PORTLAND – Fred Hoiberg is no Larry Bird.
Doug McDermott might be thankful for that.
With McDermott left back in Chicago for at least the start of the “Circus Trip’’ in dealing with a second concussion in that last two weeks, Hoiberg talked about the changes in how that injury is being handled today compared to when he played.
“Well I remember I had a couple of them,’’ the Bulls coach said after the Tuesday shootaround. “I had one in Indiana and I think I missed about five, six, seven games. When you get hit it’s hard to describe the feeling that you have. You’re just completely out of it. I don’t remember two days from what I remember, and then [then Pacers coach] Larry Bird said, ‘Are you ever going to play again?’ So I suited up the next game and played. It was a little different rules back then.’’
And a much different protocol.
“Yeah, that was the protocol, when your coach said, ‘Are you ever going to play again?’ ‘’ Hoiberg said with a laugh. “So yeah, again the rules are in place and it’s a good rule to have obviously with all the things that have happened with concussions all across the board in all sports. So again, we’ll continue to monitor Doug and we’ll get him back when he’s feeling right.’’
The game against Portland will be the second game McDermott has missed because of concussion, with the latest injury coming Saturday, after he fell to the court and hit his head.
While Hoiberg wasn’t going to speculate on the idea that a second concussion so soon could mean a longer sit time for McDermott, he did admit that it is concerning.
“Sure, it’s obviously a concern for everybody when you have two like he did,’’ Hoiberg said. “As far as what happens from there, I’m not a doctor, I can’t say exactly what it means as far as when you have two this close together. He obviously bounced back very quickly from that first one, so I would say that the first one was diagnosed as a very mild concussion.
“This one he took a heck of a fall. When you bounce your head off the floor when you’re up as high as he was, you know there’s concern. We’ll obviously be careful, we’ll follow the rules to the letter, and get him back when he’s able.’’
McDermott was averaging 10.6 points off the bench.
