They have other things on their agenda, like preparing for games. The Rockets are a basketball team, not a TMac evaluation team as much as some here might want it to be. Most likely, they want to see how his legs hold up, and whether he can keep up with the intensity of game action and play within the team strategy. Hard to do without a practice in which they go 5 on 5 for a sustained period of time. They can't get other players go hard during 5 on 5 daily because they have games to prepare for. .
The insurance policy is paying McGrady's salary. The Rockets save $280,000 every game they keep him inactive. 11 games is equal to Carl Landry's annual salary. The Rockets have to be certain that McGrady is worth $280,000 a game before they bring him back. As long as the Rockets are winning and attendance is up McGrady isn't worth it. He might be worth it for the playoffs. If they don't trade him then he'll probably be activated just before the end of the season in order to get him ready for the playoffs.
In addition to the insurance, he just needs to prove himself before they let him play. They don't want him to come back play a game and then sit out. Rinse and repeat. They will not play him until they are sure the best they can be that he is ready to go for every game after that. Right now, 4 practices in, they aren't so sure. Even if he performs when he comes back, this is probably his last season as a Rocket. Regardless of what happens on the court. Just too much drama in the past and current to agree to let it continue in the future.
One day people...one day I will click on my Clutchfans tab in my bookmarks and oh lordy there will be a sticky on top. No it will not be a game thread or videos and at this point I don't care what it says. It will say "Tmac traded to..." or "Tmac to make debut.." and on that glorious day I'll dance. No more tmac threads! No more fan dissension! This wonderful day is coming people.
I believe if the insurance company deems McG fit then they'll stop paying. The insurance company is not a benign partner in this.
Wrong. We will get even MORE T-mac threads. Either a "why did we trade T-mac" or "T-mac is ruining our chemistry" thread.
Under Morey, I am continually fascinated by how tightly the Rockets control the flow of information about basketball stuff. It is amazing - its like the Rockets publish a talking points memo and that is *all* you see in the press. Same story, same quotes on every outlet.
Can we all accept the fact that T-mac threads will never vanish on Cluthcfans. Even after he is traded, sadly, it won't go away.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6750354.html http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/12/pregame_report_rockets_vs_clip.html Is McGrady a $23M Brian Cook?
^ the thing is, as any player coming back from an injury, you will need to use real games to get yourself back (the rhythm, the consistency, the pace...). practices and private workouts can only do so much. tracy is not going to fully regain confidence in his knee/body until he plays multiple NBA games. what practices/workouts can do is get him into NBA shape.
players' perspectives of where mcgrady is: scola: “We just need to play through. Right now, he's not on the team. We can't do anything about it. He looks good. We have to worry about what we have to do to win with the team we have.” battier: “I never played with anyone who has had microfracture (surgery), so I don't have a baseline,” Shane Battier said. “The things that make him special — his court vision, his presence — are still there. Obviously, timing will be an issue. “We haven't seen him go up and down. But he doesn't look too bad.” so the uncertainty continues...
That is a really naive assessment. The only stars who would be deterred by this so called "label" are the ones who need to be treated like prima donnas by the organization anyway... Iverson, Artest come to mind... in which case we wouldn't want them here in the first place, would we? This is how a professional organization is SUPPOSED to act. The coaches have the ultimate authority in deciding who gets to play, NOT the players themselves. Why should stars be the exception? (And McGrady is hardly a star anymore to the Rockets). The only thing the Rockets are doing right now is UPHOLDING a professional standard... which will actually ATTRACT those stars who DO act professional.
yea, that is right, show the entire world that the Houston Rockets will not treat stars or superstars any different than a normal players. Good luck signing any superstars or stars in 2010.
