Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 10:00 am  |  28 responses

More Nights off for Tracy McGrady

by Marcel Mutoni

Some people, by some miracle, occasionally stumble upon the fountain of youth and do extraordinary things as they age. And then you have folks like Tracy McGrady, who’s falling (fallen?) apart before our very eyes.

The chronically injured T-Mac, like Shaq, will no longer be participating in back-to-back games. From the Houston Chronicle:

“Me and coach talked about it and I think when we do have back-to-backs, we’ll really have communication to decide which game I should play and which game I should sit out. Moving forward, I won’t be playing on back-to-backs and that will be the plan from this point on.”

“I can’t explode the way I want to,” McGrady said. “It’s hard to do certain things normally I’m capable of doing. I’m kind of limited in some ways to playing my normal way. That’s why I have to make some adjustments. It works some nights; some nights it doesn’t.”

This is probably the best route (health-wise) for Mac to take at this point in the season.

As for the Rockets, who admittedly coasted before losing to the Wizards last night, they’ll need everyone else to step up in Tracy’s absence if they hope to make any kind of noise this year.

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  • Orlando Green Posted: Dec.30 at 10:02 am
    Damnit!…it’s getting harder and harder to tell people that T-mac is my favourite player…lol

  • Sesa Posted: Dec.30 at 10:05 am
    T-Mac needed to contact Phoenix’s team doctor.
    They revived Grant Hill

  • Simon S.Y Lawy Posted: Dec.30 at 10:22 am
    he’s done…

  • Gumdrop Posted: Dec.30 at 10:24 am
    Man, and he’s younger than Kobe.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Dec.30 at 10:32 am
    The Rockets have been so overhyped this season. I’m seeing another 1st round defeat in their immediate future.

  • Boing Dynasty Posted: Dec.30 at 10:42 am
    There was a 2 or 3year period in orlando, where Mac was the best player in the NBA. Maybe not in stats or hype, but in talent and ability.

  • Moose Posted: Dec.30 at 10:43 am
    *Starts Crying*

  • Bballrehab Posted: Dec.30 at 11:17 am
    He’ll have to do what VC has done for the past few years; stop attacking the rim so much and become more of a jump shooter…his FG percentage is lower than 40% though…

  • dsleepy Posted: Dec.30 at 12:00 pm
    wtf.

  • RV Posted: Dec.30 at 1:30 pm
    Sesa…he doesn’t need a miracle, he knows what’s wrong, there’s nothing to treat or cure, just needs to strengthen it.

  • RV Posted: Dec.30 at 1:32 pm
    ciolkstar, the overhype is overrated, what you always hear is, “the rockets are going to do a lot of damage, IF they are healthy”, which is/was right on.

  • RV Posted: Dec.30 at 1:37 pm
    and this is really a bitch-ass move for tmac, this wasn’t just a “talk”, more like tmac got called to the principal’s office and had a closed door meeting with Adelman and i think the owner or/and Morey. If anyone didn’t hear, Ron needed rest to heal his ligaments against Utah this past saturday, so he was set to take the night off, then right before game time he heard Tmac unexpectedly called in sick, so Ron went and got dressed and told coach he was playing…then he took over the second OT and scored 10 pts and basically carried Houston to a win…and this is the guy who actually needs rest to recuperate, Tmac doesn’t.

  • ClydeSays Posted: Dec.30 at 1:55 pm
    Has there ever been an ‘All Star’ starter with more trips to the IL? He’s still only 29, plays ‘defense’ against mostly smaller, weaker SG’s & has never played a full 82 game season or anything close to 40mpg as far as I can remember. I’d be he averages about 65 games per. I loved TMac’s game when he was on & healthy, but those days seem to be over.

  • Josh D Posted: Dec.30 at 2:45 pm
    T-Mac is still a good player, last year he was one top 6 MVP candites, and he made a huge difference to the Rockets in 22 game winning streak

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.30 at 3:04 pm
    I’m still convinced there is something in the water in Orlando that slowly eats away at the athletic ability of any guard that plays there.

  • T Money Posted: Dec.30 at 3:29 pm
    Can you imagine if T Mac had the health of Kobe?

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.30 at 3:54 pm
    Can you imagine if T Mac had the game of Kobe? Sick!

  • RV Posted: Dec.30 at 5:33 pm
    lol….i think its the mentality of Kobe that he needs….

  • Jose Posted: Dec.30 at 5:41 pm
    yea either take the V.C. Route or the Shaq route .(maybe do both)

  • Orlando Green Posted: Dec.30 at 5:52 pm
    In my opinion, McGrady’s skill level and talent level is slightly above Kobe’s, but yea, his mentality is not very good to say politely, he thinks shoot first, shoot second, shoot third, pass, and than take it to the cup.

  • Hursty Posted: Dec.30 at 6:43 pm
    Orlando, thats BS right there (the 2nd part). This makes me sad, but I hope it pays off long-term.

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.30 at 6:47 pm
    Orlando Green:FAIL!

  • rav Posted: Dec.30 at 7:03 pm
    will houston still be paying him $21m a year if he doesnt play back-to-backs?

  • RV Posted: Dec.30 at 7:51 pm
    Rav, unfortunately, yes…

  • Dwyane Posted: Dec.31 at 1:51 am
    remember 2001 2002 2003 2004 even 2005 and 2006 what D wade is in the league now T mac was then.

  • okkin Posted: Dec.31 at 3:18 pm
    *Sigh there goes t-macs careere =[

  • Tracy McGrady’s New Schedule | NBA Rumors Posted: Jan.2 at 11:08 am
    [...] Slam Online [...]

  • Swish Posted: Jan.4 at 8:48 pm
    I’d rather have a big – mac than a T – mac anyday ( Thats right, a quote from a raptors fan in a game last friday)

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