Just one question... What has T Mac been known for throughout his career more than all of his other great qualities? Man could that kid fly... If you knew without a doubt about one thing... That kid could dunk on anyone... ANYTIME. Now I am a little suprsed that this has not been brought up (unless I missed it) before, but I truly believe that the injury to his back that sidelined him in the past, is in no way, a thing of the past. I watch every game. I have attended a few already this year. From what I have seen he does not get up near as high nor as often as he used to. At the game on Friday vs. the warriors when he received the oop from Sura (AWESOME!!!) was the first time I have seen him this year really explode toward the basket and if you noticed right after that he was walking kinda funny. Kind of Like he was favoring his back. Coming from a person with back problems... I know the walk. I am not trying to be negative in anyway. As a die hard, til the day I die, Rox fan, obviously this is not what I hope for our team or for McGrady, but it is just what I have noticed in my frustration. Is there anyone out there who has noticed this or am I just beginning to lose what mind I have left? (after watching the season so far...)
Relax, TMac may still have problem adjusting after surgery on his back. Maybe he is just have little mental problem getting up high in the crowd in fear of injuring himself again.
He might play like a superman sometimes, but he doesn't really have a strong built. Just look at those chicken legs. The fact that he could shoot over his defenders with much ease is a two-edge sword. Unless he possesses the Iverson's toughness, I really don't expect him to attack the basket that much more than we have seen so far, even when his shots aren't falling. I'm afraid he might end up just like another Penny Hardaway after some sort of injury. I do see quite a bit of similarities between them two.
Did you see the two ally-hoop's against Golden State? Didn't look injured to me. I think he is just struggling in JVG's lame offense. You know, like the rest of the team.
Most of high flying players stop dunking in traffic (or on someone) in later half of their career because it will increase their chance of getting hurt. MJ, Kobe, and VC all have gone through the same thing.
Hey drummer if you look back at the post I was talking about the alley oop vs th warriors. That is when he walked as if his back was hurting. All I am saying is that this year even when he has had the WIDE open lane he is not exploding to the basket. He is not getting up like he used to. Period. He isn't. Watch the next few games you will see what I mean. I am not saying he can't. I am just saying that he isn't. I do not know why, that is just what I have seen. Maybe he is hesitant due to injury. Maybe he is still hurting. Who knows? All I know is that it worries me. Alot. Lots of money... Lots of years. Don't get me wrong, at 75%, he is still better than 85% of the league, but... 75% is not what we ordered. This is just what I the fan, Believes.
I wondered the same thing too.. he used to play like he loved the rim as a wife. Now he seems to avoid any type of posterization at all.. just like a wife..
Just wanted to know... did anyone listen to the interview with TMac on NBA TV before the game? Andre was asking T if he should be suprised if he does anything special this year like the dunk he threw to himself at the Washington all star game? Mcgradys response was that he should be, and I quote... "I don't know how much I have left in my bag of tricks..." Andre then asked if it was the back and Mcgrady said yes. Of course he did attempt to pull off the dunk in the game, but couldn't get up high enough to dunk it. I sure hope that I am reading too much in to this. Like I said before, a lot of money... a lot of years. Back problems usually linger.
You guys are reading too much into this... Yes, his injusries (plural) are a lingring problem. However, he is not the only one suffering from this in the league. Lebron James (no chicken legs here) has been out a few games with injuries already. Dwayne Wade (because he drives inside too damn much) gets hammered everythime and has missed few games with injuries, which he still has. Kobe? Well, you know how many problems he has had in the past. There is no reason to believe they won't last. Bottom line, everyone gets injured. As worried as we might be about T-Mac's injuries, they are nothing a good off-season won't fix. Besides, the guy we traded to get him (Francis) was injured for quiet sometime back in the day. So injuries are just a normal part of the NBA.
Relax. His back problems will be around the rest of his career, but he has played through it before and will keep doing so. I only remember one game this whole year (Celtics?) where it bothered him so much that he backed off to a considerable degree, and he still had 20+ points. That dunk attempt didn't happen, not because he couldn't get that high, but it was too low a pass of the backboard. When he caught it, it was rim high and diving, so he played it safe to make it.
