November 22nd - New Orleans Pelicans vs Sacramento Kings - 7-7

[Pelicanidae]

Watching the game with my dad is torture. 2 hours of him asking "where is Zion?" Nevermind that he played 35 minutes. If he's not on the court for the full 48, either Willie is clueless or Zion is soft. Oh and we have no shooters and why aren't we just feeding it down low to Zion every possession?

Well you know, Wilt once played more than 48 minutes a game in a season so what's these new kids' excuses, huh?

[RobertM320]

What I don't get about "rest" for a 21 year old is, its not truly about "rest", its about avoiding injury. And you can get injured at any time, including practice. Why not play a guy 15 minutes in the second game of a back to back, if he truly needs to "rest". Fifteen minutes of Zion is far better than zero minutes of Zion all day long.

[As I See It]

What I don't get about "rest" for a 21 year old is, its not truly about "rest", its about avoiding injury. And you can get injured at any time, including practice. Why not play a guy 15 minutes in the second game of a back to back, if he truly needs to "rest". Fifteen minutes of Zion is far better than zero minutes of Zion all day long.

For what it's worth, I think we can all agree that #1 does not have a proto-typical NBA Body by any means. Since he's been in the NBA he's torn his meniscus, he's fractured his thumb, and he's had foot issues the culminated in surgery.

Now, Contrary to popular belief, heretofore, his offensive game is quite limited and predicated solely on his quickness and overpowering his opponent offensively. Because of this, his body is much more suspectable to injury than the vast majority of NBA players since his game is predicated solely his quickness and being able to absorb physical contact.

Look we all can see what he can accomplish when going in a straight line from Point A to Point B. The problem is basketball is not a game of 'straight lines'. It requires acute changes in direction that places significant stress on your joints...stress that your body isn't meant to endure. Now add in the fact that the height to weight ratio, AS A BASKETBALL PLAYER, is off the chart (in a bad way), you have no choice but to rest him as much as possible and protect him from himself.

For what he does, he's played well this season but if he continues to shoot 60% from the free throw line he can look forward to much more abuse to his body (whether the referees call it or not).

The number of games he has missed as a result of his various injuries significantly outweighs the number of games he's played in the NBA. It would be foolhardy and irresponsible for management to not rest him every chance they get.

[Pelicanidae]

What I don't get about "rest" for a 21 year old is, its not truly about "rest", its about avoiding injury. And you can get injured at any time, including practice. Why not play a guy 15 minutes in the second game of a back to back, if he truly needs to "rest". Fifteen minutes of Zion is far better than zero minutes of Zion all day long.

I think a lot of fans have no idea what a ''rest day'' entails for players. Suffice it to say, just because they aren't playing on the court doesn't mean that they're just staying in bed all day. They usually do workouts, physio, recovery treatment, etc. It's not like the options are ''either he plays, or he does nothing''. It's about reducing the stress put on him by constant fouls, not stopping him from getting exercise.