Calling Guys Out In The Media

[Celtics4ever]

On Covid, new news

In a yearlong study of 621 people in the U.K. with mild Covid-19, scientists found that their peak viral load was similar regardless of vaccination status, according to a paper published Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal. The analysis also found that 25% of vaccinated household contacts still contracted the disease from an index case, while 38% of those who hadn’t had shots became infected.

“Our findings show that vaccination alone is not enough to prevent people from being infected with the delta variant and spreading it in household settings,” said Ajit Lalvani, a professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College London who co-led the study. “The ongoing transmission we are seeing between vaccinated people makes it essential for unvaccinated people to get vaccinated to protect themselves.”

Vaccination was found to reduce household transmission of the alpha variant -- first discovered in the U.K. in late 2020 -- by between 40% and 50%, and infected vaccinated individuals had a lower viral load in the upper respiratory tract than those who hadn’t had shots. The delta variant has been the dominant strain globally for some time, however.

The research also showed that immunity from full vaccination waned in as little as three months. The authors said there wasn’t enough data to advise on whether this should lead to a change in the U.K.’s booster policy, where third doses are currently being offered to older and more vulnerable people six months after their second shot.

Six months was an arbitrary time period chosen following early data from Israel on the effectiveness of boosters, but there is no reason to believe they would be less effective if given earlier, said Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London and investigator on the study, at a press briefing Thursday.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/getting-vaccinated-doesn-t-stop-people-from-spreading-delta

So vaccine helps some but it is not a panaceas or even a vaccine in terms of what we were able to do with stuff like Smallpox or Polio.    Pitting the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated is just dumb.   When has this ever won over someone to take something ever?  Pres. Biden is clearly wrong when he said this is pandemic of the unvaccinated and data refutes that.    The key will be how quickly can they come up effective vaccines for the mutated variants.   To my knowledge this was not done at all with Delta.  Given how badly they guess at flu strains every year I am not optimistic.

Also to  think these guys won't have some post Covid malaise is folly.  Tatum was not himself for a month or two.   Some do and some people do not.   But Brown and Al just got over it, Al seems more himself than Jaylen.   

Like, I said I appreciate the honesty of Udoka, but 5 games in is a little early to be tossing guys under the bus.    I think Ime cost us two games with his coaching and the small ball lineups but he learned from this and adapted and does not do it anymore.   I wish he would be more open to trying guys in different roles.   I simply do not see us making a title run,  I hope I am wrong and it is early, so developing guys is very important this year.  Free Nesmith let him play some and experiment with lineups now.   I would like to see Bruno out there on nights we are getting killed on the boards. 

Stevens I think did a good job at balancing the roster with the assets he had given to him and improving the talent but it is a work in progress.   

[Mahk E Mahk]

ime is playing with fire by criticizing top players publicly, so early in his tenure. ime doesn’t have the credibility as a coach or a former player to immediately utilize public criticism via the press. he does risk alienating himself and creating a level of distrust with his players.

giving him the benefit of the doubt, it’s very possible ime wasn’t ready for the press questions as a rookie head coach and just answered truthfully with no real agenda. he’ll learn to manage the press over time.

bottom line: if he wants to hold players accountable, sit them.
 

[Amonkey]

I think it's still too early to tell whether this strategy will work or not in the NBA but one thing I noticed from one of the radio interview from the other day is how much he talked badly about the team last year. I thought it was interesting how he talked about breaking bad habits, some of the old habits coming back, and all that. It's especially interesting considering that his current boss, Brad, was at the helm when all of this is happening.

It does sound like he's talking like they're kids but then again, the next game will tell the story of whether it's effective or not.

[Moranis]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32503938/boston-celtics-jaylen-brown-says-body-felt-same-having-covid-19

"I think so," Brown said after Boston's practice Friday, when asked if he's still recovering from COVID-19, for which he tested positive earlier this month. "I've noticed in the last couple of days -- what, four games for me now? -- my body hasn't recovered the same in a sense. I'm talking to our medical staff about that.

"Like, I feel great. And then it feels like instead of playing one game, it kind of feels like I played three. I'm used to my body responding and recovering a lot faster. I know I just turned 25, but this can't be what it looks like on the other side."

"As I continue to fight through it and continue to play more games and get the right stuff into my system, it will get better," Brown said. "Right now it has been inconsistent. I think that's obvious. But my body hasn't felt the same."

"Ime came and talked to me about it yesterday," Brown said. "It didn't bother me. It's mind-boggling to me too. I was surprised that my body didn't respond the way it normally responds. I'm usually able to have that zip, that pop, flying up and down the court, but it wasn't there. I think that was obvious.

"I don't think he was out of line or anything for that. I gotta be better and get with my medical staff and figure how to get my body to the point where I feel normal. Some days I feel fantastic and then it's like two, three days, it takes my body too long to feel fantastic again. That's an issue for me. As I navigate that, we have to still tighten up on the details, tighten up on our defense and find a way to win games. Even though I don't feel the same on the court, I could still be better in certain areas and detailed in certain areas. That's more the conversation that we have."

Maybe Ime should keep his trap shut and not criticize the medical conditions of his players especially when he knows of the medical condition.  Super poor form even Jaylen says he is fine with it.

[Roy H.]

^ I basically agree. We will see if this becomes a thing as the season goes on, but obviously the “mind-boggling” comment got back to JB.  He now has to answer questions about it, and it snowballs into a distraction.  A minor distraction at this point, but still an unnecessary one.

If you are going to criticize a player, that is completely cool to me. Just do it face-to-face, and let the guy respond if there is a legit reason.

[Ogaju]

I'm not trying to take this conversation off-topic, but do we actually know Jaylen's vaccination status? It is odd that he actually got sick and wasn't just asymptomatic. All I saw was this:

"I have my own thoughts about it. I respect my teammate's decisions and things like that. I know everybody has their own opinion on it. I think it's a personal choice."

You'd think if he was definitely vaccinated, he would have said as much. If not, perhaps Ime is a little annoyed at Jaylen specifically for not taking the necessary (and expected) precautions and feels he let down the team by having to quarantine and then come back slowly.

I realize the post probably is extremely bizarre looking to some folks. If somebody has confirmation of Jaylen actually getting the vaccine, please do post it, so I'm not out here posting conspiracy theory stuff. It's just that we see (and are reveling in) all of the criticism a guy like Kyrie is getting for his stand, but this thing with Jaylen mostly went unchecked.

Jaylen played in NY. I don't think he'd would have been allowed if he wasn't vaccinated.

Yes he would have. The NY rule does not apply to visiting players. Weird.

[Somebody]

Bad form. Should be kept to the locker room.

The occassional public put-down is okay so long as it is infrequent but regular use of this tactic usually leads to bad results. Not liking how quickly Udoka has gone to this or how frequently he has used this tactic over his first 2-3 weeks. Bad signal of man mangement skills.

It is easy to be a good man-manager as an assistant. Nobody gets mad at you about playing time. You get to play the good guy / the friend / the confidante. Lots of assistants play this up to get in good with players to boost their head coach opportunities too (which is pretty sick, often stabbing their boss in the back while they do it).

Now Udoka's man management skills are being tested in a more comprehensive way (as head coach) and the initial results (public shamings, lack of effort displays) are troubling.

And to think that we hired him because of his man management skills and vibes...

[colincb]

^ I basically agree. We will see if this becomes a thing as the season goes on, but obviously the “mind-boggling” comment got back to JB.  He now has to answer questions about it, and it snowballs into a distraction.  A minor distraction at this point, but still an unnecessary one.

If you are going to criticize a player, that is completely cool to me. Just do it face-to-face, and let the guy respond if there is a legit reason.

Criticize in private, praise in public. Management 101.

[nickagneta]

Mind boggling is going public about the effort a player is giving you when you know he is still recovering from Covid and is having recuperation problems post Covid. The medical staff is involved. Ime knew all this and yet seemed to have no issue going public with an effort/preparation comment.

I am not a fan of coaches calling out specific players publicly. I love Belichick's approach. Deflect or ignore criticism publicly on specific players but state the things the team needs to do better and state you, the coach, has to do a better job preparing and coaching the players. It's not a he thing, it's a we thing. I would prefer if Udoka goes in that direction.

Also, maybe all those in some corners giving grief to Brown about effort will rethink that position given we now know it's a medical issue, one the medical staff knows about, and not lack of desire to give it his all.

TPs to those above with similar stands.

[liam]

Mind boggling is going public about the effort a player is giving you when you know he is still recovering from Covid and is having recuperation problems post Covid. The medical staff is involved. Ime knew all this and yet seemed to have no issue going public with an effort/preparation comment.

I am not a fan of coaches calling out specific players publicly. I love Belichick's approach. Deflect or ignore criticism publicly on specific players but state the things the team needs to do better and state you, the coach, has to do a better job preparing and coaching the players. It's not a he thing, it's a we thing. I would prefer if Udoka goes in that direction.

Also, maybe all those in some corners giving grief to Brown about effort will rethink that position given we now know it's a medical issue, one the medical staff knows about, and not lack of desire to give it his all.

TPs to those above with similar stands.

Playing a player 46 minutes when he's been off for two weeks and expecting it to have no effect and then calling out a player publicly. Is weak. Also, you're the coach Ime you control the minutes so if players just keep playing without effort it's on you. What Doc did with PP should be a road map.

[nickagneta]

Mind boggling is going public about the effort a player is giving you when you know he is still recovering from Covid and is having recuperation problems post Covid. The medical staff is involved. Ime knew all this and yet seemed to have no issue going public with an effort/preparation comment.

I am not a fan of coaches calling out specific players publicly. I love Belichick's approach. Deflect or ignore criticism publicly on specific players but state the things the team needs to do better and state you, the coach, has to do a better job preparing and coaching the players. It's not a he thing, it's a we thing. I would prefer if Udoka goes in that direction.

Also, maybe all those in some corners giving grief to Brown about effort will rethink that position given we now know it's a medical issue, one the medical staff knows about, and not lack of desire to give it his all.

TPs to those above with similar stands.

Playing a player 46 minutes when he's been off for two weeks and expecting it to have no effect and then calling out a player publicly. Is weak. Also, you're the coach Ime you control the minutes so if players just keep playing without effort it's on you. What Doc did with PP should be a road map.

Yeah, it is pretty weak, but a first time head coach makes mistakes. I hope Udoka learns from this one and it's just a one time thing and not an instrument he uses as a coach to "motivate" his players regularly. 

[liam]

Mind boggling is going public about the effort a player is giving you when you know he is still recovering from Covid and is having recuperation problems post Covid. The medical staff is involved. Ime knew all this and yet seemed to have no issue going public with an effort/preparation comment.

I am not a fan of coaches calling out specific players publicly. I love Belichick's approach. Deflect or ignore criticism publicly on specific players but state the things the team needs to do better and state you, the coach, has to do a better job preparing and coaching the players. It's not a he thing, it's a we thing. I would prefer if Udoka goes in that direction.

Also, maybe all those in some corners giving grief to Brown about effort will rethink that position given we now know it's a medical issue, one the medical staff knows about, and not lack of desire to give it his all.

TPs to those above with similar stands.

Playing a player 46 minutes when he's been off for two weeks and expecting it to have no effect and then calling out a player publicly. Is weak. Also, you're the coach Ime you control the minutes so if players just keep playing without effort it's on you. What Doc did with PP should be a road map.

Yeah, it is pretty weak, but a first time head coach makes mistakes. I hope Udoka learns from this one and it's just a one time thing and not an instrument he uses as a coach to "motivate" his players regularly.

Agreed. He looked very overwhelmed. I wish he had some tough old vet head coach as his top assistant.

[Ogaju]

looks like a consensus is forming that the Cs coach needs some OJT.

[Kiorrik]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SblWHQzSZpg

Brown's not making a big deal out of being called out.

Idk. Maybe we shouldn't read into it too much either.

Also, maybe Ime had these conversations with Brown first. That'd make it a bit different too, talking about it in public as well.

[makaveli]

I’m wondering whether some of the players are thinking: you know who else should be held accountable? The guy who has us switching everything, and who’s playing lineups where the tallest guy is 6’4”. Maybe I should talk about that next time I’m at a mic.

My thoughts exactly