Noooooo!!!!! Don't start him!!!!

On the heels of yesterday's post about the damage Willie Green does to the Sixers chances of making the playoffs, I came across this snippet:

Now the key is to get the starters playing well together. The starting lineup Monday could be the one that opens the season Oct. 31 at Toronto.

Andre Miller and Willie Green, the latter of whom had 10 points and an impressive driving dunk, were the guards, with Samuel Dalembert at center, and Evans and Iguodala at forward.

Well, there goes any hope that he's going to be pushed out of the rotation this year. Fantastic.

There were also some other gems in the same article.

First came the news that Cheeks is going to stress conditioning in the wake of the Sixers game against the Knicks. So you're telling me that after a week of training camp, the Sixers are just recognizing the importance of conditioning....? Again, Fantastic.

Finally, I really enjoyed this line from the same article:

Swingman Andre Iguodala, one of the better-conditioned athletes in the NBA, agreed with Cheeks' assessment of the team's physical condition against the Knicks.

Factual assertions like this one drive me crazy. Igoudala is one of the best-conditioned athletes in the NBA? Really? It might very well be true, but what's the evidence for it? Someone told the reporter this "fact" one day? Or did he just decide it on his own? And if so, based on what? I'm sure I have (and will again) made unsupported statements about players, but normally I at least preface it with some variation of "I think" or "in my opinion." In my day job (as a lawyer--well, I'm not technically a lawyer until I pass the bar exam, and I don't get my results until next month), this sort of assertion would be described as a "conclusory statement without any support." If the court says that about something you argued in a brief...let's just say it isn't a good thing. The court is probably about to say that you've lost that argument.

Say Igoudala's in good-condition. Say he does intensive cardio workouts. But if you're going to say he's one of the best-conditioned athletes in the league, please give us a reason to believe it.