if he tuned out the team already, he wouldn't bother "trying" v. philly would he? go back to every game he's been on the bench, even in 04-05 when he sat out the last few games before the playoffs. see how his reactions were. i bet you it's the same as tonight.
that's the fans on this board for ya: conspiracy theorists or people who want to be psychologists but suck at it in real life so they do it here.
Come on, it's not just us. Artest just told the Chronicle that T-Mac needs to stop coasting and man up.
It's just his personality, I think. As the leader and most talented player on a team, you do wish for more but that's how it is. If I had to make a guess, though, he looked more embarrassed right now than sullen or sulking.
yea that's his play ON THE COURT. we're talking about his actions ON THE BENCH. and tracy's effort is inconsistent and everyone knows that. if he played more games like he did v. philly, eventually he'll get better. tracy knows that. philly game was a good start.
I can understand if there's frustration, but most players not named Kobe and Shaq don't respond well if they feel attacked in public, especially by teammates. The best thing for the rest of the Rockets to do is what they did today: ignore the drama and play the best they can. As a fan, that's what I want to see.
1) Chronicle reports that Morey and Adelman are having sit downs with McGrady behind closed doors. 2) Blinebury in his blog reports that Rockets players are confronting McGrady about his play. 3) Blinebury in his blog reports that Yao is super pissed off. 4) Doc Rocket comes to this board to report that the locker room is tense. 5) Alston publicly calls out McGrady. 6) Artest publicly calls out McGrady. 7) McGrady puts up horrible effort on the court for a string of games, hanging out behind the three point line and looking like a statue. 8) McGrady takes himself out for two weeks, with no medical justification. 9) McGrady decides he's only going to play one game of back to back's. And 10) McGrady looks comatose on the Rockets bench for a big game against the defending champs. Guess what? Without 1 through 9 nobody would be talking about 10. But piled on top of all of that other stuff it pisses people off. And it looks pretty damning.
I don't care as long as McGrady's riding the bench for however long he decides to sulk. The Rockets can't ignore the drama if McGrady's play is hurting the team.
I've seen Tracy's "blank look." It's the look he has when he... you know, plays professional basketball. And that was NOT it.
this was the case last year too. tracy struggled mightily after his knee injury, struggled badly for a 2-3 week stretch, then sat out mysteriously (DD said he faked the injury)... the team improved and he came back and joined in. tracy right now just needs to find a way to deal with his knee problem. i think he's highly frustrated with his suckiness and that has contributed to his inconsistent effort. when he gets over this hurdle, he'll be fine. sure it's drama. there was drama last yr too. but it'll be fine. the team will continue to talk with tracy. artest called him out publicly tonight. tracy's not a guy who goes in and hide from the criticism. if he did, he would have been out of the league after riding the pine in his first 2 years in toronto. he'll bounce back. i have no doubt about it.
How anybody can argue against this is beyond me. I mean sure, if it's 1 or 2 questionable things, sure...but the mountain of evidence has certainly piled up. At some point, this goes from theory/rumor to fact. I guess the apologists need a list in the 20's to begin to have doubts.
If McGrady's play on court is hurting the team, Adelman should sit him for now. That would end the drama. The media and the fans can say what they like about McGrady, for better or worse. But when other players start taking their questions to the public, I don't see it helping at all.
That may be true, but if it's been boiling over in the locker room for weeks I don't see any other place where it can go.
if tracy can put up 27, 8, 7 on 42% shooting on a bum shoulder and knee, i'm sure he'll eventually get over this injury and move on. he doesn't have to put those #s. if he puts up 20, 5, 5 on 42-43% shooting, we'll be a contender if yao did what he does tonight and ron plays like he did tonight and everyone plays their role. (i'm sure tracy can do better than 20, 5, 5 a month from now). like i said, watch out for him after the all-star break, which is only 2 weeks away.
