See that picture? See Tracy McGrady in that picture? That’s the perfect visual representation for the amount of playing time he’s had for the Houston Rockets in about two seasons. Why, then, is he the second leading vote-getter for Western Conference guards in the NBA’s upcoming All Star Game? He hasn’t played a game for the Rockets since February of last season, but yet, there he is with almost 300,000 votes, which currently has him starting the game besides the leading vote-getter, Kobe Bryant. Are Rockets fans trying to stuff the ballots in an effort to send a message to the team about playing McGrady? Or are they simply trying to be cute?
The AP suggests McGrady’s vote total could be the result of a bleed over effect caused by Yao Ming’s popularity. If so, the NBA has no one to blame but themselves because McGrady is actually listed as an eligible guard to be selected, even though he hasn’t played a game in almost a year.
Meanwhile, the same fans can only vote for Yao if they “write” him in.
Granted, if these vote totals keep up and T-Mac is rewarded with a starting spot, another player will probably be selected as alternate — unless McGrady tries to send a message of his own by actually trying to play — but the point remains, if fans are so haphazard with their selections, should these vote totals be given such command over the starting line up of an All Star Game roster?
How about if it’s not a joke or fan-created ploy? That would mean the NBA’s voting audience isn’t very savvy when it comes to minor details like who has and who hasn’t be actively playing. Doesn’t that little fact make matters even worse? If the NBA is going to rely on fans to fill their All Star rosters, perhaps they should only list the players that are actually actively playing. Relying on the general public to make informed, thought-out decisions is a dangerous gambit.
Introducing Chase Budinger. Welcome to the NBA, rook. Way to introduce yourself to the world. Unfortunately, your maiden voyage with the Houston Rockets will probably be filled with lots of rough sailing, but keep your head up and keep taking it to the bucket in such a fearless manner. You never know, maybe next season, you’ll get to see what it’s like to play with a healthy Tracy McGrady and a healthy Yao Ming. I know, I know, lets not get crazy, but still, I myself would like to see a whole Rockets team, something that hasn’t happened since their long winning streak from two seasons ago. Even then, the duo of a healthy Yao and McGrady didn’t/couldn’t last the entire season.
The catharsis from Houston’s advance to the second round was so complete, Ron Artest is considered a redeemed character. He can even make fun of Detroit/Indiana and be greeted with laughs from the mainstream media members in attendance. It’s that absolute. One player who is not receiving the benefit of past-transgression-removal, however, is Tracy McGrady. McGrady’s legacy involves never taking his team to the second round of the playoffs, and after Houston dispatched the Blazers, said legacy has only been magnified, while having an air of “See what we did without you!!!” added to it.
Before we solidify McGrady’s permanent playoff-failure Scarlet Letter, should something else be considered? The fact he went to battle last year against the Utah Jazz without the guy they call “Yo,” I mean, “Yao?”
Lest we forget, Yao was on the shelf — and resting for the Olympics — with a stress fracture in his foot during last year’s playoffs. That’s a pretty important piece to be missing when playing a team with Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer on the roster. Then there’s Ron Artest absence, due to the fact he wasn’t even in Houston last season. McGrady gets blame for not being able to do it all when his team is missing key components, but when a better version of the same team does what he can’t do by himself, his failures are still emphasized.
Maybe it’s just me, but a team with Yao Ming and Ron Artest in the line up, but missing Tracy McGrady is still much better than one with McGrady, but without an injured Yao Ming or not-a-teammate-yet Artest.
The disappointing year of Tracy McGrady came to a merciful end today when the Houston G/F indicated he’d be getting microfracture surgery to try and repair the issues he’s been having with his knee; something that’s caused McGrady to miss almost 20 games already. The news, however, seems to come as a surprise to the Houston Chronicle, a publication that’s obviously tired of McGrady’s “act.”
In fact, the Rockets scribes have changed McGrady’s description from “act” to “diva,” while doubting his competitive spirit. Completely:
“I really had to prove to myself that I was able to do that again,” McGrady said. “I waited for a long time coming back off that knee surgery. It was a great situation knowing that somebody actually challenged the dunk, not just going up uncontested. It was challenged and I felt pretty good.”
Now let’s see if McGrady can provide another essential for a team hoping for a deep playoff run — consistently healthy play. If he can do that, videos like the one above could become commonplace again. Bonus: I enjoyed the hell out of McGrady’s punctuating stare.
As pointed out by 100%InjuryRate over at FanIQ, it appears as if the Houston media isn’t too pleased with Tracy McGrady’s decision to take the next few weeks off so he can rest his surgically-repaired knee.
While the Houston Chronicle’s position is understandable, their use of an injury ticker detailing McGrady’s absence is what makes this story click for me. It’s a funny, if not slightly petty look at T-Mac’s contributions to the Rockets this season, including how much money his injury is costing the team. The ticket also comes complete with a link to an verbal lashing of McGrady from Richard “Buford T” Justice.
The phrase “road beef,” especially among the world of professional athletics, refers to a certain type of woman that’s available to athletes during long road trips. Normally, this type of relationship begins in depths of strip clubs and is only rekindled when the player’s team is on the road. However, thanks to the Phoenix/Houston game last night, there’s also another definition for road beef: when a team goes on the road and gets involved in a near-fracas with the host team.
What we have is Matt Barnes taking issue with a screen and retaliating with a body block on Rafer Alston and after the play was finished, everybody decided to play the feud.
With video:
The fracas ended with seven technical fouls and two ejections — Barnes and Alston. In other news, it pretty obvious Shaq could be a mean bouncer after his NBA career is over. Hell, maybe he could be a body guard for world dignitaries. I mean, he just tossed Yao and T-Mac aside like they were wet dish towels.
Besides the Wrestlemania fun, the Rockets went into Phoenix’s gym and beat them at every aspect of the game. McGrady exploded for 22 second half points and the Rockets were never in danger of losing their lead to the Suns.
Now that is how you finish an NBA game: two clutch shots by Brandon Roy sandwiching a huge turnaround jump shot from Yao Ming. In fact, Roy was involved in all three of these plays as he hit the first clutch shot but left enough time on the clock for Houston to get a play off — the Yao Ming turnaround. Roy contributed here by following Yao in the act of shooting, which allowed the Rockets to take a one-point lead.
