And why Initech? Because Tracy McGrady is a big pussy.
That's it. I am done with you, Tracy McGrady. No more T-Mac. It's like Anakin Sywalker has complete morphed into Darth Vader. Except that you are not a nubian god and you aren't the least bit scary anymore. You have devolved into a giant choking machine. You are far worse than the Cowardly Lion, because at least the Lion knew what a giant pussy he was and tried to find courage. You.... well, not even the Wizard could help you I think.
Yes, you played great for 36 minutes. Yes, you almost had a triple double. No, I don't give a shit. The only stat that matters is the one that has a "W" in it. And let's not forget the backbreaking 5 turnovers. Meanwhile, you now are now 0-2 on Ws when it matters this year. You fucking lost two home games. To fucking UTAH!
What happened to T-Mac? The guy who dunked on Shawn Bradley's head?
We can publish the obituary tomorrow, because he is dead.
I should have known. The very first shot you took... 30 seconds into the game... a contested three-pointer. And why? No one has any clue. Tonight? 0-4 on 3s. 5-9 on free throws. 9-22 from the field... which isn't on its face too bad, except that the fourth quarter AGAIN produced 0 FGs from anyone named "McGrady." You are the anti-Kobe. And now you are dragging Houston and Yao Ming down with you. When push comes to shove, McGrady settles for jump shots. Again.
I watched the game tonight from a local bar with a bunch of Rockets fans. I even brought along a Pistons fan friend of mine with me. The whole game she kept asking me "why is Tracy taking difficult jump shots? Are they even double-teaming him?" Answers: I have no fucking idea and no. In Game 1, you got locked down by Ashton Korver... then you blamed your teammates because you couldn't get open. In Game 2, Utah played straight up... and you still couldn't make much of a difference. Sure, you got 13 rebounds and 9 assists, and I am sure you will quote this to the first reporter who asks you about how well you played. You just have no idea what it takes to win AND be a team player.
It's sad that it has taken me this long to realize that you just are not programmed to win when it matters. Toronto knew. Orlando learned. Houston is now suffering through it. I don't doubt that you like playing basketball, Tracy. I just don't think you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to be great. Which would be okay if your name was "Rafer Alston" but it's not. You are paid to be a star and at least win a freakin' first round series. Instead, you are now 2 games from being 0-7 in your career in Round 1. Shit, even your cousin Vince Carter found a way to accidentally win a playoff series or two. And EVERYONE thinks he is a giant douchebag. What does that make you, Tracy?
The worst part of tonight is that the rest of the team played well (for the most part). Granted, Luther Head needs to be packaged along with Tracy whenever we trade his carcass back to the Eastern Conference. And sure, I bet someone is going to point to Scola's 4-11. But Scola is the exact opposite of McGrady. Scola catches the ball and looks to inflict punishment on his way to the basket. There's no fading away. Scola is energy... all the time. And pure aggressiveness. And he still managed 14 points and 5 rebounds. You can't blame Scola. Or Battier. Or Bobby Jackson. Or Dikembe. Or Chuck Hayes. Or Carl Landry - who is barely 50% healthy.
I'm angry that such a promising season ... one with a forever memorable 22 game winning streak ... is 2-3 games from ending on such an anti-climactic note. Scola and Battier fought to win tonight. Tracy McGrady sat back and watched.
Yes, the call on Scola against Andrei Kirilenko was complete and utter bullshit. Andrei flopped. Everyone knows it. But here's the thing. It should NEVER have come to that. The Rockets rise above such things. The REAL Rockets. The version with the Heart of a Champion. That version did not take the court tonight. Or Saturday. That version seemed to have died on March 18th.
That's it. I am done with you, Tracy McGrady. No more T-Mac. It's like Anakin Sywalker has complete morphed into Darth Vader. Except that you are not a nubian god and you aren't the least bit scary anymore. You have devolved into a giant choking machine. You are far worse than the Cowardly Lion, because at least the Lion knew what a giant pussy he was and tried to find courage. You.... well, not even the Wizard could help you I think.Yes, you played great for 36 minutes. Yes, you almost had a triple double. No, I don't give a shit. The only stat that matters is the one that has a "W" in it. And let's not forget the backbreaking 5 turnovers. Meanwhile, you now are now 0-2 on Ws when it matters this year. You fucking lost two home games. To fucking UTAH!
What happened to T-Mac? The guy who dunked on Shawn Bradley's head?
We can publish the obituary tomorrow, because he is dead.
I should have known. The very first shot you took... 30 seconds into the game... a contested three-pointer. And why? No one has any clue. Tonight? 0-4 on 3s. 5-9 on free throws. 9-22 from the field... which isn't on its face too bad, except that the fourth quarter AGAIN produced 0 FGs from anyone named "McGrady." You are the anti-Kobe. And now you are dragging Houston and Yao Ming down with you. When push comes to shove, McGrady settles for jump shots. Again.
I watched the game tonight from a local bar with a bunch of Rockets fans. I even brought along a Pistons fan friend of mine with me. The whole game she kept asking me "why is Tracy taking difficult jump shots? Are they even double-teaming him?" Answers: I have no fucking idea and no. In Game 1, you got locked down by Ashton Korver... then you blamed your teammates because you couldn't get open. In Game 2, Utah played straight up... and you still couldn't make much of a difference. Sure, you got 13 rebounds and 9 assists, and I am sure you will quote this to the first reporter who asks you about how well you played. You just have no idea what it takes to win AND be a team player.
It's sad that it has taken me this long to realize that you just are not programmed to win when it matters. Toronto knew. Orlando learned. Houston is now suffering through it. I don't doubt that you like playing basketball, Tracy. I just don't think you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to be great. Which would be okay if your name was "Rafer Alston" but it's not. You are paid to be a star and at least win a freakin' first round series. Instead, you are now 2 games from being 0-7 in your career in Round 1. Shit, even your cousin Vince Carter found a way to accidentally win a playoff series or two. And EVERYONE thinks he is a giant douchebag. What does that make you, Tracy?
The worst part of tonight is that the rest of the team played well (for the most part). Granted, Luther Head needs to be packaged along with Tracy whenever we trade his carcass back to the Eastern Conference. And sure, I bet someone is going to point to Scola's 4-11. But Scola is the exact opposite of McGrady. Scola catches the ball and looks to inflict punishment on his way to the basket. There's no fading away. Scola is energy... all the time. And pure aggressiveness. And he still managed 14 points and 5 rebounds. You can't blame Scola. Or Battier. Or Bobby Jackson. Or Dikembe. Or Chuck Hayes. Or Carl Landry - who is barely 50% healthy.
I'm angry that such a promising season ... one with a forever memorable 22 game winning streak ... is 2-3 games from ending on such an anti-climactic note. Scola and Battier fought to win tonight. Tracy McGrady sat back and watched.
Yes, the call on Scola against Andrei Kirilenko was complete and utter bullshit. Andrei flopped. Everyone knows it. But here's the thing. It should NEVER have come to that. The Rockets rise above such things. The REAL Rockets. The version with the Heart of a Champion. That version did not take the court tonight. Or Saturday. That version seemed to have died on March 18th.
Screw you guys, I'm goin' home!
32 comments:
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Nice loss, douchebag.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
As a Jazz fan, I gotta admit that AK flopped. But I think that was a makeup call for Brooks hip checking DWill into the locker room, where by the way, Battier hit a 3-pointer.
Either way, you CANNOT blame one game on one call.
Houston was outplayed by Utah tonight. You definitely cannot deny that.
First I am not a Rockets fan and have always liked McGrady's overall game, but why does he take so many horrible contested 3 point shots? It makes no sense.
I watched and hated Allen Iverson for years as a Sixers fan, but know what? When the game was on the line he wasn't taking contested 3s... He was trying to get to the paint. the contested fading 2 pointer was plan C.(Passing was plan Q or something)
Well anyway, good luck with your solid young core. Landry was the best steal from this years draft.(Besides maybe Thad Young)
Noone will take McGrady though sorry. You will have to get very lucky.
Alston, Head are of the least watchable players in the NBA.
If you get a point guard though, I think you can make noise with McGrady on the team.
what will make you hate the jazz more? this years sweep, or last years heartbreaking loss? either way, it feels kinda good to see the jazz proving every analyst right when they said the rockets would fail in the playoffs. good luck next year, go jazz!
we need to ship his ass out of here.. it is quite obvious that unless yao can stay healthy for the rest of his career, the rockets are a fucking doomed team.
one positive is that this game showed that aaron brooks can be the point guard of this team in a couple of years.
boozer is a bitch
jacky bobson looks like black hitler
jerry sloan is a fucking cunt
What a retard. "Heart of a Champions"? When was the last time that was a valid slogan? 15 years ago?!
Tracy has no heart. Nor balls. And Tiny Tim, aka Yao, is a soulless commie -- he doesn't have the mindset or presence to be a superstar player.
Microcosm of the Houston franchise: no present, no future (lotto-bound rebuild is the most likely "fix") and an overrated past that was dependent on Michael Jordan getting bored with winning championships for a couple years.
The more you cling to those asterisk-ridden titles, the more pathetic you look.
But what else you got?
Exactly.
You can say the call on Scola at the end is BS, but the issue with NBA basketball is one word: judgement and point of view. Every player flops. There were calls throughout the whole game that could be disputed, for both sides. The hip-check by Brooks to Williams is one. Scola using his forearm every time he heads to the basket. The complete rape of Kirilenko on a rebound mere seconds before Scola gets called for a charge.
But you nailed it. It wasn't about that call. It was about missed opportunites to sieze control. The Rockets pilfered them away, while the Jazz took care of business. As simple as that.
And why don't we have a civilized basketball discussion. Calling Sloan a cunt or McGrady a pussy just shows the basketball IQ is about emotion, not logic and reason.
McGrady played good, but not great. I think Magic Johnson's praise on TNT was a little overboard. Everyone seems to be so afraid to hurt Tracy's feelings. Fact is, he isn't Kobe. And until he displays the killer instinct on a night by night basis, he's flashy with no heart.
Scola was the perp on a sloppy moving pick, and he got caught.
You homers bitching about it just shows how hypocritical and illogical you are about Stockton, Malone and Utah's general style of play.
Though there isn't anybody on the Jazz that grabs and pushes off the way Scola does.
That play shouldn't have happened -- only because Scola should have already fouled out.
I don't really think you can ask much more of McGrady. He has been the best player in this series, and absolutely dominated today's game. He had to carry his team for the entire game and did an amazing job for forty minutes, but he eventually wore down playing so many minutes and it showed down the stretch.
The Jazz used four different defenders on him, each continually handchecking and slapping at him, and would double team anytime he put the ball on the floor. There's not much McGrady can do it but try to get others involved.
The Jazz get away with this treatment of McGrady as they did last year. They get more physical, foul more, and everyone praises them for playing "tough." There's a reason they've lead the league if fouls for a few years running: they foul a lot. I don't see how fouling a lot is "tough."
Kyle Korver cannot guard McGrady. Matt Harpring cannot. Ronnie Brewer canot. Kirilenko cannot. They get away with grabbing, handchecking, and slapping at him. If that was Kobe or Lebron, they would get to the line every time they drive. McGrady, for some odd reason, does not get the same respect.
Also, side comment, for all the ripping on McGrady in the media, what has the All-Star Carlos Boozer done this series? Nothing to speak off, unless you count being completely outplayed by Luis Scola two games in a row.
Let's see, who am I going to listen to? Some whiny little bitch named grungedave who has a little cartman-hitler icon next to his name on a pathetic blog OR a professional journalist for a well-respected newspaper in a top five metropolitan area?
Listen to grungedave idiotically blame McGrady for the loss: "Yes, you played great for 36 minutes. Yes, you almost had a triple double. No, I don't give a shit. The only stat that matters is the one that has a "W" in it."
Or listen to Richard Justice opine on McGrady: "He's not why the Rockets lost, and anyone who tries to make him why the Rockets lost wasn't paying attention."
Exactly. Keep on crying grungedave. 0-2! Nice home court advantage!
That was a foul on Scola, no doubt about that. AK-47 flopped on that. Yet we get some people who are stupid enough to deny that.
http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2008/04/playoffs-news-scola-houston-have.html
I'm the eternal optimist, but I don't think this series is over. The Rockets (dear god) need Rafer back. They say he's supposed to be back by Game 3.
As much as Rafer is infuriating, he does go to the hole which opens things up for everyone else. It also allows Bobby Jackson to come off the bench, hopefully, in place of Luther Head who has been absolutely attrocious. If Rafer is 22-game winning streak Rafer, the Rockets will become much better offensively. Then again, if he's 3-17 Rafer, they don't have a chance.
McGrady didn't cause the Rockets to lose unless you count his missed free throws. The Rockets are horrible shooting free throws. They missed 11 in Game 1 and they missed 10 in a game they lost by 6. Hit half of those and both games end much differently.
My opinion so far, the Jazz aren't that much better than the Rockets right now without Rafer and Yao. Everybody in the media is acting like they are completely dominating this series, but they must not be watching as the Jazz are breaking a sweat out there. Maybe the young Rockets (Scola, Landry, etc.) can settle down on the road where nothing is expected of them. Maybe Rafer can come back and provide a spark to the offense. Maybe the fact that the Rockets really don't have any pressure on them at all now, as no one expects them to win, will cause them to play more loose.
Rockets are in a tough spot, but this team seems to thrive on tough spots. This series isn't over yet.
"And now you are dragging Houston and Yao Ming down with you...
"
Are you really serious about that statement? I am willing to give you a break and let your emotions settle.
But then again your bias against T-Mac or Tracy is really up there. Please go back to the Dallas series 3 years ago and the Utah one last year and watch every single game with an open mind...the reason Houston lost both was because Yao wouldn't live up to the billing as the best center in the west. Yao is just too soft and frankly, overrated.
You blame TMac for being injured, yet Yao misses more game due to injury...what an irony!
Granted that T-Mac should not settle for jump shots sometimes and be a little more productive in the 4th quarters, the reason the Rockets lost last night was because open guys couldn't convert and free throw is still a big issue. And please forget about the idea that Scola, Battier, Bobby or Deke shouldn't be blamed, none of them did anything beyond ordinary yesterday. The team should be blamed, not T-Mac.
The Rockets will always be better with both Yao and T-Mac than just with either, but definitely better with just T-Mac than with just Yao.
I called this so long ago. Seriously, who didn't see the rockets suckage coming? I called either their missing the playoffs (they surprised me by making the playoffs) or sucking horribly. They were guaranteed to lose against the Jazz no matter who had HCA, but going out in such a shitty way... a sweep. Its pathetic. Theres a 90% chance they go out in 4 games. And they had HCA. I'm really sorry Yao went out, I really like that guy... and yes, Tracy McGrady is shit.
As a side, your 22 game streak, the only thing you can brag about... was fake. You beat the mavs w/o Dirk, the Lakes w/o Pau, and granted there were a few good wins (Jazz, Hornets once or twice) but the rest were below .500 and the Nugs, who aren't even a damn team.
I'd pickup the Mavs or the Spurs right now. I've got the Mavs.
Oh, where to begin:
1. I am NOT blaming anything on the AK47 flop. It had to be called... it was called... I have no problem with it. It did not decide the game. I am NOT bitching about it.
2. Respond to this? "Let's see, who am I going to listen to? Some whiny little bitch named grungedave who has a little cartman-hitler icon next to his name on a pathetic blog OR a professional journalist for a well-respected newspaper in a top five metropolitan area?"
Hmmmm... well, clearly you ARE listening to me because you are on my blog and commenting. Odd.
3. Yao gets injured (i.e., surgery, broken bones, etc.). Tracy gets hurt... tweaks a knee or sprains a thumb. Things most people play through on a daily basis. That's the difference.
4. Boozer has not done much this series. But at least he's had an impact in the 4th Q. Unlike someone.
5. This series is NOT over... but me ever trusting Tracy McGrady to come up huge in a tough spot definitely is in the past.
The Rockets were 61% from the free throw line.
They were 21% from 3 pt. range. Partially T-Mac (0-4), but let's not forget Brooks and Heads combined 0-5.
They couldn't get the rebounds when it counted. Hayes and Head couldn't make a layup to save their own lives.
Kobe and Lebron couldn't have won this game with a team like that.
Kobe and Lebron couldn't have won this game with a team like that.
I could not possibly disagree more with that statement. LeBron and Kobe both have won a plethora of games when their teams did exactly that.
LeBron scored 48 against Detroit in game 5 last year... most of it coming in the 4th Q and overtime. He did not have anyone close to being as good as Scola or Battier on his team.
Kobe has a history of torching very good teams. (See 2000-2004 seasons.) He took a team with Smush and Kwame to 7 games against Nash, Amare and Marion. Smush and Kwame!! Kobe scored 50 in one of those games, too. In a "W".
Patrick, this series is over.
The Jazz and the Rockets are pretty evenly matched when both teams are healthy as evidenced by last years playoffs.
The Jazz just came into your house and stole two games. They are now headed back into Utah where they only lost four games all season. Yes, one of them was to your Rockets, but that was the first home game of the season and you had a healthy Yao in the lineup. Energy Solutions is a completely different place during the playoffs and completely different from the first home game of the season.
I salute the Rockets for an amazing season, with an awesome stretch of 22 wins which is a feat no matter who you are playing. But I'm sorry, this series is going to be a sweep.
David and Lee...
You guys have a good blog but I think you also have a bias against T-Mac(T). Which is almost okay as I get frustrated by unnecessary jumpers and contested threes by T-Mac, but promoting Yao(Y) on this blog as a bad-ass at the expense of T is almost unbearable for me.
1. T-Mac played well last night. We can argue if he could have done more but saying no one else on the team deserves a blame is simply ridiculous. T-Mac played well, the rest of the cast were pedestrian.
2. I agree that the near triple double is meaningless without a W, but bringing up the 5 TOs is unjust. If you can, please watch the game again and you'll see that at least 3 of those TOs were not T-Mac's fault. What about the 3 steals and 3 blocks...meaningless huh?
3. I like Yao but T-Mac has been more effective than Yao has been for the Rockets. Please check out the stats, and pay attention to wins with just T versus wins with just Y. Please stop saying Y is bad-ass while pissing on T. I may be calling on Nate Robinson
babat, I love T-Mac. Love him. Really. But T-Mac is dead. Tracy is all that remains. (Go read Lee's "Inner Musings of a Superstar" post to see the difference in the two).
So Nate blocked Yao's shot once... so what?
T-Mac's turnovers were KILLER. Dribbling behind your back in traffic, then not diving to the court to fight for it and eventually kicking it out of bounds? Tracy didn't want it more than Utah. Simple as that.
As for the steals and blocks, uh, Tracy is the superstar player, right? He's SUPPOSED to have 3 steals and 3 blocks in big games.
It's like Chris Rock's old riff on the man who brags about taking care of his kids: You're SUPPOSED to! What do you want, a cookie?!?!
The Jazz would still win this series with Yao playing. It might go longer, but they are still deeper and tougher. I don't think Rafer Alston will make a big difference in game 3 or 4. He is a back-up point guard at best.
Houston is one player away from being very, very good. But they can't rely on Yao or McGrady, because even though they have all-star next to their names, I think we all agree, they aren't.
You can't just cite a game and list off the points that Kobe and LeBron scored and think it's a fair comparison.
The 50 pt game? THEY LOST. They didn't get a W. You are completely wrong on that one. Phoenix won that game. Yeah a 50 pt game and your team can still lose.
What about the games they did win in that series? How about Game 2 when his teammates shot 50% from three point land? Did T-Mac's teammates do that? NO. Kobe had 29 pts, 10 rbs, and 5 assists. T-Mac had a similar game then that. Only 6 points less, but with 3 more rebounds,and 3 more assists.
Maybe Game 3? Kobe only had 17 pts Luke Walton had 17. Smush had 18. Yes, Smush outscored Kobe that game.
Maybe Game 4 when Lamar Odom with 25 outscored Kobe by 1 pt (24 pts)? It would have been nice if one of T-Mac's teammates could do that.
They lost the rest. So do you guys now see how Tracy's teammates don't give him the support he needs???? You all are citing all these games and you don't even know what his teammates did.
My mistake on the Kobe/50/W. I was in Jamaica that week (really).
But are you seriously saying that Smush and Kwame are better than Scola and Battier?
Please. The fact that Kobe got those guys *to* the playoffs has to be one of the most impressive things ever.
I also noticed you had no retort to the LeBron 48/Detroit game. Probably because there isn't one. And I do not like LeBron.
It is inarguable whether or not Kobe or Lebron is better than Tracy. Frankly, it's not close. And this is coming from an unabashed Tracy McGrady fan. I own 2 different Rockets jerseys and 1 Orlando jersey, probably every basketball card the guy's ever been on and multiple autographed items are in my sons room. I love Tracy, it pains me that he has turned into this.
Does everyone realize he is only 28 years old? Also known as 1 year YOUNGER than Kobe? And that Kobe has exactly the same hard years as Tracy does but is getting better and not markedly worse?
I do not revel in the same zeal Dave seems to in regards to Tracy's decline, but it is plain to even the untrained basketball eye that his drop off is huge.
I want TMac back, the guy that dominated the 4th quarter. He didn't always win, but he dominated.
In no way do I think this loss in on Tracy, let me be very clear on that. Dave may believe it, but I do not. I do believe that had Tracy stepped up to the plate in the 4th, we would have won, but he played his ass off for 4 quarters.
Where did I say Smush and Kwame are better then Scola and Battier? I didn't. I said in the games that LA won against Phoenix, Kobe had better contributions from his teammates then what Tracy is getting. I didn't say he had better talent, or better teammates. There is a big difference there.
I wanted to keep my post short so I omitted the LeBron comparison. But what do you want to hear? That Detroit shot an abysmal 28% from the 3 point line? Or maybe his teammates played some great defense. Either way Utah shot 41% in both games against us. Cav's were 71% from the free throw line. 10% improvement on the Rockets. And they were 46% from 3pt range. Alot better then 21%. Remove T-Mac and it's still only 26% compared to a LeBron-less Cav's 41%. 41% to 26%. Pretty substantial difference.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's not just about how much your superstar scores. There are other factors, as I've pointed out in both examples. If Detroit hadn't shot like shit from the 3pt line, or Cleveland hadn't played such great defense, depending on how you want to look at it, then LeBron's "W" would have been a "L" too, even with his 48 points. Because they only won by 2 points.
If the Rockets have to rely on T-Mac to score 48+ points a game so they can win, they got bigger problems. The Rockets have way more talent then they are showing right now. We wanna blast T-Mac but nobody wants to look at his teammates and say, "Hey are these guys playing to the best of their ability?" The answer is a big NO.
Eric, I want to rip EVERYONE on the roster right now. Including the coaches.
Scola shot 4-11 and missed too many FTs.
Battier got beat on D a couple times and didn't secure rebounds.
Mutombo doesn't realize that he is slow to react on defense and offense and yet still bitches when he doesn't get the ball.
Bobby Jackson had a good bounce-back game, but he took some TERRIBLE shots in the second half (Bill Walton voice).
Luther Head is lost and useless against bigger/stronger opponents.
Aaron Brooks is a rookie, but he has to make smarter decisions in April.
Rick Adelman shortened his rotation at the very time he needed to expand it (Mike Harris could have contributed greatly in this game).
........ but at the end of the day, your star player defines who you are. The NBA is a star system. One that pays McGrady quite well to play that role.
Yet McGrady was the only one to complain about having nothing left, having no legs and being tired. He's the only one that offered excuses trying to deflect blame. Sorry, but I ain't buying.
I love Tracy McGrady when he's just playing basketball and not letting everyone get into his head. But his reputation has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If there ever was a series to NOT blame T-Mac for his team's first round failure, then this is the series to do it.
I remember a Lakers team from a couple of years ago who could not get pass the first round when Kobe only had Smush Parker and Kwame Brown. T-Mac has Bobby Jackson and Luis Scola.
Sure, Kobe took that series to 7 games, but Phoenix played absolutely no defense as opposed to a Jazz team who kills their opponents when driving the lane.
Another good example of a superstar not having the supporting cast is Lebron against the Spurs in last year's finals. He could not do it on his own.
Now, take Lebron's current team and subtract Delonte West and Ilguaskus from the roster and see how well he and the Cavs do against the Jazz. It would be a joke.
Yeah, T-Mac should have chosen his words more carefully during the post-game presser, but this is NOT on him. If he was tired, then he should have kept his mouth shut and saying he wasn't. And, he shouldn't have been tired. Superstars do dig deep, I don't think it mattered.
The Jazz would have found a way even if T-Mac had that second gear. The jazz are simply a better team when the Rockets are missing 2 of their 3 best players.
"missing 2 of their 3 best players"
Rafer is not our third best player. That would be Battier. I'm not even sure Rafer is our 4th best player.
I'm not saying the Rockets would have won if Tracy played better. (No one knows what would have happened if McGrady was healthy, for he may have just shot 5 more errant 3s.)
I *am* saying that I'm sick of McGrady's excuses and his 1 point fourth quarter performances.
grungedave: "This series is NOT over... but me ever trusting Tracy McGrady to come up huge in a tough spot definitely is in the past."
Reality: The series is over. The Rockets don't advance. And no one outside of Houston will be surprised.
Clue in, Dave. Your little team ain't gonna make it. And next year, they are lottery-bound.
Lottery bound? Really? Yao comes back. We get a draft pick and we have cap room. We won 55 games with an injury depleted roster (more wins than a healthy Jazz squad, btw - and we didn't choke to Minnesota twice.)
That's what's really scary to me. If this Jazz team can get their shit together and actually win all the games they are supposed to, they are, without a doubt, the top team in the West.
Personally, I trade Kirilenko. I know he's doing better and everyone's singing kumbaya, but I think the Jazz play crappier defense when he is in the game. I think other players assume Kirilenko has their back and they are more prone to let their man get to the basket. Just look at some of the spankings we've put on teams when he's been out of the lineup.
And CJ Miles isn't garbage. He's shown he can step-up and make shots and plays. If I'm Kevin O'Connor, I gamble and go for another scorer. Maybe Vince Carter? Maybe pry away Shawn Marion from the Heat and re-enact the trade that should have happend last summer.
In terms of Houston, you guys are fine. Don't listen to the hateful asshole Jazz fans. Listen to me, the collected, unbiased Jazz fan who just loves basketball. Aldeman should try and create a replica of his Kings team with this Houston team, meaning he needs one more piece. Yao and McGrady just can't carry the load. One more complimentary player would help them sustain what they did this year.
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