i just don't know why a pro b-balll player would take that kind of risk for a pick up game. i know that thay are trying to get in shape, but when i team is paying you that much cash i think you need 2 to be more careful than that. now he will sit all year and we still gota pay him.
Why take the risk of playing basketball, and working out? Uhh, my guess is that he wanted to improve his game for next season. but when i team is paying you that much cash i think you need 2 to be more careful than that. Are you Kelvin Cato?
The result though are players getting bashed for "being lazy", and not working on their game. In fact I'm sure statistics would show that players are more likely to get injured during games then during the offseason. It's a lose-lose situation for players. They're criticized if they don't work on their game during the summer, but they're also criticized if they get injured during the workouts.
Have you never heard how Moses Malone would mentor Hakeem in the summer pick up games? Magic used to get all his wingmen out in the summer to practice their fastbreak. Do you think they learned that lifting weights? How do you think Mobley has improved tremendously every year? Does he learn that in Rockets fall camp? Why do you think Michael Jordan has his own basketball court at his house, to play H.O.R.S.E. with Larry Bird? Have you noticed that Almu keeps reminding us that Camby is in a summer workout camp, so why isn't Cato?
say what you want but there are other ways 2 get in shape and we still have a camp comming up. and now we have no 5 or 4 we will suck real bad now. i say top 5 lotto
The Rockets haven't had a Top 5 lottery pick since, believe, Hakeem was drafted. Now why would you think this team would suddenly become a Top 5 lottery team!?
You really think this is about getting in shape?? This is about improving your basketball skills. You cannot do that without playing basketball. The majority of these guys play nearly every day of the year. There is a high bar for improving yourself. Jogging and lifting weights is not going to cut it. Did you see it helping Cato at all last summer?
How in the world do you think these guys get to this level in the first place. Oh, there I go assuming a thought process was used...
First of all, nba players improve their games by playing in such summer pickup games as mo taylor, have you read how jordan is trying to get back into shape?? This was a FREAK injury and while it sucks, mo will be back around a yr from now even more determined to improve his game. As for this season WE WILL NOT BE A TOP 5 LOTTO TEAM, one player doesnt make or break this season and im sure rt and cd will go out and get a replacement at least for this yr and with rice,mobes and stevie here along with griff helping out we can make due, ill go out on a limb right now, STEVE will become the leader this yr and guide us into the playoffs Overall, this attitude makes me SICK, if youre a true fan you dont jump ship after one injury, im not saying you must be an eternal optimist, its just have a little more faith in the team and organization, they are one of the best in the NBA, today.
If anything Mo was working on his game to try and live up to that new contract he just signed. I can't fault the man for trying to get better, it was just one of those fluke things.
Whether Mo was right or wrong to risk injury in a pickup game is neither here nor there. The one slant NONE of us should take, however, is that "he must live up to his contract" blah, blah, blah. The fact of the matter is that his contract is irrelevant - no matter how large it is! Teams SHOULD and DO give contracts based on past performace, age, and the potential improvement they forsee the player making. The player has no obligation to that contract whatsoever - Their only obligation to the team is to try as hard as they can. In fact, I really wish clutch would remove that line on the home page. It is NOT good reporting I'm sorry to say. The real story is simply Mo's injury and how it will affect his career in the future. There is no reason, in mind mind, why we should debate the contract.
I'm curious about Mo's pick-up game. The guys he played with--were they NBA caliber type players or were they guys who could probably only play college? Or even worse, were they guys who didn't know how to play at a high level (meaning not good enough to play college)? Now before everybody decides to flog me: just hear me out. I used to coach a team in the local church league and one year my team had 3 guys who all played high school ball and were easily ranked in the top 10 players of the league. One game we were playing one of the worst teams in the league and beating them by 20. One of my best players went up for a rebound and this guy on the other team that didn't have a clue wound up being right in his way when he came down. My guy tried to avoid him and he wound up with a severely sprained ankle. He was lucky because it could have been worse. However, he never played like he could the rest of the season and we wound up losing in the Championship game of the tournament. The bad thing was that the guy on the really bad team had no clue of what he had done to my guy. It's true that there will always be a risk of getting hurt when you play basketball (see women basketball players and ACL injuries-although that's a whole other story) or any sport. However, it seems to me that the risks are doubled maybe even tripled when you are playing against guys who are not on the same level. And when I heard he got hurt playing a pick-up game, the first thing I thought was that he was playing with some guys he grew up with that probably never played college and were just neighborhood buds.
Manny, It doesn't matter if the event is: football, baseball, basketball, chess, etc competitors at wide differences in skill levels gain very little from playing each other. The upper tier players are not pushed to win and the lower rung players realize that they are overmatched and are intimidated. I wouldn't fault the church league player with less skills that caused the injury to your player. It was a church league and unless it is something unique, it is filled with weekend warriors that play at a certain level which is several rungs below the level of your three studs. I don't think that anybody caused Mo's accident and he has had previous problems with that leg. Mango
Face it, if it didn't happen in this pick up game, it would have inevitably happened in the preseason. I am sure preseason games are more intense than most pick up games.
Stop flaming wgray! He's not totally correct, but there's a point in there somewhere. Issue #1 Whether or not Mo's ankles were taped. There is a risk in every basketball game, pro or not. But because that risk exist, measures are taken to prevent a risk of injury to becoming a full injury. Taping ankles is a huge precaution. If Mo's weren't taped, that could of been a difference. Issue #2 Not going full out vs risk of injury. Samari Rolle sat out camp because he didn't want to get injured without a contract. People do it all the time. This doesn't mean it's wrong to go full out, however it does mean that fearing injury is a legitimate concern. The coaches don't allow basketball team members to play intramural sports (even though intramural sports doesn't allow it either). The point is the coaches find that the possibility of injury not through practice, not through a real game, but essentially a pick up game is not worth it. So much so to the extent that any player caught playing intramurals would be extremely punished and if that player were to be injured, she/he would lose the scholarship. None of us know the entire situation Mo Taylor was in. None of us are in any legitimate position to assess him or blame him or whatever. However, it does not mean that wgray's opinion makes wgray a moron. It is very possible that Mo Taylor was just hoopin with friends without his ankles taped and fell funny and bam, is out for the year. I'm not saying that's how it happened, but even if it did, that would mean he failed to take what many feel as some important precautions and some even feel that he was irresponsible. Even if that is how it happened, I'm not saying whether it is right or wrong at all. Mainly, this is not a clear cut right or wrong thing, and y'all should find out the situation fully before flaming ANYONE (Mo, wgray, anyone). Just my opinion.
**** HAPPENS! The Rockets will come together as a team and possibly get better because of this unfortunate acccident. I know it might sound crazy to some but I believe it to be true. Go ROCKETS..
