Tracy McGrady Highlights

[Goudelock]

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Obligatory Disclaimer: Yes, you probably know that everything I’m about to say in this post is just from my observations, articles I’ve read, and things like that. No stats will be used to back up my opinions. This is like the tenth time I’ve written one of these posts, so you guys should really know the drill at this point. Also, apologies for the uneven audio levels. I tried my best to makes sure each clip was the same volume level, but it’s not perfect. And lastly, this video took clips from 40 different games, which is a lot of games, but not as many as I could’ve pulled from. So this is in no way a comprehensive video. Anyways, without further ado, here is my rambling thoughts on Tracy McGrady. The grammar is going to be rough at times, but this is a stream of consciousness essay, so just bear with me:

1: So this video took a while to make, and was sort of a chore at times. To help me get through some of the more boring sections, I put on some of my favorite band to play in the background. Which made me think, “Tracy McGrady’s career weirdly mirrors Paramore’s “career” too.” Think about it, McGrady has some mediocre years in Toronto, but you can see the potential (the “All We Know is Falling” part of his career). Then he goes to Orlando and turns into a superstar (the “Riot” stage of his career) and more or less peaks while still early in his career in 2003 (the “Brand New Eyes” album) .Then he goes to Houston, where he is still impressive, but not quite as brilliant (the “Paramore” stage of his career). Then his career went down the toilet (everything released by Paramore after 2013) and everyone just wanted his career to end because he was a shell of himself. No, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but this is how I think of McGrady’s career. As the NBA equivalent of a mid-to-late 00’s punk rock band. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s move onto the actual breakdown of his abilities.

2: This is focused only on his Magic career, just so it’s clear (or if you didn’t watch the video). And the video only shows his diverse scoring ability. However, I truly believe that McGrady’s passing ability was elite. Not good, but truly great. He knew how to get the ball to teammates in the spots they were most comfortable with, and he had no problems passing out of the double team. While he did take some bad shots (more on that later), McGrady seemed to know when he should pass and when to shoot tough shots more than Kobe did. To summarize, McGrady was the perfect point-forward, and those abilities probably would’ve been more noted by others if 1: His teammates didn’t mostly suck ass, and 2: He wasn’t scoring 30 every night and making spectacular plays that regularly made highlight reels and Sportcenter.

3: His defense was mediocre. Everyone’s favorite poster Quotatious said that he thought it wasn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be, but I’m not so sure. I guess, that from what I’ve seen, there were times when he gave some modicum of effort and Tmac looked like an all-defensive team caliber player who could wreck offenses with his length and instincts. And then there were even more times when he looked disengaged and sluggishly strolled around the court on defense, giving up points off ball, and looking like James Harden’s predecessor. I’d say that he was certainly below average, but not the worst defensive player I’ve ever seen. Of course, he was tasked with doing everything on offense, so he does have that excuse.

4: The guy had absolutely no holes in his scoring arsenal. NONE. He could drive to the basket easily, could pull up from 3, run off screens, explode out of the triple threat position, hit a variety of step backs and midrange jumpers, and had a nice post game complete with a Kobe (or Jordan?)-esque fadeaway. This sounds like hyperbole, but it’s really not. The guy was simply the most diverse scorer I’ve ever seen along with maybe prime Kobe. Some of this can also be attributed to his athletic gifts too. He was 6’8, well built, had long arms, could jump out of the gym, and was deceptively fast/quick (his explosion was hidden by his graceful movements). He was the perfect wing player. I’d go as far as to say that in terms of wing players, McGrady was the most physically gifted of them all. In addition to all of this, Tmac was, as I alluded to earlier, an extremely graceful player. He looked like he wasn’t even trying when on the court. Even the most vicious dunks and the sharpest crossovers were pulled off with a kind of ease that was reminiscent of George Gervin or Kevin Durant. While everyone else looked like they were going 100 miles an hour, McGrady was out there floating from place to place. Perhaps this is why people questioned his intensity? He never looked like he was trying as hard as someone like Pierce or Kobe (who was graceful in his own right, but not in the way that McGrady was).

5: So why did McGrady shoot such a woeful percentage? While part of this has to do with the suffocating defensive culture of the NBA at the time, a large part of the blame can be given to Tmac for constantly settling for tough jumpers. Yes, he had marvelous physical gifts, and his jumper was excellent, but no one is going to hit a high percentage of their shots if the majority of them are contested perimeter shots. Yes, some of them were shots he had to take, since Tmac was the only creator a lot of the time in Orlando, but he could’ve taken it to the rim more often. Especially towards the end of his career in Orlando, McGrady seemed to mail it in, and refused to take it to the rim at times. So I guess you could say that was the one hole in McGrady’s game: His constant settling for tough shots even though he could’ve gotten easier ones. Although I would assume that McGrady probably got tired from having to carry scrubs like the balloon formerly known as Shawn Kemp every night, and didn’t have the energy to take it to the rim like he would’ve on a better team.

6: Despite the previous criticism, I never got the feeling that Tmac didn’t want to be the guy on the team while the game was being played. In fact, I read that the reason he left Toronto was because he wanted to get out of Vince Carter’s shadow. And I have to say, in his playoff series that he lost, Tmac seemed to always bring it. Game one of his series against the Pistons in 2003 is especially impressive. I can’t blame him for losing those series, especially when his teammates include Juwan (not Dwight) Howard, Pat Garrity, Jacque Vaughn, Ty Lue, the bloated corpse of Shawn Kemp, other almost finished 90’s stars in Patrick Ewing and Horace Grant, etc. Mike Miller was good, but he wasn’t good enough to be a second option on a playoff team. Part of me wonders what could’ve been if Grant Hill had better health. Maybe Tmac doesn’t have to score as much and can focus on his playmaking, and can devote more energy towards defense. Or maybe his offense improves because he can play off ball more. Who knows?

7: Let’s talk about Tracy McGrady and his jump shot. He had this one kind of shot that I absolutely adored. He would take a shot moving sideways, jumping off of both feet, and would float until he released the shot. That was just a mesmerizing shot to me. Absolutely beautiful. I liked it so much that I lead off the video with a section devoted to that shot (although some of the examples weren’t exactly like the description, they were still floating shots where he hung in midair). I also noticed that Tmac was most definitely a 1-2 shooter rather than a hop shooter. He could hop, but the 1-2 step was his preferred method of getting into his shot. His shot was also really flat, which was jarring to me after watching a ton of World B Free footage and his rainbow jumper. Other than that low trajectory, he had the picture perfect jumper. The guy turned, swayed, and kept his elbow aligned to the rim at all times.

8: Tracy McGrady’s handle was GOAT-tier for a guy over 6’6. He always had the ball on a string, and was adept at making complex maneuvers without losing it. That was a big part of his ability to get to the rim (when he wasn’t settling for jumpers). He had the ability to dribble to his spots, which is something that a lot of wings lack (like Paul George). Of course, sometimes Tmac would make the offense stagnate with his fancy dribbling exhibitions (although it’s not like that was a bad thing considering who he played with).

9: I should’ve lead off the essay with this point, but whatever. So by the time I started watching the NBA, Tracy McGrady was nowhere near his peak as a player. He still looked impressive, but watching him play was awful. The talent was gone, and he was just a ghost in the shell of a formerly impressive player. I would watch him labor up and down the court, and I’d ask my parents why that scrub was even in the NBA, since he looked useless. Then, of course, my parents would tell me that “that scrub” used to be one of the best players in the league. I didn’t believe them. Now that I’ve made this video, I can see what they meant.

10: To elaborate on this point, I was able to watch a bunch of familiar guys in their primes. Kobe, Pierce, Garnett (the T-Wolves had him guard McGrady!), and even guys like Jermaine O’neal and Jason Richardson. It made me realize just how much they had declined by the time I’d started watching basketball. Even a guy like Pierce had a spring in his step that was gone by the time I started (and Pierce is definitely getting a video in the future). It made me wonder if this is how new fans are going to think of LeBron and Wade and company.

11: This video was made using clips found in Tmac highlight videos. Unlike most videos, where I’d have to watch full games, I was able to quickly find the highlights using condensed footage. While this is somewhat unethical depending on how you look at it, you could also say that those guys are just repackaging the NBA’s product (as DowntoBuck told me when he talked about me using some of his video’s footage one of my compilations) and I’m completely in the right. Honestly, I’m surprised that someone else hasn’t done what I’ve done yet. Between BmacPoland, VCMysterio, Icesco415, Fike, and other such channels, there’s a wealth of footage that’s just sorta being unused. And I still watched full games after finishing the video. The thoughts shared in this essay are the product of watching the full games, not the abbreviated highlights. I say this because defense and other such aspects of the game can’t be appreciated in a highlight video showing off only made shots and assists.

I’ve got more to say, but this is enough for now. This is now at 2000 words and is long enough to be an essay in Comp2, so I’ll probably write the rest tomorrow. Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy this video, and please tell me what you think too.

EDIT: Fixed some grammar and edited the title.

[JordansBulls]

Thanks for posting.

[Dr Spaceman]

Thanks for the video.

This reminded me of something I've been meaning to bring up: I think in basketball discussions, the way we talk about "athleticism" isn't near precise enough. The thing that sticks out to me about McGrady, and I think why his scoring looks so effortless- look at how quickly he reaches top height on his jump. He's at the apex lining up his shot before the defender is even halfway into his leap. McGrady isn't exactly the best leaper in the world, but it's remarkable how no one can bother his shot because they aren't getting as high as him quickly enough. It's little things like this that can really make a difference in terms of how guys approach the game. I remember there's been an anecdote going around about James Harden having the GOAT "deceleration" and I think more attention should be paid to things like this.

Also, re: McGrady it's astonishing how aggressively lazy he was. The stories you hear are just unbelievable. I think it's a big reason he never matched his 03 campaign and of course why he was never healthy. I know he had scoliosis, but a lack of adequate training can be a real career killer.

[Goudelock]

Also, re: McGrady it's astonishing how aggressively lazy he was. The stories you hear are just unbelievable. I think it's a big reason he never matched his 03 campaign and of course why he was never healthy. I know he had scoliosis, but a lack of adequate training can be a real career killer.

What kind of stories have you heard? The worst that I heard was just that Tmac didn't like to practice and slept a lot. Nothing horrible.

[LakerLegend]

Thanks for the video.

This reminded me of something I've been meaning to bring up: I think in basketball discussions, the way we talk about "athleticism" isn't near precise enough. The thing that sticks out to me about McGrady, and I think why his scoring looks so effortless- look at how quickly he reaches top height on his jump. He's at the apex lining up his shot before the defender is even halfway into his leap. McGrady isn't exactly the best leaper in the world, but it's remarkable how no one can bother his shot because they aren't getting as high as him quickly enough. It's little things like this that can really make a difference in terms of how guys approach the game. I remember there's been an anecdote going around about James Harden having the GOAT "deceleration" and I think more attention should be paid to things like this.

Also, re: McGrady it's astonishing how aggressively lazy he was. The stories you hear are just unbelievable. I think it's a big reason he never matched his 03 campaign and of course why he was never healthy. I know he had scoliosis, but a lack of adequate training can be a real career killer.

McGrady is certainly in the top tier when it comes to leaping. He could probably get his head at least partially over the rim at his physical peak in Orlando(we've seen him get rim level with the Raptors and possible in high school).

Couple that with the 6-8 height and long wingspan, no doubt one of the highest release points probably in history.

[Goudelock]

btw, since i'm on the topic of McGrady, would you rather have 2013-14 Kevin Durant, or 2002-03 Tracy McGrady?

[Quotatious]

btw, since i'm on the topic of McGrady, would you rather have 2013-14 Kevin Durant, or 2002-03 Tracy McGrady?

McGrady by a hair. Very close, but I value T-Mac's playmaking more than KD's efficiency edge (because when we adjust for league-average, that gap becomes smaller than you would think if you just looked at their raw numbers - league average TS% was about 3% lower in '03 than it was in '14).

I trust '03 McGrady more than Durant against really tough defenses, because his skill-set was more resilient (due to his superior ball-handling and playmaking ability).

McGrady had 30.0% AST and only 8.4% TOV in 2002-03 regular season. That's incredible, quite easily ahead of any other shooting guard in the league's history. Not even Jordan had that good of a ratio. McGrady was a pretty efficient scorer by 2003 standards (between 4 and 5% above league average TS%), but when you add his extremely low turnovers, and very high assists for a shooting guard, especially considering he had over 35% USG and opposing defenses focused on him so heavily (because the Magic didn't have other big offensive threats that year), it's a really amazing season.

[Morb]

Thanks for big highlight!

btw, since i'm on the topic of McGrady, would you rather have 2013-14 Kevin Durant, or 2002-03 Tracy McGrady?

Durant's playoffs stats for 100 poss was weak, not even close with T-Mac's. 23 PER, 4 BPM vs 27 PER, 9 BPM.
http://bkref.com/tiny/tc1is
Also post-plays, offensive rebounds, tovs, overall highlights and flow.
Durant's FTr is ref-kek, 48% in reg season and 39% in PO.)
Only T-Mac truly had every move in arsenal, he's underrated, I must written article about him!)
About defense: I watched a LOT superstars matchups on YouTube and T-Mac '01-'06 was best one on one player, better than Lebron, better than Kobe. Pre injury T-Mac's defense against superstars was better, then Kobe's and Lebron's defense.





T-Mac is easy Top 3 player in 2001-2005 and best offensive player in best defensive era.

[Illmatic12]

McGrady was a devastating forward, man.. just an athletically coordinated monster who could do crazy things offensively at his size.

His main weakness was settling for contested jumpers and why his efficiency will never quite measure up with guys like Kobe, or KD, Lebron etc. That said I'd love to see what TMac could do today in a similar role to what Harden has in Houston

Btw I used to listen to a lot Paramore lol , interesting choice

[Morb]

Also, I saved best career T-Mac mix by icesco)

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Guys, has anybody saved Dawkins T-Mac highlights 46 pts vs Detroit in HD? Does anybody have a full game in HD?

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