i hope it's true. wafer's making a name for himself. my man-crush on him has grown (just like it did for luther head in 06-07) but i think this might last
You know, not all shoulder surgeries are the same. Not even all instances of the same procedure are the same. If McGrady's trainer says he couldn't lift for X amount of time, I think that's more reliable than your comparison to your own, different surgery. For instance, I had a labral tear, which I think is technically the same injury Tmac had in his shoulder. Would I compare my injury to his? Of course not. The tear in my shoulder was small and just required PT with some maintenance from time to time to keep it from bothering me. This kind of injury covers a broad spectrum of severity. Without actually talking to a doctor about it, anyone who accuses Tmac of slacking during the offseason is making unfounded accusations.
Artest worked great in RA's offense in Sacramento. Its everyone else that doesnt understand RA's offense. No, you would not trade Artest for Mike Miller. Artest brings offense, defense, and a tough demeanor. Mike Miller brings a 3pt shot...
There is a physical aspect to it too, but most of the actual evidence we've seen points to the mental aspect. It particularly makes sense now why he decided to shut it down after the OKC game in which he scored 26 points. Those of us who watched that game saw that even though he hustled and made the effort that everyone was demanding of him, the person we saw out there was just not T-Mac. It seems clear that there was a major mental hurdle he needed to overcome with his shoulder and knee, and pulling back away from the basketball court and getting back through the normal training routine was what he needed to get over that hump.
Battier clearly isn't "back" from his ankle injury. He isn't playing D like he has in the past. I agree with DD that he is a great compliment to this team, especially if he's healthy, but I wouldn't hesitate to move him if it made the Rocks better.
You could replace Battier with pretty much any other name -- McGrady, Artest, Alston, Scola, and that statement would still be true. In Battier's case, most people don't realize how much he upgrades the defense until he's gone -- and as soon as he's back, they promptly forget again. (I don't -- visions of those transition layup drills still haunt me daily.) The typical fan is here to get entertained. They fall in love with the guy who tickles the twine frequently, and they get impatient with the guy who doesn't. It's human nature.
I guess this should quiet a little fans that really doubted McGrady. Nice news, I hope TMac comes back and plays the way he is supposed to play, great.
It is the primary reason I want to trade Artest instead of Battier......well spoken on your part. Battier is the consumate team player, he helps the team in so many ways. DD
i understand that, but that being said, doctor's have told him repeatedly that the only thing stopping him from rehabbing is the "pain". his body is fine and he can go back to full workouts. they were saying that in like november. and again, i don't know what kind of pain he's in, i don't know definitively whether or not tracy mcgrady has been sandbagging all summer. what i do know is what he's said in the past and his track record. all you can do is look at the information at hand: doctor's (and tmac) said he would be 100% in three months. tmac complained. doctors said that nothing is wrong and that he can strengthen his knee by playing. tmac wanted a second opinion. the other doctor said nothing is wrong with tmac. tmac negotiates some kind of ridiculous shaquille o'neal deal where he only plays 1 game out of back to backs. (strangly, when it was boston and toronto, tmac plays toronto.) now suddenly, in 10 days, tmac is healed up? its fishy to me. tmac is a headcase and its bull that the rockets management and players have to tiptoe as such.
I hope this is true, but after this years effort so far it will take some good hard work from tmac to make me have faith in him again.
My biggest problem with this video is.... It's only been 10 days. I'm sorry, but no fitness guru in the world is gonna tell you that you can make that much of an improvement in just 10 days. It takes WEEKS to build muscle mass and strength. And losing too much weight too quickly is unhealthy and will result in loss of muscle. There's no way that he went from "struggling" to bench 115 to benching 185 in just 10 days. If that's the case, then he had the physical ability to bench that 115 lbs. easily, but didn't have the mindset. That's a bad sign. I'd feel differently if this video came out two or three weeks from now.
Actually this is the one thing that I have severely criticized him about -- the seemingly nonstop bonehead decision making. He's great at making decisions with the ball when he's on the court, but otherwise so much of what he does just reeks of poor judgment. That one game of back-to-backs thing was particularly disastrous. Actually there's nothing fishy when you consider that both T-Mac and his trainer freely admit that majority of the problem was mental -- getting his mind to trust his body again.
His "problem" is mental though. He has gotten his mind right from what I have seen. He also seems to be ready to play. And I am a tmac hater but something seems different this time. I hope he is serious about coming back because the team is serious about moving on if not
This. Lol, all this stuff is just in McGrady's head he has some mental issues lacks mental toughness BIG time. If he comes back and feels pain he'll just go back to sulking about how he can't push off his leg or something.
Which is what EVERYONE has been saying all along. I am dissappointed in the organization for not moving on sooner than this and forcing Tmac's hand. They let him make far too many calls regarding this, and it hurt the team's chemistry in the clubhouse. All of that can be repaired but they should have taken a harder line on Tmac from the first day he came to camp....IMO. DD
