Since these recent games, I found Tmac does't seem as athletic as he once was. He's having a hard time beating his man off dribble, and elevating way above his defender for a jumper as he once did. He didn't finish numerous alley-oops thrown to him. The ones he finished was hardly any ferocious throwdowns like we've seen in the past. I am happy we are winning, but Tmac's health still concerns me. It's OK to be cold and miss shots, everyone has periods of droughts. But now when he's missing shots, his shots are always short. That could be a sign that his elevation is no longer there. Did anyone else have the same observation? I could be wrong, and I hope I am wrong.
His back is probably still bothering him. I'll be worried if this continues near the end of the season.
Well judging from the R2K highlights, I would say yes, he at least has lost a step or two. It's due to his injuries, plus he is an old 26 years old and carrying a bad team like orlando put a lot of wear on his not-so-durable body. I think Tmac will rely more and more on jumpers. The good news is he has long range and his height will give him some advantage even though he doesn't elevate as high as he used to do. It's pretty clear to me Tmac cannot play 40+ or even close to 40 minutes per game any more. And he needs to take a break for every 4 or 5 games. I expect him to continue solid all-around games. But don't expect those 35+ pts games in a stretch any time soon. The good news is Yao is on track to 100+% recovery, also DA and JB are coming back very soon.
i think his back is still bothering him. i wouldnt say he has lost a step at his young age its just back problems. thing that scares me though is it might not ever get better. he will still be great but not everything he could be due to health. which really sucks. but i guess you could say tmac with a bad back is better then steve francis with a perfect back...
No, I think there are some games where his back feels good, and some where it doesn't and he's moving stiffly out there. Sometimes his shooting motion looks different, especially noticeable at the top of the 3-point arc. I still see him capable of doing everything he's done before, but only if his back is loose.
totally agree. he could do that dunk over bradley tomorrow if his back was loose, but some games it's just not working for him. i understand that he's said he feels he's old but i don't buy it enough to think he's lost athleticism. he threw it down pretty hard on that alley-oop in the knicks game on sunday.
Just my opinion, but this stuff about Tracy being worn out from playing in Orlando is nonsense. MJ in the past and AI, Kobe, KG and others now have played very hard basketball without slowing down at all in their 20s. The only thing that concerns me about Tracy is his back. If it weren't for his back, we would not be having this discussion. When his back feels fine, Tracy plays MVP caliber basketball. If it's tight, oh well. With or without surgery, I sure hope they can do something over the summer that helps him long term.
Last nite was off a back to back and he has looked to be a little tight in NY. I'm not worried, at least now we can give him a little slack and he isn't required to bear the burden of the entire game. He can have an off night with Yao and others stepping up. A day off will do wonders for him.
Well, to me it seems his back breaks down randomly. That's what worries me. We hope he can play well down the strech of the season, but have to expect he takes somedays off just like yesterday.
Which is fine when we have a real NBA roster to support him, like last nite, and the team can still get the win.
I wouldn't completly say "no longer", it all depends on how his back feels that day. If it feels great, he would go for 35+ a game as evident last weeks in that mini road trip(Bucks,Bull,Piston). If his back feels like crap, he will play more passive and will contribute in other ways to help the team win.
His back is definetly still bothering him. At the end of the game last night he was holding his back during a time-out (he had both hands on his lower back, as if trying to loosen it up).
it wouldn't be as big of a deal if we had the guys that bring fire to the team like sura and barry back. then again DA was supposed to take some minutes off and give tmac some rest and that hasn't panned out.
When tmac doesnt score over 30 3 games in a row its trouble for the posters "is his back ok" "hes old" "he cant play 40+" Do yall watch all the games because yes maybe he was stiff on the back to back who cares we won did anyone watch when tmac came off the back injury he played 42 min and scored 36 that night 29 the next 44 one night the guy can still play and he could still dunk over 8 of the naysayers stacked up and ride them like shaun bradley. The key guys is he doesnt have to be great when role players step up and you have a 7'6 Yao who is playing very hard for YAo.
More like TMac is no longer playing healthy. We need to start blowing teams out so we can give him as much rest as possible.
His shot form is completely off, I don't care what anyone says. His speed is also way off because of his back, mostly. However, McGrady can still be amazing with those injuries, I think it just depends on how he feels on any given game day. Expect this to be the case throughout this season, because he certainly ain't going to get any rest with us trying to climb out of this deep, deep hole we dug ourselves. Hopefully he will take it easy over the next summer and give his body the rest it needs to prepare it for the grind that's an NBA season.
i listened to 610 am yesterday and the man said something similar to 12stonestool. tracy doesn't have to play great basketball all the time. i think him and 12stonestool are right. why need to put on a show when the opposing team is not even competitive?
I'm pretty worried about him. Not even this season so much -as in the next 3-5 years. He should still be at an elite level of athletic ability for several years, absent some sort of persistent injury. I'm very concerned that his back might be injured permanently. He'll still be a very good player if he's not entirely healthy - but not what he could be otherwise.
Ya'll just look for these little injuries. Tmac is playing through pain which is what a true superstar will do. He'll be fine for the game tomorrow vs the Lakers. He knows its a huge game and he'll be prepared. Go Rockets!!!
