In T-Mac's Defense - Perfecting the Upset's current article

I'll agree with you admit it on there one, that game against the Raptors T-Mac coasted and didn't put in the effort. Even though I am a massive T-Mac fan I'll swallow my ego and admit that he could have tried harder during that game. Deep inside I know it was because he couldn't, but not because he didn't want to.

But the main thing is I still don't see why we are still going on about that when I haven't heard of Scottie Pippen quitting on his team, -literally-, in like all of the last decade.

I just think a lot of those critics are all bashing T-Mac because they are just haters. Straight up, haters. Honestly, if T-Mac won a championship for Houston, they'd all be sucking his nuts. Trevor Ariza did swung that elbow at DeRozan in that Toronto game and its vanished from everyones memories.

It just seems that if you are talented, and don't win, you "had no heart".

 

^^^^^^I mean I agree with the "Toronto" game incident.

However, I definitely do not think T-Mac is mentally weak. I just do not see the need to even elaborate on that one.

I will say it again, T-Mac is NOT mentally weak.

 

What is forgotten in all of this was that the guy was willing to play hurt. In 05-06, he could have easily sat out the whole season after battling back injuries. We've seen how back problems can really debilitate players (Larry Bird, Larry Johnson...).

In 07-08, the guy played through 2 injuries (shoulders/knee), and played huge minutes and obviously affected, and still produced.

In 08-09, the guy limped for most of the season until he embarrassed himself with a missed dunk.

That's the thing that I don't like when many said the guy was soft and refused to play hurt.

TMac's problem wasn't heart or willlingness to win. His problem was that he was mentally weak.

 

T-Mac is not mentally weak. And I will forever stand by that comment.

T-Mac literally had NO supporting cast apart from Yao. You put Yao in place of Pippen and Rodman and see if the Bulls win the championship then.

Jordan + Yao = championship?

End of argument.

Any other form of argument that come in the form of "lack of heart", or "quitting on team", or "didn't have the mental capability", is just total nonsense because you are mad T-Mac didn't lead you to a ring all by himself, he didn't put up triple-doubles 82 games a year and posterize Kobe 5 times in the playoffs, didn't make Battier and Rafer Alston into perennial All-Stars, didn't win van Gundy coach of the year, and gave you a Heineken when you ordered a Budweiser.

 

The post above wasn't directed at you. It was just a general post to all T-Mac haters.

 

Well how would you say he was mentally weak? I just do not see what he could have done different. Go full-gears-throttling in that Toronto game?

T-Mac was as tough as anyone in the playoffs, when it counted. And that's all we can ever ask for.

 

So you think he had microfracture surgery voluntarily? What possible motive was there for that?

Doctors are wrong a lot. The Astros did the same thing in the 1990's with a Colorado pitcher they traded for midseason. Multiple doctors misdiagnosed him and he got into a dispute with the Astros - and it turned out he was right and the entire Astros medical staff had f-ed up - which they also did with a few other players around the same time.

 

He was hoping to get one last lucrative contract. He was on the last year of a guaranteed contract when he chose to voluntarily get microfracture surgery.

 

Who has rebounded well from microfracture surgery at his age? Nobody.

Amare had to waste 1.5 years of his career and he was extremely young when he had the surgery.

You're telling me TMac was going to risk his career (as many have done with microfracture surgeries) by going that route?

 

Absolutely. His career was already over. The microfracture surgery was a hail-mary attempt to extend his career.

 

John Stockton.

 

After that season, he fell off as he never averaged above 9 assists ever again, and average less than 30 minutes per game for the rest of his career.

So again, nobody has ever recovered to their old level of play after microfracture.

And we all know TMac wanted to be back to where he once was; in his mind, his career wasn't over. Microfracture was a surgery that has never proven to do that (except for Amare, but he was very young). It was pretty much a career-killer, as it has proven to be for McGrady.

There was no way he was going to risk his career unless microfracture surgery was his only option. And I'm sure it was. There was no rational explanation for why he KEPT LIMPING all season.

 

Still my favorite player.

 

If his career was over otherwise, it means that he really was seriously injured. It wasn't just a matter of looking for a doctor to find a diagnosis he liked - it actually was that he couldn't play as it was.

 

He fell off?

His microfracture was in October 1997.

In 96-97, he averaged 14 ppg with a fg% of 55% and a 3pt fg% of 42%. He also averaged 10.5 apg and played 35 mpg.

In 97-98, he averaged 12 ppg with a fg% of 53% and a 3pt fg% of 43%. He also averaged 8.5 apg and played 29 mpg.

And in 97-98, he and Karl Malone led the Jazz to the finals. So yeah, he clearly never recovered to his old level of play...

Jason Kidd had microfracture surgery in 2004. Looks like it was a career-killer for him, right?

Your opinions make no sense. His career was already over. Like I said before, the microfracture surgery was a hail-mary attempt to extend his career. He wanted one more contract.

I don't think he's a stupid guy. He knows that once he retires, his income is going to drop substantially. So he took the necessary steps to play as many years as possible.

He limped b/c he was in pain. There was no structural damage. That's why he got the arthroscopic surgery....to relieve the pain.

 

Again, biggest mistake, playing through the knee injury.

If he shut it down with Yao, he would still be PLAYING with the Rockets today.

 

I'm sorry, if his surgery took place in oct 97, then the season you should count is 97-98. Yes, in 97-98, his assists dipped to 8.5. That is significant b/c it stopped a 10-year streak of 10+ assists in a row. And he never played more than 30 minutes a game since (except for his 2nd to last season). Again, you're telling me a guy that has been playing 35+ minutes a game and putting up 14+ppg, and 11+apg, suddenly becomes a 11-122/7-8 player on 27-28 minutes per game? Inn the playoffs since his microfracture surgery, he never averaged more than 12.5ppg the rest of his career. He did decline after the microfracture surgery.

What I'm talking about is recovering to his original status as a top 10 player that he was BEFORE surgery. And that was worsened b/c Tracy depended a lot on his athleticism, something Kidd or Stockton never relied on.

Tracy's career was already over? What are you smoking? in 07-08, he was 3rd-team all-nba, and just came off a playoff series where he put up 27, 8, 7. He was still considered a top 15 player AFTER the 07-08 season.

People have had arthroscopic surgery before. They don't limp like that forever. Kobe limped in the pre-season this year, and he got over that after the pre-season. The pain persisted b/c there must be something wrong with the knee still. And now TMac's finally pain-free, and finally dunking with regularity again if you saw his past season. And that was due to the microfracture surgery.

 

Which is explained by his reduced minutes. His efficiency didn't change much, and his game clearly didnt "fall off".

I stopped reading after this. You're an idiot. What does playing 30 mpg prove that playing 29 mpg doesnt? It proves you're an idiot. Besides that, not much else.

 

Like Tennessee winning a national championship after Peyton Manning left.

Rocket River
. . . I felt Manning was a choker for a long time. . . .
before he won the BIG ONE!

 

theres plenty of blame to go around there. i have my doubts about the houston physical/medical staff, but still there are plenty of other doctors who said that the microfaracture was unneccesary and career-threatening. he could have gotten another opinion that he just needed more rest and rehab, but he chose the microfracture route because it was more dramatic and he is a drama queen. and because of his theatrics, everybody loses.