The real question is not "heart," desire, or competitive "fire," but how serious is TMac's back condition, and will it preclude him from playing at the NBA level for extended periods of time. And if that is the case, what do the Rockets do? Without him, the Rockets are likely not even a playoff team. They should be, but this road trip says they aren't.
See, I actually believe they would be a playoff team, IF....JVG would utilize players that fit a Tmac(less) team better. The Rockets need a perimeter player who penetrates to set the table for the rest of the team. Yet, JVG contiues to run Alston out there 40+ minutes a night......it makes no sense.....JVG needs to try something else. DD
Thing is, the Rockets aren't a bad team, we're just a team with a bunch of good role players. We're the sort of team where, when our stars are healthy, we thrive well, because the role players can just do their thing, be it Alston bringing the ball up and setting the offense, or Luther drilling 3s, or Chucky rebounding or Battier defending. But when one important cog goes missing, like Tmac being out, suddenly the role players are asked to do more than their effective comfort zone. Rafer cannot run a club and be asked to give u points at the same time. He's shown that in Toronto and last year. Luther cannot be one of the consistent primary options on offense. So that's where Bonzi was such a big signing for us. He doesn't fit well in the mold of the team per se when Mac and Yao are both healthy, simply because he's not a camping shooter or a yeoman who does the dirty work. But now he becomes one of the important pieces because he can take advantage of mismatches. That's why we need him to get off his lazy butt and step up, which he hasn't.
People, we shouldn't question Tracy's manhood because of his back problems. You should know better than that. Him being a drama queen has nothing to do with it. I have no doubt he wants to be on the court. The bottom line is Tracy is damaged goods and the Rockets are on the hook for $80MM (including this season). It's like trying to race a car on a flat tire. Tracy's back is going to drag this team down for 3 more seasons after this one. Get used to it.
That being seemingly true, the Rockets need some tweaking to the roster to compensate for him being out. Clutch, Duece, Sam Fisher etc...all the posters who were livid at trading Rafer for Mike James......man, how much better would the Rockets be with Mike James running the point? JVG - You are the weakest link ! DD
Tmac is done and we need to move on to trying to sucker someone to take him off our hands. Move him back east quickly for any of the young guns from Atlanta. Bird didn't make it back and neither will McGrady, let's stop the foolywang before it starts. Can Shane Battier give us anything on O? Also, his defensive presence is taking a hit. Bonzi played better D on Roy than Shane. I would love to Shane numbers compared to the rookie Rudy.
There is no doubt that his subtitution patterns are suspect, but so is the talent surrounding the two superstars. Alston is a bench player who is taking way too many shots. I don't think Lucas or VSpan are the answer at this point, but they certainly could help. We have an undersized PF who without TMac is not an offensive threat. Battier is supposedly the "golden boy," but his offensive performance has been disappointing. Wells is still out of shape. Head is another bench player. Playoffs, I think not.
I tried to tell you building the team around spot up standstill shooters was a flawed concept as far back as your tyrades to draft JJ Redick. You wouldn't listen. I tried to tell you after the Battier trade that building a team of standstill role players with no upside who couldn't create their own shot was a bad idea...even if there was a remote chance one of the super stars would have injury problems. You preferred to tell us this was a 60 win team if McGrady played x number of games totally ignoring the possibility of injury. I railed at Rockets' management for trading James away and for not giving Mike James a potential 950K trade kicker. Your exact comment about Mike James was "piss on him". And now Van Gundy is the weak link? Because he won't play Spanoulis, JLIII or Novak? These guys are slashers and strong finishers? And the roster only needs a little tweaking? (As you know, without success. Wells is gone next season). I can't tell you if the weakest link is Van Gundy or CD or Morey or all all of them. What I can tell you is the Rockets have been digging themselves into a talent deficit hole since Oct 4, 2005. That's the day of the James trade for Alston. That's the turning point toward the flawed concept of standstill role players...you may finally be able to see this after all of this time.
Question: People say this is the same kind of back spasm that causes him to miss 20 games each season. Does it usually happen in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb? If so, I think Mac isn't really "injured" and just missing games because it's winter. In the cold, Mac's back tightens up thus causes pain. If my theory is correct, then we'll be fine.
DD I am in full agreement with you. T-Mac needs to play. I am tired of the Rockets waiting on this guy to come back once again. The Rockets should cut their loses and trad T-Mac for guys that are hungry to win now. The more he is out the more I am sure the organization is realizing that T-Mac should be considered traded.
What I can tell you is the Rockets have been digging themselves into a talent deficit hole since Oct 4, 2005. rockets dug themselves in a hole since 1998. Horrible drafts and bad contracts.
Tmac needs to play...Tmac needs to rest... The real question is, Tmac is fregile and PROBABLY won't hold up in the playoffs. Now in the long run, what should Rockets do? 1) No changes, just hope Tmac will recover and lead the team to playoffs. Ok, and then...? You never know when the injury strikes back. Fall in the first round? Second round? Plus, with Tmac in and out, the offense is mainly on Yao, it is gonna wear him out... 2) So much so for Tmac. Tank and hope we can get Oden, well, it is tough to beat 76s for the losing record. 3) Forget about Tmac. He can be a Hill but let's play Bill, Novak and JL3. Well, you'd have to fire JVG first, he is not a big fan for rookies, isn't famous for bringing out the best from his players (especially developing young players) either. 4)Trade Tmac. For who? I like option 3 and believe we have enough talent to survive without Tmac, providing that we replace JVG with another coach, a better one of course.
I agree I am tired of tmac back ache - I used to work with an industrial safety group and they say that many back injuries are caused by something as simple as poor posture. What happens is that people are unaware of erganomic when they walk, sit, etc. out him in a brace, tell him to stop slouching - and give him a lumbar support on the bench...see if it doesn't correct itself inside a week
(Sorry for double posting but I didn't see this thread until I had alread posted in the "worst case scenario" thread. My comments probably belong better in this thread.) There is a good chance T-mac's back problem can be minimized. I don't think he is being treated as comprehensively as he could be. I have a feeling that nutritional supplements and other pain management therapies that aren't "orthodox" are not being tried -- or if they are they are being too conservative, not allowing sufficient time for them to work. Following the standard course of medical treatment is too often restrictive. Chronic problems do not always have to be chronic. But we live in a "drug happy" society... T-mac should solicit help on his own in addition to what the "team" trainers and doctors are offering.
Tracy McGrady is the modern Day Ralph Sampson, whose downfall left Hakeem putting up big numbers playing on mediocre teams, and now Yao is in the same situation. Mcgrady is done as a dependable player.
At this point, our team is losing close games...I'm ready to concede my stance before. Just give him a few minutes a night if AT ALL possible. If he can't, he can't, but if he can, we need someone out there badly to take SOME pressure off Yao, b/c no on else is doing that effectively right now. Although I am a little concerned as many are, at least we aren't being blown out. We have had a chances to win these last few losses, but are coming up short. This team needs TMac very badly right now.
This is interesting. I have read many of your posts, frequently they are about contracts, cap-space (whatever that is), and other money issues. I have not caught one of your posts about this subject. What you are saying is that the Rockets don't have many players who are athletic enough to create their own shot. Right? Or, is your point that JVG's half-court game seldom requires "transition" type players, so we don't have many. It appears that these points are connected. I know this, Yao is largely a "stationary" player and the game plan revolves around him. What was different about the 94-95 teams besides better shooters?
