2As a Rockets Fan... I hate to agree with you, but you're dead on.
- bicyclethief, on 04/21/2008, -0/+2But people aren't asking T-Mac to win it all. He needs to win one-- just one-- series first.
- jkr801, on 04/21/2008, -7/+1I can't wait to see him cry again
- pathouston22, on 04/21/2008, -8/+0Ahhh good ol Houston. No championships (important sports only) in over 13 years.
Just another reason to dislike this city. - anon12, on 04/21/2008, -0/+11http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfurCV1FDpM
Somehow, I don't think this man is a choker.- rblancarte, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1For all the good it did them. When the season ended these same Spurs were celebrating another championship, while T-Mac was again answering question about a first round loss, after they beat Dallas, _in_Dallas_, in games 1 and 2, and then lost game 7 by 40.
It is easy to get it done in the regular season, what has he done in the playoffs?
(like I said in my other post - it is unfair to McGrady, the guy is a good player, but the fact is, his teams have faltered in the 1st round every time) - chrismartens26, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Thank you for showing this. Honestly people, get the ***** off T-mac. The man has more game than 97% of the NBA, but is constantly plagued by injuries and ***** teams. Granted he has a few bad nights here and there, but for the most part when hes on the floor you hope he is wearing your colors.
They will lose this year not because of Yao being out, but because Rafer Alston is. Without him, they have BOBBY JACKSON running point. He can't score, dish, or defend, all of which Alston is excellent at and what McGrady needs as another player to take pressure off.
- rblancarte, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1For all the good it did them. When the season ended these same Spurs were celebrating another championship, while T-Mac was again answering question about a first round loss, after they beat Dallas, _in_Dallas_, in games 1 and 2, and then lost game 7 by 40.
- mytibt, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1When you win, everyone expects the star to credit the team, yet when you lose, everyone points to the star - don't underestimate the importance of Yao and Rafer Alston. This said, I am NOT a Houston fan, but really would have seen them get out of the first round with a healthy roster
- Rethcir, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1A-rod is, that's for sure
- kansai22, on 04/21/2008, -4/+4And people used to try to claim this guy was better than Kobe......... haha
- bsolidgold, on 04/21/2008, -1/+4I don't care how many points Kobe scores he's a douche bag and always will be a douche bag. He's selfish, arrogant and will never live up to the hype the media and retarded fans like you give him.
- javier182gt, on 04/21/2008, -0/+3To anyone that is saying that even with Yao we lost, you have to keep in mind that last year we had no power forward whatsoever. Chuck Hayes is just a defender and not a scorer and well Howard is just to old. We had potential to be a great threat this year, with two strong power forwards. Then there was the Yao incident.
- Bukowsky, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1exactly!
- cgiupload, on 04/21/2008, -0/+0I agree!
- charmaniac, on 04/21/2008, -0/+4T-mac is actually very good in the playoffs. His average number of points goes up, as do most of his other stats. The problem hasn't been T-mac, its been the rest of the players who have not played very well.
- Stupidtourist, on 04/21/2008, -1/+1If the Rockets lose tonight, the Jazz will sweep the series. Deron Williams > T-Mac
- tenabobina, on 04/22/2008, -1/+0They did, and they will. The Jazz will not lose at home.
- WilliamHBonney, on 04/21/2008, -0/+1http://www.bboke.cn/photo/mdvirgin.jpg
- steppinrazor, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1t-mac is the new jermaine o'neal
- archivist, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1my friends always told me T-Mac was Todd Macculoch... oh man.
/s - Ryan166, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1T-Mac's game two 4th quarter points: 1 free throw.
...he missed the other.- blasian, on 04/22/2008, -0/+0i believe both games combined his 4th quarter points are....1 free throw..
- OzzieAlThor, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0I just like the name of the author on the article.
Dick Justice. I lol'd. - aidtcp33, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0I think he's doing it to deflect criticism. The team has had very mediocre role players for years. For some reason, they think getting players who can create their own shot offensively is illegal. T Mac does deserve blame, especially for last year. However, he really needs some help. Not just Yao. Get him a good point guard, or good power forward or something.
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