Historically, Tmac out, more load on Yao and he got injured each and every time that happened. I hope we wont have to add to alreay his insanely heavy minutes.
well mine is a sprained knee, T Mac got a bruised bone, all i'm saying is that hurting your knee is worst than it sounds, before i hurt mine i kinda didn't think it was much of a big deal. but honestly it's one of the scariest and most unpredictable injuries i've had. You have to recognize how much higher the average interweb poster's tolerance for pain is vs that of a professional athlete. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these guys are working through at least a mild case carpal tunnel syndrome, yet they still find a way to man up and post hard. They expect no less from T-mac.
I think the "three weeks" includes this past week. And McGrady said he didn't have a timetable; that "they" told him 3 weeks. So, it's possible he misses a couple more weeks. Or maybe he just misses one more week, and is back for the Jan 5th game. It's not the end of the world. Let's not panic. The important thing is he gets his knee right. It won't do us any good for him to try to play through an injury and make his knee worse. Who knows, maybe he would have only had to miss a couple games if he skipped the Detroit game.
Doesn't matter - he's never quit on the Rockets. There's no reason to question his motivation based on the last 4 years. He's tried to play through the injury. If he's sulking, it's because he's hurt. The man is trying to get healed. The man freakin cried after his last playoff exit? I mean, he obviously cares! You know, I wonder if many of the chinese fans expect Tmac to be the same kind of "team player" Yao is. I respect Yao for his cultural tendencies and the way he approached the team. But geez, that's not a requirement. Just because t-mac doesn't turn into fan numero uno doesn't mean he doesn't care. His track record for the Rockets has been awesome. JVG and Rick Adelman have nothing but praise for the guy. No, Tmac probably doesn't have the work ethic of MJ or Kobe, but ya know what, neither did Shaq. But the guy does more then average and doesn't deserve to be called lazy. And his injury is legitimate. Give the guy credit for trying to play through a painful injury. He may get hurt a lot, but he tried to play through back problems for years until the guy from the Mayo clinic fixed that, and now he is dealing with other injuries. Give him credit for trying to avoid missing time. That's not the sign of a player who's quiting. Geez!
good to see some rational thinking. at least morey isn't buying into this t-mac needs to be traded crap.... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/5412439.html Dec. 31, 2007, 12:02AM COMMENTARY Rockets have drifted into mediocrity By STEVE CAMPBELL Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Really, it's not Rockets science. Or anything close. The Rockets are merely learning a new offense. Rick Adelman isn't teaching the players Sanskrit, or the periodic table of elements, or the Calvin Murphy family tree. The Rockets are scoring less with an offensive savant in charge than they did when Jeff Van Gundy was supposedly brainwashing all the creativity and productivity out of his players. Rockets fans accordingly curse each clanked shot and every stagnant, stand-around possession. Daryl Morey can relate — and then some — to any and all frustration and exasperation. Ultimately, everything the Rockets do is a reflection on Morey. Every success and every failure become a part of Morey's permanent record as general manager. The Rockets approach the New Year as the NBA embodiment of mediocrity — a tribulation for every triumph. This isn't quite what Morey had in mind when he spent the offseason trying to make the Rockets a balanced team. "I'm a little bit less optimistic," Morey said, "than at the start of the year." Remember all the optimism after Morey brought in Luis Scola, Steve Francis and Mike James to take a scoring load off of All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady? The Rockets bring a 15-15 record into Toyota Center for tonight's game against Golden State. If the season ended today, the Rockets would be sitting out the playoffs. The Rockets are also only three games behind where they were at this point last season, when they won 52 games and earned home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. "The adjustment period has taken longer than we hoped," Morey said. "The hope at the start of the year was to get home-court advantage in the first round. That's still a realistic goal, but the probability is a little lower. We've given ourselves a harder road." Still, Morey sees mounting evidence the Rockets are on the verge of a smoother ride. Morey sees signs the past few weeks of the players buying into Adelman's flowing offense. After considerable trial and error, Adelman has settled — at least for now — on Rafer Alston, Luther Head and rookie Aaron Brooks as the guards best-equipped to keep the offense moving. The Rockets have even pieced together a two-game winning streak while McGrady recuperates from a sore left knee. Sooner than later, McGrady will be back in the lineup. During McGrady's absence, Scola and Brooks, Head and Shane Battier have taken advantage of the opportunity to stretch themselves on offense. "I think the injury can be a very positive thing in the long run," Morey said. "It's given our role players confidence and should allow them to play better when Tracy returns. When we get him back we'll make a real push here." Keep McGrady Now might be a good time to quell the misguided notion the Rockets are better off without McGrady. Make no mistake: T-Mac lacks that certain something in his DNA that allows him to rise to Kobe Bryant stratosphere. Guess what? There's only one Bryant in the entire league, and the Lakers weren't going to trade him straight-up for McGrady at start of the season. Yes, T-Mac tends to settle too easily for jump shots instead of taking the ball to the basket. Yes, T-Mac misses way too many free throws — and really, too many field goals — for somebody with his shooting skills. Yes, T-Mac's track record when it comes to closing out big games is more Brad Lidge than Mariano Rivera. It's also true that what you don't see from T-Mac is leadership, and the Rockets aren't going to get that for their $18.2 million. Still, the Rockets are 13-42 (.236, or less than one-half Wilt Chamberlain's career free-throw percentage) when McGrady is out of the lineup. The Rockets were 20-12 when Yao was out of the lineup last year. Nobody with the gift of sight and sanity would suggest the Rockets were better off without a 7-6 All-Star center. "When a major player is out, you often get your other players stepping up," Morey said. "That can work for a while. But the bottom line is, that adrenaline and focus is hard to maintain. To win night after night, especially when you play the top teams, you need your best players." No, no, no, a thousand times no: Morey isn't going to trade T-Mac for 50 cents on the dollar, talent-wise. If he did, it would constitute general managerial malpractice. The Rockets' best chance of becoming more than first-round playoff fodder is by taking T-Mac and Yao for what they are, not what they aren't, and building around them accordingly. "T-Mac is an extraordinary talent," Morey said. "Talent wins in this league. Trading any one of our top players would almost automatically be a drop-off." Create on offense When McGrady returns, he and his teammates will have some responsibility to share. McGrady needs to make sure the offense keeps moving, that he keeps his teammates involved. His teammates need to make sure they don't stand around and wait for him to create offense out of thin air. "I definitely see the glass as half-full as a general rule, and especially now," Morey said. "It's not too late. I think you make your biggest improvements by being factual. We're going to have a tougher playoff road."
How many times Duncun took days off and how many times T-mac did? I m not happy that he is 'Such a injury-prone Player' His back, ankle, hand... Any part of his body seems to be fragile. Beyond that, his mentality and attitude is really questionable! Three weeks is bit long, but it is all worth in return of a healty T-mac. Two Things I m looking forward to see: 1. While T-mac is in absence, the Rox continues the tendency to rise. One win drawn from one of next three games will make me content. Every one is able to play better and better in Rick's system and pieces together. I would like to see the second half played as we did to Raptors. 2. When T-mac returns, he will leave all the negative thoughts behind him, trust his teammates, integrate with Rick's system, and play tough in sense of good justification.
I remember he admitted to quitting on them, but do you have a link to anything about faking injuries? Because if that's true, the guy deserves ZERO respect.
Tmac is one of the most fragile all-star player i've ever seen. I can't believe he's being paid max money for this.
If t-mac wanted to quit, would he still show up to the practices? http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5412600.html
I really don't understand how these McGrady apologists get off thinking it is rational to disregard a 10 year career of quitting and exaggerating. Tell me what this guy did over the summer that should persuade the fans to give him a fresh start. Comparing him to guys like Duncan and Dream is borderline insanity and it is certainly stupid.
Are you really buying his sophisticated BS? I doubt he dares to say Rafer is blah blah blah... If he could find a good deal, I seriously doubt he will still be saying 'Trading T-mac is crap'
I read it somewhere. He was injured by the end of the last season he played with Orlando. You know, as a profetional player, almost everyone has a kind of injury. Many of the guys play through injuries. His injury was not season ending injury at that time but he ended his season himself, which might be what you referred to as his quitting on them. He could play at least the last few games, but he quited.
? I haven't said anything about what I think he wants to do here, but quitting and showing up to practices are not mutually exclusive. Understand we are not talking about the the literal sense of "I quit" ie "I put in my resignation", but checking out mentally on your team. Anyways, I was asking Laoyi if he had a link to what he posted regarding T-Mac's Orlando quotes. I knew about the "some nights I did slack off" and "I'm not going to sit here and say I played my hardest every night" quotes; but it would be in a whole different league of quit if he actually admitted to faking injuries. I just hadn't heard that one before.
If he's hurt, he should rest. It's not a live or die situation. You got to let the players take care of their body. Playing hurt is not something you should advocate. Star players hurt just like anyone else. That's why you always have the 2nd star player and maybe the 3rd star player on your team. What really matters is that Yao should take the load and win the game with the rest of the team. It's Yao's 5th year and he need to be able to carry a team to win. He's paid for the MAX money, he should play like a max player.
I just double checked and Yao doesn't play like a max player - now you jerk must be satisfied with my answer. By the way, stop your bullcrap about max money. The money Yao brings to Les is more than Les pays him.
