In T-Mac's Defense - Perfecting the Upset's current article

And apparently you never play any sports. John Stockton averaged 35 minutes and dropped off to 28-29 minutes per game. THAT'S HUGE in sports. Hell let's not go that much.

And Phil Jackson wanted to keep Kobe in the 33-34 minute range for last season, and not to be at 35 minutes. And he made that clear from the preseason, and Kobe averaged 33.9 minutes to end the season. Why? To save himself for the playoffs. But hey, what's 1-2 minutes per game right? Phil Jackson must be an idiot right?

Yao Ming was limited to 24 minutes a game last season, WITH NO NEGOTIATIONS by the doctors. So that should mean playing 25 minutes per game shouldn't hurt right? I mean, it's just a minute more per game? I mean, the Rocket doctors must be idiots right?

Gosh, such idiots.

 

This is just stupid reasoning.

"Funny how we missed the playoffs last season without Tmac"

See how easy that was?

Its pretty rare that a "superstar" couldn't even get passed the 1st round, but then again how often is it that another player gets all NBA honors the during the year and then end up injured in the playoffs 5x in a row? I'm pretty sure Yao Ming didn't plan on screwing up Tmac's legacy but that's exactly what happened: he would play great during the regular season and get the team to the playoffs so the Rox miss out on a lottery pick, but then he would be injured so Tmac would be left all alone on the big stage. Then he'd do the same thing the next year.

There was really only series I recalled when we had both star relatively healthy, and that was against the Jazz. I don't blame them for that, the talent difference was just too much to overcome.

 

That was GREAT!

That article is the best reflection on tmacs career vie seen! I literally agreed with everything that was said!

...And I LOVE that last paragraph lol

 

LOL don't waste your time arguing with Wekko since he's just a YOF and will say anything to make sure his god Yao's jersey gets retired while Tmac's just a loser even if Tmac actually played in more playoff games.

If you think about it Yao and Tmac should really be viewed in the same way, if you think Yao did a great job then Tmac did too. You can't really say one did better than the other considering both of them had considerable flaws and both of them were solely responsible for the Rockets' record during that era.

 

Good grief. You said something totally stupid and I called you out on it. Just own up to it and move on. Making all these strawman arguments just shines a spotlight on your original idiocy.

 

Because playing 1-2 minutes LESS do mean something, and apparently you don't know that.

And in John Stockton's case, it was 5-6 minutes less per game.

If you don't understand that if a player has to have his minutes monitored, that guy is not the same player. Get that through your head. John Stockton wasn't the same player; his role wasn't the same as it was on the Jazz prior to the surgery. And his game did drop off.

 

In 1988, Jordan averaged 40 mpg. 1989, 40 mpg. 1990, 39 mpg. 1991, 37 mpg.

Man, 37 minutes in 1991. What a decline. His game must have really dropped off. He couldn't have led his team to the title and won both the finals MVP and the regular season MVP, right? Clearly not. After all, he averaged 2 mpg fewer than the prior year!!!!

Here's what you said:

Microfracture occurred in 1997. In 1998, he played 29 mpg. 1999, 28 mpg. 2000, 30 mpg. 2001, 29 mpg. 2002, 31 mpg.

Like I said, what's the significance of your 30 mpg mark?

Look at his stats and percentages. His role was consistently the same. And if his game did drop off, it wasn't b/c of the surgery. It was b/c of his age. He was 40 years old when he retired.

 

I hope T-Mac can show once and for all that he can be a dynamic player once again! I don't expect him to ever average 28 PPG a game or anything but at least be an offensive threat and average about 18 PPG or so. I hate that people still think that him getting microfracture was a way to sit out for the rest of the season. He should have handled it better by telling the Rockets before getting the surgery done but I think he believed he really needed it. People don't get a surgery like that unless they know it will help alleviate the pain once and for all. I think he wanted to end the knee troubles once and for all and finally be healthy! I can only think of when he cried during that press conference when we lost to the Jazz in the playoffs. Losing so many times in the first round has to get to a player mentally. However, I don't think he was mentally weak, just didn't have the help to do it all by himself. I'm sure that he knows he will be known as one of the greatest athletes to "not win" and will come back to a contending team to try to not just past the 1st round, but finally help win a chip. I expect him to finally be healthy this yr due to all the training it took to get back (I hear it takes 2 yrs to fully recover from micro-fracture). Just look at his career playoff numbers and tell me this man didn't try. I don't care what you think about him, but numbers don't lie. A player who doesn't try won't put up the insane numbers that he did. There was even that game 7 vs the Jazz which we got blown out, and he still dropped 40pts with a bad knee + arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. Absolutely no help from any players that game. Just imagine the core we had last year + a healthy Yao and Tracy. The help came too late, while the superstars broke down. The real issue of this is of a great star player who didn't have enough help throughout his career, and by the time help came, he wasn't physically able to be that star anymore. This saddens me and hope he can somehow get redemption

 

Gosh, feel like talking to a damn wall here.

1) You bringing up MJ is idiotic. The guys we're talking about all have major injuries, and have to have their minutes monitored, and couldn't go over a certain number. Their coaching staff was strict upon that, or the medical staff. MJ could play how many minutes his coaching staff wanted, and his numbers were probably dictated by his team's success---I mean, some guy named Scottie Pippen got his first all-nba selection that year? I'm sure he helped relieve some of the burden for MJ no?)

2) I brought up the 30 minute mark b/c he has averaged around 35 minutes for 10 straight seasons, i just wanted to punctuate the huge drop off in minutes for Stockton (30 minutes from 35 is HUGE) IMMEDIATELY after his microfracture surgery. And he never went above 30 minutes again, except for the season prior to his last season. That's of HUGE importance to note, esp. for a guy who always played big minutes.

3) How can your role be the same when you have a drop off of 5-6 minutes a game and have your minutes monitored? That logic doesn't make any sense, especially when the guy came off a huge surgery.

But back to the OP, TMac should have taken the year off after the first failed month or so (I'm sure the pressure of winning with the acquisition of Artest didn't help that). Just PURE rest. Then rehab again and come back again in 09-10. Microfracture surgery basically ended his career as a star.

 

"The whole team saw the talent, heart and dedication of T-Mac, but we just weren’t good enough to help him get over that hump.” - jon barry

 

Right, I'm sure he elected to do microfracture and the rehab/career risk that comes with it just for the "drama." He couldn't have thought there was something legitimately wrong with his knee that couldn't be fixed with simple rest and rehab (which he would end up doing anyway to recover from microfracture). He couldn't have wanted something concrete done.

It's like I have a door hinge that squeaks, and someone tells me to just not use it for a while and hope that it goes away. I wait, and I wait, but the squeaking never improves so I opt to put oil on it. Though the oil could ruin the hinge by greasing it too much (work with me here), I think it's better to do something about the squeaking than rest and wait for it to get better.

 

Disspointed yes, but despise? YOF's despised him because thy felt he took their idols glory, but not many people despise him

 

You are biased one eyed moron

 

Fantastic article.

I honestly did not know the Rockets' winning percentage without Yao and with T-Mac was so high. I guess teh 22 game win streak helped

 

And the answer is.... Jason Kidd

But his body is unusual

 

There's an article in the SI issue "Running With the Mavs" were it says Kidd finds every opportunity he can to sit down and rest. So during timeouts he sits down and doesnt stand around like the other guys. He says he gets a minute or two of crucial rest each game and that over the season it adds up and that's how he's been able to stay fresh.

 

Wait - so you're suggesting he went through a very significant surgery that has yielded mixed results in the past and could have ended his career instead of just resting in order to create drama? Think about what you're suggesting. If it still makes sense to you, think about it some more. Keep repeating until you realize that the idea is insane.

 

No, that didn't happen.

What did happen was Houston, without McGrady, passed first round in 09 and fought an epic 7-game series in the second round against the eventual champion Lakers.

 

McQuitter is right up there with LeQuit and Scottie Quitten.

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I love how everyone's fall back in this tmac argument is the "Toronto" game. It's a horrible excuse when everyone forgets all the games he played with injuries and helped our team win. Watch the guy run. It's pretty obvious his knee was jacked up. This world is all about what you did for me last, I understand that(ecspecially in sports). But try looking back in the past some more, your argument suggest that the Toronto game defined his time spent in houston.