TMAC told RA that he was sore in the Cavaliers game

Once again, it is NORMAL.

This guy is still comming back and play 4 games in 5 night. No reason to be shocked. it is normal.

 

I commiserate it, the Rockets have to do battle after all by four of five days.

 

I admit even if John Salmons is more helpful than Tracy now

 

I don't think he was sore, he is out of form and he can see he can't play a game with that level of intensity.

 

Four games in Five nights, our injured players were feeling it. Both Battier and McGrady sucked.

I'm not surprised Artest was still able to play though, he had very limited minutes, and he is also a Tru Warier.

We just have to wait till our players are 100% healthy again. That being said, I'm glad McGrady wasn't giving the Cavs any credit or any credit to the Cav defense. I'll take a pathetic excuse over credit for the Cavs.

 

Guys guys just let t-mac rest now. everyone has one of their bad days, i am every1 of u guys have experienced such bad days b4 like u cant get anything goin durin work..........

 

Even Artest felt those '4 games in 5 nights' in the 2nd half. He had 1 point, right?

 

In the 4th quarter, we had the chance to win this game, when Yao was on a tear and the offical were making this game more interesting and covering themselves for betting.

If Tmac was in, we had the chance, even the commentators said it. this is the moment you have to suck it up and go in for a win, specially after how the officals has treated this game.

Tmac is not being supportive, heck Ron has been doing a better job then Tmac til the end.

 

Please shut up Yao Only Phan

 

if it was game 7 of a 1st round playoff game against Jazz (lets not think beyond 1st round at the moment and jinx it), i bet Tmac would insist he checks himself in but hey, this is just another game in the regular season and its 4 games in 5 nights, give him a break, dude.

 

They had a chance to win the game with TMac on the bench; if Yao had made some of those usually automatic shots, the outcome would have been different.

And I seem to recall Bill and Bull discussing the effectiveness of a half-speed McGrady, which from what I saw, wasn't very effective. I never heard them say he has to suck it up and play. In fact, it looked like he was trying to do that for 3 quarters and finally had enough. He made the smart decision; he stays in, at best, he has no effect on the game.

 

Artest plays on torn ligaments...

 

For the lazy people like me....here's the article from the first post.

Silent Night: Cavs 99, Rockets 90

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace


There was no room at the inn for both LeBron James and Tracy McGrady.

So guess who got left out in the cold to sleep in the manger?

Bron-Bron went to the hole. T-Mac went Christmas shopping. Or Christmas caroling. Or to Christmas Island.

There were plenty of reasons why the Rockets didn't measure up in their biggest "yardstick" game so far this season.

For one, Yao Ming was little more than a well-paid spectator for much of the game, picking up two quick fouls early in the first quarter and playing in virtual handcuffs for much of the night. Bad calls? A couple of them, for sure.

In the 22 minutes that Yao was on the floor, he was effective at the offensive end, drawing fouls, hitting 13-for-13 at the line and finishing with 19 points. But you can't score from the bench.

The Rockets also were whipped on the backboards (41-32), especially in the third quarter as the Cavs played like the stronger, more aggressive, more forceful team as they took over control and took over the night.

The second half battle between LeBron and Ron Artest was often as tough and physical as you'll see within the bounds of a court. But James was able to keep pushing on and pushing through and took his team on his shoulders, scoring 19 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, including a 15-point third quarter when the Cavs sorely needed a lift.

In short, James was everything that McGrady used to be, a giant boulder rolling down the side of a mountain that destroyed everything in its path.

McGrady, by the end, was only a memory sitting on the bench, 2-for-7 for 4 points in 30 minutes.

"I just think he wasn't feeling or moving very good," said Coach Rick Adelman. "He told me at the end of the third quarter he was sore. So I took him out."

With an unshackled Yao, it's a whole different ballgame. The Cavs never had an answer for the big man in the middle. But fouls and bad calls and a bunch of other things can happen in a game and that's when a team with two stars, needs someone to take the baton.

Long before the end of the third quarter, McGrady looked like anything but a competitor who was ready to rise to the occasion against LeBron.

While LeBron attacked, T-Mac sat back. While LeBron snorted and roared and scored, T-Mac tip-toed around the edges like someone who wasn't ready to jump into the deep end of the pool. It was a star in ascendancy rising above a star in decline.

Maybe it's their personal makeup, one is tougher. Or maybe it's simply physical, one is stronger. Either way, the Rockets have to be deeply concerned - if not flat-out alarmed.

When McGrady sat out the seven games to mend and rehab the balky left knee, he said he would not return until he was completely healthy and ready to go the rest of the season. Then here comes a resounding thud in Cleveland, suddenly everyone is talking about 4 games in 5 nights and McGrady is sitting on the bench fiddling with the wrap on his knees. Was that noise in the background the sound of a door slamming shut?

There had been so much to like about the way the Rockets were playing coming in against the Cavs. They were moving the ball, executing their game plan, working everything through Yao. That is still the way they can win the vast majority of their games. Artest getting comfortable coming off the bench. Brooks zooming up the charts. Even Rafer Alston came back from a hamstring injury and excelled. They're a very good team. But a championship contender?

Yes, it is fine for McGrady to play his role as The Facilitator on most nights along the meandering marathon that is the NBA schedule. But there are times when the Rockets still need T-Mac. This was one of them and he did not score at all in the second half.

For whatever his reason, the silent night was deafening.

Posted by Fran Blinebury at December 23, 2008 09:18 PM

 

I don't understand McGrady, he tells people that hes gonna be out for 3 weeks rehabbing his knee, hen he comes back a week early and says he is better, but he still has problems wih it...y not just sit out the 3 full weeks and rehab it to full strength so he can jump and get his quickness where he wants it to be..dumb decision

 

the soreness is due to fatigue (it happened earlier). he came back and play 35+ mins in most of the games and it's the 4th game in 5 nights. it's expected.

we really need to watch out for him when we have stretches like this. he's not fully healthy yet. plus, the bumping the knees in the kings game doesn't help. he should be fine for the hornets game.

but when we have these bad stretches of games, let him sit out 1 game or something.

 

I agree, they should watch his minutes some.....but did he play all that much in the New Jersey game?

DD

 

why should he give the credit to the cavs' D? trenton hassell is a better defender than everyone of those guys individually.

some nights, his body is not cooperating and he's gonna look like a scrub. it's not the defense or anybody. if he feels good, he's gonna dominate.

we might have to start treating him like shaq.

 

i mean, adelman has been playing him 35+ mins outside of the nets game and that's too much right now. yes, he's moving better, but it isn't like the knee is completely strong.

and it was the 4th game in 5 nights. even battier was terrible and it still shows he's still bad on a back to back. artest shot bad. yao shot bad.

and since tracy is still not fully healed, it's gonna look bad.

he played 30 mins in the nets game. that's still a lot considering this is the 4th game in 5 nights.

 

every sprain ankle = torn ligaments. and he has had them for years.

knee is more important than the ankle. i was listening to the lakers' radio show regarding jordan farmar's knee injury and michael thompson said that the knee is the most important part of the body for an athlete (there's a reason many players slow down or retire b/c of the knee, outside of the back of course and tracy has battled that).

let's be real, go sprain an ankle while playing street ball and sometimes you can walk it off. knee problems? let's not do comparisons please.