Official Tracy McGrady in Atlanta Hawks Uniform Thread

_RTM_ · Dec 16, 2011

Nelson and Hedo regressed a lot from where they once were, j-rich doesn't have enough shot opportunities, bigmen outside of Howard are average at best, Glen Davis reached his peak and probably will play worse there because of his contract, Redick is just an awful overall player, he can shoot, and sometimes score of one or two dribbles, but he can't pass, he's awful decision maker and terrible defender. The only thing he can do pretty well on D is running and catching Ray Allen on screens. SVG lost his track in this team already and Hawks destroyed them last year in a playoffs after losing what? Six straight games in a row in regular season with Dwight playing the best basketball of his career?

_RTM_ · Dec 16, 2011

They are done until they shot Otis Smith in the head

rn_xw · Dec 16, 2011

He's going to have a good season. He doesn't need to carry the offensive load, and could be a contributor in close games.

I'd say he'll average 12 4 4 this season.

Hope he does well, a guy who suffered so much from injuries and still coming back to play basketball, instead of giving up and just retire, would earn some respect at least.

theREALDEALkid · Dec 16, 2011

_RTM_ said: ↑

ATLANTA — Tracy McGrady remembers when it wasn’t cool to be in Atlanta during basketball season.

“It's a sports town, but it was football and the Braves,” said McGrady, who spent the first seven years of his NBA career tormenting the Hawks with the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic. “The Atlanta Hawks were the last thing people wanted to come and support, because the Braves were so good, football was going well. Everybody loves football. Basketball is a little bit different. You've got to be winning in certain cities to fill the stands. A lot of franchises go through droughts, but this is a team that's on the rise.”

McGrady believes he can keep that rise going and has one year to prove it, having signed with the Hawks for the veteran’s minimum.

“I feel like I fit in with this team,” said the 32-year-old McGrady, who averaged eight points for Detroit last year in his 14th season. “Having an All-Star like Joe [Johnson] and Al Horford and having a player like Josh Smith, their core guys really had me wanting to be a part of their group. It says a lot about Coach (Larry) Drew, for him to be a first-year coach and take this team to the second round, with the teams that were in the East, and being able to get over that hump and beat Orlando. I just felt like I could add to it.”

“Everything feels good,” he added. “I feel confident in what I can do this season and help guys win ballgames."

The Hawks share that confidence, which is why they are taking a flier on the two-time NBA scoring champion. It's the kind of flier a team takes when it finishes 26th in scoring in a 30-team league, and when it may see scorer and three-point shooter Jamal Crawford leave in free agency.

While last year's Hawks were a little light offensively, they were good enough to finish fifth in the East — they'd have finished second in any division but the Southeast, which was won by eventual NBA finalist Miami and had powerful Orlando come in second. The Hawks knocked off favored Orlando in the first round, then took Game 1 of the East semifinals in Chicago before falling in six to the top-seeded Bulls.

While McGrady's history of playoff failure is well-known — he's never led a team past the first round — so is what he can bring to the table when he's healthy, which he says he is. The Hawks are counting on the latter.

“We're going to look to him to be one of the vocal leaders,” forward Josh Smith said. “He's a guy that has experienced things.”

One thing that he’s experienced is a short season like the Hawks are heading into.

“Everything is so condensed,” said McGrady, who was 19 and in his second season in 1999, which was a lockout-shortened 50-game sprint. “The travel is pretty bad. It's heavy and it's tough on your body.”

A 66-game sprint is probably the last thing McGrady’s body needs, as it has suffered plenty. Since 2005-06, he has suffered back, elbow, ankle, knee and shoulder injuries, and until last season, he had played as many as 70 games in a season once (2006-07 in Houston). His 2009-10 season split between Houston and the New York Knicks was a nightmare.

But last season was a renaissance of sorts. He played in 72 games for the Pistons, and while he didn't garner references to finding the fountain of youth, the season also slowed the talk that he's done.

Drew believes that if used the right way, McGrady can be a major contributor.

"It's important that we get him the ball pretty much in his sweet spot," Drew said. "I don't want him to have to work as hard getting to where he gets to operate. We have some things that we'll do to get him where he can be effective."

The Hawks believe in their new veteran teammate.

“He can create a lot of mismatches,” said Smith, who acknowledged McGrady was his favorite player in high school. “He's playing a little point guard so he can definitely get some looks down there on the blocks against somebody else's point guard. He's a pretty good passer as well.”

"T-Mac still demands double-teams on the post," Johnson added. "I see him being a vocal leader, a guy that can come in and play big minutes. A guy that can come in and distribute, can score as well and lead by example. He's been doing that for the last three or four days of camp."

McGrady believes that this offseason helped him recapture his old form.

"In the last two years I haven't been able to have a normal offseason — my offseason consists of rehabbing and just trying to get my body in shape, get my knee strong," he said. "This offseason I just went back to my original offseason workouts, and that's just conditioning and playing basketball.

"I've never been a guy to play basketball in the offseason. I've always done my individual work by myself and with my trainer. This season I took a different approach: to get in shape, strengthen my knee and play basketball with some of the guys. My body feels great."

He certainly feels younger than his teammates are making him feel.

"He had his old shoes on. I said, 'Hey, Marvin [Williams], remember when we used to wear those in high school?'" Smith said with a laugh. "He was like, 'C'mon, man. You guys are making me feel old.'"

"It's been like that the last two years — last year when I played with Mike Bibby, now playing with Tracy McGrady,” point guard Jeff Teague said. “I used to wear his shoes when I was younger, now he's on my team.

“He looked at me the other day and said, 'You make me feel old. Man, you were 8 when I first came into the NBA,’” Teague continued. “I told him, 'Yeah, but you were only 16. You're not the usual type of player.'"

Johnson took up for his fellow 30-something.

"He's not even old," said Johnson, who turned 30 in June. "He's like 32. That's not old. He's just been in the league since he was 17. So yeah, he's old in basketball age, but he's not old. He's 32. It's kind of funny to say that."

McGrady acknowledges he's flattered to be around so many who idolized him.

"That's cool. I appreciate me being able to inspire those guys and them looking up to me when they were younger," he said. "Now I'm a fan of those guys because they're great players. That's how it works out. If you take care of your body and you put your work in on the basketball court, you have guys along the way come up to you and say they appreciate you and they watched you when they were at a certain age. That's a great feeling to have because I was that same player."
Click to expand...

Sounds like the chemistry is there already, its good to see that a lot of his teammates used to look up to him because they witnessed him in his good years, and know he's not done yet. Joe Johnson sticking up for him is pretty cool too

_RTM_ · Dec 17, 2011

_RTM_ · Dec 17, 2011

ascaptjack · Dec 17, 2011

He should start instead of that bum Williams.

_RTM_ · Dec 17, 2011

Maybe T-Mac is not as fast as he was but he is still fast in changing uniforms

Spiegel · Dec 18, 2011

Their resting him for the entier two preseason games. They want to evaluate the camp invitees and their younger prospects.

Omer · Dec 18, 2011

Spiegel said: ↑

Their resting him for the entier two preseason games. They want to evaluate the camp invitees and their younger prospects.
Click to expand...

Interesting, he just tweeted 10 minutes ago he's not sure how many minutes he's gonna play.

https://twitter.com/#!/Real_T_Mac/status/148625173753495552

Spiegel · Dec 18, 2011

Atlanta are doing it right. Why play him in two meaningless games where in the real season it is going to be a flurry of games in short span of times. Gotta keep him fresh for the real season.

_RTM_ · Dec 19, 2011

http://chanfeed.com/15299/watch-atlanta-hawks-vs-charlotte-

anyway

_RTM_ · Dec 19, 2011

Smith's shape is impressive

Sydeffect · Dec 19, 2011

Tmac is in

_RTM_ · Dec 19, 2011

Radmanovic is so slow with his decision making. Damn, and he was a starter for the Western Conference Champions just a few years ago

tinman · Dec 19, 2011

Great to see #1 play in this game... Kemba Walker!

Sydeffect · Dec 19, 2011

RTM go start an official rookie watch thread it's long overdue.

_RTM_ · Dec 19, 2011

tinman said: ↑

Great to see #1 play in this game... Kemba Walker!
Click to expand...

I'm actually watching Kemba today, too bad that Biyombo won't play. I really want to watch that african Joey Dorsey on NBA level

abc2007 · Dec 19, 2011

Tmac hasn't got a chance to touch the ball.

_RTM_ · Dec 19, 2011

Kemba, damn, three fouls in five minutes against non-NBA level opponents. Even Oden in Summer League wasn't so foul prone

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