Mcgrady, Rockets Agree to Part Ways

So it's finally happened. As of earlier today, the Houston Rockets and disgruntled ex-star Tracy Mcgrady have decided that they will no longer attempt to keep up their recent facade of cooperation, with Mcgrady taking an indefinite leave from the team while we look to trade him. I can't really say this was unexpected, as we've been not-so-discreetly shopping T-Mac since last season and his banishment this weekend only made a trade all the more imminent.

I can say that I'm slightly disappointed both in Rockets' management (I know, blasphemy) and in Rick Adelman. First off, I'd like to qualify any forthcoming statements by saying that I think Adelman and Morey should win Coach and Executive of the Year, respectively. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I think we thoroughly mishandled this situation.

I was one of the (vocal) minority who believed that Mcgrady could return to being a productive player and possibly fill in our much-needed "closer" role. Mcgrady became even more potentially useful when Budinger went down with and ankle injuries and with Ariza's continuing futility on the offensive end, but more on that later.

What I loved, and still love, about Morey is how he manages to direct the team without ever actually interfering with it. He provides a roster with his handpicked gems and stays out of the way for the rest, allowing his players to prove time and again what a genius he is when it comes to finding talent.

Yet, in this situation, it was Morey who decided that Mcgrady would not play over the weekend. I'm sure this was exactly what Adelman wanted, so I can't really blame Morey, but I hope that this doesn't set a precedent of him taking too active of a role in actual game-decisions instead of sticking to personnel matters.

Although I run the risk of going overboard, I'm worried that Morey might follow the path set by Portland General Manager Kevin Pritchard. For the past few years Pritchard was lauded as brilliant, making flurries of draft day moves and putting together an extremely promising and young Trailblazers team.

Yet, this past offseason, with his past success and building external pressure slowly getting to him, Pritchard decided to sign Andre Miller, seemingly only to make a proverbial splash in the free agent market. Three months later, Miller still isn't meshing with Brandon Roy and there are already trade rumors swirling around him.

But at the same time, it's nearly impossible to doubt Morey after considering how unbelievable he's been since taking over the Rockets.

He's made moves that I was openly against before and made me look like a dumbass with their results (see Alston, Rafer), so I can't really bring myself to doubt him, seeing as the man, to fill my quota of at least one cliched, overused sports phrase, has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know.

Plus, I think Morey is infinitely smarter than Pritchard and won't allow this to happen to him, I'd just like to point out that perfection for a General Manager is hardly permanent.

So, in spite of my disagreement with Morey on this particular issue, I still feel that if I had to trust one decision that I didn't like it would be one made by Daryl Morey, and I'm confident that he knows what he's doing.

My real issue lies with Rick Adelman. Adelman has been phenomenal this season and, like I said earlier, is my favorite for Coach of the Year, but I really don't think he handled the Mcgrady situation objectively.

I feel that part of Morey's seven-minute limit on Mcgrady's playing time partially had to do with how Mcgrady jerked himself in and out of the season last year and his subsequent announcing of his intention to undergo a micro-fracture surgery without consulting with the team first.

Although I'd hate to sound too lambasting-y, I think Adelman was too quick to discount Mcgrady when he could have provided the Rockets with exactly what we needed, a wing who can score and distribute while creating shots for himself and others at the end of games.

Plus, Mcgrady could have at least provided some respite for Ariza, who's struggles have gotten progressively worse as the season, well, progresses. He's been an offensive liability like no other, stopping ball movement, struggling to create off the dribble, turning the ball over and putting up bad shot after bad shot.

Plus, he seems to be regressing on defense, either as a result of sheer exhaustion or overconfidence, as he's been gambling for steals rather than playing solid, gritty, Battier-defense more and more as of late. But I don't want to turn this post into a flaming of Ariza, since, you know, what the hell else am I going to write about now that this Mcgrady saga is over?

Poor jokes aside, the point is that this article isn't about Ariza's struggles, so with the permission of you, my loyal and most-likely slightly bored reader, I'd like to move on.

What I'm circuitously getting at is despite whatever minor issues I might have with our nearly-flawless management, the fact remains that we're currently 18-13 with no help from Mcgrady and clearly didn't (don't) need him.

The question that begs to be answered now is what to do with what will now be referred to has Tracy Mcgrady's Expiring Contract, or, if you're a fan of less technical phrases, The Way We're Going to Trick Some Poor-As-Hell Team Into Giving Us A Star.

In spite of all of his flaws (and they are plentiful in number, I don't think there's much argument on that point), Mcgrady did one thing right: his contract expires at the perfect time. In a downtrodden economy, with teams struggling to break even while anxiously hiding their metaphorical boners for the clusterfuck that is the 2010 free agency period, the time is ripe for Daryl Morey to make a fool out of someone.

Bill Simmons has a few ideas of his own, my favorite being the deal for Chris Paul. They all follow a similar format, which is basically us giving up Tracy Mcgrady (and possibly Scola and/or Brooks depending on the caliber of the player we're getting back, the Paul deal has us giving them both) while taking back a slew of terrible contracts and one potential star/superstar/superduperstar.

So, in a roundabout and unnecessarily painful way, Mcgrady might actually end up giving us that legitimate go-to guy this year, except not by actually playing but from a series of events that started with his micro-fracture surgery in the off-season and culminating in his exile from the team for what can only be properly described as "incessant bitching."

So, thanks for the memories T-Mac, there definitely were some good ones. Namely, this one. And this one. Shit, I meant this one. And, if all goes right, thanks even more for what you're about to net us sometime between now and the February trade deadline. And, as always, go Rockets.

Mcgrady Unhappy With Role

For just a few games, Mcgrady was actually beginning to look like he bought into what the Rockets were selling. He was saying and doing all the right things, playing hard and sticking with the company line on his playing time. Now, six games later, he gives us this. Unhappy with his "cameo" roles, Mcgrady now wants an increase in his playing time.

I'm not sure how to react to this, because I for one fully agree that it's time to start increasing his minutes. It's been six games of his seven minute runs in the first quarter, and we might as well slowly starting dialing up his playing time to see if he's really ready for some burn.

At the same time I can't believe he actually came out and complained about his minutes publicly. He keeps talking about how we have a young team and an abrupt return would ruin our chemistry, but apparently he's gained some new perspective over the course of this last week.

According to Mcgrady, he feels "fine" and it's "time to start increasing [his] minutes." I'm not sure how Adelman or the Rockets are going to handle the Artist Formerly Known as T-Mac's request, but it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Sorry Von

But at the end of the day, I'd take this guy over you ten times out of ten.



Oh, how I missed hearing "T-Mac to the rack."

Recently there's been some speculation that due to certain financial agreements I may in fact be rooting against the Rockets. I'd like to quell these rumors by stating that no, the reason I'm unhappy about signing Von Wafer is that we already have two backup shooting guards who are more than capable of handling the load themselves, three if you count Jermaine Taylor. He also bolted for Greece after being stupid enough to get tossed out of a playoff game against the Lakers. That, not a hidden agenda, is why I'm unhappy about resigning Von.

Von's Back, Tell A Friend

Tonight is a night of returns for your Houston Rockets. Not only is (The Great) Steve Novak back in town, we just learned today that the Rockets will resign Von Wafer. So yeah, that's cool. Not like he yelled at our head coach and was sent to the locker room during the playoffs or anything. Oh wait. It's okay, at least we get to add another raw talent with oodles (yeah, I used oodles) of potential but a penchant for careless mistakes, since, you know, Brooks and Ariza weren't enough. Never mind, even comparing him to Brooks and Ariza is an insult to our two leading scorers. Wafer's stupidity on the basketball floor is untouchable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Von, but I really don't like adding a headcase to a team that's worked so well mainly because we haven't had a headcase. He's a phenomenal player and if he ever straightens out the league better be careful, but right now I really don't think we need him.

Plus, this move effectively marginalizes Tracy Mcgrady, meaning that we're most likely leaning towards trading him. Jermaine O'neal, here we come. I had hoped that we'd give T-Mac a shot in the time Budinger was out, but clearly it looks like we have other plans.

Now don't get me wrong, this move could turn out to be an ingenious one, and it wouldn't surprise me if Morey's plan to resign Wafer all along was let him leave to Greece, struggle with his new team and return here for cheaper than ever before, but, as dumb as it sounds to say this about a player who really only made a difference for a few months, I'd gotten over Von. I was excited to see what he would do this year with Mcgrady out for extended time, but after he decided that he'd rather go overseas I'd figured that we were done with him.

In any case, my opinion is, at the end of the day, utterly worthless. I can bitch and moan all I want about the signing, but Wafer is still going to be suiting up for us and getting burn while Mcgrady sits on the bench and watches. So yeah, yay for Von Wafer. I knew he'd be back all along. He's got so much talent, I can't wait to see how he does when he's finally given the opportunity. It's not that he has attitude issues, it's just that he hasn't received proper direction. No, no, he doesn't make stupid mistakes, he's just over-eager. And look, he's so happy he's "about to start crying."

Fuck it. I'm unhappy we signed him and that's that. Hopefully he'll at least have the courtesy to bring the Von-hawk back. Game's going on right now against the Clippers, here's Billy's preview.

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

It never fails. It really, truly, never fails. Tracy "You Better Still Call Me T-Mac" Mcgrady is at it again. This happens every time we show the slightest hint of optimism about him, every time a sliver of hope peaks through the shroud of darkness that is Tracy Mcgrady's tenure as a Rocket: he squashes it. To stay recent, after a phenomenal 2008 Playoffs he announced he needed shoulder and knee surgery, quelling any ideas that he was for once fully healthy. Last season he distracted and restricted the team, trying to play through an injury while making sure everybody knew that he was, in fact, injured by looking absolutely miserable on the floor, shooting like it was 2002 and then destroying any shot we had at trading him by announcing the day before the trade deadline that he would be getting microfracture surgery. Now, after weeks of stories about how motivated he is and how well he is progressing, apparently Mcgrady and Adelman had a heated exchange before Wednesday night's Timberwolves game about when he would return. Mcgrady was frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of communication between him and the organization, and continued his passive-aggressive assault on the Rockets by suiting up for the game and shooting around before actually approaching Adelman. The confrontation was icy at best and sources even said that shouting could be heard coming from the coach's office.

This is not a new story, rather just the resurgence of an old one. Mcgrady and the Rockets, and Adelman to be more specific, do not get along. What Mcgrady doesn't understand, though, is that the Rockets do not need him this season. The team is more than happy to continue the way it has been, fighting hard every night and winning enough to make it worthwhile. Yes, we probably need Mcgrady to truly contend for the title, but not if he's going to act like a prima donna. We need the Mcgrady that played for us from January to April of 2008, the selfless leader who led a defense, rebounded hard, distributed when he needed to and cold-bloodedly took over games when he had to. I know, I've romanticized what Mcgrady was during those three months, but compared to what he is now that's hardly an exaggeration. Mcgrady is still scheduled to undergo an MRI before the team clears him to return, and I'm guessing that the organization will choose a course of action based on the results of the scan. If Mcgrady is in fact fully healthy and ready to return, he and Adelman need to work out whatever the hell is bothering them if we're going to get anywhere this year. Otherwise, things like this will continue to happen.

Now, in spite of all this, I just want to establish that I'm still very, very excited for Mcgrady's return. This teams potential with an invested, motivated T-Mac is off the charts. If he understands how great he can be without shooting contested, step-back 20 footers every time he touches the ball we can truly be a special team. If he realizes how talented of a passer he is and how badly we need him to run the offense, we can be dominant. If he puts the Rockets as a whole before himself, and disproves his doubters with his teammates rather than in spite of them, we're a title contender. Damn, that's a lot of if's.

He's Baaaaack

Tracy Mcgrady has announced that he plans to play on November 18. As excited as I am to see a motivated, hopefully healthy T-Mac back on the floor, I can't help but wonder what it's going to do to our chemistry. Hopefully he'll play within the offense, pick his spots, focus on distributing and take over in crunch time, but that's all in a perfect world. There's just as real of a chance that he'll be selfish, disrupt ball movement and ruin the flow of the offense, but that's a risk I'm willing to take. This Rockets team has been spectacular so far and adding a versatile player like Mcgrady who could potentially play unselfish, involved basketball is just deadly. If he can find a way to still let Ariza, Scola and Brooks get their touches while maintaining control of the game, we're in pretty shape. I think that in an offense as up-tempo as ours there will always be points to go around, so I can easily see the aforementioned three still averaging their 15-17 a game with Mcgrady getting his 20. I think the key to everything meshing is running the offense through Mcgrady, as he's still our best passer. Ariza will still score on his open threes and jumpers off of drive-and-kicks, Brooks will still be able to attack the basket when he wants or work the pick and roll, Scola will get his post touches and easy baskets off Mcgrady's drives and Mcgrady will find a way to score, just as he has for his whole career. I fully understand how risky it is to add a partially past his prime superstar with an ego and a personal agenda, but I also have to stress how dangerous this Rockets team can be with Tracy Mcgrady. Adding T-Mac doubles the potential this group has, and that's in no way an exaggeration. He is good enough of a passer that he'll make up for the shots he takes by creating more open looks for guys, meaning that the well-balanced offense that's become the Rockets' trademark this year will not just disappear, and he'll also provide us with a go-to guy, something we've been sorely lacking.

So, here's hoping that the Mcgrady we get is the Mcgrady we grew to worship during the 22-game winning streak. The guy that made his teammates better, passed when he could and scored when he had to, dominated the game without overpowering his teammates and brought the most out of a team that many left for dead. And, just as a little reminder of who Mcgrady is, I'll leave you with a little video. Hopefully you'll find it slightly more than familiar.

On a side note, Mcgrady's November 18 return is not a concrete date. There's conflicting information coming from the Rockets, who say it's after November 23, and Mcgrady, who said the 18th. But we think the story is much more exciting if it's the 18th, so yeah, Mcgrady is back on the 18th!!!

I Had A Dream

Last night I happened to have one of the most beautiful, uplifting dreams I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. If you're wondering, it did have to do with the Rockets. Specifically, it was about Tracy Mcgrady.

The dream began about halfway through a Rockets game. I think we were playing the Pistons, or at least a team with similar uniforms to the Pistons. For the sake of making this dream as realistic as possible, let's assume it was the Pistons. But this wasn't just any Rockets game, this was Tracy Mcgrady's first game back from his microfracture surgery. The dream began with the commentator, I think it was Jeff Van Gundy (I actually have no idea who it was, I just want it to be Van Gundy) saying how many doubts there were about Mcgrady's phsyical ability and whether he would ever return to his pre-injury form.

On the first play that I "saw" Mcgrady drove into the lane. But instead of settling for a jumper or passing it or turning it over like he normally does, he kept going once he got inside the three point line. And going and going and going. And he rose up and tomahawked it on Rasheed Wallace. The next play he caught it as he was posting up on the left block, spun towards the basket and dunked it again, making Antonio McDyess the next Shawn Bradley. That's probably the third or fourth time I've used that link on this blog but I could care less.

There were a few more plays in my dream, he hit a jumper from the right wing, a pull-up three and another athletic layup, but is was the last play that stuck with me. The shot-clock was winding down (Another added detail, just like the Jeff Van Gundy one. Humor me. Please) and the ball was kicked out to Mcgrady at around the three point line. He attacked the basket, rose up, contorted his body in the air to move the ball away from both McDyess and Wallace, and dunked it with both hands. And then he did Dwight Howard's post-dunk move and hung onto the rim while lifting both legs up as he tried to put his manhood in both Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess' mouths. At the same time. At that point, Jeff Van Gundy just kept saying "He's back, he's back. Tracy Mcgrady is back."

Then I woke up, realized that Mcgrady's health depends on his work ethic and that even if he does manage to find enough inspiration to put in 6 strong months of rehabilitation, there's still a great chance he'll never get back his lost athleticism and quickness. Damnit. Damnit, damnit, damnit.

Why Mcgrady Has To Go (And Various Thoughts From The Conference Finals)

I noticed a few things in Billy's article and in the Conference Finals that I'd like to share with you. One of them was his blatant misspelling of the word "bait" (he spelled it bate). Another was the comments about how Mcgrady can still help us. I love Mcgrady and argued for him all year until the microfracture surgery, but I don't think that he will ever suit up for us again.

First things first, I understand how good Mcgrady is. I remember that he average something like 24-7-7 during our winning streak last season, I remember his 40 in Game 6 of the Utah series. I also know that you don't go from scoring 40 in your last game of a season to averaging 15 a game the next season naturally, so obviously something was wrong this year. Ideally he has fixed whatever the problem was and will come back fully healthy, but his ability is not the problem anymore (and to be truthful, it never was, it was his commitment to working, but that's another story for another day). In fact, I'm almost sure he's going to go back to averaging 20 points a game, but that's not why he needs to leave our team.

Whether it's true or not, the seed has been planted in every Rocket's head that the team is better without Tracy Mcgrady. For the record, I don't think we are. Yes, we played better without him. We also had a healthy Artest and Battier as well as a newly unleashed Aaron Brooks. Don't forget that when you talk about how we "don't need" Mcgrady. But no matter what the truth is, the Rockets now think they don't need T-Mac. Yes, the Houston Rockets now believe we don't need our supposed savior, the man who was going to take us back to where the Dream took us, the man who "just sucked the gravity right out of the building." The man who beat the Spurs in the greatest comeback in NBA history. Now that we won a playoff series without Mcgrady, the doubt has been solidified. (In an unrelated note, the commercial for "The Hangover" just came on. There is absolutely nothing, and I will repeat, absolutely nothing, more bizarre than Mike Tyson singing "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.) But that's neither here nor there nor anywhere in the vicinity of either of those two places. The point is, Mcgrady will not be able to just walk into practice now that the Rockets "know" that we are better without him. That is the kind of mental damage that cannot be repaired. Bridges have been burned, and I believe it's time for both parties to move on. Not because it's the best option, but because we have to.

That being said, I would have advocated trading Mcgrady anyways. He is past his prime and his contract expires at the perfect time, as Billy just explained, which gives us a lot of options. Hopefully we can parlay (what a word) his contract into a star wing player and actually get somwhere next year. We'll keep you updated with news and our most likely worthless commentary on the matter as the offseason progresses.

And the Nuggets just beat the Lakers in Game 2. The series is tied at 1-1 with two games being decided by a combined 5 points. I'm going to put up a recap of the first two games of both this and the Cavaliers-Magic series on Saturday night, so I'll just make a few comments here.

-Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week. Yes, I know Kobe and Lebron have been playing, but the things Anthony has been doing are amazing. His offensive game is, since I really have no other word for it, perfect. He can score from inside, outside and everywhere in between. And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool.

-Chauncey Billups is missing free throws. It's probably nothing, but it's still something, if that makes sense. I don't like that he went 1-2 with 4 seconds left when making both of them would win the game. Things like that are what make good teams lose games they should win.

-J.R. Smith has been nonexistent. Actually, he's been existent, he's just been really, really bad. Horrendous even. Usualy out of control. Sometimes just stupid. He's been all of those things, but in all honesty, I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field.

-In Game 1, the Nuggets led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at the half, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In game 2, the Lakers led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at halftime, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In both games, Pau Gasol made more agonized faces than Yao Ming during an x-ray.

-The Magic are a very good basketball team. In case you missed Game 1, which you shouldn't have, I just want to tell you that it was not an anomaly. They won the way they usually do, Dwight dominating the paint, their shooters hitting 3s and Hedo "The Legend" Turkoglu running the show. And in all seriousness, "The Legend" should be Hedo's new nickname. He deserves it. Really. I'm dead serious. The point of this is that I think they will give the Cavaliers a fight, and while I still think Cleveland is going to win, (that Lebron fellow is not too shabby) I now think it's going to be in 7 games.

I'll post a deeper recap of what I saw in the first four games sometime Saturday, so that's another article for you to read. Or more realistically, another article for you to ignore. Happy Friday everyone.

Also, feel free to call out Billy about his Rockets Season Grades which were supposed to be "coming soon". If Mcgrady had the same work ethic as Billy there's no way he'd even be coming back next year, let alone returning to his pre-surgery form. Oh wait. Damnit. Forget I said anything.