Quote:
McGrady growing tired of criticism
By Michael C. Lewis
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/25/2008 04:38:21 AM MDT
Houston's Tracy McGrady entered Game 3 against the Jazz on Thursday night having scored precisely one of his 46 points in the first-round playoff series in the game-defining crucible of the fourth quarter.
And clearly, he was getting a little tired of hearing about it.
Annoyed by complaints that he's disappearing just when his team needs him the most, McGrady mockingly sided with the critics who have blamed him for the Rockets losing the first two games of the series at home.
"It's my fault," he told reporters in Houston. "It's my fault we missed free throws. It's my fault we lost both games. Blame me. It's my fault we fouled to tie the game up. That's my fault. It's my fault they get easy layups. It's my fault we're not executing well on the offensive end. It's my fault a couple people in the stands ordered Heinekens and they got Budweiser. It's my fault. I'm sorry."
The Jazz have thrown a variety of defenders at McGrady, hoping to keep him out of a rhythm and wear him down - especially with the Rockets short-handed without injured Yao Ming and Rafer Alston.
And that - or something - certainly seems to have worked.
McGrady scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out nine assists in the first three quarters of Game 2 against the Jazz, but had only one point, three rebounds and no assists in the fourth as the Jazz edged away to a 90-84 victory. He was 0-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter of the first two games.
"I'm in a tough position," McGrady said. "If I go out and try to be passive and we're not making shots, then we're in a hole. If I am aggressive and I have to stay that way, then fourth quarter, I'm worn out, don't have the lift I do in the first three quarters. It's a tough situation to be in. . . . Story of my season or my playoff career."
Indeed, McGrady has never made it out of the first round of the playoffs - another recurring criticism that no doubt fueled his frustrated monologue.
"It's my fault," he said. "Everything is my fault. It's my fault. It's T-Mac's fault. . . . Even some of the guys can't even believe it," McGrady added. "I was talking to one of the guys, and he was like, 'I would hate to be you. I really can't believe what some of the people say about you, especially after playing the game you played the other night.' They can't believe it."
You might think these things, but to say them to reporters, especially in the playoffs, in true boneheadedness.