Now that Finley is back, Daniels should rest...

[rabbitproof]

Since Daniels is still hurt and only playing at half-speed, he should sit and let the ankle recover fully. With DA onboard, Daniels should be relieved of his 1 duties, and our 2/3 depth is suppose to be the deepest part of our team, so let Daniels get healthy - especially with a light schedule coming up. I really hope he is atleast at a point where he can play without doing more damage to his ankle.

If his injury is the type that won't get better with rest, then play through but from what I understand the best perscription for ankle sprains is rest.

[dude1394]

Well he rested a whole month in the summer. You want to inactivate him for the year?

[sike]

Originally posted by: dude1394
Well he rested a whole month in the summer. You want to inactivate him for the year?

so harsh....and callous.....and right.

[rabbitproof]

Disagree.

What does a half-speed Daniels bring that Howard, Finley, Stackhouse, et al. can't bring?

What does a full-speed Daniels bring that those guys can't bring? The Daniels we're seeing today is night-n-day from the Daniels of last April. If he can get healthy with the rest, this is absoloutely the time to do it.

[dude1394]

Disagree about what? It was a question, how long do you want to have him out? He has already been out for a month during preseason. You want to have him just sit for the year?

[V2M]

Don't know much about ankle sprains but if rest is gonna' make him better, then we can certainly afford to rest him now that Fin is back. I wish Sefko, Moore or Garcia would research on it (talk to team doctors, etc.) and let us know exactly what's going on with his ankle.

[rabbitproof]

If it takes him the year to get healthy, it's not an ankle sprain.

I would rest him until he's healthy or until we need an injured Daniels playing to win - whichever comes first.

[EricaLubarsky]

not much of a discussion here. Daniels should get healthy for the second half of the season. If that means fewer minutes, a couple of games off, or a few weeks on the IR, then give it to him as long as we don't need him. As for need, unless two or more of the other swingmen get injured, we won't need him

[endtroducing]

that was one the most idiotic things I have ever seen here. we won't need Daniels?

[FilthyFinMavs]

Well we really don't need Daniels. With all the swingman we have when healthy he's definately a luxury and a great luxury at that. Not saying we don't need his contributions because we need all the firepower we can get right now but if we are in the playoffs and suddenly Daniels gets hurt who here is going to scream we don't have a chance to win a game in the playoffs? Like I said we definately can use Daniels and when healthy he's a great player but he's also a luxury. So no I wouldn't say that's one of the most idiotic things said on this board.

[V2M]

Originally posted by: endtroducing
that was one the most idiotic things I have ever seen here. we won't need Daniels?

What's so idiotic about it? Daniels plays 2 and occassionally slides to 3 or 1. We have Fin, Stack, Terry, DA, JHo and if needed Harris manning those positions. Why do we need Daniels on 1 leg playing any time at all? Let him rest, get healthy and hopefully by all-star game he'd return to his old form. We need Daniels but a healthy Daniels and not Daniels on 1 leg, is the point.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally posted by: endtroducing
that was one the most idiotic things I have ever seen here. we won't need Daniels?

explain to me how we need Daniels and why my last post was "idiotic". If possible, give evidence to why my post was so idiotic that it ranked in the opper echelon of idiotic posts on D-M.com

[dirno2000]

Originally posted by: EricaLubarsky

explain to me how we need Daniels and why my last post was "idiotic". If possible, give evidence to why my post was so idiotic that it ranked in the opper echelon of idiotic posts on D-M.com

It was idotic becaue Daniels went to Auburn...

[u2sarajevo]

Erica.... have you not noticed? It's apparently en vogue to exclaim something the most "idiotic" thing ever seen on D-M.com. All the hip people are doing it.

If one of my posts was exclaimed the most "idiotic" like so many posts have been recently, I would consider it an honor.

[endtroducing]

it was idiotic because Daniels is really our only consistant scoring option other than Dirk and Finley. Stackhouse throws up bricks, and Howard is off and on at the drop of the hat. Stackhouse likes to run the entire offense through himself, and Howard isn't near the slasher or scorer Marquis is...of course we need Daniels. can anyone besides Daniels on the team make the cuts inside like he can?

I agree that he shouldn't play hurt...but Erica said we don't 'need' him altogether. and that's absurd.

and yeah, dirno. real cute comment.

[MavsFanFinley]

Finley learns from painful past

By Art Garcia
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

CHICAGO - It took being injured for a good chunk of the previous three seasons for Michael Finley to figure it out. A painful lesson to learn, yes, but one he learned nonetheless.

If you get hurt, make sure you don't come back hurt. Finley has done that before, rushing back from hamstring, toe and calf injuries, and it hasn't worked out well for himself or the Mavericks.

So when Finley suffered a third-degree right ankle sprain Nov. 9 at Orlando, he vowed not to return to the court until he was ready. The one-time iron man has already missed more games this season (15) than in any of the past three seasons.

And that's fine with him.

"The first time I got injured [in the NBA] was the first time in my career I've ever been injured, so I didn't know to react," Finley said Sunday. "I'd never been injured, so my first reaction was as soon as I feel a little better, I'm coming back. At that point, I wasn't ready, and it set me back.

"The other injuries were the same thing, so, with this one, I learned from it and was just waiting until I felt 100 percent confident, both physically and mentally."

The wait seems worth it. Finley returned to the starting lineup Thursday against Seattle and scored 19 points in 36 minutes, although he missed a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of the loss.

He trumped that better-than-expected performance with a season-high 26 points in Saturday's romp at Houston. Finley didn't miss many open looks against the Rockets, draining 10 of 17 from the field, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

"He actually surprised me," said teammate Dirk Nowitzki. "He was out for a month and is looking real sharp. He's being aggressive offensively, and his shot is looking good."

Finley makes his third start since coming off the injured list tonight in his hometown, hoping to run the Mavs' streak against the Chicago Bulls to 13 consecutive wins.

Finley didn't rush back to the lineup to suit up for family and friends. When Finley says he's never been injured, he means he's never been injured. Not in high school. Not in college. Not his first six years in the NBA.

"I was blessed to have my first injury late in my career, but I didn't know how to react," Finley said of the left hamstring he strained during the 2001-02 season. "I didn't know how to react to rehab. I just wanted to get back out there and play."

Mavs coach Don Nelson doesn't put pressure on players to hurry through rehab, and Finley was no different. Finley worked out a rehab regimen with the Mavs' training and conditioning staff of Casey Smith, Dionne Calhoun and Robert Hackett.

"Mike has taken ample time to come back to where he feels 100 percent," Nelson said, "He was able to have a couple weeks of doing stuff on the court, and hasn't had that normal week where he doesn't play well."

It's not all the way there, Finley said, but it's better than before.

"I'm still trying to catch the flow," Finley said. "I still see myself a half-step slow on a couple things, whether it's offense or defense. But that's going to come. It's going to come with more games, more times practicing, but it's still the game of basketball.

"Fortunately, for me, I know Nellie's system, so I didn't have to be at every practice or every meeting to know what we're doing on the court."

[EricaLubarsky]

Erica said we don't 'need' him altogether. and that's absurd.

necessity is a funny thing. We are above .500 and Finley is coming back strong. I dont think we need Daniels and I dont think that it is absurd to think that Daniels could take a few games off without this team crumbling apart.