Kyrie Irving of Cleveland had a sensational game last night. He has had some niggling injuries and pain, including in his left knee, all during the playoffs but had 8 days off before this game and said he felt "amazing" at the start of the game. Irving fractured his kneecap with two minutes left in overtime. Played 44 minutes, the most he has played during the 'Offs, about as many as it is possible to play even in an overtime game.
David Blatt and the entire "Cadavers" organization are being second-guessed. They are being second-guessed about their medical evaluations of Irving before the game, after the game when a preliminary MRI revealed no ligament tear (So how could they miss a fracture?) and for playing Irving so many minutes in the first game of The Finals. His father was furious that he had been played so many minutes.
Putting myself in Blatt's shoes...there is no way I would have played Irving 44 minutes. Given Irving's pain throughout these playoffs I would have set a minute limit, 30 to 35 at most--no matter how "amazing" he felt--, I would have set that limit before the game so that I would budget his time over the course of the game, so that I didn't lose track of how much he was playing like I lost track of how many timeouts I had not too long ago, so that I wouldn't be tempted to keep playing him under the pressure of in-game decision-making because I suck at that too. I would have known that about myself.
The counter-argument of course is this was The Finals, Cleveland had a chance to win and to win on the road. Gotta go for the win. No. This was the FIRST game, one of a minimum of four, Blatt knew that Irving was going to be damned sore at least for the second game, Sunday, he was not going to be feeling "amazing" on Sunday if he played him 44 minutes Thursday after 8 days off. They lost the game anyway, now they have lost Irving for game two, they have lost him for games 3-7, they have LOST The Finals.
The second-guessing is appropriate.
David Blatt and the entire "Cadavers" organization are being second-guessed. They are being second-guessed about their medical evaluations of Irving before the game, after the game when a preliminary MRI revealed no ligament tear (So how could they miss a fracture?) and for playing Irving so many minutes in the first game of The Finals. His father was furious that he had been played so many minutes.
Putting myself in Blatt's shoes...there is no way I would have played Irving 44 minutes. Given Irving's pain throughout these playoffs I would have set a minute limit, 30 to 35 at most--no matter how "amazing" he felt--, I would have set that limit before the game so that I would budget his time over the course of the game, so that I didn't lose track of how much he was playing like I lost track of how many timeouts I had not too long ago, so that I wouldn't be tempted to keep playing him under the pressure of in-game decision-making because I suck at that too. I would have known that about myself.
The counter-argument of course is this was The Finals, Cleveland had a chance to win and to win on the road. Gotta go for the win. No. This was the FIRST game, one of a minimum of four, Blatt knew that Irving was going to be damned sore at least for the second game, Sunday, he was not going to be feeling "amazing" on Sunday if he played him 44 minutes Thursday after 8 days off. They lost the game anyway, now they have lost Irving for game two, they have lost him for games 3-7, they have LOST The Finals.
The second-guessing is appropriate.
