SAN ANTONIO - Tracy McGrady's body did not move, but his mind raced. He remained on the court, face down, the pain shooting through his right hip. And he thought it was all over. His season. The Rockets' chances. Everything. The ideas flooding his thinking did not get that specific. But the notion that he could not escape or stop meant the same thing. "I thought my leg was broken," he said Saturday of his fear while down on the court after getting hurt in the first quarter of Friday's game in New Orleans. "That's what I kept thinking. I really thought it was broken." It wasn't. Not even close. By Saturday night, McGrady said he was sore but might play today against the Spurs. That was not much of a change from the "questionable" status and the "day-to-day" designation the Rockets assigned after an MRI revealed no more damage than the strained right-hip diagnosis made in the locker room. But for McGrady, the thought of playing today represented an enormous change over the course of 24 hours. A day before, the presumed meeting of Tim Duncan and McGrady seemed to be reduced to a spirited game of checkers, the only game in which either would be able to jump. Duncan will be out for at least another week and possibly three more weeks with a sprained ankle. McGrady seemed headed for the same fate. "I'm a little sore, but I should be all right," McGrady said. "It will be a game-time decision. I really thought my leg was broken the way it bent back. I was more scared than anything. "Later on, when I was able to walk on it, I felt a little better about things. I was sore, but I knew I'd be all right." McGrady said his hip felt so much better that while he was not sure if he would play, he sounded as if he could. "I think it's more about being patient and not trying to be Superman," McGrady said. "It would be nice to be able to contribute to the team. "But if I don't play, I know guys will step up and do everything possible. "When guys have gone down all year, other guys have come in hungry. They see an opportunity to go out and be productive." In many ways, that has been the only consistent aspect of the Rockets' season. The Rockets have set franchise records with 16 starters and 23 players. Jeff Van Gundy, a coach who has always had as consistent a rotation as health would allow, has had to go deep into his bench, finishing games lately with any combination among guards Bob Sura, David Wesley, Mike James and Jon Barry. "When I was coming back and with the addition of Mike, Jeff addressed the situation with the four of us before I even stepped on the floor," Sura said. "He said he's coaching to win. 'Whatever combination is working that night is working. The rest of you guys will have to live with it.' I think we all understood that. There's no time now, with the success we've had, to let your ego or selfishness, creep in. "We had a few games that David and I started and Mike and Jon were on such a roll, we couldn't get back because they were playing so well." Since the injury to Juwan Howard, Clarence Weatherspoon has started at power forward, but Scott Padgett, Ryan Bowen and Dikembe Mutombo also have seen minutes at the position. Also, on other occasions, Van Gundy has gone with no power forward at all. Van Gundy said he has had similar uncertainty in the past. "At one position or maybe, two, but never as much as now," he said. "Everybody wants more. That's only natural. "But for the most part, they've handled it when they haven't gotten what they wanted. They've done a good job setting aside for right now, their own personal desires." Even Yao Ming has had trouble getting back into recent games because his backup, Dikembe Mutombo, has played so well. And Mutombo has had to accept that even in his best games, Yao will return to the court, and he will finish the game on the bench. "If you don't have a lot of good players, you're rotation is going to be a lot shorter," Barry said. "We have plenty of guys, plenty of different ways we can play. If we lack rebounds, we can play two bigs together. Whatever. We can have so many different lineups. "The bottom line is just winning games. We all understand the common goal, and that's to win. I think we have professional enough guys to understand, somebody's going to have to sit." The Rockets' depth, a weakness early in the year and a problem in the backcourt as recently as the team's previous trip to San Antonio when Rod Strickland and Andre Barrett manned the point, might be considered a strength now If McGrady does not go, Van Gundy will start Ryan Bowen and teammates will remind him incessantly that they are 4-0 in his starts. And McGrady will be heartened by the thought that his injury had seemed much worse. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3104246
Honestly, at this point in the season, I really don't care if T-Mac plays. Better to rest him a game and make sure he's 100% or as close as he's gonna get this late in the season, rather than take a risk and put him down for the rest of the season/playoffs. We're in solid playoff position and a game up (in losses) on Sac and two on Memphis. No sense in rushing it. That said...I won't take that bet. Cause he IS gonna play
Sura learns that Tmac may show up against spurs. Sura faints. "A chance to be a boss lost." Sura wakes up and says.
Tracy, take a breather man, 3 or 4 of them. I would totally be depressed if you hurt yourself. This game against the Spurs isn't important, force Yao to be the man, maybe he'll get back on that dominating streak he was on a month ago.
Game time decision and before you know it, T-Mac suit up in red/gray unis!Barry and James response, darnet man! we are back on 10 - 15 min playing time!
Sura plays with a hurt back, bum knees and a broken finger Tmac needs to get his tail on the court ... that being said, it is ON JVG NOT to overplay him down the stretch ... come on Jeffey - make Yao and the bench step up and give Tmac some rest during the game... don't let it come down to injury for him to sit
I hope T-Mac takes the next 4 games off. But I'll be seeing him at noon today. That scared the crap out of me. When I saw the trainer. uggg...............
No T-Mac doesn't need to get his tail on the court. Just because Sura played with a bad back and a bum knee and broken finger DOES NOT mean we have to run one of our franchise players out there. If it were a big game I would agree, but to say that McGrady should "tough it out" and play a regular season game that doesn't have a ton of meaning just because another player played hurt is crazy. Especially since Sura's injuries either won't heal until the offseason so it doesn't matter whether he rests or not, and the fact that Rockets management actually forced Sura to rest at one point.
"When I was coming back and with the addition of Mike, Jeff addressed the situation with the four of us before I even stepped on the floor," Sura said. "He said he's coaching to win. 'Whatever combination is working that night is working. The rest of you guys will have to live with it.' I think we all understood that. There's no time now, with the success we've had, to let your ego or selfishness, creep in.
I know you just posted this TECH. But with the way Yao has been playing I would think this quote is something a YOF does not want to hear.
