Marquis Daniels - injured or just a wimp?

[Max Power]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/10757086.htm

What's wrong with Marquis Daniels' left ankle? Sprained last summer, it still hasn't healed. Daniels was expected to be a starter. Instead, he's on the injured list and, privately, his toughness has been questioned.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...ede.6ecfc.html

Injuries have been bothersome, but not debilitating. Marquis Daniels either has a soft side to him or a very mysterious ankle problem. No question, he can be a key part to second-half success if he's healthy.

BOTH local papers are questioning his toughness.

[V2M]

Injured.

And I think it's silly and unfair to question his toughness after playing through pain and helping us win many games when Fin & Stack were out.

[Max Power]

I tend to agree with you except for the "privately his toughness has been questioned" phrase. That means that SOMEONE in the Mavs organization feels like Daniels should be able to play through the pain.

[Drbio]

Sefko calling out Marquis? Laughable. I'd have to see the diagnosis on the injury to know, but I suspect the "sprain" involves a tear of one of the smaller supporting ligaments. Possibly even a tendon sheath injury. Both would likely sideline Quis for a couple of months.

Just my educated 2 cents.

[jacktruth]

Remember also that AP writers generally source eachother. It is the great credibility mystery of our time.

[birdsanctuary]

It's strange to think that Daniels would be labeled "soft" or a "wimp" given Damp's prior reputation for this very same thing a year ago. Damp's played injured, and played through the pain. I no longer put him in that category, Daniels on the other hand is a bit of an enigma.

He did just sign a lucrative contract for an undrafted player, and I am not totally convinced that he isn't milking out this injury for more than it's worth.


<u>Assessment</u>
Innocent until proven guilty, INJURED!

[Poindexter Einstein]

"privately his toughness has been questioned" ....... I find it revealing to look at what is NOT said, and the timing. It does not say that anyone in the <u>Mavs organization </u> is questioning Daniels. If it was someone among the Mavs, it would have said so. The wording is going to make it as credible as they can. So it must be someone NOT in the Mavs hierarchy.

The timing? It is the same as the airing of Sefko's musings.

Logical Conclusion: Sefko and Garcia were at a practice or at a pregame meal, and Sefko (failing to understand that "sprains" can take months to heal rather than days) said aloud, "I wonder if Daniels is just a slacker. What can the injury be? Why isnt it healing? This injury thing has taken forever." Then Garcia writes accurately that someone (Sefko) in private (a casual conversation) is questioning Daniels' toughness.

Note that the "source" could be some writer other than Sefko - although, the fact that Sefko muses aloud that Daniels might be "soft" points pretty strongly to Sefko as the source of such nonsense.

It is frustrating not to know "why" - and even more so when you are a reporter who is supposed to be in the know. So at some point, it is predictable that the long-running injury would lead to bits of impatient sniping from the regular beat reporters who are anxious to be the first to say "Marquis is coming back today!" and havent been able to do so.

[Just211]

with the fact that he'll have to fight for minutes, why would he volunteer to handicap himself by not playing. Especially while Jho has been down. that would have been a perfect oppurtunity to jump in and steal some PT and re-earn his keep. Clearly the Mavs are being careful with him because they know they are locked in the 4/5 spot of the playoffs, and want to go in completely healthy, and ready to battle out a hard fought 1st round. Plus he tried to tough it out, and was clearly not healthy enough.

[Rhylan]

I think it's probably just a case of follow the leader with the papers, here... however, at some point you do have to wonder, when you don't hear anyone saying anything ABOUT the nature of the actual injury. You really never heard anything at all, after it happened, to indicate that it would be this severe. Held him out of training camp, then suddenly he's starting on opening night.. this whole ordeal has been very weird.

[grndmstr_c]

Seems to me the best test will be how he plays when he does come back. If he shows signs of regaining his form from the end of last year I'd say you have to give him the benefit of the doubt concerning the injury.

[dude1394]

Actually I heard the same thing from ben and skin about a month ago. That some in the organization were wondering about this.

[Shooter]

Half of this mysterious comment is probably attributed to Avery mentioning something much more watered down than Sefko's original remark because Avery needs Daniels back to stop our recent bleeding.

The other half of this comment is attributed to Sefko being a hack and a weasel.

Did anyone happen to notice some negativity coming from Sefko directed at Dirk recently, as well? First there was that "flopper" piece that was just a joke. Then recently the weirdest thing happened; Sefko put up a piece that had Dirk quoted as saying that he "made some retarded move" when he sprained his ankle. And the title of the piece was something like: "Dirk makes not-so-smooth move". It clearly seemed like a setup by Sefko to make Dirk look bad using that "retard" quote. Then it got even weirder.. because about 5 minutes later that "retard" line was totally edited out.

[capitalcity]

Originally posted by: Max Power
BOTH local papers are questioning his toughness.

How many softies d'yall know with tattoos on their neck?

[Don_Didi]

Need I remind anybody that both papers are, more often than not, full of shit? Especially the Morning News, which has built up quite a bit of consistency on that front.

[Ninkobei]

The thought crossed my mind as well, but I agree with Grndmstr: " Seems to me the best test will be how he plays when he does come back. If he shows signs of regaining his form from the end of last year I'd say you have to give him the benefit of the doubt concerning the injury. "

The only way to disprove his 'softness' is for him to come back and finish the season healthy - barring another injury. At the same time you can't label him soft because there isn't enough evidence.

[dirno2000]

Maybe Sefko heard this, maybe he’s just making it up but the question of his toughness has probably crossed the mind of everyone in the organization from player to front office.

I know from personal experience that the effects of a badly sprained ankle can linger for months. That being said, at this point in the season half the league is nicked up. A pro athlete in any sport has to be able to play through pain and still compete at a high level. In his younger days, Fin played damn near a full season with plantar fasciitis.

Also, when Marquis played, he didn’t look that bad. He my not have been 100%, but he was still able to consistently beat his man and get to the lane, as evidenced by his 46% fg%. First game against Sac, he blew by Evans and dunked in traffic.

You just hate to have a player at this stage in his career develop the mindset that he can’t go unless he’s 100%. Add to that the fact that he now has more money that he’s ever had and 5 years of security and who knows how he’s going to react? It’s still a little early to make a judgment call on his toughness, but it’s a legitimate question and one that’s probably been raised.

[Bayliss]

You just hate to have a player at this stage in his career develop the mindset that he can’t go unless he’s 100%.

I agree 100%. A pro athlete has got to have that "Rudy" mentality. Even when you fall on your face and are hurting lunbelievable, you get up and say: "I can go coach." That is another thing that separates good players from great players too. Larry Bird came back into the game after a concussion. Isiah Thomas played on perhaps an ankle sprain that is affecting Marquis right now. Willis Reed...

[shaw-xx]

Originally posted by: grndmstr_c
Seems to me the best test will be how he plays when he does come back. If he shows signs of regaining his form from the end of last year I'd say you have to give him the benefit of the doubt concerning the injury.

Agreed.

But I feel bad with the doubt because I'm just happy with his coming back.

[endtroducing]

his ankle swole so severely that he couldn't run on successive days...I think that's reason enough

[capitalcity]

Originally posted by: endtroducing
his ankle swole so severely that he couldn't run on successive days...I think that's reason enough

wondering when you would chime in -

How closely did you follow Marquis during college? Did he have any nagging injuries? Ankle, foot, knee problems?

[EricaLubarsky]

I certainly think a lot of people will be surprised by Marquis Daniels and Michael Finley when they get their games back together. They both have a lot more than people think they do right now.

And Booth will have a few surprising games too.

[grndmstr_c]

And Booth will have a few surprising games too.

I really hope so. He's become quite the forgotten man on the roster, but the team will be better off if/when he manages to show the coaching staff enough to convince them to start giving him the minutes alongside Dirk that Henderson is currently getting. I reallly think the Mavs need a third CENTER (not PF) they can go to when Damp's resting/in foul trouble and the matchups are keeping Shawn on the bench.

[EricaLubarsky]

Booth looked pretty good against Duncan, and pretty much useless against Yao's physical play (and basically every other time I've seen him this year). I'd love to see a cross matchup of Dirk/Nestie and Booth/Duncan to see if it would work.

I saw his 10 block game last year and a couple of 3,4 and 5 block games so I'm probably a little higher on him than most although he hasnt shown much of anything this year

[dude1394]

Originally posted by: capitalcity

wondering when you would chime in -

How closely did you follow Marquis during college? Did he have any nagging injuries? Ankle, foot, knee problems?

I read that this was the very first time he had been injured. Hard to believe a guy could play ball for so long without spraining an ankle, but that's what they said, maybe only small ones.

[endtroducing]

he was never injured...quite amazing, because he would often go the full 40. the only real problem he ever had was losing his legs late in the game, which was understandable...he'd usually play minutes at C, PG, and SG.

funny how he took the team to the sweet 16, and once he graduated we didn't even come close to making the tournament.

[Don_Didi]

Marquis played center at Auburn? Sheesh, they must've been desperate. All props to him though.

[endtroducing]

yes, we had very poor coaching. Marquis was the designated guy at virtually every position when we had foul trouble, or they needed rest.

he played a lot of center against Wake in the tournament, because if I remember right, Kyle Davis was sick...and against Syracuse, he outperformed Carmelo. still don't know how Ebi gets drafted and he doesn't.

[bernardos70]

Marquis kept on grimmacing during the games earlier this year. Sometimes it seemed like it bothered him so much he had some crapper games. I think his effectiveness would continue to dwindle down until he got some rest. If he's out there hurt, he may hurt us in the game. Having said that I am looking for him to once again become the triple double threat he was last year when Nash was out.

[Don_Didi]

If Marquis is fit, he's a true asset. Not just another scoring threat to get some minutes off of our beleaguered swingmen, but he can D it up as well. If he and Josh can get healthy, an dplay 100%, we can put some pretty scary defensive lineups on the floor.

[DubOverdose]

I doubt anyone is questioning his toughness considering Nelson and Co. said he would have as much time as he needed to get better.