I happen to think that it would be better for the grind of the playoffs to cut him back to 30 minutes a game for the last 10 games of the season, not put him on the floor for an extra 5 minutes. The playoffs are a grind because they are playing at a whole new level. McGrady has a habitually bad back. It could spring on him at any moment. Why do we want to strain his back with another 5 minutes a night? It makes no sense.
Thats a valad point, but you could also argue that playing 40 minutes a game will get him used to the playoffs. Like it or not, he's GOING to play 40 minutes a game in the playoffs. It just has to happen. Every team shortens their bench during the playoffs. So if he has been playing 30 minutes a game for a long stretch, he probably won't be as used to the 40 minutes a game he will need to play in the playoffs. That, and playing 40 minutes increases our chances of winning home court from the Jazz. Which would you rather have, a slightly less tired, probably less prepared Tmac? Or 1 extra game at home in a 7 game series? I'll pick the latter. And we are talking about 5 extra minutes over 1/8th of the season. Its not going to make a difference in durability. It WILL make a difference in our record.
T-mac is a switch, who turns it on when needed (aka the playoffs) random stat (shocker): T-Mac is the 3rd highest in ppg at 29.8ppg - IN THE HISTORY OF THE PLAYOFFS!
when will these posters understand? more mins DO NOT result in a bad back. he can play 2 mins in the first game and injure his back. this is good for the team. had tmac sat his normal mins of rest last night, we would have lost.
how can you be so sure? his back problem became very bad after 04-05 season, during which he played 78 games, 40+ min per game. last season again he was overused by jvg with a back not fully recovered. this season looks fine, he has been playing 35 mpg. all these are related. i worry a lot now. tmac won't say that he is tired or feels bad and needs rest. otherwise his body won't wear out at such a young age.
no the reason he got back problems last yr was b/c his exercise during the summer was "heavier" than usual and thus put too much pressure on his back. and he got injured DURING PRACTICE where yao hit him in his back unintentionally. he tried to play through it during the sacramento game and it got worse. then he rushed back v. the nets. in actuality, he never let it fully heal. that has nothing to do w/ playing a lot of mins. his body got BETTER in 04-05 as the season went on as evident in the playoffs. even if tmac doesn't say he's tired, u can see when he's tired. it's very obvious when he is. his shots are short, which they weren't last night. they were long on his misses. he can't penetrate as well. he can execute a play. he can't cover his guy defensively. again, he's not playing this many mins on a back to back. i would not agree w/ that. but we're having a lot of day offs in between.
Most playoff coaches implement a taper for their stars/starters the last couple weeks before they begin. Like it or not, muscles do get worn out over the course of a season. The taper helps build up energy reserves. It does make a difference (even though it's not a huge difference, every little bit counts). Put it this way, it could be the difference between Tmac making 50% of his 4th quarter shots in the playoffs, or 30%.
he has had bad 4th quarters before when he wasn't playing many mins. he still penetrated very well in the 4th and that's all that matters.
You just answered your own question. You say his back problem came after he played 40 minutes per game for 78 games... has he done that this season? No, its been 35 minutes a game this season for about 75 games. You have to play the whole season 40 minutes for your argument that he's going to be tired to work, not just 10 games playing 40 minutes.
