As Tracy McGrady Falls, So Do Houston Rockets

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Fans across Houston saw the 2009 NBA Championship banner raised to the rafters of Toyota Center once the Rockets acquired Ron Artest during the off-season. Tracy McGrady said this was the best team he has ever been on.

The Rockets made a bold statement:

Its now or never.

With four of the five 2008 starting rotation coming off of surgery, naturally there were health concerns. Shane Battier was held out of the start of the season due to his foot, McGrady had his knee to worry about, and Artest sprained his already sprained ankle.

But with a strong bench, the Rockets were in decent shape to hang in until they became full strength, right?

After watching McGrady play this past few weeks, I can't deny the fact that the guy cares about his team. He wants to win that championship; heck, he wants to get out of the first round of the playoffs.

When it was reported that he could only play one game of a back-to-back as long as he went hard, I felt that we had a decent chance. Even with Battier out for another 6 games, the Houston Rockets would be alright as long as McGrady was there.

I was wrong.

Yesterday the Rockets had an embarrassing showing in Toronto, losing to the Raptors 94-73. After the first half, I realized something that I never thought I'd see from this Rockets team, a team with so much potential.

They gave up.

Not just a few players, but the whole team. And it all started with McGrady. He scored only 4 points the entire first half, and lacked the ability to impose his will on the game as he did so much a few years ago. By the end of the game, he wasn't even playing basketball; instead choosing to defer to his teammates because he saw the game was out of reach.

He gave up, and his teammates followed.

Granted the Rockets couldn't shoot, but that is a minor point considering this.

This team was built around McGrady, not Yao or Artest. Yes, collectively they are the Big Three of Houston. But as it was shown in the 2008 season, the Rockets can win without Yao and Artest. They cannot win without McGrady.  

20-13 is not a bad record. However, this is the Western Conference. Not bad will get the Rockets close, but not where the fans believed they would be going into this season.

Tonight the Rockets play the Hawks in Atlanta, a team that showed the world it can hang with the big name teams. McGrady will most likely not be playing as per the plan to skip one of the back-to-back games. Are the Rockets better off?

Tracy McGrady is a free agent in 2010, as are all the other big name players. I have no doubt that he will want to show the league that he can still play next season in order to get another contract in 2010, which is why I believe that this season the Rockets will get close.

Close, but not where they want to be.

Houston's sports teams have shown to be unpredictable the past few years. Will the Rockets follow that and turn the season around? As a loyal Rockets fan, I hope so.

But it all starts with McGrady.