I got to see yesterday's game today, and I can't believe how McGrady looks. I saw him hobbling out there, in quite some pain. If it were to cost us a playoff spot, do you think that it would be a good idea to give him some rest? I feel that he and Ming need some rest. it's amazing how Ming gets abused every night and the league doesn't even care. Please chime in with your thoughts, I'd like to know what you guys think.
According to JVG, TMac doesn't need any rest and playing heavy minutes has nothing to do with his injuries and fatigues.
I'm not surprised at all that Tracy is getting worn down. He's played far too many minutes. Several of us have mentioned it at one time or another through the course of the season... that exactly this sort of thing might occur and affect the Rockets come playoff time. Now we've got to deal with it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. (insert roll-eyes here)
NO!!! Does T-Mac play too many minutes, Hell Yes!!! But does he do too much, absolutely not. In fact, I would argue that of late, he has not done nearly enough with the minutes he's played. If T-Mac works to get his teammates involved in the first few minutes of a game (Wesley, Padgett, Sura, Barry, and Yao) then I think they play better, do better and he is relieved of two pressures: dominant scoring, and less double teams on him! Aside from the missed shots I also think that even on the makes, T-Mac's % of assists has gone down as our shooting slump has worsened!! What should we do? Post T-Mac up down low!! He's less likely to turn it over on the block than Yao, and he's a better passer out of the double team than Yao. At the beginning of the game, Yao is more likely to hit that 15 ft shot at the elbow or FT line. Anyway, I think it's a better solution than continuing to do the same thing expecting different results!!
If the tables were turned, we'd see post exclaiming "Why is TMac on the bench?! It's a close game and our best player isn't playing!"
Thing about it is, that he's injured, so it would be obvious why he would be on the bench. I don't think that it's fair to argue that he has not tried to get his teammates involved. If people aren't hitting wide-open shots such as against Phoenix, then it doesn't matter how well you pass. It kills me that this team tries to do the right things, they play with a lot of intensity, they play with heart. They are not 'low basketball iq' players either, it's just that they're breaking down. The short rotation is really starting to wear them, and I think that the team can't afforded to have the same players pounded with more minutes than they should have over and over again. Juwon Howard was a big part of the team, and it's unfortunate that he went down, if we keep these heavy minutes up for our guys, he'll be our go to guy come playoff time. I hope that our players get some rest, and also, that he provides the team with a spark. If they don't rest, the season will be wasted as we make an early exit.