T-Mac needs to suck it up!!!

I hear you. I know the intricacies of the game. I'm not one of these dudes who believe that Rick Adelman is playing him so many minutes when he shoots 1-10 just because he wants to prove a point to Tmac or some goofy **** like that. Tmac can be standing beyond the three point line with his hands on his knees and be responsible for a open threepoint make by Bobby Jackson. Adelman knows this.

 

I think our priority should be the playoffs..we should be able to handle to t-wolves even without T-Mac. We've been playing good team ball recently and I think if we just continue to do that we should be fine. T-Mac should be 100% by the time we play the spurs.

I think you guys overreact sometimes.

 

There is no doubt about it, he draws so much attention, but have you noticed that more and more teams are able to guard him 1 on 1?

Not all teams double him now.

Also his athleticism or rather his quickness seems to be reduced this year.

Tmac will always be able to rely on his brains because unlike Francis ...Tracy really knows the game......but his days of dominating the ball may be coming to an abrupt end.

The question is, do you trade him before that point, or do you just ride him into the ground and hope for the best?

To me, the answer is...."it depends"

I am on board for riding him into the ground unless someone offers a blockbuster type of deal....

DD

 

a lower level of star players??? i think it's b/c you keep comparing him to kobe and lebron. people need to get it straight that those 2 are a level ahead of EVERY PLAYER right now.

with that said, tmac is still considered a "superstar." that includes any media out there who still bashes, they still call him a "superstar". coaches still defend him like he's a "superstar".

he was a player who's like a kobe/lebron right now where he's heads and shoulders above the level of competition. right now, he's fallen back to the pack but he's still the 3rd best perimeter player right now. he's still a better all-around player than guys like carmelo, iverson, pierce, joe johnson, wade...

y'all just need to stop comparing any player to kobe/lebron. those 2 are on another stratosphere.

 

And those are the games that he goes off for 30, 6 and 6

 

Where do you live?

Tracy McGrady sat out for one month because he played through pain when his knee was injured, guy loves this team, you're not a fan if you question his heart.

I'm sick of this TMac bashing threads. He is the most valuable player on this team and a superstar, write it on the wall better higher and every time when you wake up you read it, so you can remember it because it seems everytime you forget it.

How do you know he isn't hurt? Do you play professional basketball or any sport, do you know how tough it is?

All the players are human beigns, they're made from blood and meat, they get hurt. Heck every superstar will play through injury so as T-Mac, Iverson fractured his finger and still plays, Kobe must go on surgery and still plays because he loves his team. Why everyone question McGrady's heart?

 

i think you misread me

i think he still is a great player, he was once on the same level as Kobe in my eyes PBS (Pre Back Spasms), but his atheleticism has declined ALOT. He uses mostly intelligence to beat opponents nowadays and everyone can see it.

I think his atheleticism has reached the point that other teams wouldn't give good value for him in return. This is the reason why I think there is no reason to trade him. I think he will eventually be reduced to a smaller and smaller role (of course when he's much older) and he'll retire here (similar to what Reggie Miller did when JO and Artest had bigger roles).

 

Mcgrady is doing the smartest thing in his is career. He is learning to pace himself. Thats all I see with this. And when we need him in the fourth, he's been delivering. Come playoff time, this will really pay off for Tmac. he won't be picking his spots then.

 

How is he "soft as cotton"? Whiny...yes. Soft...no.

He plays through injuries. He sat out with a knee injury. He sat out two seasons ago with back injuries. How does that make him soft? I guess Yao is soft for having serious injuries each of the last three seasons...

 

Yeah, alot of teams don't want to double him but he is pretty smart about it. He often dribbles into a crowd knowing someone else will cheat so he can use his passing to make a play.

I don't agree with what you said about dominating the ball though. It is his best attribute, to set up the offense by dribbling into defense and finding someone open. If you take tmac off the ball it will be worse than what happens when the mavericks take Jason Kidd off the ball. I know he's not a PG but they both have significantly more value to a team with the ball in their hands, controlling the offense.

 

how bout none of us complain about t-mac till the end of the playoffs being that he is the one carrying the rockets all bruised the hell up and tired, hows that? lets try that for once almost like the quiet game . OK ready lets go!!!

 

A very fair point, I hope you are correct.

DD

 

I think he is. Tracy just understood that you ppg is not the most important thing. He now knows he can't win anything alone and he knows he has to do it with his team.

In the playofs he's gonna be abgry as never, especially without Yao he will have more on his back.

 

Tracy has a tattoo on his right shoulder that reads: AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEE IN JUDGEMENT SHALL BE COMDEMNED—ISAIAH 54:17.

 

ditto.

 

i remember last year thinking the exact same thing. except when playoffs came, mcgrady didn't receive this boost of energy like i had hoped and presupposed he would. he still looked slow and lethargic out there. i won't hold my breath for it to turn out differently this year. he isn't storing up this secret reserve of energy; he's simply not the same physically as he used to be, and that means he's lost a little quickness and a little bit of his hops.

but no matter his physical limitations, he shouldn't let it affect his body language, because opponents see that and they eat it up and feed off it. that is what i think the OP is concerned with, and it is a valid concern. if you are hurt to the extent that playing on it will only make it worse, SIT DOWN. we need you healthy so take your time. but if you are just playing with regular pain and exhaustion, stop grimacing every single time, bending over and sucking wind. put on your game face and don't let your opponent know you're running on fumes. its hard but its something the best players have to do.

you think fans are the only ones that look at his movement on the court and think he's tired? tmac lately has basically been telling opponents, whether verbally or with body language, that he's worn out, and that just makes it easier for them to attack him on offense and get aggressive with him on defense.

tmac 3 years ago never saw the kinds of aggressive defense he sees now, not because he wasn't as good back then, but because they were all thinking they couldn't stop him. now, scrubs like gordan giricek and luke walton look at him huffing and puffing and think to themselves 'i'm in better shape than him and im going to outlast him' and they simply aren't afraid of him. get your game face on mac and don't ever let them see you gasping for air before they are.

 

Yep, seems to be more of an issue with his conditioning than his athletic ability. T-mac IMO still has most of his skills he's just plain tired right now.

 

The thing is, dookie, that last year, EVERYONE was out of their game. McGrady may have actually been the one guy that played the closest to his averages (along with Battier). Everyone else played significantly worse than they did during the regular season. McGrady at least played well in all the home games, and did step up for us at some pivotal times (most notably second halves, and games five and seven)... it just wasn't enough.

As much of a lame excuse as it sounds like, and as much as I hate using it, I partly blame the officiating. Of course it always sucks against the Jazz (especially in their arena), but they were getting away with some ridiculously physical play on the glass and in the paint on D. They were using the "they can't call everything" strategy.

 

did you really mean waht you just said right there? if so, you're way too optimistic.