Iverson will do 'whatever it takes'

We can but I don't know if anyone else has.

I don't even know if you have.

What happened to allusions to quotes from the Georgetown doctors?

We wouldn't even be discussing one right now without the other in all likelihood, especially in light of Chris McCosky's direct correlations, however faulty they may be.

Have there been actual quotes from players saying that they hadn't heard from or seen Iverson for weeks??? I may be mistaken, but I don't really remember anything like that. For the most part it seemed like the whole organzation was just "playing" dumb for the reason of not really wanting to talk much about it .

I find it hard to believe that once Iverson hurt his back he just vanished and the coaching staff, trainers, management players, etc.. never heard from him again. There is no way AI could get away with that. I'm sure one of the players hit AI at some point on his cell phone during his absence. Did Ai just ignore their texts/calls?? Unless you actually know every conversation AI had while he was out I don't know how you could assume he wasn't supporting his teammates. Just because he wasn't on the bench (which he shouldn't have been with a bad back).

He obviously had enough contact to organise a night out with Sheed...

Isn't that what McClonsky is doing here? I don't see him focusing on the injury but the secret manner that is was handled here.

Ernie that quote looks to me to be saying it was secret because it was fake

He would have surely been fined.


Good point.

The Pistons didn't and haven't had problems getting information out when Rip and Sheed were hurt. They were around is some way, shape or form while they were hurt. This isn't about AI not sitting on the bench.

AI was said to be texting with MC while he was out. (Do I need to actually see the texts to believe this?) You (Not you individually) mean to tell me that if AI is receiving outside treatment that he had no face to face contact with the team in that time? This was reported by DetNews, Free Press & MLive.

I think the point of this piece is McClonskey's reaction to AI coming out and saying, 'How dare anyone question me'. He is saying that none of this would have happened if AI had said what he said Sunday night when he got back from the G-Town doctors instead of going away from the team doctors without notifying the team and then disappearing.

Back injury vs. Groin/Calf injury.

one of them is substantially harder to nail down than the others due to the location of the injury in question.

We're talking about strictly muscle tears vs. what could be an issue with one or many of ligaments,nerves,muscles,tendons, or the spine itself.

Even in this day and age it's a guessing game, one in which the wrong guess could result in a lifetime disability. It's a far cry from the land of groin and calf muscle strains.

It is not the type of injury that is the issue. It is not a matter of saying player X will be back in 10 days and then they come back in 20.

The problem is the team had updates and estimates for 2 of the 3 players. The media had quotes from 2 of the 3 players at the practice facility about their injury and 2 of the 3 players were seen on TV while they were out.

One player had the teams color commentary man say about his absence,

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Yes, folks are wondering what is going on with Sheed's injury, but no one is really doubting if he quit on the team because he has been around and is behaving like every other Piston (minus one) who has been hurt over the years.

When Billups got hurt in the playoffs last year Arnie Kander said he was good enough to play 2 games before he came back. During that time Billups spoke about his injury and said he couldn't play. People were speculating that CB was soft, but no one was wondering if he quit or there was something else going on.

Again, this has nothing to do with how difficult it is to determine back injuries versus groin pulls. It is everything that happens after that.

But it is the type of injury that is the issue.

This injury is not straightforward in any sense, be it recovery timetable or best treatment options, due to the high amibiguity of the nature and extent of injury involved.

Back injuries are not muscle strains. There are many more factors involved and it's next to impossible to pin them down with any sort of certainty.

You want to see more quotes of people saying "I don't know", without taking into account a medical professional's natural predilection towards avoiding those three words.

Yes it does.

The determination of severity, specificity, best method of treatment, and timetable for return are far,far, more difficult in contrast.

It's a concept that is extremely difficult to grasp unless you have been firmly embedded in either end of the diagnostic spectrum.

C'mon. If every 3 days there was a quote from AI that said what's below without specifying what was wrong with his back none (or at least most) of this would have happened. If he said, 'I don't know what is wrong, I'll be back when I can run and move without pain........', all (or most) would be good.

Him disappearing and being absent from the team along with his past refusal to come off the bench is what brought this on and allows doubt to be cast.

Him disappearing (not sure this actually happened, was it only a media disappearance?) or not saying anything to the media might well be to do with the benching, maybe he wasn't ready to talk to the media about it, which is different from saying that he wasn't injured and was just refusing to play.

The other benching and this are two different situations, one is for the good of the team, and even if AI doesn't agree with it (he would think its better for the team if he starts), he must be able to see the other side of the argument. The Philly benching was in not for the good of the team, and furthermore, it wasn't even a punishment, it was just a coach trying to throw his weight around

Good point. That's an important distinction.

Ernie...that's a good quote from Kelser.