The trifecta of McGrady, Yao Ming, and Ron Artest were supposed to lead the Rockets to the promised land.  But as seems to follow the script, Houston can’t stay healthy, and I’m starting to wonder if McGrady will ever get out of the first round

SCOTT JACOBS

Tracy McGrady is done for the year.  So are the Rockets.  And today, I have never ben more convinced that it is possible that T-Mac may never get out of the first round.  It seems insane for a talent of his magnitude to fail to elevate his team to at least a first round victory in a best of seven series, but now that T-Mac is heading for Grant Hill status: great player, can’t stay healthy, the Rockets look like they’re on the verge of crashing and burning.

After a promising offseason in which they seemingly stole Ron Artest for a trial run the Rockets appeared to have the pieces in place to play with the big boys.  But like we always say in sports: paper champions have never won any titles.  You have to go out on the court to claim your ring.  And once again, the familiar ring of ‘what if’ will continue to haunt the Rockets and their fans well into this offseason.

The latest foil to the Rockets hope is McGrady’s left knee, which is bothering him to the point that he’ll have microfracture surgery.

And it may only get worse from here.  McGrady, who is limping into his 30’s, has struggled this year to a tune of a career low 15.6 points per game.  His 39 percent shooting from the field is also a career worst.   The 6′8″, 11 year veteran who entered the league straight out of high school has never led his team out of the first round.

Found a great article on USA Today on Orlando’s now infamous 3 games to 1 collapse against the Pistons back in 2003.  This article was written after McGrady and the Magic beat Detroit 100-92 in game four, leaving Orlando on the verge of a stunning upset of the number one seeded Pistons.

With the sellout crowd throbbing with raw emotion, Orlando Magic forward Tracy McGrady palmed the basketball in one hand and gleefully raised the index finger on his right hand high in the air. “One more! One more!” McGrady screamed, even though he knew few could hear his words considering all the noise.

But that one final win never came.  The Pistons roared back to sweep the series’ final three games, and sent McGrady to a defeat he would never truly overcome.  Almost six years later McGrady is still looking for that elusive first playoff series victory.

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