and that's reasonable. my problem AFTER READING THE YAHOO ARTICLE (again, i'm going by what they report) is this: mcgrady's cleared by the doctor who did the surgery to do full contact. if they don't want to rush him back to play actual NBA games, that's fine. that's the right thing to do in fact. BUT WHY HOLD HIM OUT IN PRACTICE AT TRAINING CAMP?
But as a player could you not respect your Organizations wishes? They are paying your salary and it's only 5 days.. T-baby is whining over 5 days? Man I can understand if it's month or he's losing money but he's not and Its only 5 frigin days man...
Because the Rocket's team doctors are taking a more cautious approach, after last year, can you blame them? DD
he's not guaranteed to ply after those 5 days. i think that's why mcgrady is irritated. if the team said, "YOU'RE GOING TO PLAY ON THE 23RD," he's gonna shut up. he just wants an official timetable of when he will play an actual NBA game. and i don't think that's unreasonable to ask. if they don't want to play him, sit him so these drama can be avoided. it's taing attention away from a great 7-5 start for this team.
Thats why we should wait until Nov 23 MRI before we jump to any conclusions. That MRI should officially tell us if he is ready or not. Anyways, weren't you the one who said all summer long that he wasn't really hurt and this was just minor "surgery" like Jason Kidd's and should be ready by the early months of the season? Now you're playing the "he's not even ready" card. Also, why would an extra two games make a difference on his contract situation last year? Are teams going to shy away from him because he played two less games? Is it really that far fetched that T-Mac just wants to play basketball?
I do think he is ready....I think he was ready at the start of training camp, I think the team is using this as an excuse to: a: Punish him for last year b: Get insurance eligible c: get Rick's system in place d: develop new talent. I am ok with all of that. DD
it's PRACTICE. the best person to evaluate your progress is your own doctor (thus, the guy who performed mcgrady's surgery). him and grover were with tmac the most and thus knows his progress the most. it's fine to be cautious after last year. but not to let him practice when he first came back to houston? now that's just ridiculous. in the words of iverson, "PRACTICE?"
Well couldn't this draw unfold after the 23rd?? Then basically he would have all the ammo on his side.. By doing this publicity stunt he has given 0 good reasons. If this came out after the 23rd and he say's "I"m healthy as a fiddle and have been cleared to play by the MRI" then the Rockets organization would look silly not to play him...
the drama, 2 years in a row. i was irritated last year. this time around, i actually feel pretty entertained. the team is in control (unlike last year), and i get to read a lot fun threads on cfan. mcgrady entertains me. no on the court, but off. that is his only value to me - until he leaves this team or is traded (hope it doesn't get to an ai situation).
This could get very ugly if this escalates. We can't just trade him for scrap- we HAVE to turn that contract into one of our next start players either through trade or FA. No way we are just going to give him what he wants if he ends up wanting out. The Rockets on the other hand have no reason to hurry him back. We are collecting insurance money on him, we are playing well, and frankly, it isn't a given that he's going to produce for us. Believe me, if this were the T-mac of 2004, they'd at least be talking about getting him back on the court. You can't blame the Rockets and you can't blame Tracy for being frustrated. John Weisbrod is looking a little less like an idiot now, though.
i think it's pretty much known the MRI is not going to reveal anything. he's been pain-free FOR MONTHS. like the article says, it's about insurance money. again, 41 games passed. i think the team might want to keep him out and collect a certain amount of money (don't know how much). and they want to to punish him for last year. i just want both sides to sit down and say what's on their minds. the team needs to tell him what they are doing explicitly and what hteir expectations of him are. mcgrady needs to tell the team what he thinks his role is on this team and how he expects to play. if mcgrady still thinks he's an alpha-male player, then it's time to ship him off or bench him permanently until a trade is done.
Rick knows what happened last year. I know ppl who are in the rox org- they ALL said the locker room got tense at times. Rafer, T-mac, Artest etc. This year it's Battier and the Chuckster leading the team. Just imagine how much positivity / example of hard work those guys bring to all the young guys. This is THE reason we have such great chemistry right now. There is an atmosphere of sharing the ball etc. I am a T-mac fan, but he has a SuperStar ego, and mannerisms. If the young guys look up to him our team would not be as effective. Rick is in complete control right now. He does not want to change that. He does need to come to terms with T-mac. It is BS to let him rot on the bench. Let him come off the bench for a while so he fits in to what is already there.
The confrontation had been building for weeks, sources say, and underscores a lingering uneasiness between the organization and McGrady. Adelman and McGrady had a dispute last February over the way McGrady informed the team that he had chosen to undergo season-ending knee surgery. Instead of telling them directly, McGrady released the information to the public. I hope Les, Aldeman and Morey stick to their guns on this one!!!! They have my support.
Well, all Rocket fans support the team over any player. Who are those other people who support player over team?
