Video: T-Mac returns to floor, takes a couple shots

Things I took from the McGrady's game
1. Jump shots looked smooth
2. Didn't demand the ball and let Brooks do his thing
3. Contested well on D most of the time although he was lost a bit when guarding Rip.
4. Got some good height on his jump
5. Needs more gametime to familiarise himself with the new offense
6. Struggled with the fastbreak but in truth they were incredibly fast
7. Not bad for someone coming back from microfracture surgery

 

lmao. there is no substitute for nba games. the only way to be in nba game shape is to play in actual games. he looked about on par as anyone that had their first game after a extended layoff from surgery.

 

Underwhelming? 1-2 FG and 3 rebounds in 7 minutes is not bad. No matter how ready he says he was, not having played in an NBA game since late last season will manifest itself in rust. He looked pretty spry to me, but you just don't like the guy so this was expected.

 

this is the last time i am going to say this. mcgrady thought he would be activated after the 23, and since the mri wasnt going to show anything he wanted to come back earlier. He just found out that Adelman wanted mcgrady to come back when he could fully contribute to the team. mcgrady thought they would work him back by giving him limited minutes. Thats why he said he was ready to play, not that he was in game shape, and he has said this before that he would come off the bench if needed.

 

Yeah I think we've seen enough to know what we should expect from TMac and his future with us in that 7 minutes and 44 seconds of action. Let's dissect it further and breakdown his EEG while we're at it.

 

wekko is an admitted tmac "hater," not critic.

DD is a tmac critic, so what he has to say is more impartial. wekko just hates the guy's guts like he did something to him personally.

 

the biggest negative is that ariza will be back for next game to try and be something he's clearly not. tmac looked good for someone who's been out for a long time. the rockets need for c-bud to start instead of ariza and make battier and ariza switch. tmac needs to get into game shape and the only way to do that is to actually play the game.

 

Do you also believe that olympic athletes can't truly train for the olympics unless they're actually competing in them?

 

Also, a few excerpts from the AP recap
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2009121510

 

Every criticism I've ever made has been supported with facts or logic.

 

I thought he looked better than I expected....


He didn't "dominate" the ball the way the anti-T-mac crowd accuses him of. Not once - he passed it every time very quickly after getting the ball, even after a rebound, shot twice quickly after getting it, and drove once. In his 3 offensive maneuvers he scored a bucket once and got the the ft line once, and missed once. That's not bad.

He cut off of a pick as well - one of the other big things critics hit him over the head about.

The post up over him was a fade away 15 ft over his outstretched hand - normally that's awesome D and the guy just hit a great shot. But since it's T-mac, it's a "negative"

The only Defensive mistake was when he was guarding Revco and when Rip crossed over he switched over just a second late which let to a jumper for Rip. That's a mental mistake not a lazy one. every other time he was challenging the shot and forced Revco to miss 5 times and turn it over once.

He cut without the ball, shane made a tough pass to him that got deflected.

Also, he struggled to keep up with the offense. That will come I think.

Overall, he's a bit out of sync, but he looked great for his first game back. He definitely needs to acclimate - but so far he's doing what he is suppose to.

 

it depends on how you train. I dont think the rockets call scrimmaging the same thing as nba games.

 

It is pretty obvious Brooks will no longer defer to TMAC like last year. So any fear of losing the chemistry should be history.

Brooks is running the show.

 

Yeah, the olympics. Great analogy. Most olympic sports are single athlete sports, whereas the NBA has you directly competing against others. I don't think anybody will question me when I say that actual basketball games are played at a different level of intensity than practice.

Once every 4 years, huh? Try harder.

 

I don't care about stats. I was more concerned with his movement. His cuts and foot speed were slow, and he looked out of shape; from all the fuss he was making recently, I expected more.

 

for now

 

i was at the game, and everyone, i mean EVERYONE was on their feet and cheering their ass off for a good minute or two. it was incredible.

 

I love how people were surprised by Tracy's reception (eve Tmac himself). Just like in politics, people on extreme sides of this issue just don't understand the true feelings of the silent majority.

 

wekko, your facts/logic are wrong AGAIN.

olympians DO have trials that they have to go through in order to make the olympic teams. and they have A TON of those before the olympics start. and those trials take over a span of YEARS. check the logic again.

that is why every professional sport has something called the "preseason." and preseason isn't just one game, it's nearly a month long. that is where players relieve their rust and get back into the NBA pace.

tracy didn't have preseason. this is essentially his preseason (these next 4-5 games).

 

Yes they have, they have said he lacks explosion, and that he has to fight through it and get ready and not repeat last year where he was in and out.

And he has to play the style they are playing now...

Rick and DM have been 100% consistent, people just didn't like what they were saying.

DD