Sports Medicine Master System-Chapter 54: Romantic McGrady
Pleasance called a timeout, his brows furrowed.
To be honest, the Magic’s defense had been pretty good today. The Bulls were a team of young guns, but the Magic’s old veterans had somehow managed to keep up.
But while the Bulls’ shooting percentage wasn’t high, the Magic’s was even worse.
The problem was Tracy McGrady.
Pleasance glared at McGrady, suspecting he was trying to sabotage him.
After all, McGrady had played a part in getting Rivers fired.
Otherwise, why had he stopped driving to the basket? Why did he keep demanding the ball only to force up bad shots?
Mersel’s defense might be atrocious, but at 6’7", he had the height. And after getting burned by the Magic over the Summer, he always played with extra fire against them, defending for his life. ’At a time like this, shouldn’t he attack a little less and pass the ball more?’
"Tracy, come to the bench and collect yourself," Pleasance said, avoiding any harsh words.
’How did Rivers get fired? By failing to manage the relationship between the team’s two stars. A cautionary tale.’
McGrady sat down, his face devoid of expression. Hill came over from behind and offered a few words of encouragement.
He could also tell something was off with the kid today.
’I finally made it out to a game, and it’s against a team like the Bulls. You’re not actually going to let me watch you lose, are you?’
The moment McGrady was off the court, the Magic’s offense instantly became more fluid.
Armstrong, with a mix of drives and shots, scored five straight points, leading the team to catch up in an instant.
And then there was the defense.
Artest let out a heavy breath. The Magic’s defense today was surprisingly suffocating; they were sticking to him way too tight.
A 10-2 run before the end of the first quarter allowed the Magic to successfully retake the lead.
Pleasance sat back down, content.
’Now *this* is the right rhythm.’
But he wasn’t sitting for long. The moment McGrady came back in for the second quarter, the Magic’s offense collapsed once again.
They went a full four minutes without scoring a single point.
From the stands, boos even began to ring out, aimed at McGrady.
In the NBC studio, Hanna Strom couldn’t help but ask, "What is Tracy doing today? His touch is just awful."
So far, he was 2 for 11 from the field—a truly disastrous performance.
Kevin Johnson, however, noticed something. "It looks like his shooting form has changed. He’s raised his release point."
He was a professional, after all; he could spot even subtle changes.
"The question is, what is the Magic’s shooting coach doing? Even if you’re going to adjust a player’s shooting form, you shouldn’t do it mid-season."
With such a dense schedule, where’s the time to slowly adjust and get used to a new form? Muscle memory isn’t that easy to change, and the most direct impact is on shooting percentage.
to 47!
At the end of the half, the Magic were trailing once again.
Pleasance sighed and looked to the heavens. He was sure of it now. That kid McGrady was throwing the game to spite him.
’I could just cry,’ he thought. ’What did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this to me?’
’Did I train him too hard?’
’If you’re unhappy, just say so in private! Don’t pull these kinds of stunts during a game! Where’s your professional spirit?’
During halftime, Hill ran to the locker room.
Chen Yu didn’t follow. He took the opportunity to take a leak. After he came out and sat back down, he received a text message from Hardaway.
"Tell that idiot Tracy that I told him to shoot more, not to just chuck up bad shots. He’s trying to run before he can even walk. Tell him to go back to playing the old way, and that I’m watching him."
Chen Yu was stunned.
’Watching him?’
’Did something happen between these two that I don’t know about?’
After the halftime break, Chen Yu hesitated for a moment, then grabbed McGrady as he was about to go on the court and showed him Hardaway’s text.
"Go get ’em."
Chen Yu patted McGrady on the back.
Hardaway had mentioned his shooting, and Chen Yu had also noticed that McGrady’s shots seemed particularly off today.
At first, Chen Yu thought it might be due to an injury and used his Eye of All-Seeing to check.
But there were no issues at all. The pulled muscle in his shoulder had healed long ago.
Seeing the text, McGrady seemed fired up.
"Tell Penny I’ll play my best," McGrady said before hurrying onto the court.
It was a live broadcast, and the camera was focused on McGrady, so Chen Yu’s action was also caught on film.
Hanna asked, puzzled, "What’s Chen doing? It looks like he showed Tracy his phone."
Kevin Johnson was also curious. He thought for a moment and said, "Speaking of which, the Magic don’t have a team doctor. Why don’t they just hire Chen? He seems more professional."
The two didn’t have time to discuss it further; the game had already started.
Mersel was still fired up. After catching the ball, he used a hesitation move, planning to power past McGrady.
But this time, he miscalculated. He felt his hand go empty and knew something was wrong.
The ball had been poked away.
Armstrong, with his quick eyes and hands, scooped up the basketball. He looked up to see a figure already streaking down the court like an arrow shot from a bow.
The number 1 on his back was particularly striking.
He flung a long pass. McGrady caught it with his long arms, took one step past the free-throw line, and launched himself into the air. His body, stretched out like a glider, slammed the ball viciously into the hoop.
The arena fell silent for a moment, then erupted in a deafening roar of cheers.
"A spectacular dunk! Look how high he jumped!" the court-side commentator, Guoqias, exclaimed, slapping the table in excitement.
On the sidelines, Hill shot up from his seat as if on a spring, cheering loudly. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
He startled Chen Yu, who was sitting next to him.
’The guy scored a basket, what are you so excited about? Aren’t you afraid of jumping up too fast?’
’Still, that play was really cool.’
Chen Yu raised his hands and applauded, his gaze once again falling on McGrady’s lumbar spine.
His scoliosis wasn’t severe, but it was still an underdeveloped area, a hidden danger.
’If he keeps dunking like that, it’ll be a big problem if something goes wrong. It’s his spine, after all.’
Chen Yu knew that Pleasance had been training them especially hard recently.
’From my perspective, McGrady’s condition does require exercise to strengthen his back muscles for support, but it has to be done in moderation. Too much is as bad as not enough, and if a problem occurs, it will be a major one.’
’He’s only 21, after all. He has a long career ahead of him.’
’What’s that saying? "The young don’t appreciate their health, but the old cry tears of regret over illness." His body already has a hidden vulnerability, so he needs to be even more careful about maintaining it.’
That play seemed to activate McGrady, who instantly reverted to his most familiar style of play.
Not only did he pick up his sharpest weapon—the drive—but he also found his shooting touch.
In the third quarter, McGrady went 6 for 8, exploding for a full 14 points.
In that quarter, they not only retook the lead but also broke the Bulls’ spirit.
Floyd finally settled back into his seat. During halftime, he had genuinely considered benching Mersel, who had been playing the best.
In the fourth quarter, McGrady was still unstoppable, going 5 for 7 and adding another 11 points.
In the first half, McGrady had only scored a total of 6 points.
But in the second half, he exploded for a whopping 25 points.
to 85.
The Magic successfully won this battle of the bottom-feeders.
When the game ended, a swarm of reporters immediately crowded around McGrady, who had scored the game-high.
"It feels great. We’ve been training hard, everyone put in the effort, we played great defense, and we won the game, which is the most important thing."
At this point, McGrady noticed the camera in front of him. To the cameraman’s confusion, he suddenly leaned in, breathed on the lens to fog it up, and then drew a heart with his finger, along with two letters.
"A, H... Shouldn’t it be C, H?" Kevin Johnson asked, confused.
He seemed to recall media reports that McGrady’s current girlfriend was named Clarenda Harris.
The initials should be C.H.
"He probably just wrote it wrong by mistake," Hanna said with a fond, knowing smile. "I didn’t expect him to be so romantic."
Kevin Johnson nodded in agreement. He was probably trying to declare his love for his girlfriend.
’Just a little careless, though, to get the letters wrong.’
At the same time, Hardaway also saw the letters and the heart on the screen.
"Shit!"
Hardaway shuddered violently. He felt his entire world crumble, especially after hearing Hanna call McGrady "romantic."
"Romantic my ass!"
Hardaway’s wail of despair echoed through the villa.
