Chron: T-Mac sits until he can be worked in (Coach unsure how to distribute minutes)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6787617.html

T-Mac sits until he can be worked in
Coach unsure how to distribute players’ minutes
By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 26, 2009, 9:57PM


Tracy McGrady will not play in the Rockets' games at New Jersey or Cleveland this weekend.


EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — With Tracy McGrady dissatisfied with his limited playing time, the Rockets came up with a solution he never saw coming.

Instead of increasing his playing time as McGrady had wanted, they chose not to play him at all.

“I said all along I want to see where he fits,” coach Rick Adelman said Saturday. “Coming back from an injury like that (microfracture knee surgery), it’s obvious he’s not the Tracy we knew two years ago. He knows that. What I’m trying to figure out is where we can best get him in the rotation where he can have a positive effect on the team.

“I just felt if he was unhappy with that situation, I wasn’t comfortable to go forward and try to jump-start it again. I want to be sure, this is our plan. I don’t blame any player for saying, ‘I want more.’ That’s what he wants. Right now, I’m not sure how to do it. We’ll figure it out, I hope.”

No objections

McGrady, a 6-8 guard/forward, was told Saturday morning he will sit out the weekend back-to-back against the Nets and Cavaliers and was given permission Saturday afternoon to return to Houston from New Jersey. The Rockets host New Orleans on Tuesday.

“I’m a player, man,” McGrady, 30, said. “I don’t make these decisions. I just abide by whatever they bring to me. That’s the plan. I’m not going to argue and fight with them — just run with it. I felt it was time (to increase the routine of playing seven to eight first-half minutes).

“I’m not going to cause any confusion or confrontations. As a player, that’s what I felt. They obviously feel different. That’s what I have to roll with.”

McGrady said neither he nor his representatives have asked for his playing time to increase, beyond his answers to questions after the game in Orlando on Wednesday.

“Where we go next deserves a lot of discussions and talking to Tracy and figuring out what the best next step is,” general manager Daryl Morey said. “Tracy didn’t feel like this is working in terms of working him back in. We want to develop the best next step.”

Morey said McGrady and his representatives have not requested a trade. McGrady has said often and as recently as Wednesday that he hopes to sign with the Rockets as a free agent next summer.

“They love Houston,” Morey said. “There’s been no talk of trade.”

But Adelman said he is unsure how to increase McGrady’s playing time because any change would reduce someone’s minutes and likely would require the Rockets to run more offense through McGrady than they have in his first six games.

“We need him to play like our team is playing now,” Adelman said. “We’re not the same team. How much can he give us and in what time frame?”

Expectations remain

Adelman said he does not know when he will return McGrady to the rotation but seemed to expect McGrady to become effective for the Rockets again.

“A player of his caliber, he’s smart; he’s got skills other people don’t have,” Adelman said. “They’re in him. All the things he did before that came easy, suddenly, they’re harder.

“When you try to incorporate that into your game as a team, that’s the thing I’m struggling with. I’m trying to figure it out. As talented as he is and as smart as he is, once he gets going, he’s going to find a way. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”

 

Doesn't sound like a trade is impending based on Adelman's comments here.


Sorry - thought this was a new article, seems now to be an update of a previous one with newer quotes

 

I think they will go back to the 8 minutes thing to be honest. T-mac doesn't have a choice. I think they will talk about the things that need to happen for him to get more time - what else can they do?

There are no trades the Rockets are interested in, and it's silly to just buy him out as well.

 

Morey and Adelman are pretty solid professionals. Their jobs is to deal with drama if it means they can win more games.

Clearly they gave him minutes because they still believe he is an asset that could be of value to the team. They haven't figured out how to integrate that asset as it gets back to health.

I mean, that's what Adelman said - people can choose to believe him or not, but it's pretty clear.

As for all the drama...well, welcome to the world of professional sports for a team that wants to win a ring at any cost.

Teams like the Knicks and Grizz are willing to sit stars at times because hey - they suck anyway. But the Rockets want to win, and that makes it more complex.