Just a question, if you were a GM\Owner at what point do you start to wonder about a star players health? Do you give him the rest of the season off? Do you take the chance and hope for the best? Or do you wash your hands and move Tmac before his back gets worse and your stuck with a worthless max contract? Will rest solve his issues? Or is his back more serious than first thought? Do you think that Les is pondering this now? What would you do?
You dont even think about trading him unless its someone pretty damn good like KG. I'm not so worried about T-Macs back. Yao's is strong enough for both of them. Somebody else do a brokeback joke. Its late.
I would rest T-Mac in the off-season. Give him a lot of it. If his back is not put under any stress, he wont' have this problem. He didn't last season, the reason he has it this season is he worked out too much in the off-season and put on so much muscle weight it's killing his back. He's a finesse player by style, he tried to bulk up to keep with the grind, and it's getting to his back. Just lose the weight, T-Mac. Rest your back up, you should most probably be good to go. I would rather see you leave opponents clueless than leave them hurt (with the exception of Shawn Bradley, in which case you did both). He will not be in this shape if he gets the rest, if he does not, he's probably screwed. It's never affected him this bad before, it'll never go away, but it won't ever be this bad.
I was thinking of the exact same thing the other day. It sure doesn look like TMAC is heading in the direction of players such as Grant Hill and Allan Houston. However, I feel being a franchise type player, Houston would have to give him one more chance and see how he recuperates this off season. If he can play through a few more seasons without any major setbacks, he'll be okay. But if he's going to be like this for the rest of his career, I think Rox will inevitably trade him in the not too distant future. Also, it's really hard to get rid of a guy with max contract.
McGrady prior till this season was pretty injury free. so the comparisions to Hill are nothing short of utter Nonsense.i concur like many here, that he really should rest his back this season and pretty much go on inactive list. he is the most crucial cog in our armor. we need to get his back inshape for the future of this ball club.
A few seasons? If he gets the rest, he'll be good to go for a good long while because he does not have a disc problem or anything like that. The stress on his back is too great and that's why he's getting these constant - and painful - back problems. I know, this happened to me once. I put on too much muscle too fast, and it killed my back for a month. I couldn't take the pain, so I stopped playing basketball for 2 - 3 months. It killed my skills for a while, but I can still play pain free. Unlike me, T-Mac is probably under MUCH more pain, and he won't get the rest I did. Even if he does not work out / play full contact basketball, he will still have to do cardio and stuff unless you want him turning into a vegetable. Once he gets a good amount of rest, I am certain he will be fine (not cured, but fine). I was...
With Yao finally reaching the next level with unprecedent skills, heart and confidence, Tmac can finally play the role Clyde played along Dream. That would put less stress physically and mentally on him. So with this off-season rest, he will be at least 90% of his old self. And I think that's good enough.
This is the Elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. Tracy's health problems aren't on par with Hill, but the implications are still the same. Two max contract players, and one who is haunted by injury problems. In the same way that Grant Hill's salary prevented the Magic from surrounding T-mac with any help, the same thing could happen here with Tracy, but reversed. The Rockets front office has a big decision to make this offseason. They are absolutely betting on Tracy's back. Move him while he still has value even if it means turning away the PERFECT* fit next to Yao. Or keep him and bank on Tracy being able to put his health problems behind him long enough to contend for a couple of titles. I don't know what the answer is. But it would truly be a shame if T-mac's health scuttled what could possibly be an emerging dynasty. I'm sure every one of us is holding our breath, hoping for the best. * Yes I consider Tracy the PERFECT teammate for Yao. A healthy T-mac completely maximizes Yao's game, and meshes perfectly with his strengths. I wouldn't trade a healthy T-mac for anybody, including Lebron. A healthy Tracy can give us almost everything that Lebron can do, and Mcgrady already has such a good relationship with Yao.
I just hope we keep him long enough to see this phenomenon they call Tracy McGrady. I'm willing to bet anyone here that he will be fine IF he gets a lot of rest this offseason. I would also be willing to bet that the team that gets T-Mac would have the better end of the deal, by far.
Utter Nonsense? Go check their career stats and you'll see both of them having 6 productive seasons before breaking down. In fact I've been wondering how long TMac can hold up with his chopstick-like legs. The way he bulked up his upper body really makes matter worse.
i like how u did the *asteriks.. anyway yeah tmac and yao get along real good on the floor and off.. of course this is something i thought of the other day as well.. i myself thought of grant hills name specifically as well.. not that tmac deserves any bad karma, so maybe karma isnt the right word, but it is still surreal how similar the situations are.. this does worry me and im just hoping everything will be okay.. GO ROCKETS!! and tmac plz get well!!
Oh well. I might as well get ready for all the Grant Hill comparisons and the "Trade T-Mac" threads. Ready ShadyMcGrady? Here they come... Wait a minute, wtf? T-Mac has had 8 productive seasons so far...
WOW! I cannot believe you made this thread today, because I was thinking the same thing after another game missed by McGrady. I hope it's just rest that he needs, but a bad back will never get better!
Most professional Atheletes do go through a period where injury becomes an issue.as long as it dosent cecome an ongoing concern for years, we'll be fine.It's far to early to say his Back problem is going to be a choronic symptom. are you a doctor? can you confidently perdict his problem going suffer from this injury for a long while to come?..
This haters cant even there facts straight.dont worry, tracy will be fine in the long run. haters like this guy, we'll be left with an big fat egg on his face.
Yes however that is the question. Do you wash your hands now and get all you can for TMac. Or do you wait for confirmation from a doctor to spill the beans to the media then you lose out on all you can get for him. Or would you hope and pray that his back issues are temporary? A good business man really would look at all his options. I hope Tmac's back issue will resolve itself. But you gotta think that Les is having nightmares about this.
We are probably going to have to accept what destiny and fate have in store regarding T-Macs injury. Hes got a cap crippling max money contract and what GM in his right mind is going to trade you a Chris Bosh or Paul Pierce for a super star who has physical problems. His back problem is not going away so lets all hope that the worst prognosis is that he misses a few games every year because of it.
