Magic @ Raps 2/24

[3inthekeon]

Its funny people blame Kawhi. Bobby Webster already said that the medical staff sits down with Kawhi every couple of weeks and creates a scheduling plan in terms what games he’ll play, what games he sits, how he is feeling, etc. This isn’t something Kawhi just wakes up and decides he isn’t gonna play today. The guy missed a year of basketball, Masai and the front office obviously want to keep him as healthy as possible. There may even be some underlying injury issue we don’t know about.

Kawhi should lie to medical staff and always say he feels 110% great.

[Yuri Gagarin]

Ok i trust the medical staff. Im not a doctor but Im surprised they wouldnt ramp it down gradually toward the playoffs. Itll be every second day unless it goes to the other city. Its hard to believe he’ll be able to miss the same amount on a constant basis then be able to sustain a playoff schedule.

[planetmars]

The only reason I want Kawhi to play is for fantasy. I could see why guys who buy tickets would be peeved.. but on the other hand MLSE still seems to sell out games anyway.

Raptors have the luxury of doing this.. not many teams can get away with it.. especially teams that need gate receipts or playoff games.

And this load management has everything to do with this summer. From July 1st to the date he signs a contract. That's what this is all about.

We had like a 0% chance he would stay with Toronto when we made that trade. That has gone up to what? 35%? 40%? Man those odds only improve because of how we're handling Kawhi. The winning helps but it's more than that.

Kawhi should never have left San Antonio. He's the quiet super star in a quiet small market city that drafted him.. but also knows how to win. He left because of his health and how his team was handling it. He could be a prima donna.. but he's our prima donna now.

If it means playing him in only 50 games than so be it. For me it's worth it.

Now there is also a chance he's actually hurt. He had no lift against SA and struggled when he usually doesn't. Something could be bugging him. Best to take him out against a team like Orlando (at home) than a team like Boston, Milwaukee or Philly.

[KeonClark]

Its funny people blame Kawhi. Bobby Webster already said that the medical staff sits down with Kawhi every couple of weeks and creates a scheduling plan in terms what games he’ll play, what games he sits, how he is feeling, etc. This isn’t something Kawhi just wakes up and decides he isn’t gonna play today. The guy missed a year of basketball, Masai and the front office obviously want to keep him as healthy as possible. There may even be some underlying injury issue we don’t know about.

I'm glad you're faithful enough to believe everything Bobby Webster, raptors employee feeds to the fans. I however am a little more skeptical, especially with all the "Uncle Dennis" stuff out of San Antonio. Uncle D didn't just suddenly disappear. This is the same "Kawhi and camp" that Pop couldn't deal with.

Now, maybe it is all the Raptors planning. But if it wasn't, would it be their best interest to lie to us and not say "Kawhi and his team are telling us when he's gonna play"? I think it would be in their best interest to lie to us. That otherwise would create a LOT of headlines and clicks, and assuredly chases him away to his next adventure.

Besides that, we were only 2 losses back of Milwaukee entering play yesterday. The team knows the Magic are hot, and we have new guys we want to get working well together. We're also coming off a recent 9 day break. Unless Kawhi was legitimately hurt, why on earth would they want him to sit out? And if he is really hurt, you should just come out and say it, people would be more understanding.

[A.I]

I'm glad you're faithful enough to believe everything Bobby Webster, raptors employee feeds to the fans. I however am a little more skeptical, especially with all the "Uncle Dennis" stuff out of San Antonio. Uncle D didn't just suddenly disappear. This is the same "Kawhi and camp" that Pop couldn't deal with.

Now, maybe it is all the Raptors planning. But if it wasn't, would it be their best interest to lie to us and not say "Kawhi and his team are telling us when he's gonna play"? I think it would be in their best interest to lie to us. That otherwise would create a LOT of headlines and clicks, and assuredly chases him away to his next adventure.

Besides that, we were only 2 losses back of Milwaukee entering play yesterday. The team knows the Magic are hot, and we have new guys we want to get working well together. We're also coming off a recent 9 day break. Unless Kawhi was legitimately hurt, why on earth would they want him to sit out? And if he is really hurt, you should just come out and say it, people would be more understanding.

Its fair to be skeptical, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to Masai and the front office (who has proven they are brilliant at their job) over fans who think Kawhi is taking advantage of the Raptors.

[Beneperez]

Its funny people blame Kawhi. Bobby Webster already said that the medical staff sits down with Kawhi every couple of weeks and creates a scheduling plan in terms what games he’ll play, what games he sits, how he is feeling, etc. This isn’t something Kawhi just wakes up and decides he isn’t gonna play today. The guy missed a year of basketball, Masai and the front office obviously want to keep him as healthy as possible. There may even be some underlying injury issue we don’t know about.

Agreed. You would think that the game we played in Indiana when Oladipo got injured would make people realize how vulnerable guys are coming back from injury. We really have been taking the right approach to all of this and even if Kawhi leaves, it does feel awesome as a fan knowing that we did all we could.

[inthepaint]

lol you can't "technically" justify that a player in the last year of a valid contract can sit for a bunch of games just because his next contract is at a (likely) much higher rate
-that would destroy pro sports lol

I think fans are getting a little tired of the maintanence games because:
1 - they were rumoured to be ending and they've become unpredictable
2 - Kawhi played the AS game
3 - fans don't know if he has a nagging injury or not
4 - they've resulted in the odd bad loss
5 - continued unease with injuries (FVV) and assimilation of Gasol/Lin (but we now have Jodie-the-season-saviour Meeks)

These are interesting points, this is how I personally see them
1 - Agree. They shouldn't have been rumoured to be ending if that wasn't the actual plan. If the plan was a fixed load management schedule based on some formula/algorithm the medical staff developed, they should have come out and said that. That's not on Kawhi though.

2 - That doesn't bother me. That's an exhibition game that is very light and nobody plays defence. The 19 minutes he played there is less strenuous than a normal NBA-level practice. He was there to represent the Raptors with Lowry and I'm cool with that.

3 - Doesn't bother me personally, but I can see why it can contribute to the overall grumbleness around the load management

4 - Yeah to some extent it sucks, if you can actually attribute the loss to Kawhi not playing. And sure, you're not gonna win every game and every team is gonna drop a stinker every now and then, but on the other hand you just can't flat-out ignore the importance of regular season games. They determine seeding and are the canvas in which the team chemistry is built for the pot-season. This last one in Orlando was on Nurse though.

5 - Bingo. To me that's the main thing. Whether justified or not, there's been too many in-and-out of lineup for various players, so the team is lacking cohesiveness and on-court chemistry at times , even though the talent is there. There's less opportunity to solidify a rotation pattern and have guys become more and more at ease with each other's spots on the court.

[KeonClark]

These are interesting points, this is how I personally see them
1 - Agree. They shouldn't have been rumoured to be ending if that wasn't the actual plan. If the plan was a fixed load management schedule based on some formula/algorithm the medical staff developed, they should have come out and said that. That's not on Kawhi though.

2 - That doesn't bother me. That's an exhibition game that is very light and nobody plays defence. The 19 minutes he played there is less strenuous than a normal NBA-level practice. He was there to represent the Raptors with Lowry and I'm cool with that.

3 - Doesn't bother me personally, but I can see why it can contribute to the overall grumbleness around the load management

4 - Yeah to some extent it sucks, if you can actually attribute the loss to Kawhi not playing. And sure, you're not gonna win every game and every team is gonna drop a stinker every now and then, but on the other hand you just can't flat-out ignore the importance of regular season games. They determine seeding and are the canvas in which the team chemistry is built for the pot-season. This last one in Orlando was on Nurse though.

5 - Bingo. To me that's the main thing. Whether justified or not, there's been too many in-and-out of lineup for various players, so the team is lacking cohesiveness and on-court chemistry at times , even though the talent is there. There's less opportunity to solidify a rotation pattern and have guys become more and more at ease with each other's spots on the court.

The first point is what I'm trying to hammer home. It clearly wasn't the actual plan. Nurse had been spouting since December that will likely "end soon"...but that never came out of Kawhis mouth. And if it wasn't going to end soon they would have said it. So to me that IS on Kawhi.

[golden]

The first point is what I'm trying to hammer home. It clearly wasn't the actual plan. Nurse had been spouting since December that will likely "end soon"...but that never came out of Kawhis mouth. And if it wasn't going to end soon they would have said it. So to me that IS on Kawhi.

At this point I'd be interested to hear something from the team doctors rather than nurse.

[KeonClark]

At this point I'd be interested to hear something from the team doctors rather than nurse.

Doctors know more than nurses

[golden]

Doctors know more than nurses

Interestingly, Raptors' Alex McKechnie, who I would assume is calling the shots on the Load Management program isn't actually a doctor. He's a physiotherapist in sports science.

Which begs the question: Wtf is Load Management, anyway?

The internet comes through again....

WHAT IS LOAD MANAGEMENT REALLY ABOUT?
https://barcainnovationhub.com/what-is-load-management/

[KeonClark]

Interestingly, Raptors' Alex McKechnie, who I would assume is calling the shots on the Load Management program isn't actually a doctor. He's a physiotherapist in sports science.

Which begs the question: Wtf is Load Management, anyway?

The internet comes through again....

WHAT IS LOAD MANAGEMENT REALLY ABOUT?
https://barcainnovationhub.com/what-is-load-management/

Ok so innovation in information has shown pro athletes are over worked to give peak performance. I can get behind that. So heres a thought.. reduce the schedule? Nahh cause that's less $$!

So the league keeps getting more money, players keep getting more rest.. win win...so the only loser? You guessed it! You the fan, bring your kids to one game a year where they announce Kawhi is managing his load!

[Raptor Jesus]

Ok so innovation in information has shown pro athletes are over worked to give peak performance. I can get behind that. So heres a thought.. reduce the schedule? Nahh cause that's less $$!

So the league keeps getting more money, players keep getting more rest.. win win...so the only loser? You guessed it! You the fan, bring your kids to one game a year where they announce Kawhi is managing his load!

I hear you but 6D Chess, what's more profitable. Gate pull, or Appointment viewing (playoffs) ad sales?

I mean I'm going to tomorrows game but couch seats are the better view imo.

[golden]

Ok so innovation in information has shown pro athletes are over worked to give peak performance. I can get behind that. So heres a thought.. reduce the schedule? Nahh cause that's less $$!

So the league keeps getting more money, players keep getting more rest.. win win...so the only loser? You guessed it! You the fan, bring your kids to one game a year where they announce Kawhi is managing his load!

Adam Silver isn't putting a gun to your head asking you for your money. You could spend it on more worthwhile endeavours like saving for your kid's education, or give it to charity. Watching live NBA games is a guilty pleasure, or an addiction. Boohoo, that you missed out on Kawhi. That's a first-world "problem". And that's on you, not the NBA.

[Superjudge]

Adam Silver isn't putting a gun to your head asking you for your money. You could spend it on more worthwhile endeavours like saving for your kid's education, or give it to charity. Watching live NBA games is a guilty pleasure, or an addiction. Boohoo, that you missed out on Kawhi. That's a first-world "problem". And that's on you, not the NBA.

Spoken like a true Copper Top