--Tracy McGrady doesn't know when he will be "100 percent." It won't be any time soon. But he said he does "feel pretty good" in his comeback from off-season knee surgery, which is much better than he felt through most of the preseason, and that should be enough.
"I felt pretty good," McGrady said. "To start the season, I'm not going to be 100 percent. But whatever percentage I am, I feel I am going to be effective and help my team win some games. I needed (the day off). It was a great day to take off before we come in to really get ready for Wednesday." "I'm ready to go. Whether I'm 100 percent or not, I still feel I can go out there and contribute and be effective for my team. Who knows when I will be 100 percent? I talked to the doctor on Sunday and he said the type of surgery I had (May 6), it's six to nine months (to be 100 percent). I'm just on my fifth month. I don't know. I'm ready to play now."
He will get a good test to start the season. After playing in just two preseason games, and only the first quarter in the first of those, he starts the season with a back-to-back.
--The Rockets had said all along that they would be a work in progress. They were not at all surprised by their offensive struggles, making just 36.8 percent of their shots, in the season-opening win against the Memphis Grizzlies. Rather, it was a reminder of what they already knew.
"We got a lot of work to do," Luis Scola said. "We know this offense needs more work. It's going to take time. Hopefully we'll be in the place we want to be in April and May.
"It was kind of like an ugly game, but we won and a win is a win. We've got to get a lot better. I feel like we've got a lot of work to do. We are not there yet, but that's a good thing because we're not supposed to be there, now. We've got to keep working."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The good thing is I don't think we can play worse offensively." -- Rick Adelman.
