Tmac Benched (UPDATE - his lower back stiffened up on him)

he was holding his lower back on his way to the bench (the 20 sec timeout)

 

Overdue? What's the use now DD?

It's not like he wont play him in the playoffs. It doesnt add up.

 

yea if tmac got benched, he would be benched for a few mins or maybe a quarter so his mind would finally be in the game.

but for a whole game? if JVG wants to simply send a message, a whole game? is he trying to create a rift?

his back was stiff. u could see the way he ran and then grab his lower back b4 the timeout? he went to the floor to lie down like he did when he came back from the first injury?

its similar to the dallas injury. it tightened up. itsn ot a back spasm.

 

I think the guys listen to JVG, but sometimes they don't necessarily play as hard as JVG wants them to...especially Tmac....

He coasts a lot out there, until late when he takes over.......which is fine, but if you are going to hold the rest of the team accountable for lackadasical effort you need to do the same for the superstar players.

People may believe what they like but the fact that during the game, Kieth said he was fine, then all of the sudden at half time he had a stiff back?

Sound and smells really fishy to me.

Especially since Tmac just got back from Waco just yesterday where he saw his back specialist.

I think (and this is just my opinion) that Tmac and the gang had a bad dose of the Utah Jazz hangovers.....

DD

 

Seems like phantom injury to me. This guy was on the bench smiling like he was high, and out of no where his "back stiffs up." I really hope JVG benched him to send a message, but my feeling was that he faked it to save himself from another 7/28 night. He knows we have a hard time winning without him because we have nobody else that can create their own shot on this team, so it makes him seem more invaluable to this team. I really hate to have to say this, but if we had Billups and Rip instead of T-Mac we be contending THIS year.

 

you mean fran's blog where he is trying to back track now and claim the rockets could have avoided his baseless insinuations and rumor mongering by just telling him every detail? please. it doesn't take much to send fran off on a ridiculous tangent. when yao was out and t-mac was carrying the team instead of just giving him proper credit on his blog after hating on him constantly prior to that, he chose to go overboard and claim t-mac is the greatest ever and all other sorts of sarcastic crap. he's transparent and the fact that you hang on his every word says alot about you. we already know where you stand with regards to t-mac so i'm not really surprised that you hang on that little bit of nonsense.

 

I'm with DaDakota on this one. I swear it's amazing how far some Tmac nut-huggers will go to excuse his play. You think he'd won three rings for us like Kobe did for his team or something- that 13 in 35 seconds really goes a long way in some people's mind. Personally, I'd take a playoff series win before I declare him immune to criticism.

 

what does keith know? he's a trainer. he said tmac was day-to-day w/ the back and it went to 3 weeks.

 

Why would Fran lie about it? What about Kieth Jones, why would he lie about it?

Whatever Hash......I think Tmac is and was fine, and the team protected him.

No big deal.........I love how Tmac plays, most of the time, but it just looked like he was going through the motions tonight.

I DVRed the game, I am now watching the beginning to see if he is showing any signs of the alleged stiffness.

DD

 

uh that team had shaq. kobe's playoff avg is 22 pts. so what are you saying?

and will kobe even win a first round playoff series from now on?

 

That's what I dont get. He hasn't held Rafer accountable for anything. Worked over the rooks, and bonzi, a little of snyder and so

If so he's so inconsistent and selective that it makes no sense, especially at a time in the season where it doesnt matter if they win or lose.

 

yes watch how he HELD HIS LOWER BACK W/ TWO ARMS b4 the timeout. and then watch how he LIED ON THE FLOOR like he did when he first came back from injury to keep his back loose.

my god.

fran is a tmac hater.

 

He just said in an interview that his back has been tight for a week and it is a legit injury

 

Whoopty-doo. His stiff back just buried our chances of getting home court in the first round. He should have gone straight to the locker-room, gotten his back loose, and reentered the game. These games are too damn important.

 

I'd say being healthy in the playoffs is a little bit more important than getting homecourt against Utah

 

Ok, we should rest T-mac for the playoff, and say goodbye to homecourt advantage. T-mac should not play until playoff. Don't huit his back again.

I believe we'll beat the Jazz without homecourt advantage as well as T-mac is healthy.

 

and fsn just showed his "conference" with the reporters and he confirmed that his back is stiff and has been for over a week and just getting worse. he also said he's not concerned because it's not related to his real issues from the past.

 

dude, have u ever had ur back stiffen up on u? its not like leg cramps.

i

 

i'd rather not risk anything right now, we are already in the 5 seed, I think we should rest McGrady for the last 3 or so games unless it's actually meaningful

 

I agree as well. I've never been on the "T-Crap" bandwagon, I've always liked his game, but for some reason he always has cop out moments throughout his career whenever something goes wrong and his image is at risk. Keith pretty much said his back was fine prior to the game and he was JUST at Waco yesterday. It kind of makes you wonder why he bails out so much whenever we're in an uphill battle. I'm starting to understand why someone as talented as McGrady has floated around so much in the NBA. Wouldn't surprise me the least bit if Morey tries to trade him even if we don't get equal value back.