The Rockets will be a .500 team without him, and with Artest still struggling with his ankle. Your sounds great now, because we're still in the middle of the playoff pack, but as we start to slip and float right out of the playoff picture he'll get all the blame again. The real problem here is that T-Mac will never be fully healthy, and he needs to accept that and learn to play despite it. If Feigen's blog is really on point and T-Mac just decided not to play because he had a couple bad games rather than he's really hurting again, than that's just complete bs. He needs to stop listening to all the so-called experts that think we're a better team without him. T-Mac's length, his passing, and his ability to draw double teams will make us better even if he's struggling to score. Him choosing not to play, if he isn't genuinely hurting, is totally selfish.
Tracy has one of the most fragile egos in the league -- add a lingering injury to the situation and prepare for the inevitable mental break down.
Its not just about performing well in the playoffs when you are in the wild wild west... competition to even try to be in the playoffs... Seriously, wouldn't it be a good idea to contribute to trying to get a top seed? We are close enough in which we could become 2nd seed and win the division. Wouldn't our playoff winning chances be easier if we have home court advantage? Isn't our homecourt records better this year around? Come on now.
Excatly. I am sure nobody is really 100% and everybody has a part of body which hurts him. But not every player TALKS about it to the media. Tracy is probably frustrated with his play. But he got to understand one thing. He is not gonna hurt it, the knee will only get BETTER. He can help this team. He can easily put up 20+/6/6 every single night. He can easily play well aven like he did in the past. He just needs to understand that he has to overcome this. It isnot like the injury doesn't allow him to play. He can do really well. The problem is his 'head'
Look, we don't need McGrady (McGrady doesn't deserve to be called T-Mac at this moment). We just need the $20m contract that he is tied to. Look at what we can use that money if it was freed up. We can have either another top tier player or a few SOLID players. We already have a top-10 player and a top-30 player, we only need a couple of SOLID players to really push us over the top. McGrady keeps us from doing that...
DD, not having enough time to grow together will probably be this teams undoing at the end of this season. I personally think that 90% of the problem with T-Mac is in his head and I really feel as if Adelman, Morey and Les are probably tired of it by now. This team finally has the horses to make a solid run in the playoffs and T-Macs foot is halfway in the door with his apathetic attitude. What a frustrating situation. His teammates and coach need to finally call him out and let the chips fall where they may.
You're being even more dramatic than T-mac is right now... ironic that there's a bunch of drama-queens here crying about T-mac's drama.
It happens all the time to teams that have not made out of the first round in 10+ years? Could it happen to our team? It's possible. However, it normally it happens to teams with previous post-season success.
This guy summed it up perfectly on the Feigen blog: "The enigmatic McGrady engenders such a wide range of opinion. All the fans want is to see more evidence of his hunger, his desire to win - many doubt if it is really there. Rox fans would settle for just knowing he really "wants" to play. But these qualities will never be apparent with T-mac, who is probably at his best with a detached mental approach. But the danger is he does seem to take nights off. Even with the millions he is paid, it is probably not much fun "being Tracy McGrady", who seems star crossed. Nor is it a lot of fun trying to be a fan." -Mark Triggs I agree. As fans we like to analyze everything, but at the end of the day I've become accustomed to TMAC and his strange ways. I'm not surprised by his behavior during the season anymore or his moodiness. It's just how he is.
When you spend time questioning and analyzing a players "inner-psyche", and "mental state" and wanting management to stage interventions and "call out" players, etc. etc.... it does get to be a tad dramatic in here.
According to you..... But it happens all the time in sports, and is a legitimate motivational tool. Ask Phil Jackson. And McGrady is the one creating all the drama......so if fans comment on it, so be it. DD
According to you... they won't even be making the playoffs if he doesn't play soon... even if we're getting the single-digit gimpy version of him??!? Whatever he needs to do to get right.... whether its play, take time off, gain weight, lose weight... WHATEVER it is... he might as well do it and get right mentally, because this team won't do much in the playoffs without him. And yes, I'd rather he get right mentally, whatever way he can, than continue to struggle and get worse (which is apparently what everybody wants). If he's not going to ever get right mentally, then you're not really losing all that much by him not playing.
The mythology that some here subscribe to is that if Tracy and Yao are somehow healthy for the playoffs, all is guaranteed to be well. The fact is this team has very poor chemistry and needs 30-40 games of everyone being healthy to jell and be a contender. Otherwise it will be just another 1st round exit to the Lakers/Spurs/Jazz. Nobody on this team has any history of playoff success and comparisons to the 1995 Rockets are silly. That team had the heart of a (defending) champion.
At least Im not the one starting threads like "Im done with Adelman" (talk about dramatic) and questioning the coaching tactics and psyche of people that know ten times the basketball than most anybody posting on the board. Calling out a coaching staff ect. is a bit dramatic to me.
Haha... fine, the thread title may have been dramatic... but I never questioned his psyche. Merely pointed out that the Rockets, as constructed, cannot and don't run his offense effectively. Thus, why him as coach? Pretty simple. Nothing complicated like staging interventions against star players, or presuming 90% mental problems.
With all that's happend, primarily with TMac, I have to believe changes are coming soon. I'm betting Morey doesn't feel confident about heading into the playoffs with an "unknown" quantity such as TMac. I think there's too much at stake. I don't know if that means a significant trade (possibly involving TMac) or just some minor tweaks, but I do think something will happen sooner than later. I'm not sure TMac is even tradeable at this point, would anyone really want him?
That's understandable, but a lot of guys have to do the best they can with the abilities they have. Luther Head would like to be taller. Chuck Hayes would enjoy better offensive skills. Still, they have to go out and make the best of it. With the exception of playing through some pretty extreme back pain over the years, McGrady never had to make the best of a physical limitation. He has often said this season that this is his first knee surgery. He is still struggling with the make-the-best-of-it part. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ When Tracy first came into the league, doctors believed he wouldn't last five years because of his having a mild form of 'scoliosis'. I guess this doesn't count as a physical limitation to someone who doesn't have it (ah, just walk it off, you make enough money mentality). It's possible that this is it for McGrady. For all the whining everyone seems to think he does, he's never mentioned it (scoliosis). Sure he can say some bone head things at times. I just hate we probably won't see him making slams like the one he made over Bradley of the Mavericks in the playoffs. I think he made-the-best-of-having-scoliosis while playing professional basketball.
Fine... they need everybody to be healthy, AND together for an extended period of stretch to go all the way. I still give the team that is healthy, regardless of time together, a better shot than the team that is injured... and playing a man down... but the remaining pieces still together (which is what some posters are advocating for). See last year's team that had all the stability and chemistry after losing Yao... and still came up short because they didn't have the necessary talent.
