Who here has faith in T-Mac?

[DraftBoy10]

There's one thing all of us Rockets fans have in common with McGrady; we believe he's superiorily talented player that sports a poor work ethic that led to a crippled body.

For the first time in his tenure with the Rockets(at least), he's doing something different. The defintion of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. T-Mac came in for the past 2-3 years kinda fat, slower, and weaker, it just built up to a peak where his knees, shoulders, etc. were all **** up.

What's different about him now? Motivation. He's motivated, why?

1) Contract Year. He can say he want sto go to the MLB, etc. but the McGrady's hype is fading guys, another season of absolute ****, and he's gonna fall of the map. McGrady won't be granted any superstar status to other professional leagues, and receive the benefit of the doubt ala Jordan(not saying T-mac is jordan, but talking about the opportunity). MLB or not, he's 31 with a whatever 13,14 year career, he wants another 2-3 years at a good price that's an extra 20-25mil in the bank.

2) Respect. You know he hated how he missed that reverse dunk against the Bucks, he immeaditly started slapping at the ball, and our bench was laughing at him. Earlier this year, Artest & even Alston called him out (publicly) for his lack of defense. Teams are giving a lack of respect, his OWN teammates are too. Only one's with faith in him was supposedly management, but management tried to trade him, until he put out that he's going to do surgery.

What's he doing to change?

Working out with Tim Grover. Not just a basic off-season plan, workout 3-4x week, basketball drills, eat well. I'm talking about an intense, strenous workout plan that allowed Jordan to improve, Jordan to comeback, Pippen to restart, and Wade to comeback. Granted, a work ethic is required to comeback, taking the initiative to get Grover working with you is enough to show that he's willing to change.

[Baller 24]

I have faith in him, and I think the management aknowledges what he's actually trying to get done, hence why we've seen Morey even till this day support him. I have a good feeling about next season, he's hungry for a lot (Contract/Tittle), I seriously think he's going to tear it up.

I haven't really felt this way in a long time about him, but this time I have a good feeling, he's actually getting his work done, he's ahead of scheldule, AND he wants to come back at the start of training camp.

[PocketRockets]

The thing about Jordan and wade, they're just naturally competitive. I don't know if Tmac is.

I know that Tmac is greedy so if he does become "motivated" it will have a lot to do with money.

Also, I think the bar will be set too high for him that even if he did come back 90% he would fail in somebody's eyes. Let's just hope he recovers well enough to get us 10+ points and 4/5 assists a game. I think I'd be happy with that.

[red96]

The thing about Jordan and wade, they're just naturally competitive. I don't know if Tmac is.

I know that Tmac is greedy so if he does become "motivated" it will have a lot to do with money.

Also, I think the bar will be set too high for him that even if he did come back 90% he would fail in somebody's eyes. Let's just hope he recovers well enough to get us 10+ points and 4/5 assists a game. I think I'd be happy with that.

Aww comeon Pocket, every player gives it their all on a contract year. Just like if you or I knew that we were up for a raise at work. We'd be on our best behavior doing what we needed to do to get take raise. Its almost human nature like. And how has T-Mac shown that he's greedy ?

[TMU]

All I'm gonna say is that next year is our year.
60+ wins, 1st seed, championship. Get 'em done Morey!

[MaxRider]

All I'm gonna say is that next year is our year.
60+ wins, 1st seed, championship. Get 'em done Morey!

don't really care about 60+ wins or 1st seed
just win the damn championship

[Jaykoolzboy]

I think he is still capable of being a 22/5/5 type of player, not the Tmac we used to know, but still one of the better swing man in the league.

[Guy986]

To quote my favorite president:

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me... well you can't get fooled again."

[tisbee]

The summer he worked out w/Kobe he followed w/his insane 32ppg season.
So I'm cautiously optimistic.

[DraftBoy10]

I'm not too quick to bite the bullet and put him behind us. He'll be back not a 27/6/6 player but a 20/5/5 player IMO with capabilities of blowing up on teams here and there.

[moofs]

His prime was roughly 2000-2007, 25, 6.5, 5.2, 1.5, 1, .43 / .33 (if you can consider 43/33 a "prime", with his first three years in Orlando being obviously VERY good)

So, IF HE PLAYS, I'm expecting 14-17/4-5/4-6 with low turnovers and a steal, on 41-43 / 33-36 ( ) shooting

[ShaY]

I have faith in him.
T-Mac is weak mentally , and his many many injuries in his career made him even weaker.
Last year he was so excited having Ron and a good team , he was playing his best at the beginning , driving to the rim and everything , and when he expected his knee to get better with time and when it didn't happen it killed him mentally.

I don't think at all he is selfish and a bad guy.

I believe he is really motivated now and wants to comeback to be a good player , but it's not all up to him , he had microfracture surgery and needs a lot of luck.

He could work hard and do everything a million percent right with his rehab and it could still not work out , at least not for next season.

But if he continues I am sure he can come back after next season and give 3 more good years , but he might just give up if things don't go as planned for him next season.

[BaYBaller]

Well I do believe he's motivated. Whether that translates into production on the court next season remains to be seen. A blind man can be motivated to see, but that doesn't mean he won't still be blind. Personally I don't expect much out of him next season, the time frame post-op is just too close given the history of other players going through the same surgery.

[Mr. E]

I don't think that he'll be ready to go until the All-star break...and if he tries to come back earlier the team should remember the "will he or won't he play" drama from this year and refuse to allow him to play. After the beginning of the year, if he has been shown to be working his ass off, then we start slowly working him back into the lineup.

Do not start him. Bring him off the bench. I know that even a fraction of McGrady is still something to reckon with, so explain it to him that his impact on the team will be the 4th quarter guy, slowly building his playing time back up so that by the playoffs he's the first or second guy off of the bench, depending on team need.

Even a role off the bench could help him highlight his abilities for his next big payday that we all hope that he's playing for. We can't be thinking of that - we need to think about not overtaxing him before the playoffs.

[Guy986]

I don't think that he'll be ready to go until the All-star break...and if he tries to come back earlier the team should remember the "will he or won't he play" drama from this year and refuse to allow him to play. After the beginning of the year, if he has been shown to be working his ass off, then we start slowly working him back into the lineup.

Do not start him. Bring him off the bench. I know that even a fraction of McGrady is still something to reckon with, so explain it to him that his impact on the team will be the 4th quarter guy, slowly building his playing time back up so that by the playoffs he's the first or second guy off of the bench, depending on team need.

Even a role off the bench could help him highlight his abilities for his next big payday that we all hope that he's playing for. We can't be thinking of that - we need to think about not overtaxing him before the playoffs.

Tmac off the bench is out of the question. Theres absolutely no way he'll agree to it.

[dunleavyjr]

For me to have faith in Tmac, Tmac needs to lead the team to 2nd round playoff.
It's been like 10 years already. Tmac hasn't played in 2nd round playoff.

Whether or not next year he will achieve that goal remains to be seen.
Until then, he still is a virgin.

[KiDdFrESh]

I do and so does the Rockets organization meaning GM Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander.

[rocketsballin]

i have been w/ tmac since houston but now we are 120% sure we cant build around tmac/yao...unless we get another all star player, along w/ resigning artest. would be cool if we can have them for 70+games and the entire playoffs, but theyre not that good anymore. dunno wats gonna happen to the team this offseason but trading one of them would be a good move.

unfortunately, if tmac wants to pursue his nba career, he will make a killin in his contract year, prolly play 80 games. and w/ tmac, yao can beat the fronting defense w/ ease, so if the teams gets rid of oen of them tis a risk, but its been 5 years. maybe its time to go another direction?

if they both on the team next season i'll be rooting for them but i will not believe they will stay healthy both regular saesona nd playoffs untill they do it again. that means they have to finish the regular season w/ 70+ games and not get injured in the playoffs. intersitn offseason cant wait. good to have before the 2010 offseason

[TMACFORMVP]

I thought McGrady last year was fine in terms of his ability. He had that game against Washington in which he dominated the fourth quarter, had big games against Phoenix, Boston, Denver, the Warriors and few others, his ability even last season was there. It's always been his mentality, it's always been the aspect of his game that's held him back. In a way, I felt that McGrady thought that Artest was brought in to reduce the role on this team, in fact it's the exact opposite, it's for all three players to play to the best of their ability. Instead McGrady wasn't aggressive, took poor shots and was even more lackadasical in his approach than usual.

If it's true he's coming back early in the season, and all the off-season workouts with Grover pay off, the attitude to prove those wrong, and the fact he wants a another long term contract before he retires, the WORST case is that his attitude towards the game will improve. And in that scenario, that's the largest block holding him back. He won't come back that 25/5/5 player that he was in the past, and we don't need that McGrady, we need a player that can create his own shot down the stretch of games, run the offense and be able to take over a game offensively if the situation arises. He can still do that, and be a 18-20 point, 5 rebound, 5-6 assist per game player which would improve this team drastically.

Honestly, I've had enough with the antics, but I still do have faith he can come back as a player that's a consensus all-star, and an All-NBA player (19/5/6 is an All-NBA player on a winning team) that would take this team to another level. I believe it can happen, but I'm not sure I'm gonna hold my breath.

[HookShot94]

Def have faith in T-Mac. He carries the passion of the team, and has a desire to win. Even though he said he lost his passion in a recent interview, the sparks still there. Him, Yao, and maybe Artest are gonna do some damage next year(IF HEALTHY OF COURSE). I guarantee 20-5-5 with bad fg% from T-Mac.