i think ron has the freedom to make this decision on his own. the doctors told him he can play without further damage, but if it's too painful, he should sit. so the pain level is determined by him. i just wish ron would just sit down and let the pain go away completely. playing on and off is not gonna stop the pain. get 2-3 weeks of rest, come back with zero pain and play and develop chemistry with the team. now we are gonna bring in new guys or have guys who will play more minutes when they never did and it's gonna mess up the rotation.
We should know we are not gonna avoid injuries so we shoudl be ok with that right now. let everybody get hurt now, because we all gotta be there at the end of march and later
the thing is: if you're hurt, REST UP. don't care about the fans or the talk around the L that you're soft or whatever. we need guys at their healthiest down the stretch and going into the playoffs. we can't have guys like tracy and battier did last yr playing at only 70% health when the playoffs is extremely physically demanding. so if you're hurting, REST UP NOW. ron's injury is simply the pain level. so just rest up. tracy and battier have gotten their rest and now they just need to get up to the playing speed. again, it doesn't matter if we have everyone playing in april if their health level is around 70-75%.
our defense has always been great (before ron). we're playing at a similar level defensively. but yes, tracy has been a liability for the most part htis year on D.
I am sure they don't give a f*** about what fans are saying. They just do what they're supposed to do. I agree. You're hurt. REST. You need 1 week? ok. 2 weeks? ok. 3 weeks? hell yes, but make sure you come back strong. Last year they were not even 70%. Tracy was IN PAIN every time he drove to the rim. Shane was a non factor later, after a phenomenal game 1.
other than occasional spurts when he can overlook the pain, he's been pretty sh!tty on defense and clearly hampered by that ankle. if it takes time for him to get healthy then he needs to take it. what sucks is that if we were healthy the entire season, we'd have the number 2 slot solidly locked down and possibly even sniffing the lakers record. now we just have to worry about steadying the ship.
we are clearly not playing at a similar defensive level. that'll definitely change when shane, ron, and even tracy get healthy, but it's noticeably worse this season. there's tangible reasons why though.
we're only "slightly" worse (b/c we also are scoring more -> playing at a faster tempo pace with brooks playing more). but yes, we can be much better as those guys get healthier. 07-08 92ppg, 43.3fg%, 36.5 3pt% 08-09 94ppg, 44fg%, 33.13pt%
You are not allowed to use 'Shane' or 'Battier' and 'tangible' in the same post. It's like using 'Rosie O'Donnell' and 'is hot' in the same sentence.
T1, I'm not a hater, but I think its my frustration with Tracy and all the talent that he possesses and the constant media nitpicking that he's not advanced past the first round of the playoffs that just drives me crazy. I want the guy to succeed in the postseason so bad and prove the doubters wrong, but I feel very strongly after watching many seasons with T-Mac playing as a rocket that he may need to try a different approach with his game. And that approach is to not dog it in games anymore with pain or no pain and exert as much effort and intensity and let the chips fall where they may. In my opinion if he takes this approach (leaving it on the court) he will finally get what he deserves. He must have the approach that nobody is going to give him anything and he just needs to go take it.
i respect your post. and i think since he has returned from his rest, he's displayed that (the cavs game, he was just physically unable to do so). he's displaying the unselfishness, diving for loose ball in games, increase his rebounding, passing... tracy's slowly doing that. and just b/c you criticize tracy doesn't mean you're a hater (haters are those who take it to another level and start name calling). your criticisms are valid and welcome.
this is gonna be a tough one without him. big game as for as standings go. tmac MUST step up and the bigs have to play to thier potential.
I'm sick of this BS! Why not take the whole year off... I've never seen a team go through so much health wise! Darnit play the freakin game!
Battier won't play tomorrow watch... he is sore and can barely play tonight. It's just pitiful how weak we are physically! It's just ridiculous.
i think in this case stats are deceiving. we're good defensively, but I don't know if you'd find anyone on the team or coaching staff that says we're close to where we were the last few years. inurys have really hurt us on that end, and while mcgrady may not put enough effort to be a great defensive player, when he's healthy he atleast stays in front of his man.
