Josh McRoberts gets frustrated, Hulks out, rips jersey during Heat win over Raptors (Video)
Josh McRoberts missed the entire preseason recovering from late-April toe surgery, and missed the Miami Heat’s season-opening victory over the Washington Wizards. He’s been back for the past two games, though, and it’s fair to say that he hasn’t really knocked the rust off yet — he’s got as many personal fouls as total points (five) over the course of just 18 total minutes in two games, and has understandably looked very little like the kind of playmaker that Pat Riley paid $23 million to import in free agency this summer.
It’s a frustrating time for the 27-year-old forward, and he took his frustrations out on his jersey during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s matchup with the Toronto Raptors:
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You can’t really blame McRoberts here. I mean, when you can’t hang on to a rebound and lose it to Tyler Hansbrough — of all people, former Blue Devil McRoberts must have hated coughing it up to ex-Tar Heel Hansbrough — that’s probably an emotional experience nearly as draining as when it comes crashing down and it hurts inside. When that happens, you can’t bar any holds; you’ve just got to rip ’em.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra sat McRoberts down after the jersey foul, ending his night after just seven minutes and 49 seconds of work. After the Heat held on for a 107-102 win over the Raps behind strong outings from Chris Bosh (21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists), Dwyane Wade (19 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks) and Luol Deng (18 points, four rebounds, three assists) that kept them a perfect 3-0, McRoberts briefly explained his garment-rending to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
“I’m not very good at basketball right now,” the veteran power forward said. “I’m not where I want to be. So it’s frustrating.” […]
“I’ve always pulled on my jersey, every game, like that,” he said, “but never had one rip like that.” […] “I try to be more laid back most of the time. But on the court, I’m pretty focused, I guess.”
Luckily, so is head equipment manager Rob Pimental, who made sure that McRoberts “was quickly issued a replacement,” according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Here’s hoping McRoberts starts feeling like his old self again soon; we wouldn’t want to see him wind up like a certain other mid-game jersey-ripper of note, out of the league and moving into the high-stakes world of competitive kickboxing. It’ll get better, Josh. Don’t start practicing your spinning back-fist just yet.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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