duncan228
01-17-2010, 12:26 AM
Resting stars in NBA not an easy call (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Limiting_wear_and_tear_A_dice_roll.html)
Mike Monroe
In Boston, Doc Rivers has circled next Friday's game against the visiting Trail Blazers for Kevin Garnett's potential return to action.
Garnett hasn't played since experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired right knee in late December. Aware the Celtics are 4-4 without him, he makes no secret he doesn't like Rivers' conservative approach to getting him back on the floor.
In Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, 24 hours after Tim Duncan scored 25 in the Spurs' victory over the Lakers, Gregg Popovich had him sit out what would become the team's grittiest victory of the season.
The Spurs' captain, Popovich announced, will sit out “more games than ever before” so he can be healthier and fresher once the playoffs arrive.
Duncan's personality being the polar opposite of Garnett's, he has uttered nary a word of complaint.
Both Duncan and Garnett are 33, with lots of mileage. Garnett has played 1,157 games, regular season and playoffs. Duncan has played 1,081. Big men endure lots of banging under the boards and carry more weight up and down the court. There is ample reason to ease the load as these two future Hall of Famers approach their mid-30s.
Celtics fans should stand behind Rivers' decision to err on the far side of caution. Garnett's injury last season required surgery, to the same right knee, and kept him out of the playoffs. The Celtics never had a shot at defending their 2008 NBA title.
Spurs fans will have to trust Popovich's instincts to sit a fully healthy Duncan and hope DeJuan Blair continues to excel in the captain's absence, as he did on Wednesday in Oklahoma City, when he had the best game by a Spurs big man this season.
Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant has played 19 games for the Lakers with a broken bone in the index finger on his right hand. He also is battling back spasms, bad enough to force him out late in the third quarter of Tuesday's game against the Spurs, though he was back on the court the next night in Dallas, where he hit the game winner against the Mavericks.
Yet, there is not even a hint from Phil Jackson that Bryant, who is 31 and has played 1,147 games, may get a game off, here and there, to rest and recover.
“He's kind of like an iron man,” Jackson said before Bryant took the court against the Spurs last week. “He doesn't want to miss games. He plays not to miss ballgames. So we don't really worry about it. We worry about other guys on our team who don't seem able to stand up to it, but he can stand up to almost anything.”
Jackson's experience with the Bulls, and another iron man named Michael Jordan, may be behind his approach to Bryant's ailments.
Jordan famously played through a bout of food poisoning in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Jazz. He managed to tally 38 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as the Bulls took a 3-2 lead in a series they would eventually win on their home court.
Bryant's finger is misshapen and swollen, and he admits the soreness never wanes. But he scoffs at any suggestion he might be well served to miss a game now and then.
It's a roll of the dice, but, for now, Bryant and Jackson keep making their point.
Mike Monroe
In Boston, Doc Rivers has circled next Friday's game against the visiting Trail Blazers for Kevin Garnett's potential return to action.
Garnett hasn't played since experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired right knee in late December. Aware the Celtics are 4-4 without him, he makes no secret he doesn't like Rivers' conservative approach to getting him back on the floor.
In Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, 24 hours after Tim Duncan scored 25 in the Spurs' victory over the Lakers, Gregg Popovich had him sit out what would become the team's grittiest victory of the season.
The Spurs' captain, Popovich announced, will sit out “more games than ever before” so he can be healthier and fresher once the playoffs arrive.
Duncan's personality being the polar opposite of Garnett's, he has uttered nary a word of complaint.
Both Duncan and Garnett are 33, with lots of mileage. Garnett has played 1,157 games, regular season and playoffs. Duncan has played 1,081. Big men endure lots of banging under the boards and carry more weight up and down the court. There is ample reason to ease the load as these two future Hall of Famers approach their mid-30s.
Celtics fans should stand behind Rivers' decision to err on the far side of caution. Garnett's injury last season required surgery, to the same right knee, and kept him out of the playoffs. The Celtics never had a shot at defending their 2008 NBA title.
Spurs fans will have to trust Popovich's instincts to sit a fully healthy Duncan and hope DeJuan Blair continues to excel in the captain's absence, as he did on Wednesday in Oklahoma City, when he had the best game by a Spurs big man this season.
Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant has played 19 games for the Lakers with a broken bone in the index finger on his right hand. He also is battling back spasms, bad enough to force him out late in the third quarter of Tuesday's game against the Spurs, though he was back on the court the next night in Dallas, where he hit the game winner against the Mavericks.
Yet, there is not even a hint from Phil Jackson that Bryant, who is 31 and has played 1,147 games, may get a game off, here and there, to rest and recover.
“He's kind of like an iron man,” Jackson said before Bryant took the court against the Spurs last week. “He doesn't want to miss games. He plays not to miss ballgames. So we don't really worry about it. We worry about other guys on our team who don't seem able to stand up to it, but he can stand up to almost anything.”
Jackson's experience with the Bulls, and another iron man named Michael Jordan, may be behind his approach to Bryant's ailments.
Jordan famously played through a bout of food poisoning in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Jazz. He managed to tally 38 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as the Bulls took a 3-2 lead in a series they would eventually win on their home court.
Bryant's finger is misshapen and swollen, and he admits the soreness never wanes. But he scoffs at any suggestion he might be well served to miss a game now and then.
It's a roll of the dice, but, for now, Bryant and Jackson keep making their point.