"Blinebury gets it wrong..." does that mean the team's beef is NOT with T-Mac but with someone else?!? "He has opinion and he writes that..." he's obviously been a long-time critic of T-Mac and has taken this opportunity to dog pile, is that it? "... he is UNDERSHOOTING it." - maybe the problem is two-fold and McGrady and Artest have entered into a you play one, I play one rotation just to see how far they can push their limits and exert their control. RE: Adelman and T-Mac - they don't see eye to eye, but it's not over what we think... what do we think it's about: shots, offensive philosophy, effort/injury? Well, if it's not one of those, what can it be? And if that's only the second biggest battle on the squad... I'm thinking the biggest battle is of Rox v. Artest. We know Yao and Mac lobbied hard for Deke to come back. They needed his passion and his leadership, right? Well maybe what they needed was another guy to keep Ron in check - you know, he of the "going off the reservation" routine. The focus on Yao stuff, I think that's got to mean that he's seeing his team fall apart. My guess is that he's going to make some heavy-handed hints/demands to the leadership of the organization as to what he wants to see happen going forward.
Feigen says that he doesn't think the T-Mac situation is a distraction to the team: http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/01/bring_on_the_lakers_maybe_not.html [rquoter] Jon, Has Tracy become a distraction in the locker room? And have McGrady and Artest already been declared out for the LA game? (No. The uncertainty about when McGrady and Artest will play is a nuisance, but they joke about it more than protest it. Artest is out against the Lakers. No word on McGrady yet. -- Jonathan) [/rquoter] So I think it comes down to this. Who has more integrity as far as reporting the facts objectively -- Feigen or Blinebury?
Feigen travels with the team, Blinebury blogs the road games from his living room (presumably). Who do you think has more insight to what's going on seeing as how the team has been on the road for the past 9 or 10 days before the Knicks game?
They both cover the team. Fran is by far the most harsh, and Feigen is the most team friendly. The truth is usually somewhere in the mddle, but in this situation it is about how they read the situation. One thinks the players have turned on Tmac and are joking because they are pissed off at him. The other thinks that the players are exassperated and are joking to hide their frustration at it. Probably a little of both. DD
Personally I think Blinebury/Bucher/Doc Rocket are closer to the mark. Come on, this new two week leave of absence just seems incredibly fishy.
But as I mentioned, from my point of view, Feigen is more of a company man and has to play kiss-a$$. He's the White House Press Secretary: "Give them 20% of the truth."
Honestly, hmmmm...that is a tough one.....I think the players are clearly frustrated yes. But, I also think they would forgive Tmac if he just came in and gave effort, they know he is uber talented, so I think it is salvageable. As ever, it is all up to Tmac. Does he get with the program, break through his Cole Trickle issues over his knees, or does he whine his way out of town. DD
Not to me. Adelman is frustrated with guys going in and out of lineups on a game to game basis. That's no way to build up cohesion and chemistry. So, by sitting T-Mac for an extended period you allow (1) the rest of the players to grow more comfortable in their roles and (2) him to come back hopefully healthier and needing less time off. McGrady isn't even at the stage right now where you can expect him to actually help the team, so we're not gaining a whole lot anyways by playing him. I think Artest's time off for 1 week is probably related to this as well. He's also been a guy coming in and out of lineups. The Rockets, and probably the coaches in particular, are getting tired of it.
Feigan also just said the Rockets are willing to trade McGrady. They are clearly frustrated with him.
Read it again. The second biggest problem is Tmac's "vision" of this team. He didn't say what the biggest problem was. He simply said to keep your eyes on Yao Ming, which can literally mean anything. My guess is that Yao Ming is going to go public with his take soon.
Got to put the pedal to the metal pick a line and drive right through that smoke baby. It is the same with his knee...he has to just trust it, and jump.....and when he lands and it did not blow up...get busy ballen ! DD
