Boozer said turf toe affects him 'a lot'

[Scoot26]

CHICAGO -- Carlos Boozer only had to spit out two words to get his point across.

"How much is your toe affecting your lift?" Boozer was asked after scoring just eight points in Wednesday night's 86-73 win over the Atlanta Hawks that evened the series at 1-1.

"A lot," he said.

Yes, Boozer had 11 rebounds in the game, but he looked like a shell of the player he was earlier in the season. He had no lift and is now dealing with something else he didn't have to worry about during the year: boos from the United Center crowd.

Through it all, Boozer continued to put on a positive face. He doesn't want to sit because he still believes he can help his team. Many will argue that Boozer isn't helping his team nearly as much as Taj Gibson is, but his teammates don't care what the fans think in this case. They're glad Boozer is still out there and trying to play through it all.

"It's definitely painful," Bulls guard Ronnie Brewer said of the injury. "If you've played the game, if you've played any sport, you know how painful something as small as turf toe is. It allows you to move, it allows you get your lift. But anything that he goes up there and gives us is a positive. He could be sitting out with an injury, but he's out there fighting it, toughing it out, and I think he played really well for us."

The sentiment was the same throughout the Bulls locker room.

"I know I've had the turf toe [injury] before, it's tough. It's a tough injury," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "We all know he's having a tough time with it, but he's going out there and playing for us. And guys have been doing that all year. I've had the turf toe. It's one of those things that bothers you, whatever you do. As long as he's out there and playing as hard as he is for us, that's all we need."

"Oh man, he hasn't been able to practice in like two weeks," Bulls guard Kyle Korver added. "He's playing in a lot of pain. He's doing everything he can just to be out there on the floor. He still got 11 rebounds. He doesn't have the lift that he really wants, but it means a lot for us just to have him out there."

As for the booing, Brewer knows his teammate will just have to deal with it until he starts playing better.

"It comes with the territory," Brewer said. "It comes with the contract. It comes [with] being in a market like this. I think he's a strong-willed individual that has the standpoint that he wants to go out there and play well for his teammates, that's he's going to come back and do everything he can to get treatment and go out there and have his A-game next game. Whenever he has a performance like this I always look forward to the next game because I know he's going to go out there and try to play as hard as he possibly can so he doesn't have a let down for his teammates."

Boozer said turf toe affects him 'a lot' - Chicago Bulls Blog - ESPN Chicago

 

[Anytime23]

How convenient that his toe really bothered him last night, after having a horrible game. Just as it was so convenient that he toe started to feel much better game 1 when he got better as the game progressed.

This is one of my main problems with Boozer, there's always an excuse. He's in foul trouble, he's not getting the ball where he needs it to be effective, he's hurting. Well none of that excuses lack of effort at times. This guy is a veteran player and was brought here to put us over the hump at times like these. Why in the world cant this guy just come out and say "I'm not playing well right now."

He obviously isnt healthy, he hasnt been this whole post-season and bash me if you want to but much of the blame goes to Thibs with his play till the final second mentality. When we beat the Celtics, we should have started to rest our guys that really needed it. It was obvious that SA didnt have it. They werent going to make it out of the west. They didnt even make it out of the first round! It just wasnt smart to keep pushing these guys, especially an old beat up guy like Boozer.

With all of that being said, he needs to stop barking. If you cant bite, then go in your crate and stfu.

 

[Anytime23]

Horace Grant said Chicago Bulls should bench Carlos Boozer if he doesn't produce - ESPN Chicago

 

[Scoot26]

How convenient that his toe really bothered him last night, after having a horrible game. Just as it was so convenient that he toe started to feel much better game 1 when he got better as the game progressed.

This is one of my main problems with Boozer, there's always an excuse. He's in foul trouble, he's not getting the ball where he needs it to be effective, he's hurting. Well none of that excuses lack of effort at times. This guy is a veteran player and was brought here to put us over the hump at times like these. Why in the world cant this guy just come out and say "I'm not playing well right now."

He obviously isnt healthy, he hasnt been this whole post-season and bash me if you want to but much of the blame goes to Thibs with his play till the final second mentality. When we beat the Celtics, we should have started to rest our guys that really needed it. It was obvious that SA didnt have it. They werent going to make it out of the west. They didnt even make it out of the first round! It just wasnt smart to keep pushing these guys, especially an old beat up guy like Boozer.

With all of that being said, he needs to stop barking. If you cant bite, then go in your crate and stfu.

I like having the 62-20 record, but in reality it means nothing. Many of these 60+ win teams have not even gone to the Finals in recent years. So I'll agree that we should have rested guys like Boozer, Noah, and even possibly Rose (Though Rose was still considered pretty much 100% until Game 4). Gibson could have handled the load for Boozer while he rested up for the playoffs.

 

[Anytime23]

I cant say i know the statistics but the #1 overall seeds usually dont win it all. Once we had the East locked up, we should have left it at that.

 

[AE23]

**** it, hopefully we run away with one of these next games, to give him a long rest, idsee how you could rest him for an entire game, although they probably should.

 

[Glide2keva]

All of this is just piling on at this point. We all know Boozer is hurt and doing his best out there.

Yes, he lacks effort out there, but he is still trying. His minutes should be limited though and divided up between Taj and Asik until he feels better.

 

[sach1]

if he's really hurt I would love to see Taj play more minutes for this team.
i feel coach thibs should not force boozer if he's playing horribly. We still have other players who can play decently and contribute decently while boozer is on the bench.

Plus Noah and Taj have great chemistry together. Coach Thibs must exploit this.

 

[Anytime23]

 

[AE23]

^ Lol

 

[daddies3angels]

:clap:

 

[Derkach77]

All of this is just piling on at this point. We all know Boozer is hurt and doing his best out there.

Yes, he lacks effort out there, but he is still trying. His minutes should be limited though and divided up between Taj and Asik until he feels better.

Thank you.