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T Mac Back In H Town


htown11
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As Shane Battier left Monday's practice with a stomach flu, teammates could not let him leave the floor without their own diagnosis.

 

They did not quite accuse him of the first case of McGrady-itis suffered in years, but they did suggest that Battier needed to get ready for Tracy McGrady's first game in Toyota Center since the Rockets traded him to New York last February.

 

"We teased him on that," Chuck Hayes said. "We were saying 'Go get your rest. Mac's having his homecoming tomorrow.' "

 

Last season, when the Pistons and Rockets were locked in a tight game at Toyota Center, McGrady was greeted with a standing ovation when he came off the Rockets' bench for the first time that season for an eight-minute first-half stint.

 

It is considerably less certain how he will be greeted compared to the previous meeting between the Pistons and Rockets.

 

McGrady said Monday "it feels good to be back home," but did not know or care how he will be received."

 

"I don't have no opinion, no suggestion at all," McGrady said. "Just another game on the schedule."

 

He described his tenure in Houston as "Great times, bad times, ups and downs, injuries. Definitely have some good memories; the 22-game win streak as a team, what I did individually against San Antonio."

 

Asked if he had any regrets, McGrady said, "About what?"

 

McGrady hoped Yao Ming would be returning from his ankle injury, but Yao did not practice on Monday and is still out. He did, however, say he looked forward to seeing his teammates of six seasons.

 

"He went through a very tough time during his injury," Yao said. "I understand totally, deeply, about how hard it is to deal with an injury. We've been together and had a couple very successful years in Houston. There are all good memories.

 

"We should respect him, what he's done for Houston."

 

Hayes, who played with McGrady for five seasons, tended to agree with Yao's assessment.

 

"I think there'll be some cheers," Hayes said. "He was the leader of this team. It's just that the last perception here was bad, but if you look before that, when he was healthy, he was a bad boy here."

 

"I knew he wasn't 100 percent," Adelman said. "It was unfair to him. He just wanted to play.

 

"You hope he gets better as he goes on, but last year he was not ready to play."

 

The Rockets plan no special tribute, as they did when Carl Landry returned last season. McGrady is, however, all over the pregame video and has been celebrated at least once upon his return to the Toyota Center court during a game between the Rockets and Pistons.

 

"His last impression was a sour one with this organization, but you can't deny what he did here or the load that he carried," Hayes said. "Even in our intro that shows the history of the Rockets, they show him in there. They're paying him respects. Hopefully, the fans do the same."

 

Should be interesting to see what the reception will be like for T Mac, some still respect the guy some celebrated when the Rockets finally got rid of him. Would have been even better if Yao was playing.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/7327585.html

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McGrady is pretty much irrelevant anymore. it's a shame; his career was derailed by injuries. I think he's like Grant Hill in that he could have been one of the all-time greats had he stayed healthy.

 

At least Hill is still a solid player and hard worker...

 

I don't know if McGrady is still either...

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I'm hoping he gets cheered in his return. There's no doubt that he did work as hard as he could for the Rockets, but injuries are what made him basically unable to help them. He had some big games there in Houston, so I'm expecting them to welcome him back.

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Fans were still sour. I guess all the 30+ point performances, carrying the load in the playoffs and making the most out of times where Yao was injured (how quick we were to forget the 22 game winning streak) meant nothing to the city of Houston.

 

At least Hill is still a solid player and hard worker...

 

I don't know if McGrady is still either...

 

He's been working his [expletive] off to get back into shape and get back to his old form.

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Tracy looked good out on the court but clearly does not have the explosiveness. Some of his shots were flat and he had minimal lift his defense is still a bit lackadaisical.

 

I don't see T Mac ever becoming a dominant NBA player again, but a role player situation for him looks good.

 

I also like the way the fans handled it, loud boos then medium boos then it just went away all together not to harsh at all. I don't think it would have went down like that if he wasn't so loved by the city. They still do respect him that's for sure because it could have been meaner.

 

I always remember the press conference introducing him because I went to the Toyota Center when the trade was made. Nothing normal about the presser at all, first of all it was held in the stadium and over 2,000 rowdy and excited fans showed up while in Orlando Steve Francis, Cat, and Cato were introduced in a small room in which Cato could barely fit in.

 

They introduced Tmac by playing an awesome highlight reel on the big screen and he was clearly overwhelmed by the support.... so he did what he tends to do most and that's make optimistic comments. "Something big is going to happen in Houston, I can promise you that." I know people who will never forget that line. Tracy put a lot on his shoulders and fans obviously were not satisfied, so I think they respectfully let him know that tonight.

 

I wish him luck for the future but like I have said in the past I am glad he's gone and I will be glad when Yao leaves or resigns as a bench player for cheap.

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