I used to get very annoyed at McGrady's defense in Orlando and Houston. Not because he couldn't play defense but because he could play high level defense and chose not to. He was a wonderful defender his final year in Toronto and played very good defense for the first half a season in Orlando until he got burnt out by having to carry the team on both ends of the floor. He never played consistent defense again. Only in short bursts. A game here or there.
Then Orlando's roster just kept getting worse and worse so Tracy had to take on more and more of an offensive load. I was hoping Houston would get him back to playing with defensive effort. He finally had help. He had Yao Ming! He had a terrific defensive coach in JVG. Nope. Still wouldn't give consistent effort. Just floated through most games on D.
Still was useful enough on D even without trying hard with his size & athleticism. Dude should and could have been first team All-Defense year in year out if he wanted to though. What a waste.
McGrady was so fun to watch on defense when he was trying. He had it all for a top level SF defender. He had the speed, the size, the length, enough muscle. He got jam passing lanes. Create turnovers. Come over weakside and block shots. Switch onto pretty much any position. He had everything.
Just not commitment. Only offense, not defense.
you mean he was lazy and didn't want to work.
Yup. Lazy and did not want to work.
Did not understand the value of defense.
Did not understand the value of leadership. Of his lesser teammates seeing him work hard either in general or specifically on defense.
Overvalued his offense. Undervalued his defense.
Undervalued a team-based approach in favour of an individual based approach.
Did not understand winning / how to win.
I was watching a few McGrady games over the last week. Some of his playoff games.
The first two Houston series were winnable series. The one against Dallas and the first one against Utah. The third series also against Utah was without Yao so they were overmatched there. But the other two were winnable series. Houston won neither of them.
In Orlando, that 2002 series against Charlotte stands out. The Hornets had a very good team that was better than Orlando when healthy but they were without their best player in Jamal Mashburn. The Hornets without Mash were no better than Orlando. They had a bit more depth but McGrady was far and away the best player. That was a winnable series.
The 2003 series against the Pistons was more winnable than is remembered. It was before Sheed joined. It was before Tayshaun established himself. Tayshaun was there but only a part time player off the bench. So they were down 40% of their starting lineup from the team that would own the East in 2004. Even Billups, it was his first year as a starter and he wasn't performing at an All-Star level yet. That series was far closer talent wise than is remembered. That Pistons won 50 games but were punching well above their weight through top notch coaching more so than actual talent on their roster. Talent wise there wasn't much difference between DET and the 42 win Magic.
The only series were McGrady was truly overmatched was his first one against the 2001 Bucks. That strong Bucks team with their Big Three that made the ECF losing to AI's 76ers. That was the only series where I thought his team did not have enough talent.
So only two series were he was overmatched and 4 series that were winnable yet he comes out of 0-6. Never getting past the first round as a star player.
... And I still might draft him in that fantasy game if he is there at #4
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