Took the air out the team pulling zion. Dude was rolling and gentry says ok enough back to the bench.
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Took the air out the team pulling zion. Dude was rolling and gentry says ok enough back to the bench.
If I had to choose health for the team for the rest of the season or the playoffs....I take health 10/10.
This team needs to play together and hopefully 80% of the squad returns next year.
I don't think he had the authority to keep him in..
I guarantee you this was Griffins idea to sit him. Makes no sense to me he looked fine.
BI shares in this one. 27% shooting on 22 attempts doesn't cut it. Usually a reliable free throw shooter, he threw up bricks when the game was on the line.
He was gassed. This notion is foolish in the gameday thread.....putting it under a spotlight in its own thread only makes it worse.
Gentry on Zion’s removal late in the 4th Quarter:
— Andrew Doak (@AndrewDoak_WWL) January 23, 2020
“Medical people said that was it.
I wouldn’t have taken him out in those situations unless I was told to...
Continued on...
“I don’t think Sean would have taken out Drew Brees in situation.”
This brings some clarity to fans.
Medical staff minutes restriction confirmation.
Pressure's off Gentry for that particular issue.
Still asks the question about why Griff would flat out lie about a minutes restriction though.
Griff says a lot of terrible things
You know many people in the arena tonight prolly expected zion to play more minutes
But whatever
I mean I get that, but he has to understand that it's not a case of ''sell seats or be honest'', where selling seats based on the deception is ultimately harmless. It's a case of ''sell seats and set my head coach up to be crucified, or be honest'', where there's an in-built reason to avoid the deception even if only from an organisational standpoint.
Just reported on ESPN that Gentry got into it with the medical staff during Zions run..
That's incredibly deceptive speech, tbh.
Griff said there was no minutes restriction, and that the minutes he played would be based on how he looked out there and how he was feeling.
Well, he looked great, and Zion said in the post-game interview that he wanted to keep playing. So he looked good, and felt fine.
Nobody was expecting Zion to play 35 minutes, nobody was expecting mass minutes like that. But if we are being told there is NO minutes restriction, and then suddenly he hits a minutes restriction that's firm enough to absolutely forbid even 3 more minutes (to take it to a total of 21 minutes, which isn't many!), then that's clearly a legitimate restriction worth noting to the fans.
Exactly. And Jrue is another one. Here he goes again with 36 one game and a brick laying 12 the next. In an important hyped game like this, 12 points from him is unacceptable.
I dont blame Gentry for pulling Zion at all. The other guys were just bad tonight. Gentry has to motivate them better.
Meanwhile, LA goes off for 32 and 14 like he's supposed to.
Gentry was the last person who wanted to pull him. I was there and I was lamenting the fact that the only really productive player on the court was just pulled - but it is what it is. Ultimately, we lost because we couldn't make shots tonight.
“Coach, I can win the game for this team. Leave me in."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 23, 2020
—Alvin Gentry on what Zion said before he was subbed out (via @MarcJSpearsESPN) pic.twitter.com/DyQ2WvUGU4
I don't think they went in with a set number in mind. Too me it looked like they pulled him in the fourth because he looked labored.
It does appear that they wanted to take it slow initially. It really seems like it was based on how he was moving.
He looked pretty gassed at the end of that run.
If everyone other than Ball and Zion didn't play like arse then we wouldn't even be having this conversion.
Did people not see how gassed Zion was before the timeout? I was 10’ away from the kid and he was completely gassed and was likely starting to lose his legs in his first game back. I don’t know how many people here have ever comeback to a sport from an injury but no amount of conditioning can prepare you for actual game action and the energy your adrenaline will take out of you. Not worth risking anything with this kids future over maybe winning 1 basketball game all because of emotion after having a big scoring run.
I was sitting near Griff during tonight’s game. He was the only unhappy person in the arena during the last two minutes of Zion’s heater. He had his arms folded and he was staring daggers at the Pels’ bench. At the timeout, he raced down to the court and into the Pels’ tunnel with a member of the staff, presumably to voice his anger that Zion’s minute restriction had been exceeded. You do not want to pizz off Griff, I’ll tell you that!
Its possible they decided on a maximum number of minutes pregame but I think they would have announced it. At the same time its just as likely they just based it off of how tired he looked. He looked pretty tired to me. Playing tired increases injury risk. But sure, they could have changed their minds and decided to limit him to about 16 minutes pregame. If you decide that number pregame because as his doctor you think he could risk injury then you absolutely pull him regardless of what happens in game.
It sucks that we lost but I don't have a problem with how they are handling Zion. His long term health is the highest priority. I think we can all agree to that. If the medical staff felt like it was time for him to come out, he comes out.
My 2 cents on this. I get having to take him out but at least wait on a dead ball. This was a game that we needed to win seeing how we're fighting for the 8 seed as they are.
If this loss costs us the 8 seed?
Even Klutch Sports called him out
Come on Gentry we want Zion!!!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 23, 2020
Lol at perkins was he there
STFU Perk! Of course he was on a minutes restriction! It’s not about this game. It’s not even about this season. It’s clear under Griff the medical team is going to set the parameters for an injured players return to play. It seemed like tonight the plan was for four minute blocks at the top of each quarter and that’s it, finito. Hard stop. When Gentry extended Zion and sent Melli back to the bench I have no doubt Griff and the medical staff told Gentry to cut it out. Coaches and players are super competitive. They can get carried away in the heat of the moment. Cooler heads need to manage Zion’s recovery. And fans need to get that he’s going to be carefully managed for a while.
This is why we are dysfunctional franchise and why I question Griffs abilities. Why say there's no mins restriction when there clearly was? If Zion isn't ready for starter mins why is he on the court at all? We should be sitting him until there's no limitation.
In fact why are we trying to win instead of making this about developing the young guys that will be here and in their primes when we are ready to compete for titles in 3-6 years (if ever)? We should be developing Zion as a wing player. His natural passing and handling are already there on top of his other worldly athletic abilities and IQ. We should be giving him the ball and letting him figure out the league a la Morant or Doncic even at the expense of W's.
When have you ever seen a player miss significant time, then come back 1st game with no time restrictions at all?
Paul George's first game back this year against us, he was torching us. Yet Doc stuck the the minutes plan and George didn't play in the 4th. And the Clippers ended up losing that game.
Maybe the team needs to communicate with Gentry better so he can communicate to the media better. But pulling Zion when they did was the right move.
When that player comes back the next year. Which is what we should have done with Zion. Either he's not in danger of farther damage or he is.
It's not having better communication it's telling a flat out lie. Plus how in the world does a functional franchise not tell the coach that his player is on a mins restriction? Especially a player with this amount of publicity? Ignore all the red flags that you want but this is Knicks level incompetence.
YES
We in that NOLA baybeeee. Time to watch @Zionwilliamson in action! #HoopStreams live with @CassidyHubbarth 8:30 ET! pic.twitter.com/wkwoIjx4C6
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 23, 2020
DR. SURI ? LOL
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-breaux-injury
To me this is a recipe for 4 years down the road he leaves on the first ride out of here and I wouldn't blame him. The dude was fine, probably gassed when they took him out in the 4th quarter but he should've went back in with 3 minutes left. The way they've handled Zion up to this point has probably left a bad taste in his mouth.
People say that Zion looked tired, gassed, sluggish, but he sure wasn’t playing like it. Even then you could have told him, “listen Zion, I know you’re tired, but we need you for 3 more minutes. We got a couple of timeouts that we can use to help you catch your breath, but we need you.” Problem solved.
If this came from above, and wasn’t Gentry’s call that’s one thing (Lebron got Griff his championship), but I would have expected more push back from Gentry. If you know you are going to get ******** canned at the end of the season, go out in a blaze of glory giving the people what they want rather than a lineup that hadn’t worked all game.