An open letter to Brendan Haywood

[monosylab1k]

Why should Brendan play against a lowly team like the T-pups? I'm glad he's getting rest.

The Mavs are lucky Johnny Flynn decided to play for Dallas tonight, and that Kurt Rambis is a moron. Al Jefferson should have taken every shot all night, he was killing everybody, and with Dirk/Najera in foul trouble there were literally times when Stevenson or Carroll had to guard him.

[Rogue]

Dear Brendan,

First off, let me say that it's been a delight to watch you play as a Maverick. You've been everything this team needs in the paint - tough, strong, and athletic. You can actually catch a basketball, which immediately makes you light years better than the vagina we've had playing center here the the past half-decade.

But there's something that concerns me. You haven't been on the court lately. The reports are of "lower back tightness" which I understand probably isn't too comfortable an affliction to have. However, I wonder if it means you need to be missing work. I'm pretty sure lower back tightness is something that many Americans deal with every day, and nobody calls in sick because of it.

I don't mean to belittle you, I just want to say this - skipping games because of "lower back tightness" might have flown in Washington, but this is Dallas. This is the Western Conference. You're playing with the big boys now. Time to put on those big boy pants.

Sack up.

Love,

monosylab1k

As much as how important Brendan is, he still doesn't have the privilege to bonk games as O Mother ing Neal did. At most Brendan is a blue collar on Mavericks squad that has to work off his injury until the medical staff makes a sound.

Instead I guess Brendan doesn't have any serious injury, or at least his injury isn't so severe to tug him off the games even if he has one. It's probably just an activation they wove up for Dampier who has been also sidelined with an injured middle finger of right hand. hopes for Dampier's return in next game.

[Rogue]

the starting lineup was fine, but then Dirk got into foul trouble, along with Najera and Marion, and suddenly the team's most viable options down low were seriously DeShawn Stevenson and Matt Carroll.

that's why it was quite a massive loss to lose Drew Gooden. you got a better guy at C but it cost another guy who had been playing this position fairly well. The only ascendant part is a healthy Butler in place of Smokey Howard who had been injury plagued and is already done for season, but it doesn't make it a shrewd deal by any means.

[angelbelow]

You obviously have never had lower back pain. Oh, and I cant wait to read the script of The White Lady and her 7 Androids.

Agreed. Playing on a bad lower back can lead to far more devastating things like a pinched nerve and chronic back problems. Not to mention back spasms.

[Halberto]

Happens all the time to me. It's rough but you can fight through it. Especially when your employer pays you millions of dollars to do so.

Yeah... no you haven't. You might have, but probably a slight case of it. Back pain = worst pain ever. It can turn the toughest guy into a little girl within seconds. I can only imagine what its like for the dude since he's so big.

It's definitely something you want a key player to rest on. Besides, havent the Mavs won 12 in a row? There are plenty of games left for chemistry building and theres no need to rush him back.

[Findog]

We don't need Haywood until Chicago on the 17th.

[monosylab1k]

I forget all these fat Spurs Fans post in this forum, so yeah they probably all do have terrible back problems.

I'm discussing trained athletes and people that are in shape. Your back pain that prevents you from getting to Pancho's for happy hour doesn't matter to me.

[jacobdrj]

Trained athletes, who are 7 ft tall, are no less susceptible to back problems. It has to do with the fact they are playing on feet designed for lighter weight while wearing shoes and doing things on hardwood that the foot/knee/back was never designed for.

And belittling Haywood for being in the East is a mute point when he was playing on the Whizz the whole time he was there... EC basketball on good squads is rough because of the constant defense... something the Whizz never indulged in.

[monosylab1k]

Randy Moss played 16 games in the NFL with a bad back this year, which is far more physical and rougher on the body than basketball.

Haywood is being a pussy. End of story.

[TJastal]

Why don't you go suck on Goran's neck mole? Get da outta heeeere.

[jacobdrj]

Randy Moss played 16 games in the NFL with a bad back this year, which is far more physical and rougher on the body than basketball.

Haywood is being a pussy. End of story.

Football is on grass. Basketball is on wood. The foot/knee/back system was designed to work on grass, not on hard flat surfaces. It is why football/baseball players don't like to play on artificial surfaces. And Randy Moss isn't 7ft 260... He is 6ft 4in and 210... Big difference.

[DAF86]

Neither does Becky Hammon.

I wouldn't be so sure. You put "San Ant" in google and the second or third option you get is "SpursTalk".

[monosylab1k]

Football is on grass. Basketball is on wood. The foot/knee/back system was designed to work on grass, not on hard flat surfaces. It is why football/baseball players don't like to play on artificial surfaces. And Randy Moss isn't 7ft 260... He is 6ft 4in and 210... Big difference.

So are you really trying to make the point that basketball players take more physical punishment than football players?

[monosylab1k]

Sorry, it's just ridiculous to try and make the point that jumping up and down on hardwood is more punishing to the human back than getting gang tackled by the Baltimore Ravens.

[mavsfan1000]

that's why it was quite a massive loss to lose Drew Gooden. you got a better guy at C but it cost another guy who had been playing this position fairly well. The only ascendant part is a healthy Butler in place of Smokey Howard who had been injury plagued and is already done for season, but it doesn't make it a shrewd deal by any means.

Najera>Gooden. Gooden's IQ is so low that he needs a big scoring game just to make up for his boneheaded plays on offense and defense. Haywood and Dampier coming back will give us 48 minutes of defense and rebounding. Looking forward to that.

[mavs>spurs2]

Najera>Gooden. Gooden's IQ is so low that he needs a big scoring game just to make up for his boneheaded plays on offense and defense. Haywood and Dampier coming back will give us 48 minutes of defense and rebounding. Looking forward to that.

didn't gooden put up something close to 20 and 20 a couple of times for us? I wouldn't go so far as to say "Najera>Gooden" because that's just a blatant lie. I really wish that rumor would have came true that the Wiz were going to cut Gooden and he might come back to us. We knew that the guy wasn't a great defender when we signed him, so you really can't fault the guy for his contributions while he was here. He fully filled expectations and had some big games for us, without which our record would be a few games worse and we wouldn't be in this position we're in, 2nd place and only 2.5 games back from LA.

[jacobdrj]

So are you really trying to make the point that basketball players take more physical punishment than football players?

No, you did that. I am saying that you shouldn't dismiss the 82+ game grind on oversized bodies doing things they were never intended to over the course of a career that lasts, on average 2 to 4 times longer than an NFL player.

[jacobdrj]

Sorry, it's just ridiculous to try and make the point that jumping up and down on hardwood is more punishing to the human back than getting gang tackled by the Baltimore Ravens.

Again, I never said that. I said there are injuries coming from other sources, not to mention the shear length of the season. You have a week to recover between games in the NFL. You don't even have a day sometimes in the NBA. How many times would players have to sit out in the NFL had they to play every other night?

[mavsfan1000]

didn't gooden put up something close to 20 and 20 a couple of times for us? I wouldn't go so far as to say "Najera>Gooden" because that's just a blatant lie. I really wish that rumor would have came true that the Wiz were going to cut Gooden and he might come back to us. We knew that the guy wasn't a great defender when we signed him, so you really can't fault the guy for his contributions while he was here. He fully filled expectations and had some big games for us, without which our record would be a few games worse and we wouldn't be in this position we're in, 2nd place and only 2.5 games back from LA.

Though Gooden is bigger than Najera, Najera plays bigger (more physical) than Gooden. He can also space the floor for Dallas in that small ball lineup causing teams all sort of problems. When Najera first came here in the Humphries deal, I wasn't impressed at all. He has gotten much better since and is really working on his game. He is smart enough to be effective in a zone defense. I doubt Gooden could be effective in a zone defense. We need Haywood and Dampier back but Najera has held down the fort until then.

[monosylab1k]

Again, I never said that. I said there are injuries coming from other sources, not to mention the shear length of the season. You have a week to recover between games in the NFL. You don't even have a day sometimes in the NBA. How many times would players have to sit out in the NFL had they to play every other night?

There's a reason games are only played once a week in the NFL. Because it's far and away more physically punishing than any other sport.

There's a reason basketball games are played several times a week. Because it's not physically punshing at all.

[jacobdrj]

There's a reason games are only played once a week in the NFL. Because it's far and away more physically punishing than any other sport.

Again, not arguing that the NFL isn't more punishing. But you can't dismiss the lack of recovery time in the NBA, the longer season, the larger bodies (that make more contact than is given credit for) on a hard surface causes injuries. Football players do have an advantage in recovery time, length of season, length of play time (most NFL games have around 20 minutes of actual on the field play) and play (often) on grass. They get their injuries from full contact, but the NBA players who go though the grind who don't get a chance to recover become susceptible to long term degenerative conditions like back injuries. Just because Randy Moss can play 10 minutes a week on a sore back doesn't belittle Haywood playing 120 minutes a week for 6 months with minimal recovery time.

Marathon vs Sprint. Apples to Oranges. Injuries are different, but are no less injuries.

On a similar note, football players, due to the nature of the game, can play with injuries a basketball player can't. A D-Lineman can play with a cast on his hand. Even the most offensively challenged NBA super-defenseman would be absolutely worthless if his hand was in a full cast.

[monosylab1k]

take a look at an NFL player's body at the end of a season and then have the nerve to tell them that their season isn't a "marathon". Tell them they live in a cupcake world where they have an entire week to recover which means basketball players are tougher than them

[monosylab1k]

Basketball players are in the middle of the spectrum. They aren't completely pussies like baseball players, but they're nowhere near as tough or as physically challenged as football players. that's the bottom line.

"lower back tightness" is no excuse to sit out for......well half a week now. I guess he should go play in the NFL with that kind of cupcake recover time.

[JamStone]

Don't know about the Randy Moss example, mono. He is a wide receiver. You're not talking about a lineman or running back or linebacker. Wide receivers can often avoid contact, can alligator arm passes where they might get hit, run out of bounds before getting hit, and what not. Now, perhaps Randy Moss is still a badass and puts his head down and takes hits, maybe he still went up the middle for passes, maybe he still blocked for running plays like a pulling guard. I don't know. But, a wide receiver isn't the best example of a football player being tough playing through back problems. If it were a running back who takes 25 carries a game and is an in between the tackles, north-south runner, it would have more merit as an example.

So you take one of the softer football positions and compare it to the center position in basketball, where they are constantly banging down low, forearms in their lower back all the time, getting pushed in the back, constantly jumping up and down shocking the back.

In general, football player are tougher than basketball players. But, there are varying degrees. And football wideout versus basketball center kind of skews the comparison.

[Phillip]

So you take one of the softer football positions and compare it to the center position in basketball, where they are constantly banging down low, forearms in their lower back all the time, getting pushed in the back, constantly jumping up and down shocking the back.

In general, football player are tougher than basketball players. But, there are varying degrees. And football wideout versus basketball center kind of skews the comparison.

That is no joke. A well placed push to the lower back when coming down from a jump can really your entire back up, and it doesnt even have to be a hard push. Just enough to mess with your balancing, and the landing suddenly feels 10 times heavier.

And the example Mono gave of Moss getting gang tackled by the Ravens makes no sense, because stuff like that RARELY happens with receivers. Usually it is a one-on-one with a CB or safety. Also, consider that football players have padding up the ass to absorb the blows, as well as a week to recover, where-as in basketball you have to play every other day at least. Not to mention that in basketball, if you play 36 minutes, the majority of that time you are going to be running, jumping, setting picks, rebounding, etc... there is very little down time that you can just sit and do nothing. On the other hand, in football, if an offense is on the field for 30-35 minutes, they probably only actulaly spend about 5-10 minutes of that time actually doing heavy physical activity (possibly less depending on their tempo and style of play), because your average play only lasts like 3-6 seconds, then you have 30-40 seconds of time to chill as the team calls plays and uses clock. You can get away with playing with a jacked back if you just have small, controlled spurts in which you are playing with pain (football), as opposed to 5-10 minutes of straight playing time, in which the muscles get tired from constant use, and become even more susceptible to injury (basketball).

While football is more brutally taxing, basketball is without question a much tougher long-term grind than football, which is why it makes sense to let someone like Haywood rest up over smaller injuries, especially when the playoffs are almost here, and you are already shorthanded on big men as is (a quality big man at that, which is a rare commodity these days). Basketball and football injuries are and have to be approached in a MUCH different manner.