Dont compare Ducan with Tmac in terms of work ethics. One guy plays hard all the time, if he misses he is hurt, period. The other is a question mark when he says he is hurt.
It is true that when a guy has some history, what he says has less credibility. However, it does not mean that what he says THIS TIME is false. The comparison with Duncan and Drexler has nothing to do with work ethics. The comparison is with the SAME kind of injury. In fact, these posters deliberately use known "non-quitters" to illustrate the fact that missing a lot of time due to bone bruise does not mean quitting.
All this talk of T-Mac faking the severity of his injury is a possibility. It is also possible that he is hurt, doesn't want to quit, and has tried to play on an injured knee in order to push through the pain, and made a great effort to play while injured, but in the end realized that resting the knee was better for the long term. T-Mac a faker or T-Mac a brave hero trying to persevere. Based on what we've been told either scenario is just as likely, and all we are doing here is guessing. I'm not going to make up my mind either way about T-Mac based on people's uneducated guesses on bbs.
That's exactly what I've been saying. Either way is an option. We'll never for sure who is right. THAT, in it's own right is a problem because it can seem so shady. Where I'd elaborate on your point is that he brings all of these "uneducated guesses" himself by his ambiguous actions and words. Until there's some consistency in what he says vs. what he does, people will always be taking one side or the other.
Rockets Shake Off Drexler Injury http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4314437.html From: Chicago Sun-Times Date: December 20, 1995 Drexler was carried off the court on a stretcher early in the second period after colliding with Phoenix forward Charles Barkley. Drexler's injury, which required a trip to a hospital, was diagnosed as a deep bruise, and his playing status was listed as day-to-day. Clyde Drexler - 1995-1996 Season Game-by-Game Stats http://clutchfans.net/players/clyde...ame&season=1996 12/21/95 Blazers W 91-86 DID NOT PLAY 12/23/95 @ Spurs L 95-110 DID NOT PLAY 12/25/95 @ Magic L 90-92 DID NOT PLAY 12/26/95 Grizzlies W 100-84 DID NOT PLAY 12/28/95 Nets W 97-82 DID NOT PLAY 12/30/95 @ Mavericks W 105-102 DID NOT PLAY 1/2/96 @ TWolves W 105-100 DID NOT PLAY 1/3/96 @ Bulls L 86-100 DID NOT PLAY
Anyone remember when Shawn Bradley basically stabbed Barkley with his bony-ass knee? Barkley missed a bunch of games after that.
I have predicted last week that Tmac is likely to come back for the game vs Minnesota at 01/11/2008. Why? Just look at the schedule at http://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule/. Tmac alway jump back at a good point.
Hey, look at this comments from http://www.chron.com/disp/commnts.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5412360.html?plckCurrentPage=7 "DownTown2HTown I am with you it's no way T-Mac comes back now against GS b/c they could possibly loose, he will most likely return after the next 3 games. Boston and Orlando come after GS he dosen't like tough teams after these three games we will hit a pretty easy patch so he'll be back. T-Mac is always thinking after a nice little 3 game loosing streak even though I believe the Rockets can steal 2 of these games although I wouldn't bet on it he will return as the hero. New York a struggling teams dream is on the schedule twice along with Minnesota in the next 4 games. He will come back and lead us to victory and most of you guys will hook your trailer back up to the T-Mac bandwagon that's just how it goes. I am shocked that so many people are ready for him to be traded now after the 2 wins the Rockets just had. I have never been a T-Mac fan and was heavily critisized for suggesting a trade earlier in the season. I had critiqued my opinion after years of watching this young man in Toronto, Orlando, and Houston but some of you figured it out after victories over Memphis and Toronto you guys are super. But like I said before guys he is ours b/c no GM in their right mind is willing to give any thing of value away for him. We have to do the best we have with him b/c his ours until that huge contract is done. O yea guys stop with the T-Mac for Kobe talk Jerry Buss and Phil Jackson aren't crazy why do you think they are always winning, Kobe for T-Mac is crazy. LA has become a top 3 team in the west with the emergence of Bynum why would they want to get rid of the best player in the L for a injury prone streaky jump shooter. Truth is guys Tracy is far from being the reason the Rockets are struggling this season. The guy came out of high school and has never been coached, it seems as if every coach is scared to tell him anything out of fear of loosing their job see Doc Rivers. In todays game star talent can get coaches and players fired and traded if you don't believe me listen to Calvin Murphy. Players like TD and KG are rare Coach Pop gets on TD like he is the 12th guy on the bench when he messes up and their is no backlash. I have never seen JVG are RA even say anything to T-Mac for shooting fadeaway 3's but I guess they saw what happen to Doc. T-Mac needs coaching more than anybody he needs to be disciplined and told whem he made a bad shot or he will never get it. He is no doubt a talent but it seems as though he has to much power he says when he is ready to be traded, when he is ready to play, and when he is ready to take an MRI, and who starts. Remember that this man has never made it out of the first rd. I truly feel he would have gotten beaten up in the locker room on some of the past Rocket teams. Guys the true source of our fustration can be soley placed at the feet of the coach and the GM, RA and Morey. These two clowns have made a mess I read Steve Campbell's article about the Rockets problems are they are learning a new offense this is crazy. This idiot knows nothing about basketball and needs to stop writing about the Rockets immediately. It seems as though all the writers working for the Chron are company men and never critisize the H-town teams. Stan VanGundy has not had problems incorporating his offense this year neither did Don Nelson last year. RA has been fortunate enough to have had tons of talent on his Sac and Por teams he should kiss Clyde everytime he sees him and send C-Webb a card on every holiday. The offense he ran Por and Sac are different it's not even his offense it's Pete Carril's that's why he was RA's assistant in Sac. That Princeton offense does not work with any team you have to have the right peices and H-Town does not Chuck Hayes is a far cry from C-Webb no offence. It is said that a good coach can change his coaching sheme to fit his personal it's obvious RA can't. He came into camp with the intentions of not changing a thing it didn't matter who the Rockets got and Morey was scared to send Alston packing b/c they both figured they could play it safe and slide right back in the playoffs well surprise surprise the jokes on these clowns. I would had no problem struggling early in the season trying to get better but struggling with the same old stuff we know won't work doesn't make any sense."
Look at this from http://blogs.chron.com/franbline ... d_tough_rocke.html That's what I want to say: "Tracy has skipped games because of a cold. He has missed games because of a little boo boo. He has missed games because of a number of reasons but I'm guessing if the team starts winning, Tracy will get healthy real fast. Tracy quit on the team but he'll jump right back on the bandwagon once Yao does the heavy lighting just in time to get all the credit. "it's on me" Mcgrady. Count on it."
i see, so if duncun bruises his knee and needs a few weeks off, it's ok. if t-mac bruises his knee and needs a few weeks off, it's not ok. I get it.
does Duncan get injured every year for multiple game stretches? That's enough to kill any team when your most potent player is out and everyone is used to playing with him. This year it's worse because we still have to learn a new system.
No kidding! I know TMac doesn't have the best history when it comes to injuroes and his ability to play through them, but damn, what the hell does either player's history have to do with severity of THIS injury? The FACT is that it is a deep bone bruise in the knee. It's a FACT it's a very painful injury to deal with which hampers any movement on the leg and is a bit** to get rid of. Again, Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of thes season this year with the same injury and they finally decided to put him on the shelf because it just was not getting any better. Everyone talks about Duncan's toughness, but doesn't that speak volumes to the injury that he even had to miss a couple of weeks? I know there are a lot of legitimate reasons your opinion can sour on TMac right now, but give me a break.
Would it have changed anything? It was originally stated as a bone bruise, that didnt' require an MRI. Then, after they finally did decide to get the MRI (after coming under some scrutiny by the media), it was found out that it was a .... bone bruise.
It doesn't really matter if the fans believe he is faking or not. If the Rocket's medical staff believes he is injured then that is good enough for me. If they don't believe he is injured I trust them to make moves to correct the problem. But if Tmac wanted to be traded, faking an injury wouldn't really help his cause. Anyway, personally I don't consider Tmac selfish. He may not be mentally tough enough to be a real super star, and he may be injury prone, and shy away from contact and taking it to the basket regularly. But he shares the ball and doesn't throw his team mates under the bus when things are going bad. There may be a trade that makes us better than we currently are with Tmac, but we certainly will not be better just getting rid of him at any cost.
