Steve Francis's plantar fascitis which has given him some trouble for a while now, and has hampered his game most recently, may in fact sideline him for several games. His MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) was done today to rule out any tears and give a clearer diagnostic outlook. No confirmed results to the media as yet but I have it on good authority he will be sit down for a couple of games, regardless. In addition to that sweet news () , in an interview today after team practice RT admitted placing him on IR (meaning he will miss five games minimum) has not been ruled out. Cuttino is also hurting in BOTH ankles and Keith has been advising Cuttino Mobley also sit out some upcoming games. Cuttino has said he will "definitely" play, reagrdless of the pain, if Steve has to sit. A team meeting was held after practice today that was closed to "anyone not on the floor on game day". That basically means no release of info. Several players went with "no comment" and a couple ... Kevin Willis and Glen Rice ... looked unsmiling and were unresponsive after the meeting. Mobley had a brief comment for local media and merely stated the obvious ..." nothing special ..... gave everyone a chance to get some things said .... gave everyone a chance to say some things ..." etc ...
Maybe, but maybe not. Remember when Hakeem went out and he watched the team go on a 16 game winning streak? That taught him that his teamates could play too, maybe lightning will strike twice. Here's to hoping it does. DaDakota
No way this is true. It is against the CBA rules to put Francis on IR without activating someone else. just kidding. So, Tierre Brown can't come off for a few more games, right? That means Collier must be activated. Nothing worse than Francis getting injured. Personally, I'm not going to make too much of the "team meeting." The team is in a funk with no offensive identity (to be nice). Seems like we won some games early on no offense from the SFs, then Francis went into try-too-hard mode not trusting others as much as they deserve. Now we have to get some trust going, because we cannot grow as a team with Francis not using the weakside better....which means allowing them time to run some plays as well. Let's see...Francis isn't really set to run a play until 14 seconds on the clock sometimes. We could make things easier merely helping Francis get the ball up court faster. Are we the slowest team at getting set in the NBA or what? *this sucks* because we can't accomplish any growth without Francis out there.
In the chat I was wishing we had Othella Harrington because he would help us score up front. He would come in handy now. Rice needs to get it into gear NOW! And Willis has to step it up. We need some offense badly!
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That comment makes Mobley sound so much like a warrior. Sucking up the pain in an attempt to keep the team afloat. Cat played some PG minutes vs. Seattle when Francis was out. This is very worrisome. Francis should take the time off now. No need for it to come back for the next 2 years. OP- About the meeting... Was it players only? Do you know, or suspect, which player(s) called it?
It's better to have this happen early in the season, than late. Having both Francis & Mobley sit out a few games might be the right thing to do. Let them heal up completely, so that when they come back, they're back to stay. Maybe, this'll force the team to include Rice in the game plan more often. It seems to me that they'd go to Rice a few times & then forget about him. Just let him shoot his way out of the funk he's been in. Even if we lose 5-6 games in a row, it's still early & there's a lot of games left to play.
Yes, Damon Jones is with Detroit. Activated off the IR November 11, and has played in a few games already. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/damon_jones/game_by_game_stats.html
I think we're gonna have to pick a player up for a while. is Khalid El-Amin playing with anyone? What about Rusty LaRue(?)?
LaRue would be EXACTLY what this team needs!! He will have to change his Boy Scout troop's meeting night on a weekly basis but that is a small sacrifice he will gladly make.. HE IS THE MAN.
Screw Keith Jones. We are undoubtedly the achingest team in the league. Maybe if he was as good at training as he was at: cheerleading jock-sniffing buying fashion glasses player-liasoning or anything else he does we wouldn't be so banged up. I know I personally was thinking this same thing a season or two over the last couple. Does all of this really have NOTHING to do with stretching before games/practice? WARMING UP? I know docs and fellow jock-sniffers are going to come in here and tell me I'm wrong but it sure feels right... AT
Glen Rice and Kevin Willis.... Ok, I see what Rice can do better, even though I don't blame him for his problems, but Willis? What the hell can the guy do, short of having his arms surgicaly stretched so he can block shots, having fetal stems cells implanted from Chris Mullin so he can learn to shoot, or somehow managing to develop a sence of touch?
Please, Automaton, without Kevin Willis this team would not have as good a record; he has made a huge difference. With Francis and Mobley out, we will get a good look at some of the new players. One player I do not want to see is M.Norris aka the little dribbler. I get so upset watching him, I have the urge to run out on the court and steal the ball from him. This would not change the usual outcome when he has the ball anyway. I want to see more of Griffin and Torres. I have really not enjoyed watching the rockets so far this year. With the exception of the fluke in Dallas and decent games against S.A. and L.A., they are typically "painful" to watch. Generally they shot miserably, miss too many f.T.'s, dribble too much, pass to little, etc. The flashes of brillance make it even worse. So much potential, so little basic basketball.
