He looks every bit as athletic to me as he did in 04-05. Just look at how easy he gets to the basket after a jumper or two falls. When the jumper isn't falling he has trouble driving because his guy is playing a mile off of him. You can see people not honoring his jumper when he uses his pump fake too. He used to get 2-4 free throws a game just from people biting on his pump fake. Now, it rarely gets the defender off his feet. In the GS game he proved he still has "it" so I would say at this point he is either lying about his back feeling good or he just has no heart.
it is clear that tmac is playing scared, he is scared of getting hurt again. on all his drives, he isnt going up strong but going up and avoiding contact. it may take him awhile to "trust" his back again, or he may never trust it at all. his lack of confidence and his distrust on the back clearly has taken a toll on his game. i dont think we will ever see the explosive tmac in the regular season again, but i think we may see the old tmac when the playoffs arrive. if we can keep up the winning, I dont mind tmac playing the way he is if it keeps him healthy for the post season.
"I'm too old?" Not to sound like a life coach, but I believe it is one of his limiting beliefs. It is one thing to say it but it is another thing to believe it. I'm actually in favor of feeding the media and the opponent self-disparaging remarks. Just don't believe it. Of course this is a 180 degrees of the stuff we've been hearing McGrady say the last couple years. When I'm on, the opponent is at my "mercy". I'd rather have a humble T-mac than an overconfident one. I was surprised to hear an interview of Michael Jordan praising himself...Of course this interview of MJ was in his early to mid 20s. He actually used the same words T-mac was using...the opponent is at my "mercy." MJ learned though not to praise himself. He learned it is much more satisfying when he can MAKE others do it for him. Wouldn't it be great if the world (fans and experts alike) were praising T-mac?
Tmac is not in his prime because he's keeping himself from being there. Perhaps injuries are worse than he lets on but if he says his back his fine that means he's flat out just lost it, which I find hard to believe. I think its more mental burnout from a combination of off-court life, NBA pressures and travel at an early age, frustrations his accomplishments havent carried teams and feeling the critics, and injuries. He "feels" old cuz he's done a lot, but it doesn't mean his body is old. UNLESS, he doesn't train properly... I've been in that mindset before to where it got me to not enjoy playing basketball anymore and stopped playing the game entirely. McGrady's probably naturally a low energy guy who can't have too much on his plate and is prone to mental fatigue.
I get what you mean. I went through a phase where I was questioning everything about the game I was playing, how I was playing, and my future with it too. But I snapped out of it and I think the way I'm playing now is definitely better that even before I entered that funk. And I guess it's the same way with McGrady. Problem is, even after watching last night's GSW game, where he supposedly had 2 "highlight reel" dunks, you could tell that he is CLEARLY not rising up as high as before. The one where he 2-handed it over Foyle or someone, 2/3 years back it'd be a full facial up and over the defender, but yesterday night, all he could manage was to BARELY get it over and through the rim. I think he's clearly lost some athleticism. He can still be a very good player. Kobe HAS lost half a step, but he compensated by working his shot to perfection and being able to hit it anywhere, anytime, under any sort of defensive pressure. MJ did that too. Questions is, can Tracy do it?
I was pretty put off by his performance in Minnesota - Yeah they threw some good D at him, but he still had chances to attack, and didn't. The thing that bothered me the most was his body language. Where is the hunger, the passion, the killer instinct? Someone needs to piss him off
TMAc is thinking about it too much... He needs to focus on the team and find some motivation to play his best and win a championship or two and he''l be fine...
I don't mind either, people seem to think that T-mac has permanently lost his feel. Man look at Stoudamire, his getting his athleticism back too, You don't see anyone here go man Amare is a write off like they do about T-mac, at the end of the day Mac needs to play more, and work out more. Stoudamire sat out a whole year, but from all reports he kept working every single muscle of his body before the offseason. Mac sat out probably an equal amount of time and his probably sufferring from the same problem.
tmac may i get you some numbers for psychologists? im not liking that our superstar needs mental help..........makes the team image look homosexual.
Numerous, consecutive, long plane rides, especially for people with back issues, can be somewhat aggravating. He was on fire in Houston and on ice the next day in Minny. Correlation?
Yao Ming was on fire in Houston and ice cold in Minnesota, too. It doesn't have anything to do with the plane rides (i hope). Every game he doesn't play well T-Mac's going to have to endure this critiscm (or maybe just us on this board do). He's obviously not as athletic as his Orlando/First season in Houston days but you can tell he hasn't lost THAT much. Against GSW, he almost threw it down from a step into the free throw line! He was tired, Yao Ming was tired, the two players who played the best the night before seemed to play the worst the night after. Correlation? (btw im not mocking you solid i just like the way you said correlation so i copied it )
Whats Yao then on a back to back game? TMac does rely on long jumpers when he is tired just like Yao turns over the ball and cant make lay-ups when he is tired. Its good to know that playoff games are never played on consecutive days. We'll be fine guys.
i doubt t-mac will ever rid himself of these kind of statements.. he's very weak mentally, but that's overcome by a ridiculous amount of basketball talent and IQ. he's a passive-emotional guy, so he get's emotional, but controls it somewhat better than totally emotional guys. he doesn't seem very headstrong and lets misses or bad plays get to his head too often.... we need to hire t-mac a mind coach.
I don't like this remark either. TMac apparently lost some passion toward basketball. I know when I lost my touch when playing basketball, I spent hours every day to practice. Shooting is just a repetition job. You can do it well when you practice a lot. Remember when Kobe once boast he shoot 20,000 times per day? That may be be true but it shows he loves the game and he is willing to do what it takes to excel. TMac has better talent than Kobe in my eyes, but he seems to lack the passion that Kobe has.
