I never said he was faking injuries, just that he could play through them....and for the most part he did....look in the playoffs for an example. Everyone plays with pain....and Tmac had minor surgery on his knee....slightly bigger surgery on his shoulder, but neither were career threatening or even considered major surgery. Battier worked so hard in rehab he reinjured his ankle and they had to slow him down...... Anyway.....I think Tmac's deal is mostly mental, he is not handling his rehab well, and his ego is not handling getting beaten by scrub players well. IMO. DD
It does put a lot of pressure on the team. I hope Yao doesn't break down because of having to do too much. I'm sure they will limit his minutes as well. I don't think he should sit yet. Battier is not going to be able to fill in right away. He's gotta get his timing back first.
One last thing, I am fine with limiting his minutes, but him sitting means the rest of the players, primarily Yao & Artest have to pick up the slack and they could break down because of it. Heck, even Battier is coming back from surgery.....he needs to be limited. The roster is deep, but only if everyone is available to play. DD
Agree to a certain extent, but to make a deep playoff run the team has got to develop chemistry ie.(court time together) and momentum going into the playoffs. The rockets are kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to T-mac. I don't think the doctors would allow him to play 30 minutes a night if they thought he was doing more damage to his knee. By letting him play the doctors are trying to let him strengthen the muscle around the knee and let him get off the snide at the same time.
So if he sits, are they expecting to put in Wafer in the starting line up? I don't see Battier starting tonight. No way he starts but we should him play 20 minutes tonight or so.
I would think so, and this might not be a bad idea he is more athletic than Tmac right now, and can shoot the 3 ball, and attack the basket, but he doesn't have near the bball IQ that Tmac has.... I just hope Yao doesn't break down because of an increased workload with Tmac out.... DD
if the doctors tell him there's no structural damage and he can get regular mri's to ensure no further damage to his ligaments... then for hells sake take some percocet (or get a shot or whatever) and play through it... your a professional athlete. making 20 million this year. EDIT: maybe he keeps playing like a wuss for the next few weeks, but by all means DON'T sit out. work through it.
It's mental. He doesn't like the early regular season. One could even argue that he doesn't even like basketball. He's always coasted through the early part of the schedule, unless of course the Rockets are on ESPN or TNT, and he's miraculously cured for a night. That's why there seems to be a correlation between nationally televised games and his performance. I know I'll be called a "hater" but I just think it's either all in his head, or he's using it as a crutch to be able to take some time off.
I think Wafer has a ok basketball IQ. He was able to give Yao that dunk with him driving to the basket. The only thing that I see is that he is always soo winded. I mean he looks like he is about to pass out.
I am not talking about spin but rather the quotes from Adelman and Morey specifically. Where they say it is mental and he needs to work through it.... If they are willing to say this to the press, that speaks volumes....usually you would protect a player, but they are basically saying..."Nope, he needs to play".... "Mostly" means a little bit of both.....it is certainly not all mental or all physical....thus the "mostly" tagline. DD
Like i said mcgrady is protecting himself from being traded! why you only see flashes on tmac, nobody wants an damaged goods. he is thinking long term
I wonder if T-Mac plans to play after 2010. He's mention a few times about retiring after his contract is up.
you said something along the lines of him whining and not really needing surgery. Basically, faking the severity of his injuries. Then he had 2 surgeries. The ego comments are probably the most out of place for me. I always considered him not having a huge ego to be one of his biggest problems. Most great players have one, whether they admit to it or not. I think Barkley has said that a few times. I think alot of great players wouldn't have been okay with sitting in crunch time or being relegated to spot up shooter in the offense. He's too "okay" with being the team guy so he doesn't push himself to be better than the rest, atleast that's what it seems like right now.
Don't knw but we all knw he is lazy at times, I think one of those times is now! He doesn't want to work through the pain instead he would rather be in the weight room for an hour and going home... Later in the season when we have something special then he hill want to jump in and be apart of it! Just like the streak last year.... Yao started that streak when yao goes down here comes TMAC to look like the saviour...He will be healthy when it is convienant for him!
If that's what you think, I am afraid you might be wrong. With all those comments such as "it's on me", "the teams goes as deep as I lead", "I coasted in the first 3 quarters and stepped up when it counted" or something similar, it's pretty obvious that Tmac has that ego of a superstar, though maybe not as pronounced.
where you the operating doctor? btw...i do think some is mental. if you have dealt with a lot of injuries then it really wears on you mentally and you start to doubt if you can ever recover. i have been there and it sucks.
When Yao goes down again, later this season, I hope you bring up this same question. I still cant believe people are questioning TMac, after all he did for this team last season.
