In Reply to: Maybe he did, I wouldn't know posted by Cachorro on April 02, 2025 at 08:39:12
he went away for the summer, came back later than others and had a foot injury - think it was the foot - that further retarded his game usage and his conditioning. Later on - late in the year iirc - there was another injury that set him back a couple weeks. And late in the year he had that devastating respiratory infection where he missed time and lost a reported 20 pounds.
All that contributed to his widely noted lack of conditioning and endurance. Multiple times he would take himself out of games.
There were also, as you said, times when Cronin appeared to forget about him, times he could have played more minutes.
But I still think - this is my opinion only - the key thing is a player goes away with an agreement in place - for the most money the team is playing anyone - and learns his team - his employer - has just agreed to pay a LOT more to another player. (And we can all disagree about this, he left assured he was the key for next year and that the offense would run through him - as it naturally would with DA and SC at guard and Mara's terrific passing ability - and then stews for a week thinking about this new guy who is ball dominant getting paid significantly more to run the offense.) Anyway, he returns and ups his demands and is met with a very Wooden-like response - "wish you luck with your next program, Aday." (See Bill Walton and the beard to which he had every right - except not on JRW's team at the time.)
I disagree with your implication that Cronin just leet him go. I believe what happened was two-sided and no doubt exacerbated by a negotiation in which Cronin believed they had an agreement and Mara's side believed he was worth more - in terms of money and considerations.
In any negotiation, nothing is final until it is all final and if you focus in on one argument or another it's easy to get bent out of shape. But nothing matters except and until the final agreement.
So I disagree. But I don't think of you as a hater, but rather someone who follows things closely and has strong opinions about stuff. Always read your posts and as the saying goes, if we all agreed on everything, most of us would be simply redundant. Keep on keeping on, Mr C