Sports Network:Houston Rockets 2004-05 Season Preview

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By Warren Blatt, NBA Editor


2003-04 FINISH: 45-37

OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: Reece Gaines (G) - Trade with Orlando; Juwan Howard (F) - Trade with Orlando; Tyronn Lue (G) - Trade with Orlando; Tracy McGrady (G) - Trade with Orlando; Dikembe Mutombo (C) - Trade with Chicago; Bob Sura (G) - Free Agent; Charlie Ward (G) - Free Agent.

OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS: Kelvin Cato (F/C) - Traded to Orlando; Steve Francis (G) - Traded to Orlando; Adrian Griffin (F) - Traded to Chicago; Cuttino Mobley (G) - Traded to Orlando; Eric Piatkowski (F) - Traded to Chicago; Mike Wilks (G) - Traded to Chicago.

2004 DRAFT PICKS: 2. (55) Luis Flores (G, Manhattan) - Traded to Dallas.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP: PG Charlie Ward, SG Tracy McGrady, SF Jim Jackson, PF Juwan Howard, C Yao Ming

COACH: Jeff Van Gundy


(Sports Network) - All-Stars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming are ready to try and become the most feared one-two punch in the NBA.

The Rockets, who won 45 games during the 2003-04 regular season and lost in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, pulled of one of the biggest trades during what was a very busy offseason in the NBA. Houston acquired McGrady, forward Juwan Howard and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines from the Orlando Magic for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and forward/center Kelvin Cato.

"Whenever you make a trade of this magnitude you have to give to get greatness and I want to take a moment to thank Steve (Francis), Cuttino (Mobley) and Kelvin (Cato) for the great year that we had," said Houston head coach Jeff Van Gundy.

By acquiring McGrady, who was traded by Toronto to Orlando in exchange for a future first round draft pick in a sign-and-trade deal in August 2000, the Rockets hope Yao and McGrady can jell and become the most potent inside- outside duo in the league. Originally selected out of Mount Zion Christian Academy High School by the Raptors in the first round (ninth overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft, the 25-year-old McGrady averaged 28 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists in 67 games for the Magic last season.

Yao, who has been an All-Star in his first two seasons, averaged 17.5 points and nine rebounds in 82 regular-season contests for Houston in 2003-04. With Yao in the middle, the floor will open more for the explosive McGrady, who will take advantage of situations where Yao is double-teamed down low and he is left to go one-on-one with his defender.

"It is truly a blessing to have a guy like Yao Ming who I think is going to be dominant in his league," said McGrady. "I'm coming here to try and help him get better and he is only going to help make the game much easier for me so I'm excited about him."

Houston made some more moves during the offseason, as the Rockets signed free agent guards Charlie Ward and Bob Sura, who underwent surgery in late September to repair a herniated disk in his lower back and could be sidelined until late November, to contracts. Houston also obtained veteran center Dikembe Mutombo from the Chicago Bulls for guards Adrian Griffin, Eric Piatkowski and Mike Wilks.

Van Gundy is back for his second season with the Rockets. With the addition of McGrady, Van Gundy may change his walk-it-up offense approach to a fast-paced style of play. Houston's general stresses defense, but he will attempt to find a balance that will suit his roster and produce victories in the standings. Having McGrady and Yao on the court together will only help Van Gundy and the Rockets become more successful. It shouldn't be too much of a chore for the Rockets' head coach to figure out how to exploit the skills of two of the most talented players in the league.

BACKCOURT

McGrady, who will also log minutes at small forward, will team with Lue, Sura and Ward to give the Rockets their nucleus in the backcourt. Make no mistake about it that Van Gundy knows that McGrady, who is the two-time defending scoring champion, is the key to his guard play. Francis and Mobley were an excellent pair of starters for Houston, but a solo McGrady may better.

Van Gundy would like to see McGrady become a complete player. He knows he is explosive offensively, but he wants him to put some of his energy into being as dominant on the other end of the court as well.

"He can be the premier defensive player in the NBA," said Van Gundy. "He's got that type of quickness."

Lue and Ward will share the duties of point guard. The 27-year-old Lue was solid for the dismal Magic, who were just 21-61, last season as he averaged 10.5 points and 4.2 assists in 76 contests. Ward registered six points and three assists in 71 games for the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in 2003-04.

When Sura returns from back surgery, he gives the Rockets a versatile player who can play either guard spot. The 6-5 Sura, who averaged 14.7 points in 27 games for the Atlanta Hawks after being traded from the Detroit Pistons at the trade deadline, will allow Van Gundy to play McGrady at small forward and shuffle his lineup to cause matchup problems for the opposition.

It is all about McGrady, but a healthy Sura gives Van Gundy a lot of flexibility with his lineups. Sura should prove to be an excellent signing if he comes back completely healthy.

FRONTCOURT

With Yao at center, forwards Juwan Howard and Jim Jackson will have their share of good looks at the basket on offense. Defenders will be so focused on McGrady and Yao, which will free up Howard and Jackson for some high- percentage shots.

A one-time All-Star, Howard put up solid stats for the Magic last season as he averaged 17 points and seven boards in 81 games. The 10-year veteran logged over 35 minutes per game for Orlando in 2003-04 and could see those minutes increase with his new club. Howard, who has always been considered a second- scoring option wherever he has played, could put up big numbers with McGrady and Yao drawing the majority of the double-teams.

The 34-year-old Jackson, who can also play shooting guard, started 80 games for the Rockets last season and averaged 12.9 points, which was the most for him since 2000-01. Jackson is not great defensively, but he can knock down the open jumper from anywhere on the court and is not afraid to go inside against the trees. He shot 40 percent from beyond the arc in 2003-04 and also pulled down 6.1 boards per game.

Mutombo and veteran forwards Maurice Taylor, Clarence Weatherspoon add depth up front for Van Gundy. The 7-2 Mutombo is a nice backup for Yao, while Taylor and Weatherspoon can score and rebound and will get plenty of minutes behind Howard and Jackson.

OUTLOOK

Having McGrady and Yao on their roster gives the Rockets instant credibility. If Van Gundy can get the rest of the roster to mesh with Houston's two All- Stars, the Rockets could do some damage in the Western Conference. Fifty-plus wins during the regular season is a possibility, but the real test will come when the Rockets have to play either Dallas, Minnesota, Sacramento or San Antonio in a best-of-seven series. However it shakes out, Houston fans should have a lot of fun watching McGrady and Yao play as teammates.

 

Doc Rivers about T-Mac and Yao

Q: Talk about Tracy McGrady joining Yao Ming. Do you think this is the next Kobe-Shaq duo of the league?

Rivers: It could be. I don¡¯t know if Yao is as good as Shaq. The one thing Tracy has to do, and do it more consistently, is play with the intensity of Kobe. If he can do that, then I tell you that it¡¯s a heck of a move for Tracy. I do think this is a great opportunity for Tracy. I think this is his chance to answer critics and to do things that he doesn¡¯t do consistently. I think with Jeff (Van Gundy), they¡¯re getting him at the perfect time. So, it¡¯ll be interesting how they work it out. But, you¡¯re right, as far as our league and the way it¡¯s set-up, it¡¯s the only combination that you can consider a Kobe-Shaq situation. This is the only team. He has a chance and they have a chance, but I think they both have to answer questions.

Q: Do you think those two fusing together is the big question you¡¯re talking about?

Rivers: Yeah, and then just the intensity question all the time, defensively and offensively. I think obviously coming off the year that Tracy had last year as far as individually, but, more importantly the team, I think this is the perfect time to coach Tracy. I think you have a chance of really getting him to do it right all the time. Tracy wants to win and I think you¡¯re going to see that this year.


http://www.***********.com/rivers-interview-101904.shtml

 

Wow! Yao!

For U.S. brands selling in China, NBA sensation Yao Ming is one hot ticket

In the beginning were Pel¨¦ and Ali. Then Michael and Tiger and Lance. And now comes Yao. Athletes who by dint of raw talent, force of will, and power of personality transcend national borders and become mythical figures to people all over the planet. Increasingly, these megastars have also become money and marketing machines. But no sports icon in history has the potential of Shanghai-born Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets center and the epicenter of a campaign by American brands to win the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of 1.3 billion potential consumers in China's red-hot economy. Advertisement


Just how big is Yao Ming? So big that there's nowhere he can hide. In early September, Yao flew to the Chinese island of Hainan in the South China Sea to celebrate his 24th birthday in the relative quiet and obscurity of a remote beach resort. He brought along some friends and Rockets strength coach Anthony Falsone. In the mornings, Yao and the 5-foot-7-inch Falsone would sneak out to the beach for a three-mile run, hoping to get in their cardio without much notice. But as the 7-ft.-6-in., 310-pound Yao lumbered along the water's edge, crowds of thrilled tourists would begin running beside him -- snapping photos and begging for autographs -- until there was a horde of smaller beings trampling his footprints in the sand. "It was amazing," Falsone recalls. "There is not a corner of the country where people don't go crazy for Yao."

The scenes of Yao and his giddy herd bring back images of Muhammad Ali being trailed by dozens of schoolkids on his training runs for the "Rumble in the Jungle" prizefight in Zaire 30 years ago. But by then, Ali had long been a global superstar. By contrast, Yao three years ago was a local hotshot in Shanghai and largely unknown beyond China. Now, preparing to enter only his third season in the NBA, he is not just recognized worldwide but could become a real factor in bilateral trade between the U.S. and China.

With his squeaky-clean image (so far) and bashful smile, Yao could be the most effective messenger yet to help American blue chips build business in an economy whose GDP is growing at a robust 9% annual clip. The timing for Yao couldn't be better. The explosion of disposable income in China, its acceptance into the World Trade Organization, its fastidious preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, all combine to elevate China's most familiar face beyond sports hero. "It usually takes five or six years to build a brand," says Columbia University marketing professor Donald E. Sexton, who has taught in China. "Yao has obviously accelerated that for himself and can do that for others in a country that is just beginning to understand brands." Adds Jeffrey Swystun, global director of branding consultancy Interbrand Corp. (OMC ): "If you are teamed up with Yao, you have an instant leg up in a marketplace of a billion people."

"TREMENDOUS GLOBAL ASSET"
Yao's star power will never be more evident than on Oct. 14 and 17, when he returns to China to play for the Rockets in two NBA preseason games against the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and Beijing. Top U.S. marketing executives will be on the ground, following Yao-mania and using the so-called China Games to wheel and deal new agreements and gain an important first advantage to exploit the 2008 Summer Olympics.

More than 200 million Chinese are expected to watch the NBA's pre-season games on TV -- 70% of the entire U.S. population. "Nobody was more of a global icon than Michael Jordan," says NBA Commissioner David Stern. "But Yao is different....He is a symbol of this Chinese renaissance and their determination to compete on a world stage."

In the two years that he has been their pitchman, Yao is already helping McDonald's sell more Big Macs, Pepsi more soda, and Reebok more basketball shoes in China. McDonald's will nearly double its outlets there to 1,000 by the start of the 2008 Olympics, says Dean Barrett, senior vice-president for global marketing. "[Yao] is a tremendous global asset for us."

Despite this frenzy, Yao has turned down dozens of offers from major companies. Reebok International (RBK ) CEO Paul B. Fireman says that Yao's handlers have done a good job of "not rushing [him] out to every company, not prostituting him." So don't expect to see the big guy sporting a Stetson and pushing cars for a dealership in Sugarland, Tex. His agents, an eclectic bunch called Team Yao, are mostly sticking to what may be a first in the world of sports biz -- a confidential, five-year marketing plan developed with the help of University of Chicago MBA students. Because of his surging popularity, Yao is ahead of schedule, and Team Yao's fear is that he will be overexposed.

So far Team Yao's planning and patience seems to be paying off, however. Yao's four-year contract with the Rockets is worth $18 million, and he earns an estimated $15 million a year in longer-term deals with top-tier brands Pepsi (PEP ), Reebok (RBK ), Gatorade, and McDonald's (MCD ). As his agents strike more deals -- and they say they will pick up the pace in the runup up to the 2008 Olympics -- some executives believe Yao has the potential to gross $300 million in his first 10 years in the league.

GIANT WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR
The risk for the marketers that have agreed to the multiyear deals Team Yao demands is that Yao never fully develops on the court or that he goes down with an injury. He was selected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA's 2002 draft and has been voted an All-Star in his first two seasons. In terms of his athletic performance, however, Yao is not yet anywhere near Michael Jordan or Ali at their peaks. So Yao is trying to keep his eye on the ball. "What is most important is basketball and my rest," he says.

Staying focused could be hard, though, because Brand Yao is everywhere this fall. In addition to the NBA games in China, a new documentary, called The Year of the Yao, debuted in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. Yao: A Life in Two Worlds, an autobiography co-written with ESPN: The Magazine writer Ric Bucher, was published in early October. And the NBA games in Beijing will be the first time two U.S. pro teams have played each other in mainland China. Needless to say, the Chinese are psyched. Says 34-year-old architect Su Jinsong, a Yao fan from Hangzhou: "His excellent performances in the NBA represent the tough spirit of China's young generation. Yao Ming has brought honor to his homeland."

Yao has endeared himself to America, too, ever since starring in a self-deprecating way in two memorable TV commercials: one for the Apple (AAPL ) G4 Powerbook with the 2-ft.-8-in. actor Verne Troyer (a.k.a. Mini-Me of Austin Powers fame); the other for Visa, which featured the amusing "Yo-Yao" checkout-counter exchange and was first aired before tens of millions of viewers during the 2003 Super Bowl. The ads broke down the mystery of this intimidating giant by showing he can laugh at himself.

The lucky handful of big companies with Yao deals in place say they are already seeing a difference. McDonald's has even gone so far as to appoint him its "first ever worldwide brand ambassador." With Yao as its spokesman, Reebok's Fireman says he could see capturing more than 25% of an estimated $1 billion sneaker business in China by 2008. The company currently does about $30 million in sales there.

PepsiCo Inc., which has an endorsement deal with Yao in China, reports sales are up almost 30% in the past year. Richard Lee, Pepsi's Shanghai-based senior vice-president for marketing in China, says he's not sure he can attribute all of that to Yao. But he points out that Yao's persona is in keeping with Pepsi's slogan "Dare for More." And despite his nice-guy image, Yao is no pushover. When Pepsi competitor Coca-Cola Co. (KO ), a sponsor of the Chinese national basketball team, began using his image on its bottles in China, Yao sued. Coke contended that the government had the rights to his image. A judge disagreed, and Yao won his case.

Many companies that have used Yao to pitch their goods would love to strengthen their ties to him. Walt Disney Co. (DIS ) will show the China exhibition games in the U.S. on its ESPN channel, and its Miramax Books Div. is publishing Yao's life story. But Disney President Robert A. Iger says the entertainment giant wants a broader relationship with Yao.

China is "extremely important" to Disney, says Iger, and Yao "could fit neatly into our approach to building our brands there." Iger envisions Yao helping Disney to open its new theme park in Hong Kong sometime in 2005 or 2006. He could also see Yao introducing the Chinese version of The Wonderful World of Disney TV show, much the same way Walt Disney and later CEO Michael D. Eisner did.

What's the one business with which Yao would really like to partner? Video games, he says. He is an almost obsessive player. But Team Yao is waiting for the right deal, sources say, from industry leader Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS ) So it may be no coincidence that EA, based in Redwood City, Calif., is planning to build a video-game studio in China. Can a Yao deal be that far off?

At home, Yao has done deals with China Unicom and Internet outfit SOHU. In 2003, SOHU linked up with one of Yao's U.S. corporate partners, trading card company Upper Deck Co., to build and promote the English and Chinese Yao Ming Web sites in an exclusive two-year deal. Marketers say that Yao could prove to be just as invaluable to Chinese companies looking to go global as to U.S. companies seeking business in the Middle Kingdom. "His real power as a marketer, I believe, is outside China," says Terry Rhoads, co-founder of consultants Zou Marketing in China and a former Nike Inc. (NKE ) exec who signed Yao to his first sneaker deal (now expired) when he was playing for the Shanghai Sharks.

Managing this booming enterprise called Yao is a team that by any measure is unique in the fast-paced, hard-nosed business of sports representation. It includes veteran NBA agent Bill A. Duffy, indy movie marketer-turned-agent Bill Sanders, University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga, and Chinese-born entrepreneur M. Erik Zhang.

Everyone's role in Team Yao is well defined: Duffy, president of BDA Sports Management, oversees relations with the NBA. Sanders, also of BDA, does most of the U.S. sponsorship agreements. Huizinga negotiates the Rockets contract, and Zhang, who is married to Yao's cousin, does the deals in China and serves as part-time counselor to his friend.

How Team Yao came together and developed its five-year marketing plan is a story in itself. It starts with Zhang, who was getting his MBA at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He happened to meet Huizinga, a basketball fanatic and then the B-school's dean of faculty, at an NBA rookie tryout in Chicago in the spring of 2002. Zhang asked for Huizinga's advice, and the professor met with Yao over dinner the next day. Soon, Huizinga was a full-time member of Team Yao. After Yao's selection in the NBA draft, Huizinga suggested that Chicago B-school prof Jonathan K. Frenzen's new-product workshop class might help develop a marketing plan. In the fall of 2002, eight students began working on Yao The Product, conducting focus groups, marketing polls, and dozens of street interviews in China. Team Yao paid more than $60,000 to cover expenses.

"We discovered that the world of possibilities for Yao was vast," says Frenzen, whose students have helped the likes of United Airlines (UALAQ ), Citibank (C ), and Honeywell (HON ) develop marketing plans for products -- but never for a person. The class's 500-page report remains under wraps, and the students had to sign confidentiality agreements. Even Rockets marketing execs could only read the report with someone from Team Yao present.

The guiding principle of the report was patience, says one of the students who helped put it together, Aaron Abraham, 30, now a project manager at Nike. "We knew he had the potential to be a huge gateway to China, and we wanted him to be true to the country's old values but also reflect the newer generation." He says there were no specific financial targets. "It was more strategic," says Abraham. "We were interested in protecting him as a brand." Abraham, citing his confidentiality agreement, declined to provide details from the report.

Team Yao has followed the report's game plan closely but not exclusively, says Sanders. He sees a Yao wave building that will crest at the 2008 Olympics. "The finish line is 2008. Beijing is the big day, the pinnacle of Yao's earning power," says Sanders. "The world will be watching."

Yao is uncomfortable talking about the business side of his life. In his book, he offers up these thoughts on money: "I sweat for every paycheck. If that makes me the best-known capitalist in China today, I don't have a problem with that....I still feel as though whatever money I have in my pocket -- the money I can see and use -- is what I have. And it's definitely all I need....No one making millions can say he really needs the money to live. That's not what it means. It is a way to measure your worth in your job. If my next contract with the Rockets is for more money...it's because I'm worth more to them.

Not exactly the bling-bling talk of a pro jock looking to get his mansion featured on the next episode of MTV Cribs. Offers Yao co-author Bucher: "Yao is constantly deflecting the trappings of fame that people try to put upon him."

Yao lives comfortably in a gated community in Houston. His parents -- he is an only child -- stay with him during the season. He drives a Toyota truck and a custom-fitted BMW 745 (no backseat). His English has improved, but he still travels with an interpreter, Colin Pine, a 30-year-old former State Dept. employee. When Yao doesn't understand something, he will give Pine, always on his right, a gentle nudge.

In order to play in the U.S., Yao first had to reach a financial agreement with China. It has never been revealed how much of his earnings go back to the government in Beijing through payments to his old team, the Shanghai Sharks, and the Chinese Basketball Assn. But sources say it is close to a third of his salary. It could ultimately be more, these sources add, depending on how long he stays in the league and on his success. Team Yao declined to comment.

With the start of the regular NBA season only weeks away, Yao is trying to put aside Yao Inc. to concentrate on hoops. Above all, Yao knows he needs to perform better. So do his bosses. "He has not yet achieved great things in the NBA," says Rockets President and CEO George N. Postolos.

Last year, the Rockets made the playoffs but lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Lakers. Yao, with an average 17.5 points and nine rebounds per game in the 2003-04 season, has many miles on the court ahead of him before he can hope to match the record of Jordan, who helped deliver six championships to Chicago. Call him a global brand ambassador or marketing marvel, but he'll still need to add "champion" to his titles. Sooner or later, even the biggest man in China must win big to stay big.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_43/b3905010.htm

 

Breakthrough new shoe for T-Mac

By Bill Velasco
The Philippine Star 10/20/2004

SHANGHAI, China¨Cadidas chose to hold the global launch of a paradigm-shifting new basketball shoe right before the NBA¡¯s first-ever China Games last week in the progressive Pudong district here, and the result was nothing less than spectacular.

At the waterfront here, surrounded by new marvels of architecture ¡ª including the gleaming Pearl of the Orient Tower, symbol of Shanghai ¡ª hundreds of members of the media and a select few young basketball players were witness to the unveiling of the T-Mac 4, the first basketball shoe in the world designed without laces.

"When they first brought me the idea, I thought they were crazy," confessed Tracy McGrady, the NBA¡¯s leading scorer the last two years, after whom the shoe is named. "But the more we talked about it, the more I liked it. I¡¯m really impressed with the design."

At a specially constructed court right on the water, McGrady and John Harrison, basketball category manager of adidas for the Asia-Pacific region, described the creative process that went into the evolution of the shoe. The T-Mac 4 employs the new HUG technology, a system of cables which may be calibrated to the precise fit that the player needs.

"When you first lace up your shoes," Harrison explains, "the fit is perfect. But after an hour or two, it changes. That won¡¯t be a problem anymore. And this will allow Tracy¡¯s reactions on the court to be split-second, millisecond. It also protects the player¡¯s foot against sprains, something crucial in the game of basketball."

"Kicks that have laces always crease after a while, and the fit changes throughout the game," the former Orlando Magic guard explains. "So even if the fit is tight at the beginning, it changes by the end of the first quarter."

The HUG element fits over the top of the shoe, and is attached to the rear of the foot by a system of cables, which may be adjusted by means of a device above the heel that adjusts the fit. The adidas Innovation Team also incorporated elements of ski boots and even McGrady¡¯s Lamborghini to add flair to the new technology.

"T-Mac is all about sleekness, stealth," says Harrison. "And we wanted to create a shoe that solved problems that basketball players never thought could be solved, as well."

This marks McGrady¡¯s third visit to Asia, after brief trips to Taiwan in 1999 and Manila in 2000. However, this will be first time he will be playing, as the most celebrated addition to the Houston Rockets, teaming up with fellow All-Star, center Yao Ming, who will be having a homecoming of sorts, bringing his NBA team to his hometown.

"I¡¯m looking forward to a lot of great things for Houston," McGrady adds. "I think we¡¯re both young, unselfish players; great players. Chemistry is not going to be a problem."

With that statement and his milestone new shoe, McGrady expects Houston to rocket to the top of the NBA.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200410201601.htm

 

SI''s 2004-2005 season preview

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/magazine/10/14/rockets/

Starting afresh, the NBA's top scorer has a few points he wants to make

If Tracy McGrady had any second thoughts about leaving Orlando, they vanished when he heard Magic G.M. John Weisbrod say he was not his type of player. "It shows you the difference between the two organizations," says McGrady, whose threat to opt out of his contract next summer led to Houston's acquiring him for Steve Francis in a seven-player trade. "I'm sure the Rockets had some dirt on Steve when he left here, but what did they say about him? Nothing but good things. They were professional."

McGrady's case for being the NBA's most talented player took a hit last season when the Magic finished with the league's worst record and critics branded him lazy and selfish. To counter them, he ratcheted up his summer conditioning program and spent the preseason preparing to play both guard positions as well as small forward to better mesh with All-Star center Yao Ming. "These are two guys who can stay together for 10 years -- personally they're a lot alike, and basketballwise they're on the same page," says general manager Carroll Dawson. "Yao had already impressed me with his passing, and Tracy's passing is unbelievable."

McGrady admits he often settled for jumpers while winning his second straight scoring title last year, causing his shooting percentage to sink to a career-low .417. But he also notes that because he was Orlando's only threat, teams stacked their defenses to stop him from driving. He'll have more space in the structured attack of coach Jeff Van Gundy, who feels Houston is getting the 25-year-old at just the right time -- when he has something to prove. "Tracy's seen how quickly [your reputation] can change," Van Gundy says. Now T-Mac is intent on getting back to being what he used to be: everyone's type of player.