You remember Tracy McGrady, right? He was pretty awesome for quite a while, but has recently been written off as an afterthought.
T-Mac faces a long road back, and it’s not likely he’ll ever be as good as he once was, but the first step in recovering is actually being out on the court. So, yeah. He’s out there. Playing basketball and stuff.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports:
The court was dropped down in the middle of the McAllen Convention Center, a make-shift training camp venue far removed in so many ways from the arenas and tests of the NBA to come. It was, however, a start.
Perhaps the setting was fitting, a reminder of how far Tracy McGrady still must go. But for the first time since microfracture surgery last spring, McGrady practiced with the Rockets on Sunday. He went through a few stints of the scrimmage, moving well and without pain in a small, but significant step in his comeback bid.
His first participation in training camp did not alter his schedule. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said it was “part of the process.” The Rockets still expect McGrady to be out at least until an MRI scheduled for Nov. 23. Still, he played and all reports were that he played well.
Without Yao Ming this season, Houston isn’t expected to accomplish much. And it’s not realistic to expect T-Mac to be a one-man wrecking crew. But under coach Rick Adelman the Rockets play great total team basketball, so always expect them to do a bit better than predicted.
