VC to HOF??

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I think your desire to prove Marc wrong is clouding your memory. In a perfect world, the TEAM should get the blame for blowing a 3-1 series lead (it was 3-1 guys, not 3-0), but fans don't operate that way. The way it works is, Nick Anderson lost the '95 Finals, and Courtney Lee lost the '09 Finals.

 

Now, I may find fault with both of those statements, but the idea that McGrady takes the bulk of the blame for the '03 loss to the Pistons lies in the fact that McGrady made statements after Game 4 that should not be made by someone who is expecting the TEAM to win the series. He said "I have not been out of the first round before." He made 2 big mistakes there...he gave the Pistons bulletin board material when the series wasn't over, and he chose to place the emphasis on himself.

 

Maybe those last three games weren't all his fault, but he chose to place the focus completely on himself. It is likely not a coincidence that his fortunes, and the Magic's fortunes, went down the tube after that.

 

That's ridiculous. You can't say someone is right because fans operate irrationally.

 

You can't not have the focus on him because the entire series was focused on him. He was the premier guy in the series. Once Detroit figured out how to limit McGrady our fate was sealed. Go back and look at the box scores for that playoff series. You get a healthy Grant Hill in there and a decent PG that can play defense and it's an entirely different franchise. Mcgrady likely doesn't need to play 47 and 46 minutes in games 3 and 4. He doesn't burn himself out. We don't lose the series. He doesn't hate being here. We win more games the next year. We don't get Dwight. We don't go to the finals in 07-08...

 

But anyways, I don't see how you can blame a player for losing a series when he scores 43 out of our 99 points in game 1, 46 out of 77 in game 2, 29 out of 89 in game 3, 27 out of 100 in game 4, 19 out of 67 in game 5, 37 out of 88 in game 6, and 21 out of 93 in game 7.

 

Look at that roster and tell me you would want any of those players from that year on our team today. Our playoff roster that year would be the equivalent of surrounding Kevin Durant with this roster:

 

Jason Williams/Marcus Banks/Anthony Carter

Rudy Fernandez/Gerald Henderson

Durant

Amir Johnson/Vladamir Radmanovic

Spencer Hawes/Eric Dampier/Solomon Alabi

 

Give him that team and ask him to beat the Utah Jazz or San Antonio.

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

You're wrong. A TEAM choked away a 3-0 playoff lead, not a player. The only reasons we won games 2 out of the first three games was the fact that he put up 43 points in game 1, 46 points in game 2, and 29 points in game 3. You could argue that he choked in game 7 when he only had 21 points on 7/24 shooting but its easy to defend a team that only has one option on offense. He just ran out of gas. We lost game 2 of that series while McGrady put up 46 points and the rest of our team put up 29. 29 POINTS!!! McGrady went 16/26 in that game and 10/11 from the line. The rest of the team went 11/42.

 

How can you blame McGrady for that? Our second best player was either Gordon Giricek or Drew Gooden. Giricek was only good because he hit open jumpshots when teams doubled Mcgrady. Gooden got a lot of rebounds and scored a high % of his points off of putbacks. 02-03 Giricek wouldn't make this current years magic team. 02-03 Gooden would play the same role that Malik Allen does.

 

You're letting your emotions cloud your logic. McGrady was a jerk for quitting on this team and leaving the way he did especially considering if he stuck around for one more year we would have been awesome. a Nelson/Mcgrady/Hill(hedo)/battie/Dwight lineup with Stevenson on the bench.

 

I'm actually not angry at Tracy. I think the quiting thing is over blown and I think there are 2 sides to the leaving story. I think it was a mistake but that's another conversation.

 

I'll give you that the Magic teams he had stunk but Iverson's teams weren't much better and he got them to the finals and had 50 win seasons. The Tracy led teams didn't get out of the first round. I just don't feel comfortable putting a guy in the hall when he has a historic playoff collapse and a 19 game losing streak on his resume. I think the hof should be about more than the individual stats.

 

Why isn't a guy like Shawn Kemp in the hall? He put up big numbers, he was an exciting player, he was a major component of a finals team. Tom Chambers put up big numbers, was a contributor on a finals team, was exciting to watch, was an all-star game MVP, why isn't he in the hall? Both of those guys had careers that are comparable to Vince and Tracy.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I'm actually not angry at Tracy. I think the quiting thing is over blown and I think there are 2 sides to the leaving story. I think it was a mistake but that's another conversation.

 

I'll give you that the Magic teams he had stunk but Iverson's teams weren't much better and he got them to the finals and had 50 win seasons. The Tracy led teams didn't get out of the first round. I just don't feel comfortable putting a guy in the hall when he has a historic playoff collapse and a 19 game losing streak on his resume. I think the hof should be about more than the individual stats.

 

Why isn't a guy like Shawn Kemp in the hall? He put up big numbers, he was an exciting player, he was a major component of a finals team. Tom Chambers put up big numbers, was a contributor on a finals team, was exciting to watch, was an all-star game MVP, why isn't he in the hall? Both of those guys had careers that are comparable to Vince and Tracy.

 

Kemp isn't eligible yet due to his comeback attempts. Chambers probably should be.

 

Iverson's teams weren't much better and that's what makes him one of the best players of the last decade. Iverson putting that team on his back was ridiculous.

[cpower 13]

Definitely HOF worthy. He was Air Canada, attracted millions of fans globally into the game. Best dunker, talented scorer and guess what , he was actually the leading scorer in that Olympic team.