Over the last few weeks we have been told by the Los Angeles Lakers that their All-Star big man Pau Gasol was on the verge of returning to playing in the NBA; only to be told days later that the veteran could be out until Christmas. The latest report from the “Orange County Register” is that Gasol most likely will be making his season debut Thursday night as his team hosts the Chicago Bulls.
Gasol missed the last six preseason games as well as the first 11 games of the regular season after suffering a strained right hamstring. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson told reporters earlier this month “I find that hard to believe, that it’s gone backwards. … Right now, he’s capable of doing only so much and nothing else. We’re starting to look toward Christmas, though. Some time out there.”
Jackson said that the injury to his veteran big man was perplexing. The Lakers coach said “Yeah, because with most hamstrings you see bleeding or bruises or holes in the hamstring. His has been one of those things wasn’t a big concern to us, but has turned into a month-long injury. But it is mysterious, no doubt about it.”
Apparently those comments by Coach Zen were made sarcastically. It seems that Jackson thinks that Gasol is a “Frickin Sissy Boy” because it has taken him so long to return from the hamstring injury. According to the paper the coach asked his big man to play Tuesday night but said he was not ready yet.
New York Vinnie has written this before; there is no Frickin connection with your pain threshold and how much of a man you are. People have different limits; it has nothing at all about being tough. New York Vinnie had always thought Gasol was soft until this past NBA Finals when we watched him go up against the best center in the current age Dwight Howard. After seeing the way Gasol rose to that occasion it convinced New York Vinnie that Pau Gasol is certainly not soft.
When it comes to a hamstring injury better to wait a day too long than to start a day too early. You rush back and you only make things Frickin worse. We shall see if Gasol is on the floor or not Thursday; if he is New York Vinnie hopes that it was because he felt ready not because he was shamed into it.
