T-Mac in the Videos Section

In honour of one of my main men receiving player of the week honours, I thought I’d throw in that clip of him scoring like 1000 points in barely any time.  Check it out here.

Fantasy Sleeper (#2): Tracy McGrady

Although this isn’t as significant as yesterdays article about Joe Johnson, I would still consider Tracy McGrady overlooked by some experts in the wonderful world of fantasy basketball.  According to some of the boys over at Yahoo.com Fantasy Basketball, they collectively have McGrady ranked as the number 11 small forward.  Again, with so much talent in the league, this doesn’t seem too far off, considering McGrady’s injury woes.  Why I consider him a sleeper is because of a few guys that they have in front of T-Mac in their rankings.  The three guys in front of T-Mac are Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace and Paul Pierce.  Don’t get me wrong, these guys are quite deserving of a high rankings, but in my mind, not ahead of my man T-Mac.  Firstly, Caron Butler had his best season last year, only to lose it to an injury.  With averages of around 19 pts, 7.5 boards and 4 assists, these are quite impressive numbers that will put you near the top of any rankings.  When comparing to T-Mac’s 24.5 pts, 5 boards and 6.5 assists per game, how can you overlook the statistics.  Fantasy ball is very much about stats, but also about taking into consideration injuries.  Both these guys are susceptible to injury this year, which obviously lowers both their rankings.  If you cancel that fact out, statistically, you’d want T-Mac ahead of Butler.  Moving onto Gerald Wallace.  I haven’t seen someone move up the ranks so quickly from such a large contract signing.  There is a lot of hype and hope for this guy to have the season of his career, but I just don’t see it happening.  He isn’t a huge risk for an injury, so that obviously adds some value.  The one reason why I don’t see him putting up his 18, 7 and 2.5 this year is because his team just signed another scorer in Jason Richardson.  Gerald Wallace isn’t the go-to-guy anymore (or not necessarily).  His assists will probably increase, but his points will likely decrease slightly.  Again, I’d give the upper hand to T-Mac.  Finally, Paul Pierce.  This one is a little more borderline, and if your faced with this dilemma of either T-Mac or Paul Pierce, it will really come down to your personal preference.  The reason why I choose T-Mac is because he will remain the go-to-guy in Houston (sharing this privilege with Yao, of course).  As for Pierce, he will enter the season with two brand new all-star scorers in his lineup. Will his assists increase this year?  Absolutely!  Will his scoring average decrease?  More than likely!  The offense will obviously be ran through KG, therefore, Pierce isn’t your go-to guy anymore in Boston, but rather he’s now a great option.  Overall, I see T-Mac having a monster season, along with the Houston Rockets as a team.  I would say he’s capable of putting up 25, 6 and 6 this year.  As Yao usually gets injured, McGrady’s numbers could even grow larger. I don’t think T-Mac will get injured.  I think he’s hit a point in his career where he’s probably taken every precaution possible to prevent it from happening.  So, if your going to take anything from my ramble, make sure you don’t overlook McGrady in your fantasy draft, because this guy is coming to play!

The Rebirth of the Franchise?

I think that’s pushing it a bit. Firstly, I would consider Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Luther Head and Rafer Alston the “franchise” all before the former franchise.  But enough bashing, look who the Rockets landed!  I’m not sure if any of you read my article ( check it out here!) titled “Big Expectations for McGrady, Yao and the Boys” but if you did, you might already know how much faith I have in this Rockets team.  And now this, Steve Francis!  Having him on board will definitely create some competition within the team, now that the Rockets have 3 point guards in Mike James, Francis and Rafer Alston.  One could look at it as a problem, and another could look at it as depth.  I choose depth, as well it will force the three to play and practice harder to get the kind of minutes they all want.  The Rockets now have a bunch of potential primary scorers.  If McGrady or Yao go down with injuries, which will inevitably happen to at least one of them, there is some backup.  As I said before, the Rockets still have Bonzi Wells and Shane Battier.  Battier is one of the best role players in the league, and for that, will more than likely make the US national team this summer.  This team is stacked.  My prediction:  at a bare minimum, I see these guys in the conference finals if they can stay healthy. They really should invest in the best doctor and conditioning staff to keep this injury prone team healthy.  Gotta love the Rockets this year!

He’s coming home to Houston!  And for less money too!

 

Big Expectations for McGrady, Yao and the Boys

When you think about the powerful Western conference, you think about Dallas. You think about San Antonio. You think about Phoenix. Now, you even think about Golden State. The one team I find that always gets overlooked is Houston. Although they aren’t highly regarded as a West powerhouse, the Rockets have some powerful weapons themselves. It wasn’t that long ago that Tracy McGrady was leading the league in scoring. It also wasn’t that long ago that the Toronto Raptors jumped off a cliff for letting themselves let go of this talent. Oh, they also have a guy named Yao. Ya, he’s 7’6”. He’s an all-star and becoming the one of the most powerful centers in the league, among being a fantasy dream pick at the centre position. If the Rockets get any recognition, it’s due to these guys. But the Rockets have other talent that gets overshadowed. The four main guys I want to look at are Shane Battier, Rafer Alston, Bonzi Wells and Mike James. I’m not going to touch on the promising young talent like Luther Head, Aaron Brooks, etc. Firstly, Shane Battier has become one the more recognizable role players in the league. He is that guy that will do whatever it takes to win a game, whether it be rebound, score or play some solid defense. I feel every team needs a guy like this in order to be successful (see Tayshaun Prince). Next, the Rockets have Rafer Alston running the point. His 13, 3 and 5 average is solid, although I’m sure the Rockets would love to see his 5 assists go up to somewhere around 8. Either way, he brings a great ball handler to the court every night. Next, Mike James. This was a great pick-up for the Rockets, as James can potentially turn out to be a star again. Unfortunately, he never got a spark in Mini, but who knows what he will bring. With Alston at the point, I can see James moving to shooting guard, making the Rockets have a very small backcourt. Now, onto Bonzi Wells. He didn’t get along with the coach last year, but with Rick Adelman coming in, Bonzi’s game will inevitably fit in. He’ll at least get some minutes to prove it. This guy is capable of still scoring 20+ point a game. Seeing as how he has to share the ball with McGrady and Yao, chances are he won’t get enough shots, but he still brings a dangerous offensive weapon to the team. Like past years, injuries could play into the picture. That has been the main cause of the lack of success of the Rockets. But all I can think about is if this whole team stays healthy for the majority of the season. These guys can be contenders. I can see them splitting a season series against Phoenix, San Antonio and Dallas. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these guys having home court advantage in the playoffs (again, pending team health). These guys have a lot of talent, and I’m pretty excited to see them make a run in the West. Watch out!

Can Yao and the Rockets be serious West contenders?