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McGrady: ‘I just wasn’t a great practice player’


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The basic distillation is that, because the game came so easy to McGrady (Van Gundy and Morey argued), he never boasted the needed drive to really apply himself in areas that didn't come effortlessly to him.

 

And Tracy? He still doesn't get it. From Chris Tomasson, at HoopsHype:

"I really don't see how, maybe I'm wrong on this. I don't just see how going hard in practice is going to take my talent to another level. I just don't see that… As far as the team jelling and practicing like that, yeah that's how you make your team better. I'm saying me personally, I just didn't see how me practicing hard was going to take my talent to another level. I always felt like working on my individual skills was taking my talent to another level… Now when I say I wasn't a great practice player, it's not like I sat out of practice. I was participating. I always participated."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Tracy-McGrady-I-just-wasn-t-a-great-practice-p;_ylt=An0fQItBYACKmhJGCfS8xTO8vLYF?urn=nba-wp220

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I used to rail on T-Mac all the time because it was so obvious he had that mindset. People would bring up all these numbers in defense of his "greatness." The guy never worked hard enough to be special, and the fact that he still doesn't understand is almost tragic. Of course it takes a Jeff Van Gundy discussion for a bunch of people to finally stop and smell the roses. It's a shame too, because he brought so much to the table, with his talent, and with a good understanding of how to play basketball.

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No, due to having a shitty attitude, being a chucker, and an over-rated player in general.

 

The only two players more over-rated than him in the past ten years are Jason Kidd and of course Vince Carter.

 

So injuries had nothing to do with Tracys decline?

 

Please explain to me how Kidd is overrated?

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Not just the injuries. His overall attitude SUCKED. His whole "its my fault" rant was pathetic. Dude never cared enough to seriously take his game to the next level and that article basically sums it up. Him and Rasheed Wallace kill me with how talented they are but they just didn't care.

Edited by Charlie Sheen
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LOL dont get your hopes up, I dont see how someone can make that argurment.

 

He's a good player, and will be a future Hall of Fame player, but he is over-rated. It's hard not to laugh when people put him in the same sentence as John Stockton or Steve Nash because the fact of the matter is, he can't hold either of their jocks.

 

1. He's an average scorer.

 

2. Rebounding is important, but I don't value it much for PG's, especially when many of the rebounds are given to him by his teammates wanting him to get the ball in transition.

 

3. He's an absolutely piss-poor shooter. The most points he's averaged in a season is 17ppg, and that was one time. He is a career .402 shooter from the field, with a .350 from three-point land. He's shot under 40% seven times in his career, and soon to be eight times this season.

 

4. He's not a winner. He's done very little with every team he's been apart of except one season.

 

 

Again, I'm not saying he was never a good player, but he was/is over-rated when people try to compare him to Nash, Stockton, and other PG's that are clearly better than him.

Edited by EastCoastNiner
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He's a good player, and will be a future Hall of Fame player, but he is over-rated. It's hard not to laugh when people put him in the same sentence as John Stockton or Steve Nash because the fact of the matter is, he can't hold either of their jocks.

 

1. He's an average scorer.

 

2. Rebounding is important, but I don't value it much for PG's, especially when many of the rebounds are given to him by his teammates wanting him to get the ball in transition.

 

3. He's an absolutely piss-poor shooter. The most points he's averaged in a season is 17ppg, and that was one time. He is a career .402 shooter from the field, with a .350 from three-point land. He's shot under 40% seven times in his career, and soon to be eight times this season.

 

4. He's not a winner. He's done very little with every team he's been apart of except one season.

 

 

Again, I'm not saying he was never a good player, but he was/is over-rated when people try to compare him to Nash, Stockton, and other PG's that are clearly better than him.

 

You do have a point. His best average in a season is 18.7 ppg too. Sure his shooting % weren't great but he still always averaged high amounts of assists, rebounds and steals, and still puts him in the elite.

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You do have a point. His best average in a season is 18.7 ppg too. Sure his shooting % weren't great but he still always averaged high amounts of assists, rebounds and steals, and still puts him in the elite.

 

Again, I'm not saying he wasn't a very good player. However, I am saying very good players can be over-rated when people compare them to legends or players that are clearly better than them.

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Kidd's defense is what sets him apart from other PG's in the league. He's been at it for about 15 years now and it's still remarkably great. He was never a scorer, and that you can see from his fg%, but his court vision and the way he always finds an open teammate is just amazing. I truly admire him as a player.

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So....just because you are not an excellent shooter that means you are overrated? Even if you are an elite passer, rebounder (at pg), and defender? No.

 

Also when comparing him to Nash what he lacks in shooting he definately makes up for it on the defensive end. Not to mention rebounding. I am not saying hes better than Nash because that really depends on how much you value certain stats, but I am saying you are wrong if you say Kidd cant stand on the same level as Nash.

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So....just because you are not an excellent shooter that means you are overrated? Even if you are an elite passer, rebounder (at pg), and defender? No.

 

Also when comparing him to Nash what he lacks in shooting he definately makes up for it on the defensive end. Not to mention rebounding. I am not saying hes better than Nash because that really depends on how much you value certain stats, but I am saying you are wrong if you say Kidd cant stand on the same level as Nash.

 

Jason Kidd's superiorority on the defensive side of the ball does not make up for his glaring deficiences on the other side of the ball. I don't want this to turn into a Kidd v.s. Nash debate (because there really isn't a debate to be made), but Nash's offensive skills and overall game trump Kidd's and his superior defensive game. I'll give Kidd sustained longevity as well which is important, but he's still over-rated.

Edited by EastCoastNiner
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Jason Kidd's superiorority on the defensive side of the ball does not make up for his glaring deficiences on the other side of the ball. I don't want this to turn into a Kidd v.s. Nash debate (because there really isn't a debate to be made), but Nash's offensive skills and overall game trump Kidd's and his superior defensive game. I'll give Kidd sustained longevity as well which is important, but he's still over-rated.

 

What do you mean overall game? Outside of his offensive side skills he has no other game, while Kidd plays will on both sides of the ball. You are making it sound like Nash kills Kidd in a debate, lol you cant be more wrong.

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Again, I'm not saying he wasn't a very good player. However, I am saying very good players can be over-rated when people compare them to legends or players that are clearly better than them.

I've never heard Jason Kidd been put ahead of any legends. When people talk about Jason Kidd they never say he's the greatest point gaurd ever or anything but he's clearly in the top 5-10 to have ever played.

 

I don't know how that's overrated.

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It's a shame... he could have been great, but it was clear his work ethic was sub-par. You could see it in certain games, his whole style of making the game look easy was amazing when he was on point, but sometimes it came back to bite him in the ass and that's when Tracy looked more like a quitter when thing's weren't going his way.

 

His whole demeanor was calm cool and collective, but I do wish he had a better career it would have been fun to watch, especially during his tenure in Houston.

 

On the flip side Yao Ming who also possessed tons and tons of talent never casted a shadow when it came to work ethic, he genuinely worked hard and it showed, I think that's why we can be so much more sympathetic towards Yao, knowing that this guy took basketball and made it his life.

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