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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 137466, member: 40"] There's very little in this post that I agree with, Poppy--especially your conclusion. Let me give you an alternative viewpoint based upon first hand observation. When I was back in CNY over the holidays, I had the opportunity to attend the Seton Hall game--the first game I've been able to attend live in about two seasons. Got to the game very early, and went down to the court level to say hello to Mike W. [a softball teammate of my dad's] and watch the team warm up / shoot around. For about 10 straight minutes [no exaggeration], Mookie didn't take a single shot. Instead, he was out defending MCW and Waiters on the perimeter as hard as he could--hand checking, grabbing, being physical, etc. while they tried to get past him into the lane. He was out there making them work hard, simulating the physical defense they might see during the game. I want to be clear that he was playing defense as hard as he could, not just horsing around. It was something we all noticed [and apologies, because my description above probably doesn't do much justice to what Mookie was doing, how hard he was making them work, etc.]. To me, it looked like a kid who has accepted his role--not quit--and who was working hard to get his teammates, who ARE getting PT playing ahead of him by the way, ready to go. I can't speak about it from a first hand perspective having only attended the one game, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that this is a ritual that Mookie does every game with MCW / Waiters, to help his teammates get ready to play. All this talk about Mookie mailing it in is misguided, IMO. Why tear a kid down who seems to be putting the team above his own self interests? Kudos to him for understanding that even practice players can make important [and often unrecognized] contributions. [/QUOTE]

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