The Houston Rockets loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Monday night falls squarely on the shoulders of Tracy McGrady. The Rockets best player and "leader" played with, at best, minimal effort and was almost non-existent on the defensive end. He spent most of the night literally standing around.

Use any adjective you want – lazy, lethargic, uninspired, disinterested. When a team's best player gives that poor an effort, your team is in trouble. He should give his game check back to the Rockets and apologize to the fans and to his teammates.

And you knew the injury was coming…Players who don't feel like playing look for ways to conveniently find excuses to exit stage left, and McGrady was right on cue Monday night.

Late in the first half, the Rockets were getting drilled, and it was starting to get ugly. After contesting one of the few shots he did actually go after, T-Mac came down on both feet near the basket – no awkward fall, no physical contact, no landing on anyone's foot.

A few seconds after the play, McGrady started walking gingerly and reached down and grabbed his ankle. The television crew immediately went to the replay to see what happened. Of course, we were all expecting to see one of those slow motion "everybody cringes" landings - where the ankle rolls to the outside, then pops up off the floor. Well, not this time.

T-Mac landed on both feet – and in my opinion, checked the scoreboard, and decided to call it a night.

But, this was just the crowning moment. There was plenty of evidence beforehand indicating McGrady, in my opinion, would be looking for an early exit.
 
To be fair, Houston was playing their seventh game out of eight on the road. But, they were1-1 on this leg of the road trip, and were playing an Eastern Conference bottom feeder. With a win Houston would go to 12-10 and build a little momentum. A far as the regular season goes, it was a pretty significant game for a struggling team.

However, from the moment Willie Green scored the first three baskets for Philadelphia Rocket fans should have known what was coming. McGrady, right from the opening tap, stood around on possession after possession on the defensive end of the floor. Yes, literally stood around. Go look at the tape.

Now, he did score at the offensive end, going 5 for 7 from the floor in the first quarter. But he can score in his sleep – that's what talent can do for you. With talent like McGrady's you can give the impression you are being productive even when you are less than inspired. The box score will say you had a good game. Your teammates and the fans will know you sold them out.

But even on offense, the effort was minimal. On one play, McGrady botched a fast break when he got the ball caught on his hip and traveled. The look of total disgust on Rick Adelman's face said it all, because he knew his best player was mailing it in.

On another possession, McGrady was trapped on the right wing, stumbled and lost the ball. These weren't great plays by the defense or just miscues. These were two sloppy plays by an unfocused All-Star who, in my opinion, was on cruise control.

Need more evidence? McGrady passed out of a double-team at halfcourt, then as the Sixers rotated to the lane, T-Mac just watched the rest of the possession from 45 feet away. The Rockets played offense four vs. five while their leading scorer chilled at mid-court.

It was on the defensive end of the floor where the truly damning evidence occurred. On possession after possession after possession, McGrady stood straight up and literally did not move for seconds at a time: no athletic stance, no quick feet, no active hands.

In my opinion, he just straight up dogged it.

Here are a few examples:

The Sixers Willie Green missed a jumper on the right wing, which T-Mac did not contest. McGrady then leaked out to halfcourt and the rebound came right back to Green. That's right – the rebound came right back to the guy who shot the jump shot from 20 feet away. McGrady then made a lunge to try and come back and contest the second shot.

Later in the half, with the Rockets down only 41-37, McGrady was standing down on the block watching while his man buried a wide open three on the wing to put the Sixers up by seven.

Or how about the loose ball in the lane that bounced around, with numerous players from both teams fighting for it, and T-Mac standing at the elbow watching the action?

Hey, but he did try to "gut it out" on that ankle for the first 4:08 of 3rd quarter – by standing around like he did in the first half. Houston was only down 12 at halftime, and an inspired effort by their best player could have gotten them right back in it. But after a quick 12-2 run the by the Sixers, the Rockets were done. McGrady was done long before that.

How are the Rockets going to follow a guy like this? This is supposed to be their best player? This is the player supposed to take them deep into the playoffs? This is their leader? If your best player, your highest-paid player, isn't going to give his best effort every night, then your team has a huge problem.

The only thing uglier than T-Mac's performance was the play of Steve Francis. Francis shot a three from the right wing that was two feet wide left and a foot short. The referee called a late foul on Reggie Evans, assuming that there was no way a guy could miss that bad without his elbow being hit. The replay showed Evans hand nowhere near Francis shooting arm.

Later in the first quarter, Francis drove toward the lane from the right wing, drew defenders, and had a shooter spotted up in the left corner. Francis made a perfect pass to the Rockets coaching staff seated near the left wing.

Those kinds of bloopers can be overcome. What cannot be overcome is a poor effort by a team's best player. That spells doom for a season – and a franchise.

When a team needs a win – at any point in the season, at home or on the road, regular season or playoffs - they need and expect their best player to give an inspired effort. I didn't say score a lot of points, I said give an inspired effort - on both ends of the floor.

That is all that is expected by fans and by teammates: just play hard every night and give us everything you have. That's what professionals do, that's what great players do, that's what leaders do.

The Rockets made a commitment in the offseason to put enough talent around Tracy McGrady to win, and they brought in a coach who is a proven winner and who has taken a team to the Finals. Everything is in place for the Rockets to be one of the elite teams in the NBA. There are no more excuses.

However, maybe it's not the supporting cast that is the problem in Houston. Maybe the problem lies more with the player being supported. That player has about 60 games to make his case he is doing everything he can, every night, on every possession to help his team win.