First of all, I owe you guys an apology. I got the official statement from Mizzou first and I thought I posted it here, then went to Twitter and Facebook. When I went back to PM on my phone, I hadn't hit post yet. You guys pay, and we always try to give you the news first. Not that five minutes is a big deal, but posting it on social media before I put it on the board was a complete accident.
Now, my thoughts, most of which have been posted in various other threads on the board:
*Not time to panic yet. Most didn't expect him to play tonight. If he doesn't go to Orlando it will be time to worry some. If he isn't playing in a couple tuneups before Braggin' Rights, it will absolutely be time to worry.
*Nobody thinks his season is in jeopardy. The most pessimistic guesses I've gotten are four weeks. Even that puts him back before Illinois and for the full SEC season. Not ideal but not the worst thing that could happen.
*This is really up to the kid. When he feels like he can play, he'll play. I don't believe there's any specific diagnosis of what's wrong. Leg, hip, back, they're all connected. Trust me he's getting treatment and doing everything he can to get better. But he's not gonna play until he thinks he's ready to play.
*If it was serious, then he wouldn't have played in three exhibition games and started against Iowa State. They'd have taken the technical and sat him. No way they think this is long term and play him.
*I had inferred that the head coach might be a little put out by all of this. But I'm told last night by someone who would know better than me that's not the case. There is perhaps a little over the top caution, but it's nothing that people are put out about. "They're okay with it and they think they're going to be really good" is exactly what I was told. Again, I'm sure Cuonzo doesn't love having to wait to play him or answering questions about it every day, but it's not a situation where it's disrupting the team or the locker room at this point.
*I know everybody wants more info. I get it. But Missouri doesn't "owe" us anything. They never do in injury situations. I believe if they knew he was out for a month or something, we'd know that. But I don't think they do. Not at all. I think they're saying day to day because there's not much more they can say. It IS day to day. Who knows which day it will be solved? I get that this is the No. 1 player in the country and all, but someone asked me on Twitter "Would it be this secretive if it was any other player?" My answer was "Would people be asking me every ten minutes if it was every other player?" The answer is no. Plus, I don't think they've been that secretive. They've updated us prior to the game every game so far except Iowa State. And they thought he was playing then. Missouri has been no less specific about Porter than Odom has been about Crockett. Nobody has freaked out about that.
*Last thing, and it relates to the previous one: Sometimes in this business you lose battles to win wars. I'm not gonna bug them every hour for an update. Because then we will lose the ability to get the bigger story at the right time. I know you guys want info. I will give you as much as I can. But I'm going to do it in the right way to assure you get the best info on everything, not just be the first to know if Mike wakes up sore every morning or not.
Now, my thoughts, most of which have been posted in various other threads on the board:
*Not time to panic yet. Most didn't expect him to play tonight. If he doesn't go to Orlando it will be time to worry some. If he isn't playing in a couple tuneups before Braggin' Rights, it will absolutely be time to worry.
*Nobody thinks his season is in jeopardy. The most pessimistic guesses I've gotten are four weeks. Even that puts him back before Illinois and for the full SEC season. Not ideal but not the worst thing that could happen.
*This is really up to the kid. When he feels like he can play, he'll play. I don't believe there's any specific diagnosis of what's wrong. Leg, hip, back, they're all connected. Trust me he's getting treatment and doing everything he can to get better. But he's not gonna play until he thinks he's ready to play.
*If it was serious, then he wouldn't have played in three exhibition games and started against Iowa State. They'd have taken the technical and sat him. No way they think this is long term and play him.
*I had inferred that the head coach might be a little put out by all of this. But I'm told last night by someone who would know better than me that's not the case. There is perhaps a little over the top caution, but it's nothing that people are put out about. "They're okay with it and they think they're going to be really good" is exactly what I was told. Again, I'm sure Cuonzo doesn't love having to wait to play him or answering questions about it every day, but it's not a situation where it's disrupting the team or the locker room at this point.
*I know everybody wants more info. I get it. But Missouri doesn't "owe" us anything. They never do in injury situations. I believe if they knew he was out for a month or something, we'd know that. But I don't think they do. Not at all. I think they're saying day to day because there's not much more they can say. It IS day to day. Who knows which day it will be solved? I get that this is the No. 1 player in the country and all, but someone asked me on Twitter "Would it be this secretive if it was any other player?" My answer was "Would people be asking me every ten minutes if it was every other player?" The answer is no. Plus, I don't think they've been that secretive. They've updated us prior to the game every game so far except Iowa State. And they thought he was playing then. Missouri has been no less specific about Porter than Odom has been about Crockett. Nobody has freaked out about that.
*Last thing, and it relates to the previous one: Sometimes in this business you lose battles to win wars. I'm not gonna bug them every hour for an update. Because then we will lose the ability to get the bigger story at the right time. I know you guys want info. I will give you as much as I can. But I'm going to do it in the right way to assure you get the best info on everything, not just be the first to know if Mike wakes up sore every morning or not.
