McGrady responds to Yao’s comments about the team being soft
December 12th, 2007by John
I listened to a podcast of Tracy McGrady’s interview on Houston’s 790AM sports station on Tuesday. It appeared that McGrady was obligated to make the call to promote his deal with Yahoo! Fantasy sports, not to come on and say he’s pissed about what’s happening with the team, and what he’s going to do about it.
Remember last year how McGrady said “It’s on me,” during last season’s playoff series against the Jazz, and how he has always referred to his teammates as his “supporting cast?”
Well, now that times are tough for the Rockets, it looks like McGrady thinks Yao is The Man and the “franchise player” instead of him. Here’s what he said when asked about his reaction to Yao’s comments that the Rockets were soft.
“My first reaction was….Finally. Yes! Yes, Yao. That’s what he has to do. Vocally. Express yourself. Let us know how you feel. Don’t hold it inside…that’s just showin’ signs of leadership. What he says is true. It’s showing up on the basketball court. I’d rather for him to come out and say it than me. He’s more of a franchise player than I am.”
I can’t believe the interviewer didn’t dig deeper and question him if he really believes Yao is the franchise player. Instead, after that last statement, the interviewer immediately comments (and basically interrupts him before McGrady has a chance to explain), “We (the audience) know better than that,” and bails McGrady out by moving on quickly to a softball question like, “It’s gotta help that the big man in the middle is saying it, right?” Instead, I would have loved to hear him ask, “When did Yao become the franchise player?” or “What’s your role in calling people out?” or just let him continue talking. Sometimes the best interviews are when the interviewer just lets the interviewee talk.
If I had been McGrady, the right kind of answer would have immediately been something like, “I agree with Yao. We’re the leaders of this team, and we ARE playing soft. I said some things after last night’s game, too, about how we’re discombobulated on offense and some other things. But Yao and me have got to do more as leaders and be more vocal during games and improve our level of play as well as our teammates’ level of play. It’s our team, and we’re expected to be the leaders.”
If you want to listen to it yourself, do a right-click on this link, then do a “save as” to your computer, then open the file and go to the 33:50 mark to hear the interview.
Another thing: here we are in the midst of this season of grand expectations cratering before our very eyes, and throughout the interview McGrady seems so relaxed and laughs about other things occurring off the court.
I remember listening to radio interviews that Kobe Bryant gave during the off-season, and how frustrated he was the Lakers’ front office wasn’t doing anything to acquire players that could help them win. You could just hear in his voice how it was tearing him apart that the Lakers weren’t committed to winning. Can we get some intensity like that, please? I loved how Charles Barkley was always pissed when his team was losing, even on days when they weren’t playing.
To make matters worse, the interviewers in this podcast seem to be fawning over McGrady by saying things like, “He gets it.” C’mon! If he got it, he would say he’s a leader, and that he’s mad as hell about what’s happening, and he’s going to work like hell to try to fix it.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:11 am
John
Thanks for your great insight. I realized that only JVG type can command McGrady. And McGrady is indeed what Orland claimed to be. Either way this team doomed for mediocre if No coach or Mcgrady change. What do you think about bring back JVG? ( I am not his fan) with current players JVG should get us passing 1st round? 2 of the last three 1st round they are just a few baskets away. I know Yao are mad as hell now. based hint in Chinese articles. He is pissed by RA and his staffs more than his team mates. That started from Maim game. Why the rocket management didn’t keep some JVG’s staffs for the transition. They knew the players and defense better. Why they have to give the new staff on job training? Yao complained a lot on game preparation in Chinese articles. That is the problem of Coaching staff. I realized JVG’s defense made season’s 6 -1 start and some tough wins. Now they are disappeared so as the offense. Last year 50 point win turned to 12 points ( Should be 20+ point) lose. It is really interesting to watch what they will do to fix that?
I don’t think JVG will be asked to come back. I think he’d be a great defensive assistant like he was with Pat Riley at the Knicks, but those days are over. He’ll be able to pick most head coaching jobs he wants. I kind of wish they had hired SVG (his brother Stan), but that would have been really awkard, and I doubt SVG would have accepted the job.
I’m thinking the Rockets should start rebuilding, maybe with a young (even unproven) coach. I’m tired of all these “re-treads” getting head coaching jobs. I’ve always thought Mario Elie has the tenacity and respect to be a good coach. He’s an assistant at Dallas right now. Overall, I think a former player who is young, is getting good experience in a good system (kind of like Marc Iavaroni got at Phoenix before getting the Memphis job this season, or Avery Johnson at Dallas a few seasons ago) and can relate to today’s players would be a good fit. That comes at a risk, but it’s a risk worth taking. — John
December 12th, 2007 at 7:33 am
I’m one of the pessimists who are resigned to the 2007-08 Rockets being merely average, or just somewhat above.
Blinebury had it right: the Rockets have a “lack of Van Gundy-style game preparation” problem. This is a Van Gundy team, built for defense and half-court offensive sets. With the new coach they lost their defense, and got none of Adelman’s offense.
This is not a motion-offense team. Hayes doesn’t score; then there’s Rafer “O-fer” Alston; Battier, and a relatively slow Yao.
Yao ‘calling people out’ won’t work because it’s not a motivational issue so much as wrong game plan, and the talent being less than what it was hyped as.
Also, Yao himself is seen as a “softie”, and speaks choppy, heavily accented English. Realistically, you can’t lead without speaking the language well, it just doesn’t work. (Honestly, just listen to his English. He speaks as though he has food in his mouth.)
I think Olajuwon’s accent was harder to understand than Yao’s, and he was a great leader. The question is if Yao is willing to call people out. I think the Rockets’ problem is as much mental as it is a bad system. Take a look at the plays I described where the Rockets played poor defense against Philly. That was all about heart. After following Yao for 5 1/2 years, and seeing what he says and does on the court with the Chinese National Team, I think Yao has it in him to do the same here with the Rockets. He just has never had to do it as much as now when the team looks so bad. — John
December 12th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
John, what does TMac have to do to make you happy? He calls Yao the franchise player and you still turn it around by saying its because the ship is sinking? ‘Its on me’ is basically saying if we lose its my fault. Whats so bad about it? This statement takes a lot of pressure off Yao and we all know how well he plays when the pressure is on. Need I bring up our record with Yao and without TMac??
I think you’ve missed the point, so let me try to explain again. He said LAST YEAR “It’s on me” and “supporting cast.” I’m saying that he wanted to be the leader last year when they were winning and he thought they had a good chance of winning a playoff series. But now that the team is sucking, he doesn’t want to hold the responsbility of being a leader and wants to push it off to Yao. So he’s a fair-weathered leader when times are good, and wants to shuck the responsibility when times are bad. I don’t see how you say McGrady’s statement takes alot of pressure OFF Yao. — John
December 12th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Rockets are not good…
1. We have Steve Francis who is a ball hog
2. We have T-Mac who gets back spasm at the wrong times.
3. We have Rafer Alston who thinks he is Kobe and shoots like he will top 81 points
I do think its Yao’s Team, because the back is pain for Tracy.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Indian and Chinese ancestry people lead in corporate America and English isn’t their native tongue. Gosh you even have some African immigrant who have heavy accent that I can’t even understand making lectures – and they seems to be speaking as everyone understands them. I have seen this happen. I think to be a leader you first have to have people respect you then it follows.
And YAO needs more free throw attempts, he is a star in this team which means he should get about 15 free throws a night and about 20 shot attempts on a nightly basis then he will easily average about 25-30pts every night. Speaking of soft, when YAO tries to be aggressive he gets called foul which I think is a bad call most of the time.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:13 am
SH, so Yao can’t be a leader because he doesn’t speak English accent-free? That’s the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever heard today. I still question Yao’s ability to lead, but it’s definitely not because of his command of English.
John, I think you are looking at McGrady’s comments too deeply. Although he doesn’t know how to lead in my opinion, but he’s not the type that runs away from challenge and blaming others for the team’s failure. He’s glad that Yao has finally spoken out. I’m sure he’s always wanted to see the fire coming out of the gentle giant, just like all of us wanted.
I wouldn’t be too sure about McGrady shirking responsibility. He even said the other night that “other players” have to make shots, yet here he is jacking up some ill-advised shots early in the shock clock, going 7-for-21 in two recent games, etc. Also, it wasn’t only the words, it was the tone in his voice when he said those last two sentences about Yao’s leadership, but more importantly, Yao being the franchise player.
I would have been fine if he had said “I like the fire from the gentle giant,” but he went one step further and said that Yao is more of a franchise player only a few months after McGrady called everyone his ’supporting cast.’
Also remember that McGrady has a history of saying some things where everyone goes, “Whoa! I can’t believe he said that!” then later has to retract it. Remember last year in the Utah series when he said that the Game 7 in that series wasn’t going to be the most important Game 7 of his career, but then everyone got on him for not having enough fire, then came out with a revised statement saying that it WAS going to be the biggest Game 7 of his career? I think his first statements usually reflect his intensity level. — John
December 13th, 2007 at 12:32 am
JVG knows that Yao’s FG% is over 50 and that his FT% is over 80. Therefore , he runs the offense mainly through Yao. At the same time, Jeff also knows that T-Mac is a rare talent. Therefore, T-Mac is free to make plays whenever he likes.That is how the Rockets got a good season last year. The defeat in the first round does not mean that the strategy is not good. That was a close competition and could have gone either way.
I can say that Yao has no future in this team under Adleman. It is becuase he does not believe that the offense should go through Yao. Yao is just another player in this team. The offense is to go through everybody. It is dreaming to expect Yao getting how many shots or free throws per game under Adleman. Yao should go to a team with a coach who treasures his Field Goal Percentage and Free Throw Percentage. As the Rockets do not want to replace the coach who does not believe in Yao, he should vote with his feet.
It is a wastage for Yao to play under Adleman.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
As the Rockets do not want to replace the coach who does not believe in Yao, he should vote with his feet.
It is a wastage for Yao to play under Adleman.———-
I completely agreed with Jeff, I think YAO should demand a trade as did Kobe and all other NBA players demand when they are not happy where they are. Where they feel their career and development aren’t going uphill. Also his salary will be higher if he trade to another team and maybe he can be more appreciate than being under appreciate for his talent on this team. YAO should voice up, not stay silent. Is like if you don’t like your job and not being appreciated then you move to another job - you don’t stay and suffer.
I agree that Adleman isn’t really making YAO the focal guy so his average is not improving and is not developing YAO. This should be the year where YAO dominate but he seems to have a little set back and it is because of Adleman system.