Tracy McGrady goes from city to city, shooting before each game, and then showering and putting on a suit to watch from the bench. He looks good in those drills, though he always did, even when struggling last season. He also insists that he believes he is ready to return to the court for the game, too, but remains inactive, inspiring all sorts of conjecture about why the Rockets so often talk about being without McGrady (and Yao Ming) and then keep McGrady locked to the bench. The Rockets, however, don't know what is so unclear.
Rick Adelman has said many times that he will play McGrady when he sees enough in practice to believe McGrady can make the team better.
He insists the decision is about nothing else. It does involve other considerations, from chemistry to the changes in the rotation. But Adelman said he is only weighing how the Rockets will play with McGrady and McGrady's ability to stay on the floor once he gets there.
"We have to keep talking about it and evaluating it," Adelman said. "It's more than just throwing him out there. It's how is it going to affect our team, how is he going to help us, how many minutes can he play. All those things, I feel in my mind, I have to be certain about.
"Last year, we were able to work him in, even if he struggled some, because we had Yao (Ming), we had Ron (Artest); we were pretty good," Adelman said. "This year, how much affect will he have on us? That's what I'm trying to judge now. He's coming along, but you want him to be able to go out and do well and us do well, so it's a win, win situation.
"Tracy wants to play, but we want to be very cautious about it. We tried that last year, when he was in and out of the lineup. We want to be sure when he is there, he doesn't have any setbacks. When the time is right and we feel he is going to be a positive addition, we'll make that decision."
For now, nothing has changed. McGrady sits and waits while the Rockets wait to see more than impressive pregame shooting.
ROCKETS 111, WARRIORS 109: The Warriors were pulling away, leading by 10 while the Rockets broke down, running too much one-on-one offense and turning the ball over far too often. With 6-1/2 minutes left, however, the Rockets turned that all around. They clamped down defensively, as the Warriors missed their next nine shots in a 12-0 Rockets run. They ran their offense to pick-and-roll lay-ups, with Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks each scoring six points down the stretch. And they finished off the win when Brooks put in two free throws with 2.1 seconds left, and forced Monta Ellis into his ninth turnover with the Warriors' last chance.
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