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[Ronin]

The Rockets lost to the Raptors 94-73, Mcgrady was held to 4 points.

 

[Lorenzo]

Wow, that flop would make Manu and Vlade blush.

that was terrible....dirk wound up getting ejected and suspended after that game. I don't know what it is about utah that turns dirk into a beast. he's had a rough time in that place. I remember him calling salt lake a bad city when he first learned english lol....I don't think the fans have forgotten. I guess that video is just more evidence....officials should be reprimanded for that call.

 

[greensborohill]

Anyone see this article about the 2nd Round Virgin in the Houston Chronicle?

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooh
I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time.

Mark it down.

It was Jan. 2, 2009, 1:16 left in the third quarter, when there was a seismic shift in the Rockets' world, when the tectonic plates opened up and swallowed an era.

The official play-by-play sheet simply says: Jamario Moon slam dunk.

Anybody who was watching at the Air Canada Centre or on TV knows it was the precise moment that Tracy McGrady quit on the Rockets.

Yao Ming knows it. You could read it all over his scowling face as he sat on the bench through the final embarrassing minutes of horrid game.

Rick Adelman knows it. You could read it between the lines of his post-game comments when he said he would not talk about any individual performances.

Ron Artest knows it. You could tell that a week ago when Artest dragged his sore and ballooning right ankle onto the court to gut out an overtime win against the Jazz when McGrady made himself a late scratch during the post parade.

Leslie Alexander knows it and Daryl Morey knows it and every one of McGrady's teammates knows it.

One could hope that Dikembe Mutombo was back in Houston watching and will arrive in Atlanta with his leadership in the form of a big stick.

Truth be told, it wouldn't make a difference, wouldn't matter. It would only elicit a few more whimpering excuses from McGrady and more disappointment down the line.

Oh, it was so much more than just 2-for-9 shooting and 4 points in 27 minutes. It was aimless shuffling around the court on offense and defense. It was standing five feet behind the 3-point line, feet rooted to one spot, and simply playing pitch and catch with the ball.

It was Moon driving in from the right side of the basket and seeing McGrady stop running, practically hold the door open and offering to carry Moon's books home from school as he went by for a dunk that would have been more contested in the pre-game layup line.

"McGrady could have made some kind of effort," said veteran play-by-play man Bill Worrell.

"You don't just give somebody an open dunk," said color commentator Matt Bullard.

For crying out loud, these guys are paid employees of the team and they had the guts and integrity to say out loud what everybody sitting at home and falling off their sofas knows.

It was the body language from the opening minutes of the game to the bitter, pathetic end that screamed out loud that McGrady would rather have been any other place on the planet than on that court with that team.

It is a waste of time and effort to go back over all of his empty promises and contradictions from the start of training camp or over his four-plus seasons in Houston.

Just say this: He is an extraordinary talent - T-Mac - who is capable of taking your breath away. Yet as a competitor - Tiny Tim-mac - he can be blown away in a gentle breeze.

This is not the first time that McGrady has revealed himself, having bailed out on the Raptors as an up-and-coming phenom and quit - flat-out admitting publicly that he didn't try - on the Magic to get himself traded out of Orlando.

Thus, it was only a matter of when it would happen to the Rockets. They paid him a sultan's fortune. They coddled him. They praised him. They made every excuse and accommodation for him.

After the Utah fiasco, he promised Morey and Adelman that he would increase his energy level and play hard. The general manager and head coach put their own egos aside and agreed to an unprecedented - and preposterous - notion that he would only have to play one game in back-to-back sets.

Then McGrady went out on Friday night (he's already planning to sit Saturday in Atlanta) and half-stepped it against the Raptors, never getting himself into the game, never finding a rhythm and, ultimately, walking out the back door on them.

This was more than just the latest in a sickly string of games where he's scored 12, 4, 11, 15, 7 and 4 points (8.8 avg.) and shot 20-63 (.317). It was the night when the Rockets organization - everyone from front office to the last player on the end of the bench - had their darkest fears about T-Mac confirmed.

Oh, the Rockets likely won't trade him away. They have themselves boxed in with his huge contract and his deteriorating body.

What they need to do at this point is move on without him. Turn the page on the McGrady Era. The team belongs now to Yao and Ron-Ron - a couple of guys who never shortchange you on effort - and a supporting cast that is pretty damn good.

If McGrady wants to rehab his sore left knee or run off to a retreat and get his chakras back in balance, let him. If he wants to return to the club somewhere down the road in a few weeks or few months and contribute a few - or a few dozen - big buckets in a playoff game, well, they'll be appreciated. But they won't be expected.

Because with 1:16 left in the third quarter on a Friday night in Toronto, Jamario Moon's red-carpet-escort dunk slammed home a point that some of the Rockets had begun to suspect. They can never truly count on T-Mac again. Ever.

Quitting is the stain that won't wash out.

Posted by Fran Blinebury at 10:14 PM

 

[elindholm]

Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Cuban's next trade acquisition!

 

[Hayduke]

Ahhhh! I HATE the Spurs and Tony Parker! Who was watching that game? God why won't the Spurs just die already. Please just lose! JUST LOSE! The 76ers deserved that win. It's just wrong.

I've never been big on McGrady. Never seen it really. I suppose I missed his Raptor days, but he just seemed to injury prone and ya never quite there.

 

[Lorenzo]

Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Cuban's next trade acquisition!

yes! cannot wait.....but this time trade dirk for him straight up...might as well keep giving away our best guys....sarcasm.. i just wish harris was still a mavs guy.

 

[AceP]

The Spurs r still a formidable team, don't underestimate them. They will give their opponent a good fight in first and second round. But they probably won't go beyound there this season.

For us, if we reach our full potential, we won't need to worry about the Spurs. The Lakers and Honets r the mountain in front of us.

 

[Ronin]

Odd loss for the Boston Celtics tonight against the Knicks, Garnett only scored six points in this game. The Celtics are now 2-3 after the loss to the Lakers

 

[cly2tw]

Blake is a terrible shooter, missing 4-5 wide open shots in a row so far. You gotta wonder why every average PG gets so confident and always has career games against Nash.

And Aldridge is so good with his perfect fallaway jumper! That's how a responsible coach should do to develop a bigman of this talent. In comparison, ours just wanted to exploit Amare's natural athletic talent and not worked to develop his weaker aspects of the game!

 

[AceP]

That's not a fair comments on Nash. Blake had a great game against Rondo just few days ago. He is a typical streaky player that's why he is just a role player, not a star.

Houston lost again yesterday, and Dallas got blown out by Memphis today. We have climbed back to the 5th.

 

[Proteus]

The Celtics lost to the Knicks after having beaten them 8 straight times. It looks like that loss to the Lakers ruined their mojo.

The Cavs lost to the Wizards.

A lot of odd losses today.

 

[cly2tw]

It's become Kobe show now. Don't wanna watch Blazers losing this ugly after such a great start. If Blake could shoot half the way he shot against Nash, they'd still be in the game!

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I watched the bos-ny game, it was quite impressive. Once the knicks learn to shoot they will definitely be as entertaining to watch as the 04-05 suns.

Wilson Chandler is going to be uber.

 

[Ronin]

Melo is out for three weeks...could be more.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3814175

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Has anyone come back after 3 weeks from a bone fracture?!?

 

[Hayduke]

I watched the bos-ny game, it was quite impressive. Once the knicks learn to shoot they will definitely be as entertaining to watch as the 04-05 suns.

Wilson Chandler is going to be uber.

I only watched mid way into the second quarter but it looked like the knicks were playing great defense. Anyone else see this?

 

[Proteus]

Celtics lose again. This time it's to the Bobcats in overtime.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

DJ Augustine is rocking his rookie year. He broke up the Boston defense so many times, I credit it to their W tonight. Charlotte should have given us Felton instead of Dudley

 

[Ronin]

Dwayne Wade has had a couple of nice blocks against the Denver Nuggets.

 

[Brianellsworth]

Cavs leading Celtics by 19 with four minutes left.

 

[jagu]

Man if the Suns lost games like the Celts, we'd hear "OMG THEY ARE DONE" all over ASFN.

 

[95pro]

i thought pierce was the best b-ball player in the world?

i think that belongs to king james.

 

[Hayduke]

i thought pierce was the best b-ball player in the world?

What? Your serious? Pierce is a ghetto streaky motha.
Are you serious? James is amazing. He kills Kobe and Wayde on D and is just as good on offense. I mean, I know you realize that now, but you seriously thought Pierce was great?

 

[95pro]

What? Your serious? Pierce is a ghetto streaky motha.
Are you serious? James is amazing. He kills Kobe and Wayde on D and is just as good on offense. I mean, I know you realize that now, but you seriously thought Pierce was great?

uhh yeah. there's sarcasm to that.

the question is, are you serious?lol
well if you didnt know what pierce said...
you can google(pierce best player world) and read up

here's one article i found for you since you dont know whats up....

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/best-pierce-team-2110929-player-bryant

 

[arwillan]

Both my teams won tonight, and both pretty convincingly. It should keep all the "we"re done" and "trade amare/nash" talk outta here for a bit.


if you guys want a good kick, go read the celtics realgm forum. you'll never believe the crap going on there. people are seriously saying that ainge is an idiot for trading jefferson and the whole summer of '07 was a mistake.


Off topic: here's a funny signature:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2641618690_d7e72997c8_o.jpg