Im sure the other 99% of Blazer fans who aren't commenting on Greg's blog make up for the 1% of idiots out there.
My reaction is whatever . . . GO has bigger issues than what poeple post on the internet. (If he let's what some say on the internet get to him, well, add that as another big issue with GO)
I don't think he was insinuating drugs. Greg just turned 21 so maybe he's been hitting up the bars/clubs.
You consider those questions legit? Why doesn't he just ask if he's having premarital sex? He's basically accusing Greg of several things, because he (like a few of us here) seems to be an over-reactionary person. Greg looks upset, he must hate basketball. Or maybe he's just serious on the court, like we've heard mentioned about him before. He hates losing. Maybe he's upset at his play. What, he has to be jolly like Shaq to make people happy?
Does it really matter if he's hit up a few bars? He just turned 21. As long as he's not showing up to practice org games smelling like booze or hungover, I don't care. It has gotta suck having everybody up your ass talking about what they saw when you were a freshman at a bar doing what freshmen do at bars. I'm not really directing this to the board. More of towards that "journalism" and blogging bs.
That's a fair question, and my thought is that his performance affects the answer to it. If he's killing the league and dominating games, nobody cares. If he is wildly inconsistent and says things in the media that could make a person question his drive to be great, some people care. I'm not saying that is right, wrong, or even fair, and I really don't care about this w/out knowing the truth, but if he was hitting the bars frequently, it does set him up for criticism only because of his performance to date. I won't/haven't posted anything about his off-court habits because there is plenty of on-court stuff to discuss, but I understand why some people are beginning to wonder about the guy. I equate this mentality to some of the business trips I took in my younger days. If you want to hit the clubs until 3am, you'd better be extra-better the next day. If you're not, it will rightfully be used against you.
Effectively, Greg is the future/face of the franchise. You're darned right I'd want to know why, when the team doctors are effectively saying he can play, he is choosing not to. Now, as far as the off-court stuff, big whoop. As long as he's not getting into trouble - and, nothing legitimately suggests he is - then no biggie. I was being slightly facetious regarding the "wowsers", and following, remarks. I just want to see Greg on the court!
I assume it is because his future is on the line, so he doesn't want to take any chances. The cost to being risk-adverse is a certain group of fans getting annoyed. The cost to taking a chance could be missing more time or causing a worse problem by running and jumping with an unnatural motion due to pain. If I were him, I know which one I'd pick.
Steve Blake was told he could play fine. He did, look what happened. Martel was told he could come back and play, look what happened. The last thing this fanbase needs more of is armchair doctors and psychologists. It's bad enough we have armchair coaches and GM's stinkin' up the place.
Why? You seriously have to ask Why? Because he's not at full strength, that's why! And he doesn't wanna risk being out longer than he has to by re-aggravating it. The team is not in dire need of his help right now. But you gotta bet their gonna need him 100% down the stretch. Unbelievable how impatient some fans are. "RickDawg" is just another one of the many.
You forgot at least one cost. It is the cost of potentially having your teammates and coaches wonder if they can depend on you to be on the court. Hell, Przy is playing with a wrist that may require surgery after the season. Here is an interesting blog entry from Quick date 2/1/09. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/02/walking_a_fine_line_on_comebac.html
Correct, which is why I'll take the Blazer doctor's word that Oden is ready to play. I'm not the one questioning the Blazer doctors/training staff.
Blake was hit again, IIRC. Nonetheless, unless this is Quick fanning the flames, I'm sensing some concern on the part of at least Nate. I'm not even close to becoming an armachair doctor or psychologist. Wouldn't even be talking about it if I hadn't already seen a bunch wavering back and forth. First I read a day or two, then a few days, then a week. Yeesh, he went on the trip. Why not just test it out for a few minutes here and there? Whatever. Yeah, it's his body. Nobody knows his body like he does. However, I also remember another Blazer player by the name of Derek Anderson. I'm sure he knew what his body could "bear", as well.
If that is an issue, he should certainly factor that in. He's the one who can talk to them. Which is certainly admirable, but different. You can try to avoid using the wrist as much as possible, and it's not weight-bearing. You can't reduce usage of a knee and it impacts everything you do. If you run unnaturally due to favouring one knee, you can risk back problems or foot problems, etc. I'm not saying Oden should or shouldn't be playing. But I can certainly see why he wouldn't play the moment he's medically cleared.
