McDonald: Gooden Debut Won't Be Tonight

[duncan228]

Sorry timvp. :lol

I thought this might get lost in one of the other Gooden threads and lots of folks are asking. :)

Gooden debut won't be tonight (http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/2009/03/gooden-debut-wo.html)
By Jeff McDonald

Newly acquired forward Drew Gooden went through his inuagural shootaround with the Spurs this morning, and will be in the AT&T Center for tonight's game against the Wizards.

Just don't expect him to actually get on the floor just yet.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says he plans to give Gooden plenty of time to get accustomed to his new environs before throwing him into a game.

"I think after maybe a week or so," Popovich said, when asked when Gooden might make his silver and black debut. "It will take time for him to get acclimated, get in good shape, to understand what's going on."

Gooden's health is also an issue, although the Spurs believe it to be a minor one. Limited by lingering injuries to his groin and abdominal muscle, Gooden has appeared in only 32 games this season. He has played in just one game since Jan. 19, and left that one -- Feb. 25 with the Kings against Charlotte -- after tweaking his groin.

"He still needs a little more time with it," Popovich said. "He's doing real well with that. He's on the (stationary) bikes. He'll be scripting things and doing things with us pretty quickly. We certainly don't want to rush it."

Once healthy and in the lineup, the 6-foot-10 Gooden should provide the Spurs with depth and rebounding on the front line. He is likely to see time backing up both Tim Duncan and Matt Bonner. Gooden's season averages of 13.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game would rank fourth and second on the Spurs this year.

"He's somebody we've watched for a long time," Popovich said. "We had to worry about him in the playoffs (in 2007). Everybody knows what he can do."

[ManuTP9]

cant wait to see gooden

[usckk]

haha. Gooden Thread!

[Brutalis]

I could have called this. In other news, water is wet. Oh and dirt is dirty.

[iilluzioN]

this is great news!

IN POP WE TRUST!

[robino2001]

Boooo - I was hoping to give him a standing o/welcome to SA tonight but I expected it wouldn't be happening.

[completely deck]

*sums up spurs.com shootaround video*
*submits to newspaper*
*makes money*

the life of McDonald

[sa_butta]

I could have called this. In other news, water is wet. Oh and dirt is dirty.
In addition 2+2 still equals 4.

[arial]

As expected give him a few weeks to heel up and get settled into the Spurs system and the team. Although Mike Brown essentially ran the same defense nonetheless this is a different team. No need to rush his debut lets get him healthy and comfortable first.

[angelbelow]

damn i wanted him to play tonight. didnt have to be significant or anything =0

[G-Nob]

Get used to him not playing very often.

[smrattler]

Pops didn't need a week or so, they threw him out there same day.

Thus proving the popular theory...

Germans love David Hasselhoff

and

Pops >>>>>> Gooden

[MoSpur]

I want to see him against the Lakers to see if we get a glimpse if he could help against someone like the Lakers.

[Solid D]

Hopefully, we will be seeing Gooden plenty.

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/candywarehouse_2041_197570788

[Agloco]

Heh, and everyone was getting wet between the legs over this....:lol:lol

[crc21209]

Well damn it! I wanted to seem him tonight, I mean come on, after tonight they play Phx on Sunday, Charlotte Tuesday, LA Lakers next Thursday, and Houston next Saturday. I would've thought tonight or Tuesday will be perfect for him to debut, because it would have come against lesser teams to let him get loose out there.

[EJK5032]

Well damn it! I wanted to seem him tonight, I mean come on, after tonight they play Phx on Sunday, Charlotte Tuesday, LA Lakers next Thursday, and Houston next Saturday. I would've thought tonight or Tuesday will be perfect for him to debut, because it would have come against lesser teams to let him get loose out there.

I would wait until after the Laker game next week to play Gooden.

Don't show your cards unless you have to.

[gospursgojas]

This means he'll most def play tonight

[baseline bum]

"I think after maybe a week or so," Popovich said, when asked when Gooden might make his silver and black debut. "It will take time for him to get acclimated, get in good shape, to understand what's going on."

Sweet; that's Popovich-speak for He will start tonight! ;)

[DespЏrado]

Sweet; that's Popovich-speak for He will start tonight! ;)

This, what you guys haven't figured out that Pop doesn't feel like he should discuss player rotation with the media? He's playing tonight for at least a good six to ten minutes in one quarter.

[alexinstereo]

damn

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Lame-O

[peskypesky]

C.I.A. Pop

You know Gooden is going to start tonight.

[bbarry]

I thought I heard Gooden was gonna be out until around April due to his injury? I guess not.

[Spurs Brazil]

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090307/capt.9c69e584606548b7b361d2eb2f72099d.spursgooden_ basketball_txeg107.jpg

[usckk]

Nice. Cool to see him in a Spurs uniform.

[BlackSwordsMan]

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090307/capt.9c69e584606548b7b361d2eb2f72099d.spursgooden_ basketball_txeg107.jpg

he's that good they un-retired robinson's 50 and gave it to him? :wow

[VI_Massive]

that's a 90

[exstatic]

he's that good they un-retired robinson's 50 and gave it to him? :wow

Uh, his number is 90, and always has been.

[completely deck]

This means he'll most def play tonight


Sweet; that's Popovich-speak for He will start tonight! ;)


This, what you guys haven't figured out that Pop doesn't feel like he should discuss player rotation with the media? He's playing tonight for at least a good six to ten minutes in one quarter.


C.I.A. Pop

You know Gooden is going to start tonight.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1190/failg.jpg

[MI21]

Uh, his number is 90, and always has been.

He wore 0 for a very long time. From memory with Memphis and probably Orlando as well.

[timvp]

Hopefully, we will be seeing Gooden plenty.

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/candywarehouse_2041_197570788:lol


http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090307/capt.9c69e584606548b7b361d2eb2f72099d.spursgooden_ basketball_txeg107.jpgIf he wears a headband, the chances of Pop doghousing him by the end of his stint in San Antonio will double.

[Spurs Brazil]

If he wears a headband, the chances of Pop doghousing him by the end of his stint in San Antonio will double.

Maybe he should do like Jax. Wear the headband only on the road

[GSH]

Gooden's health is also an issue, although the Spurs believe it to be a minor one. Limited by lingering injuries to his groin and abdominal muscle, Gooden has appeared in only 32 games this season. He has played in just one game since Jan. 19, and left that one -- Feb. 25 with the Kings against Charlotte -- after tweaking his groin.

"He still needs a little more time with it," Popovich said. "He's doing real well with that. He's on the (stationary) bikes. He'll be scripting things and doing things with us pretty quickly. We certainly don't want to rush it."



Maybe everybody here knows this... maybe somebody even posted it. But I somehow missed it. I haven't been all that concerned about Gooden's health, because everything I read (like the article quoted) talked about him "tweaking his groin". That doesn't sound too bad. Then I read some comments from Del Negro, that sounded like they kept him on the bench as a precautionary measure, to keep a minor injury from getting worse. I even read an interview with Gooden, where he said that he was worried that the doctors had mis-diagnosed a sports hernia as an abdominal strain - but the tests came back negative. None of that sounded bad enough to be concerned about.

I just ran across a short article from 1/25... just a few weeks before we signed him. This doesn't sound like any damned "tweak":

Gooden, who will not play Sunday against Minnesota, played through pain in games against Cleveland, San Antonio and New York and "took steps backward" because of it. "[The games played were] probably the most pain I've played with in my career," Gooden said. "It's something I tried to see if I could do and see if the pain would go away but it persisted. It's frustrating for me. I know it's frustrating for the fans and my team."

I also knew that he had missed the end of the season last year, due to this "abdominal strain". I thought it happened about this time of year, and he basically missed April, since the Bulls were out of the playoff picture anyway. I dug up an article that said he injured himself on Feb. 5 of last year, and his season was basically done at that point. He played some games after that, but almost every article mentioned that he was "still hampered by a groin injury".

After looking at all the articles together, I'm not sure this thing ever completely went away, after the initial injury on Feb. 5, 2008. He had some good games, even though it sounds like it may have been nagging him the whole time. And then, a full year after it started, he was playing with the worst pain in his career? I get the feeling that, no matter how well he is playing, he's just one strong rebound or slam dunk away from surgery.

[Ice009]

Great. Well I hope Gooden is OK enough to be playing right now. The Spurs wouldn't risk him out there if he wasn't would they? So what exactly was the original injury? And Abdominal Strain or a Groin Strain?

[GSH]

Great. Well I hope Gooden is OK enough to be playing right now. The Spurs wouldn't risk him out there if he wasn't would they? So what exactly was the original injury? And Abdominal Strain or a Groin Strain?

They use the two terms interchangeably. It's one injury, so I guess that means a lower abdominal strain.

You can see, he had some really good games after the injury, but also some bad ones. It sounds like he would be a beast one night, but the next his groin would bother him and he would have a hard time. Then, just like that, the season was over. There was no apparent injury point in that last game.

2/5/08 - injures groin/abdomen
2/11/08 - returns to action with 10 PTS and 3 RBS
2/20/08 - Gooden looks to have found his shooting touch going 7-of-11, however the rebounding side of his game is still bothered by groin he injured several weeks ago. (17 PTS, 4 RBS)
2/21/08 - traded to Chicago
2/28/08 - Gooden posted a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds - eight offensive - in 25 minutes off the bench
3/2/08 - Gooden's first start since being acquired by the Bulls. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes.
3/3/08 - Logs 21 PTS, 14 RBS, and 3 blocks
3/3/08 - made permanent starter for the bulls.
3/7/08 - 3 PTS, 4 RBS
3/25/08 - 31 PTS, 16 RBS
3/28/08 - 9 PTS, 6 RBS. Plays last game of the season. Out with "abdominal strain".

[TampaDude]

Gooden looked pretty good last night against the Rockets...he'll be fine...

[Thomas82]

Gooden looked pretty good last night against the Rockets...he'll be fine...

He didn't seem to be hurting too bad if he got 13 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes.