Yao is likely done -from yahoo sports

Oh and why do you wish that Kris? So that no teams would get in the Lakers' way and force a game 7 again?

Yes, it would be sad to see them lose yet another series to the Lakers.

But they will force the Lakers to the limit.

Forcing them to the limit still doesn't mean they win.

So is McGrady coming back this season? He's hardly a comfortable option with his knee.

Brooks, McGrady, Ariza, Scola, scrub with Battier, Hayes, Landry and maybe Wafer off the bench doesn't inspire any confidence. They look pretty good defensively but they lack size and a pure scorer, unless T-Mac somehow produces a renaissance. And in the assloads-tough West, I don't see how they make the playoffs with that team, considering practically nobody on that team can create their own shot.

If McGrady doesn't come back this season, he's still a good trade asset with his 20 million expiring contract. If they do trade him, they should get some nice players in return.

I thought the Rockets would have been traded mcgrady by now. ever since he's been there he hasn't played a full season.

He's not going anywhere. At least not until the season started.

So is McGrady coming back this season?

Around December-February they say.

Brooks, McGrady, Ariza, Scola, scrub with Battier, Hayes, Landry and maybe Wafer off the bench doesn't inspire any confidence

That squad minus McGrady and Ariza is the squad that forces the Lakers to 7 games. After Yao went down that exact team won 2 games from the Lakers. That's more than enough confidence me thinks.

but they lack size and a pure scorer

Size they lack but a pure scorer they dont. McGrady and Brooks are both scorers, even when McGrady wasn't in his best shape he still put up 15 points last season. When healthy you know what he's capable of.

considering practically nobody on that team can create their own shot.

Aaron Brooks and Tracy McGrady cant create their own shot? Where have you been? Everyone knows by now that Brooks can create his own shot. Not to even mention McGrady, even when injured he's still capable of creating shots for himself and others.

unless T-Mac somehow produces a renaissance

There are a lot of things that motivates McGrady this coming season. All the critics to erase, a career to continue, a contract year to play well in if he ever want another decent contract with any team be it Houston or not.

I thought the Rockets would have been traded mcgrady by now

It would be a smarter thing to do if the Rockets keep him for now. The Rockets will be without Yao and Artest next season, so having McGrady in hand whether he scores well or not is a plus at this point. Trade him and the Rockets will have nothing but a bunch of young players and some veterans that cant make things happen on their own. Keep him and at least you have Tracy McGrady on your team. He can make things happen. Something is better than nothing, having McGrady is better than not having him.

Brooks, McGrady, Ariza, Scola, scrub with Battier, Hayes, Landry and maybe Wafer off the bench doesn't inspire any confidence

That squad minus McGrady and Ariza is the squad that forces the Lakers to 7 games. After Yao went down that exact team won 2 games from the Lakers. That's more than enough confidence me thinks.

You're forgetting Artest. In my opinion, current Rockets is not a playoff team, unless Tracy will make the full recovery soon enough and become what he used to be.

Right. Artest too. The thing is, he's not effective on the offensive end at all after Yao went down in game 2. He wasn't really a factor in those games the Rockets won without Yao, scoring only 8 points in game 4 and 14 in game 6. Besides, he was shooting bricks and his shot selection at times are awful. You could say that he contributed a lot on the defensive end, but I think the Rockets will be able to win those games even without Artest. Brooks and Scola are really the two players that carried the Rockets to game 7, not to forget Battier's extraordinary performance in game 4 as well. You dont score more points than Kobe Bryant everyday, Battier even said it himself that he might have the boxscore of that game framed.

The current Rockets roster might not be a playoff calibur team, but I dont see any reason why I should stop believing.

Don't tell me that Brooks didn't benefit from having Yao there in the post and the presence of Artest as a scoring threat. He's dynamite, but it's going to be tough for him to score constantly when defenders are focusing more on him, unless he suddenly becomes Chris Paul or Deron Williams. I think it'd be the same for Scola, no matter how smart a player he is. Ariza's mediocre off the dribble, as is Battier; they're both essentially open jump-shooters and inside look finishers. Defensively, they won't lose too much without Artest and Yao but I'm not sure they can cope offensively.

As for McGrady, it really depends how well he comes back from knee surgery: he's already seemed to have slowed down a little. Everybody knows what Chris Webber and Penny Hardaway were like after knee surgery. Neither had the athleticism, agility and mobility that had previously made them stat-sheet fillers. If T-Mac comes back without that explosiveness he has, he's not going to find too many good shots for himself or create any shots for teammates.

Brooks is one fast little fucker though, his handles also enable him to get to the paint pretty easily. What Brooks would have to look out for is injuries due to the pounding he'll receive on a nightly basis from going to the rim.

I think they'll do all right, I think they'll really go for the drive to the paint and pass it out to shooters style of play. Not like they have much else of a choice to be honest.

Don't tell me that Brooks didn't benefit from having Yao there in the post and the presence of Artest as a scoring threat. He's dynamite, but it's going to be tough for him to score constantly when defenders are focusing more on him, unless he suddenly becomes Chris Paul or Deron Williams.

I wasn't saying that Brooks didn't benefit from the presence of Yao in the post, Yao really drew a lot of attention and that left Brooks open, but in game 4 Yao wasn't there to draw the defenders yet Brooks managed to drop 34 points despite the Lakers defense closing in on him. It will be tougher for him to score since defenders will be focusing more on him now like you said, but I think he'll do just fine. Still, that's just my humble opinion.

As for McGrady, it really depends how well he comes back from knee surgery: he's already seemed to have slowed down a little. Everybody knows what Chris Webber and Penny Hardaway were like after knee surgery. Neither had the athleticism, agility and mobility that had previously made them stat-sheet fillers. If T-Mac comes back without that explosiveness he has, he's not going to find too many good shots for himself or create any shots for teammates.

But then there's also the example of Amare Stoudemire who did came back with athleticism, agility and everything else that allows him to continue his career and be an all-star. Stoudemire's earlier condition and young age is an advantage that McGrady doesn't have, but who knows. There's always that chance. I think the defense will still pay a decent amount of attention to McGrady because after all, he is still Tracy McGrady. And that should still allow him to find open teammates. He's always been a great passer whether the defenders are on him or not anyway so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Besides, McGrady doesn't have the kind of explosiveness he used to have back in his Orlando days/early Rockets days since the 07-08 season already, yet he was still able to create shots for himself and others back then. We all know that he is already not as explosive as he was before the surgery anyway, and this microfracture surgery isn't going to help. He will definitely lose more explosiveness, the question is how much. Despite all this there's always the possibilty that he will come back strong, though we definitely wont be seeing the old T-Mac that averaged 32.1 ppg, but we might get to see the T-Mac that averaged around 20 ppg again.

Apart from that you're right on most part.

I didn't say that it's going to be a struggle for him night-in, night-out. But I'm not sure the Rockets can say, "there's going to be at least one guy who's going to score 20 tonight" in this coming season. Last season, either Artest or Yao could score 20 and after that, they didn't need a lot from the rest of the team. I'm not completely sure that one of Brooks or Scola could score that 20 every game this season.

As for T-Mac, it has to be wait and see. Amare had knee surgery at 23, Penny at 27 (I think) and C-Webb at 30. Kidd had it too, and he didn't really lose too much considering his skill set at the time.

Amar'e doesn't have the athleticism he used to have before that microfracture surgery. And he's the only one who has gotten himself at least close to previous shape. I'm not completely denying that T-Mac can come back very succesfully, it just seems unlikely at the moment. He was able to score 20 ppg in 07/08, and I think that he could do that again, especially without Yao and Artest.

He was able to score 20 ppg in 07/08, and I think that he could do that again, especially without Yao and Artest.

I agree. Without both Yao and Artest he should be able to get plenty of shots. The scoring load should be on him now that he's the most capable player on the team despite his nagging injury.

2009 TMac= 2005-2006 Kobe?

rockets need to trade tmac if they can get any value at all back for him. i would trade him to a team that could have a high draft pick and pretty much let my team suck it up this year. next season starts maybe you have yao back and potentially 2 top rookies to start the rebuilding process. mcgrady will never bring the rockets anywhere anyway

What? Are you crazy? T-Mac can lead Houston! One example of that is in the 07-08 season. When Yao went down, who carried them to those 22 straight wins?

Yeah, those 22 were a miracle, for sure. But it's not like he's going to carry Houston to the finals. And if Yao is going to be out this season, well, odds are against the Rockets.

I agree with Sauru, I would trade him for some young players and draft picks. They already have good talented players in Brooks and Ariza and solid role players like Scola and Lowry, so rebuilding shouldn't be that difficult

T-Mac didn't carry Houston in 07/08. With his shooting percentages that year it isn't very smart to say that. After Yao went down, the rest of the team made that happen, not T-Mac alone. He was playing one of the worst spans in a long time. He did have a big role, but with that kind of shooting percentage he didn't help his team as much as he should have.

T-Mac will only play half the season, if that. He sustained a pretty bad injury. Add the losses of Wafer and Artest to the woes and you have what will probably be a 50 loss team. Scola is a winner, Battier is a winner, Brooks is good, but the talent is just not there. A mutually beneficial trade like this would help, but just because they managed to run on fumes and narrowly beat the second worst championship team of the decade feeding off GSW07-esque crowd doesn't mean that they'll be any good this year. Benji could come in here and correct me, but I really don't see a Brooks-Ariza-Battier-Scola-Andersen squad making the playoffs, as good as Adelman is.

What? Are you crazy? T-Mac can lead Houston! One example of that is in the 07-08 season. When Yao went down, who carried them to those 22 straight wins?

take this from a pats fan, winning in the regular season dont mean shit. tmac has done nothing worth a damn in the nba. trade him and start with a new younger core

yes trade t-mac while he still has some value left. you could probably get a nice deal for him.

That's true he's long way from where he can dominate like he used to. Houston is fucked. So sad... was my favorite team from West