Since coming back from micro-fracture knee surgery earlier this month Houston Rocket coach Rick Adelman has limited F Tracy McGrady’s playing time to about 8 minutes a game. This has the former All-Star dissatisfied with his role on the team and asked Adelman for clarity. Instead of more playing time he was told to pack his bags and go home. McGrady has missed the last two games on the road against New Jersey (98-93 win) & Cleveland (108-83 loss).
“I’m a player, man,” McGrady, 30, said. “I don’t make these decisions. I just abide by whatever they bring to me. That’s the plan. I’m not going to argue and fight with them — just run with it. I felt it was time (to increase the routine of playing seven to eight first-half minutes).
“I’m not going to cause any confusion or confrontations. As a player, that’s what I felt. They obviously feel different. That’s what I have to roll with.”
Adelman does expect McGrady to make a contribution to the team. “A player of his caliber, he’s smart; he’s got skills other people don’t have,” Adelman said. “They’re in him. All the things he did before that came easy, suddenly, they’re harder.
“When you try to incorporate that into your game as a team, that’s the thing I’m struggling with. I’m trying to figure it out. As talented as he is and as smart as he is, once he gets going, he’s going to find a way. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”
McGrady is in the last year of his contract with the Rockets. He is the highest paid player in the NBA earning $23 million a year. McGrady will be a free agent in the summer of 2010 and would like to re-sign with the Rockets or his former team the Orlando Magic, “My first option is definitely Houston over any team. Houston is where I want to be. My wife and kids love it there. It’s home for us. But you can’t ever rule out coming back.”
