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To Play, Or Not To Play? That is the Question.

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  • To Play, Or Not To Play? That is the Question.

    I see in Dave’s notes that Dino Meneghin, an iconic Italian star, was at the game in his role as president of the country’s basketball federation, trying to convince Bargnani, Belinelli and Gallinari to play for Italy this summer.

    Word is that he didn’t get a yay or a nay from any of them and it looks like we’re headed for another summer questioning whether key Raptors should play for their countries or not.

    So let’s get this out there right now: Yes, if they want to, they should. Without question.

    Just like Turk should play for Turkey, Bosh for the United States, Jose for Spain and if Rasho shocks us by making a Slovenian Comeback, he should, too.

    We’ll have this debate a lot, I’m sure, because the whole “they’re-main-obligation-is-to-the-team-that-pays-them-the-most” issue won’t ever really go away.

    But it’s really quite a simple decision to me: Representing your country is one of the greatest things an athlete can do; I’m not sure some people understand that, but it is.

    And they should.

    If they want.
    http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/

    You can put me in the “they’re-main-obligation-is-to-the-team-that-pays-them-the-most” side of the argument. IDK but it really irks me to see players off playing in an arguably unimportant tournament and risking getting injured when they should be using that time to rest and recuperate from the rigours of a long and hard NBA season.

    There are many examples of an NBA player participating in some tourney in the off season and it backfiring. Just look at Turk who played for his country in the summer and came back to the Raps unable to play because of fatigue. Did BC and management, and us fans, since we support the team in various ways (merchandising, ticket sales etc.), pay Turk $53 mil to come back and be unable to play, so he can play in some tourney he didn't really need be in? My understanding is that Turkey automatically qualified for the FIBA World's since they are the host country. Look how long it's taken him to adjust. And you can argue that he still looks out of shape. Looking into the future, how fatigued will he be after he plays at this summer's World's? By the time the 2011 playoffs come around, he'll have played 3 years straight without a break! I don't want to imagine what condition his 32 year old body will be in at that time.

    Same thing with Pau Gasol. He came back from the qualifiers unable to play due to injuries and fatigue. The list goes on.

    Jose decided to do the right thing this past off season and rest his oft injured body for his sake and the teams'. Kudos to Ocho for making the right decision. No doubt it was a tough one but the right one to make. IMO athlete's owe their employer who is paying them millions, to be in the best condition possible for the team.

    I wish more GM's would take Mark Cuban's stance on this dilemma and just put their foot down and say no to playing in the off season. Cuban did not allow Nowitzki to play for Germany in the FIBA qualifiers this past summer. It may be an unpopular decision, but again, it is the right one imo.

    Now an argument can be made for allowing younger players to participate in off season tourneys to help their development, and because they are younger their bodies can handle the load better. I might be inclined to agree-as long as there is some kind of insurance policy in place. But when it comes to the "older" high priced stars, who are integral to the team, I say no.

    As for Il Mago and Belli-should they play for Italy this summer. In Il Mago's case, even though he is still young, big men's bodies tend to break down quicker, so I say let him rest. He logs heavy minutes throughout the season and is developing nicely without having to play for his country. Belli on the other does not log heavy minutes and playing for Italy might help him develop and refine his skills. I would still be cautious about letting one of the Raps "core" players go.

    What are your guy's thoughts on this dilemma? Should players be allowed to participate in off season tourneys to fulfill the need of national pride at the risk of getting injured? Should it be determined on a case by case basis? What are you two cents?
    12
    No, if they are Raptors players.
    0.00%
    0
    No to all players. They owe it to management and fans to stay healthy
    8.33%
    1
    Yes, players should be allowed to participate regardless of age and team
    50.00%
    6
    It should be determined on a case by case basis.
    41.67%
    5

  • #2
    Agree with you overall.

    What about Bosh for team usa? I think he still has a lot to learn, and working with team usa is good for his growth. But he logs heavy minutes, so not sure what the best approach is.

    Comment


    • #3
      If there was a stipulation in their contracts that said something like...

      if you play in any kind of non-NBA basketball and get injured, you forfeit your pay.

      I wonder how many players would be participating in off-season tournaments, etc. ???

      Comment


      • #4
        Ripp wrote: View Post
        Agree with you overall.

        What about Bosh for team usa? I think he still has a lot to learn, and working with team usa is good for his growth. But he logs heavy minutes, so not sure what the best approach is.
        In Bosh's case I'd be concerned to let him play even with an insurance policy in place. Let's face it, without Bosh the Raps would be hard pressed to make the playoffs. So if something were to happen to our franchise guy we'd be S.O.L.

        Playing with Team USA two summers ago did seem to help CB's play-particularly his D. The following season he came out banging and with a new intensity we had not yet seen. But what ended up happening? He seemed to burn out by Jan/Feb and had nothing left in the tank for the end of the season and playoffs.

        But then again that was before when the team relied on him soo heavily to carry them and win games for them. That is not the case now where he has good complimentary players. So maybe it could work out better next time?

        Comment


        • #5
          For Turk this is a big worry due to the fatigue issue. But here is one thing that will benefit for Marco, Bargs, Calderon, and Turk: the World qualifier will force them to stay conditioned, even though they might get fatigued. The worst case is always injury for sure, but I rather deal with the fact that a player is gutting out effort for whomever he plays for instead of "rest", gain BAD weight, and screw themselves badly for the next season by looking like a fatass (like Sheed).

          For Garbo it was totally different, he was coming of the worst injury of his career and he played for Spain 1 month after his release form the injury list. BC should of stopped him from playing with whatever power he had.

          Comment


          • #6
            .40 Cal Flakes wrote: View Post
            In Bosh's case I'd be concerned to let him play even with an insurance policy in place. Let's face it, without Bosh the Raps would be hard pressed to make the playoffs. So if something were to happen to our franchise guy we'd be S.O.L.

            Playing with Team USA two summers ago did seem to help CB's play-particularly his D. The following season he came out banging and with a new intensity we had not yet seen. But what ended up happening? He seemed to burn out by Jan/Feb and had nothing left in the tank for the end of the season and playoffs.

            But then again that was before when the team relied on him soo heavily to carry them and win games for them. That is not the case now where he has good complimentary players. So maybe it could work out better next time?
            Probably Bosh got drained by Jan/Feb, but he had that issue with FOREHEAD girl (Allison), and that can really screw the focus of a 25yr old adult celebrity that has no parenting experience. If a player's focus gets sabotaged in a season especially for a young player, will play differently and negatively for sure.

            Comment


            • #7
              tonious35 wrote: View Post
              For Turk this is a big worry due to the fatigue issue. But here is one thing that will benefit for Marco, Bargs, Calderon, and Turk: the World qualifier will force them to stay conditioned, even though they might get fatigued. The worst case is always injury for sure, but I rather deal with the fact that a player is gutting out effort for whomever he plays for instead of "rest", gain BAD weight, and screw themselves badly for the next season by looking like a fatass (like Sheed).

              For Garbo it was totally different, he was coming of the worst injury of his career and he played for Spain 1 month after his release form the injury list. BC should of stopped him from playing with whatever power he had.
              Yeah for sure having them play would keep 'em conditioned, but again, in the long run it would lead to some of these players being overly fatigued. There are other ways players can keep themselves conditioned in the off season without risking injury from competition. Of course, they can still get injured from solo training, but the risk is far less I think.

              Comment


              • #8
                I thought Italy didn't qualify for the worlds...and Canada did, what a strange world we live in...
                Last edited by Prophet2k; Sat Jan 30, 2010, 03:27 AM. Reason: typo
                limpin ain't easy, but I make it look good...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Prophet2k wrote: View Post
                  I thought Italy didn't qualify for the worlds...and Canada did, what a strange world we live in...
                  Yup your right, I double checked the groups in the tourny and Italy didn't qualify. So I'm not sure why or what reason Dino Meneghin wants Bargs, Belli and Gallo to play for Italy in the summer.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    .40 Cal Flakes wrote: View Post
                    Yup your right, I double checked the groups in the tourny and Italy didn't qualify. So I'm not sure why or what reason Dino Meneghin wants Bargs, Belli and Gallo to play for Italy in the summer.
                    Next summer italy will play the qulifing tournament to play in 2011 EuroBasket in order to qulify to the 2012 Olympic Games. It's a really small tournament with very little importance to NBA calibre players, teams like Spain, Lithuania or Greece put secondary players on his roster and they still qualify.

                    Itlay didn't qualify for the 2009 EuroBasket (teams like Macedonia, Poland, and Bulgaria did) and couldn't fight for a spot in this year World Championship.

                    I'm sure neither of Italy's NBA players are going to participate in that tournament except Dino Meneghin makes a realy good push. Italy needs to do a good job this summer because a talented team like them can't be out of the Eurobasket two years in a row, it could be realy realy bad for them

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Raúl wrote: View Post
                      Next summer italy will play the qulifing tournament to play in 2011 EuroBasket in order to qulify to the 2012 Olympic Games. It's a really small tournament with very little importance to NBA calibre players, teams like Spain, Lithuania or Greece put secondary players on his roster and they still qualify.

                      Itlay didn't qualify for the 2009 EuroBasket (teams like Macedonia, Poland, and Bulgaria did) and couldn't fight for a spot in this year World Championship.

                      I'm sure neither of Italy's NBA players are going to participate in that tournament except Dino Meneghin makes a realy good push. Italy needs to do a good job this summer because a talented team like them can't be out of the Eurobasket two years in a row, it could be realy realy bad for them
                      Ohh I see. Thanks for clearing that up Raul.

                      Maybe it might do Belli some good to play for them then? As long as there is some insurance in place!...and he doesn't get injured! (knock on wood)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        .40 Cal Flakes wrote: View Post
                        Ohh I see. Thanks for clearing that up Raul.

                        Maybe it might do Belli some good to play for them then? As long as there is some insurance in place!...and he doesn't get injured! (knock on wood)
                        Belli actually does very well when he plays for Team Italy, you can pretty much call him their best player.

                        Bargnani on the other hand had some problems playing for Italy. His Italian coach apperently does not understand how to use Bargnani's strengths and Bargnani usually has a subpar performances. I believe that it was Doug Smith or someone that said that Bargnani couldnt wait to leave the Italian team and head back to the Raptors organisation, he didn't like the experience.

                        Yeah I agree, big man tend to be more fragile in the long terms and require greater amount of rest in order to recover from fatigue and injuries. The worst case scenerio was with Alonzo Mourning who had kidney faliures after the Olympics and almost lost his life and NBA career because he pushed himself so hard without resting.

                        Garbajosa was just a selfish a-hole who didn't care that the Raptors organisation was paying his salary and instead choose to play in a tournament while not fully healed from his injury.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Hotshot wrote: View Post
                          Garbajosa was just a selfish a-hole who didn't care that the Raptors organisation was paying his salary and instead choose to play in a tournament while not fully healed from his injury.
                          Very stupid move by Garbo to play so quickly after a serious injury. Too bad too cuz he was a key piece in the Raptors team that year.

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