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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

An open letter to Grant Hill

posted by WeRDevos @ 12:10 PM  

22 Comments:

  • At 12:30 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Ya know,grant should,the biggest reason why is b/c he's not getting any younger,and every injury is gonna need more healing time b/c his body isnt going to heal as fast as he keeps ageing,i can remember after grant had a good game against dallas early in the season,i posed the question "but how long will it last" well since that game grants been in and out of the line-up,never playing consistent stretches for the magic,in this game out the next,i'm tired of him holding us back with his salary if he's not gonna play with some injuries,deshawn (knee) and tony (ankle) have been playing with leg problems all season,but grant has a little hernia and only plays 21 games? In the NFL which is a far tougher sport,and much more demanding on the body,players play whole season's with bad hernia's,donavan mcnabb played the whole 2005/2006 season with a hernia,so did steve mcnair,grant though everytime he feels a little pain around the stomach area "has to sit out a game b/c of precaution's",What precaution?,everytime he jumps on a plane to philly they say the same thing,the surjury site looks fine and there is no new injury,you just need rest,well rest on plane flights,rest at home in between games,but getting 16 mill next year means yo ASS needs to be out on that court or retire ASAP if your ass aint gonna play!

     

  • At 2:53 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    I can understand the open letter to Grant Hill and Big Figure's comments about wanting Grant to retire because of all the time he has spent on the bench due to his various injuries. However, Grant is a quality person and a tremendous human being, in addition to being a very talented player. For that reason, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he can come back next season, the final year of his contract.

    Grant has gone through many surgeries and spent countless hours trying to rehabilitate his injuries so that he might be able to play and help the Magic. He could have easily chosen to retire after his surgery in 2003, but he chose to rehabilitate during the entire 2003-04 season so that he could play in 2004-05. And he had a pretty decent season and surprised lots of people.

    I don't think it's fair to Grant to say how could he play only 21 games this season with a "little" hernia. Unless you're actually experiencing the same injury and pain level he is, it's not fair to judge him and say why can't he play more. And to clarify, Donovan McNabb, with his sports hernia, did not play the entire 2005 season. He played in only 9 games, and after re-aggravating the injury in a Monday night game against Dallas, the Eagles decided to shelve him for the final 7 games of the season, and rightfully so. And McNabb is as tough as they come.

    The bottom line is, I'm sure Grant will make a decision that will be best for him and the team, but if he thinks he can recover 100% and be an effective player next season, I am really rooting for him.

     

  • At 4:35 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Rooting doesnt win games,i like grant,but its time,i think grant owe's it too the magic,he should gracefully bow out now,and let us remodel the team around our youth this summer,we could bring in a small forward to compete with hedo & ariza,while drafting a two guard,letting us get comfortable with our young players,and not have to worry about this "in and out shit",thats what hurts us the most,one night he's there one night he isnt,thats hurting this team's ability to ever gain any chemistry,we've given grant 5 season's why does he deserve a 6th? b/c he's a good guy,shit we're gonna give him 16 mill for being a good guy,grants probably done after this season,might as well start looking toward the future,"do the right thing grant","and bow out gracefully so we can finally become a team with fresh young legs that will show up every night"!

     

  • At 7:15 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Look how well Grant played last season when virtually no one gave him a chance of staying healthy: 67 games, and a 19.7 ppg scoring average.

    At least his troublesome ankle is no longer giving him problems. This sports hernia thing came up all of a sudden in training camp and has hampered him all year. He'll have a good six months of rest and rehab, and there's no reason why he can't come back and enjoy a good season next year.

    If he finds that this latest injury will continue to give him problems, then I'm sure he will do the right thing and retire, as I'm sure he realizes that it's not doing the team chemistry any good to be in and out of the lineup.

     

  • At 11:01 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    That's a tough decision for Grant to make. If he feels that he can come back and play the way he is capable of playing, then it would be a shame to force him to retire. The only good thing that may come out of his retirement is that Magic will get his salary off the books one year earlier than expected, but that means the abrupt ending of a player's career that is still fun to watch and has still got a lot to offer. In my view, with a healthy Grant and a good coach next year, Magic would be a tough contender in the east, while without him, with all the youth and all, they will be an average team with patches of offensive futility of the same kind that we are witnessing now. It's a tough call for me too, but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

     

  • At 11:15 PM, Blogger Ken said…

    I guess i'll jump into this and say I wish GHill would give it up and retire also.. Don't get me wrong, we all love Grant. He's a class act and one of the true gentlemen of the game. But holy shit, who ever would have thought he was such a creampuff? Sure he keeps rehabing and wanting to come back, he has 16.9 million reasons to, and honestly, i think he would feel a little guilty if he didn't at least try to come back. The team, the organization, and the fans have been More than patient and fair with Grant. No one will think any less of him for retiring. I know there is a pride factor involved with athletes, but Grant really needs to do the right thing and retire. We have given him 6 years of benifit of doubt. As a player, i say he should retire, but if i were the Magic, I would keep him around the team in some capacity, just for his leadership and guidence abilities.

     

  • At 11:18 PM, Blogger Ken said…

    BTW..... Welcome back Matt..

     

  • At 12:06 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Don't forget, Grant Hill's life was in danger for a brief period of time after his body had that violent reaction a few days following his 2003 surgery. Anybody who would go through something like that and still wants to play basketball is a really special kind of guy.

     

  • At 11:11 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Mike & matt,your hanging on to the thought of a healthy GHill,but will we ever see grant totally free from injury as he keeps ageing is the question you have to start asking yourself as a GM?,there's no positive's from grant sitting on the bench,not one,but there are negative's with grant on this team (financial,player chemistry wise),i dont see how you guys cant see the benefit of grant just retireing now,ask yourself this,is what his game offers at this point in his career,worth the weight that grant holds over this team with all his baggage? NO WAY,we've won three out of the last four without grant,and hedo's played fine! Fact is,i didnt see grant helping detriot to the finals,that happened after he left,IRONIC ISNT IT,and san antone doesnt have a GHILL type player in their line-up either,they have guys that fill roles,like ginobili & bowen (one scores,one defends),so we dont "NEED" GHILL,we have hedo & deshawn (hedo scores,deshawn defends),this would give us an extra year getting this young team on the same page,a whole year next year without dealing with the "in and out bullshit",and i tell you what,if grant comes back next year,and doesnt play more than 65 games,means that grant/supporters just wasted another year of jameer & dwight's career,if grant plays but is again in and out of the line-up,we just wasted a season,at some point we are gonna have to decide whether giving grant our season's is worth what were getting in return,135 games or so in 6 season's,when are you guys gonna give up the dream!

     

  • At 2:38 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Big Figure, I'll give up the dream when Grant decides it's time to hang it up. If he comes back healthy next season, he could play 70+games and average between 16-18 ppg, plus his on-court leadership would be invaluable for the younger players. How could that not help the Magic? I know that's a big "if", but I'm confident that Grant will make the right decision regarding himself and the team, and he deserves the courtesy of making the decision himself, without being "forced" to retire by anyone else.

    By the way, Detroit acquired all the key pieces for their championship team AFTER Grant left; guys like Hamilton, Billups, and both Wallaces. Hill never had a chance to play with those guys when he was with the Pistons.

     

  • At 1:00 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I just say this once again and close the debate... Without Grant, Magic would be an average team next year that would struggle at times to put points on the board, as they they do now. With him healthy and ready to go, Magic would be a tough contender in the east, probably in the top 4 seed. as Mike has mentioned his leadership would help the development of young players, as well. The impact of his in and out situation, in my view, is overblown. There is no empirical evidence to show such effect to the extent that some may claim. If a player is not available, one other player would take his place, as Hedo did for Grant, and played well overall.

     

  • At 10:50 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I'll say this in closing the debate also,i dont agree at all,grant hasnt shown me much worth this season,his leadership is what is overblown,i dont agree that he's SUCH a good infleunce on the team,sure he's a good guy,but so are alot of other NBA players,you guys are making seem as if grant isnt replaceable,your point guard should be your leader anyway,ask any coach,i learned that from a few good one's! We dont need grant,but i wont bitch or complain if come next year he's still giving it a go,b/c team success is the ultimate goal and if he's helping then everything's all good,but let me clear something up,there's no "empirical evidence" is wrong,the evidence is right there,our own GM admitted it in the newspaper,what are you talking about,Otis came out and said "grant in and out of the line-up is hurting the team's ability to gain chemistry",then otis went on to say,"when grant returns we're gonna have to start thinking about bringing him off the bench,so that we can have a starting five that can finally gain some cohesiveness",and thats what we did,grant came off the bench and he had some of his best games in shorter periods but when we needed him the most,through that stretch grant was actually worth something,and it also proved to our GM that the evidence was right there to bench grant for reason's just explained,and futhermore if hedo deosnt injure his ankle,grant's still comeing off the bench which is evidence enough,but i'll leave him alone for now b/c this season's over,and b/c he probably wont play anymore this season anyway,but the evidence IS there,you dont have to take my word for it,just ask otis he made a statement about in the paper,so that must mean it was priority number 1 to stop grant from hurting this team with the "in and out shit",when a GM tells a coach to bring a player off the bench then its serious,and something that isnt helping the team,THE EVIDENCE IS THERE,you can chose to overlook it,but its there!

     

  • At 11:58 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Grant was not worth his salary this season,so i pose this question,how many games will grant have to play next year to be worth his salary of 16 million dollars? I say at least his last year numbers of 60 games,19pts,and an all-star appearance,if we get the same 20 or 30 games again next year,career over,b/c nobody else will take the risk's with grant!

     

  • At 5:35 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    I am not gonna get back into Grant's debate, but I want to clear up something ... if anybody thinks that I give any weight to what Otis Smith or Brian Hill or anybody else from Magic's front office say, he has mistaken me for an impostor under the name of Matt who has no relationship to me, whatsoever.

     

  • At 6:54 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    "give any weight",hahahahahahah,matt thats weak,and realistically you dont have to give any weight to what they say,they actually made the change in the line-up after the statement which makes it fact,nothing to debate,if what is said turns out to be fact then everyone knows the truth,otis recognized that it was effecting the starters ability to know who they'll be playing with on any given night b/c he was a player,if thats changing from night to night you cant gain chemistry,so he made the statement that they were gonna change the starters b/c of not being able to depend on grant as a starter,what weight would you have to give,he can make that decision right along with the coach b/c of grants "in and outness",and in this situation what otis said was truth,b/c after about two game's later grant was hurt again,and now shutting it down for the season possibly,so at least the starters stayed the same and we've won 3 out of 4,thats not something that's made up or opinion,thats fact,it doesnt need you or anyone else to agree or approve,it stands alone all by it self as fact,if grants healthy then fine,but if he aint he needs to shut it down untill completely healthy,not try to play tonight,but then cant go tomorrow,if you dont agree with that then the flipside is him playing injured,and i gaurantee you dont want him to do that!

     

  • At 8:29 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    I was trying to be polite. How about this? I don't give a flying f... what Otis or Hill or morons of that level think or say, and that is not gonna change whether or not they have the ability to make the actual changes.

     

  • At 12:11 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Matt, tell us what you really think of Brian Hill and Otis... you need to express your feelings more strongly. OK, we get the idea, you basically can't stand BHill and Otis. None of us here has a high opinion of BHill, but at least give Otis credit for getting Darko and Carlos Arroyo here, and getting rid of Steve-O and his high salary.

    I think we all agree on one thing: team success is the ultimate goal, as Big Figure said. If Grant can come back next year and is healthy and helps the team, then everything's good (again quoting from Big Figure).

     

  • At 7:47 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Sorry about the outburst ... I am typically more careful in my choice of words. In my book there is no difference between "I don't give any weight" and the other expression. My ideas of incompetence within Magic organization has been strongly stated throughout this blog. These people still have the authority, as limited as it could be, to make decisions and impose changes but that doesn't make those changes acceptable or makes them right.

     

  • At 1:00 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Mike you exactly right,Hahahahahahah,So matt what are you saying,you'd rather grant be playing right now,your comments seem to say that you dont agree with GRANT making the decision not to play,if your mad at someone or wanna throw an outburst at someone be mad at grant,he decided's whether he plays or not,before the game he lets coach hill know if he thinks he can go or not,and the funniest thing about it is,that grant himself agreed with magic management that he needed to give coming off the bench a try,and he did,so anyone that would debate whether he should,is alone in the debate while looking very stupid,b/c the man (grant) himself agreed,i know you dont wanna put yourself in that category matt,b/c i'll stop talking and let you debate with grant himself,b/c its obvious that myself,otis,grant & coaches agree that he should come off the bench while going through this injury if he's trying to play thru it,but if he cant then he needs to shut it down,and sure your right in the fact that just b/c a decision is made doesnt mean its a good one,but in this situation (grants) grant made the decision,only thing otis did was suggest bringing him off the bench if he was going to play,logically thats the right thing to do,you have 5 quality guys (jameer,deshawn,hedo,dwight & battie) that arent going thru injury,DUH,they should be your starters,i dont care how much you like grant,but i wouldnt let nobody mess up what we have going with our starting five,definitely not a injury-prone GHILL!

     

  • At 2:20 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    I think this debate has gone off the track. It started with Grant's retirement, and we all expressed our views. Then came the issue of comments and/or decisions made by Otis or Brian, and I aired my view that I don't give that much of a weight. I don't know how Grant's coming off the bench was brought to the forefront ... I certainly didn't have any recent posting on that matter.

    We all agree to disagree, but there is nothing laughable or stupid about any of the view posted. They are all equally valuable as one's personal opinion.

    By the way, I think incompetence is not an absolute matter, meaning that incompetent people may make the right decisions or initiate the right actions, from time to time.

     

  • At 2:38 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Overall, good debate guys, and nice exchange of opinions. I certainly respect everyone's opinion here, and it's alright that we can agree to disagree.

    Time will tell to see who's right about whether Grant should retire or not.

     

  • At 6:18 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Let me be clear,in a perfect world grant would retire,reason being "in and out" of the line-up for 6 season's,and i had to show you some "empirical evidence" so i started with otis's comments,which is why the management/coaches benching grant got brought up,but its all good,just like mike said good debate!

     

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