Mac Ain't Back

Tracy McGrady made a showing in both Tuesday and Wednesday's games. He looked like he was walking through molasses compared to the rest of the team. This is nothing new for T-Mac. For his entire career he played in a half-court offense where he was the offensive focal point, jogging down the court, then moving around only sufficiently to get open enough to get the ball. He then drove around a pic and either took a jump shot or made a slashing move to the basket. In recent years with the Rockets, he even added passing off to the open man when he was double-teamed, earning a respectable number of assists. Unfortunately for this Rockets team, that's not enough.

This year's Rockets run. They don't know how to jog. They are committed to an up-tempo, unselfish, ball-movement game. They are exciting to watch and even win games. And even without a star player in the bunch, they sell basketball tickets. If Tracy wants to get on the bandwagon, he's going to have to do more than just speed up. He's going to have to change his style. Whether he can do it or not is a huge question, with major implications.

When Rick Adelman let McGrady suit up, the Rockets began to pay his salary. The insurance policy only paid when he was too injured to play. The seven minutes per game he's playing now is costing Les Alexander a fortune. And they can't really trade the guy. They would have to take on another contract almost as big for a player that some other team is trying to get rid of. So the clock is ticking. Can he help the team this year? If not, the Rocket's won't re-sign him and no other team will offer even close to his current maximum contract. If so, he can write his own ticket next year. He has every reason to give it his best to fit in.

It's all up to you now, big guy.