Why are we always injured?

[ovrush]

I was thinking that at some point, the fact that the Kings are ALWAYS injured has to become more than just bad luck, coincidence, whatever you want to call it. I was wondering if any of you had any ideas about the possible causes, and I'm going to list some of the thoughts I've had. (note, these aren't conclusions I've made, just thoughts I've been having given Cat and Skinner's injuries recently)

Pete Youngman has been around too long and simply doesn't do as strong a job as other trainers throughout the league.

Rick Adelman keeps his rotations too tight and simply wears down his players bodies.

Are other teams more prone to play rough to try to disrupt our movement offense?

Any other thoughts?

 

[ImaKingsFan]

Pretty hard to pin point a reason for certain other than "crap" happens.

 

[KA_2]

Pretty hard to pin point a reason for certain other than "crap" happens.

Yup. I honestly feel bad for the Kings, and I'm a Laker fan going through a lotto-type season. Miller, Peja, Skinner, Bojax...the list goes on. Just wow.

 

[VF21]

We weren't injured at all the beginning of the season. In fact, there were a number of games when the injury reports actually said "Sacramento Kings: NO INJURIES"...

As far as your comments go, what exactly would you like Pete Youngman to do that you think he's not doing or not doing correctly? This idea that the trainers are to blame for things like sprained thumbs, hairline fractures in toes, etc. is just not supported by any facts I've ever seen. Look at the variety of injuries our guys are experiencing. If anything, I think the Indian Burial Ground Curse under Arco might just be the most likely culprit.

IF there was any possibility the training staff was either doing something wrong or wasn't doing what every other training staff in the NBA does, it would have been fodder for many articles by AV or other Bee writers. They wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be able to place blame for all the injuries.

Training staffs pretty much follow standardized procedures. These aren't voodoo rituals. They are established protocols for NBA basketball and from what I've heard just about all the teams follow those same guidelines, etc.

Skinner's injury could well be because all of a sudden he's logging pretty good minutes after languishing on the bench all year in Philly. On the other hand, it could just be a freak accident.

Cat's injury is a hairline fracture of his fourth toe, which can happen to anyone at any time. I broke a toe by running into a chair barefoot in the middle of the night.

Brad's leg was apparently the result of a stress fracture that hadn't shown up on MRIs.

Bobby's injury was just something that happened. His hand was hit at just the wrong time.

Peja's back problems and hamstring? Dehydration could be a factor in the latter, which occurred when he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. As far as the back problem goes, I don't think it was ever clearly identified as to what the problem actually was.

Evans' head struck the floor - hard. That was his injury.

Daniels was on the injured list simply to make room for the new guys on the active roster.

I saw Bibby's ankle injury. It happens, just as Tim Duncan's. As far as hyperextending his knee goes, that can happen when you step down awkwardly and your weight shifts.

I'm not sure about what happened to Corliss and his elbow, although I suspect it could be recurring tendinitis which I think he's had for a while.

I don't see anything there that indicates some common cause.

Sometimes there just aren't any underlying common causes.

 

[bdouble013]

Or, the Basketball Gods have cursed us because we traded away Richmond. He was kinda like the Babe to the Sacramento Kings, right?

 

[AriesMar27]

curse of the mitchino..... i cant wait that long, nor will i live that long to see us finally win it all....

 

[VF21]

Or, the Basketball Gods have cursed us because we traded away Richmond. He was kinda like the Babe to the Sacramento Kings, right?

But we had that nice ceremony - and retired his number and everything. You would think that would lift the curse.

 

[stevetaebo]

I think its from partially bad luck(Brad Miller's Freak accident), but alot of its from lack of toughness(Peja sitting out for a strained blah blah).

I know Bobby Jackson could have played in game 7 last year if needed, but chose not too

 

[VF21]

I know Bobby Jackson could have played in game 7 last year if needed, but chose not too

I don't know why that rumor keeps floating around but it is NOT correct. Bobby was not ready by the end of the playoffs. In fact, it took him a lot of time this summer to regain mobility without fear of reinjury. Abdominal injuries are very tricky. If you're going by what Grant Napear ranted on his show during the playoffs, you should know that Grant was wrong.

Bobby would NOT stay off the court if he was able to play AND be productive and contribute. If he was going to be out there, he would have to be able to play or he wouldn't have done anyone any good.

Bobby himself addressed this issue several times and it's pretty clear that the only one making the allegations that he CHOSE not to play was Grant Napear and he was wrong.

 

[AleksandarN]

I think the problem is not one thing or another. It is a combination of many factors that lead to as many injuries we have experienced. I think we have to look at the amount of minutes the players play. How they warm up before and after games and practices. How alert the medical staff is on our team. I can see alot of nagging injuries lead to more seroius ones because the medical staff is iether unaware of the players physical condition or was not alert to how these injuries can become more worrisome(ie. Brad). You have to also look at how in shape the players are. Are they exercising enough. You also have to look at the players themself and see if they are injury prone. As I said alot of factors add up. I think that is why we are so injuried all of the time. It is the combination of these factors that are the problem. The solution is I think is try to limit the factors that cause the injuries. Now the question that begs to be answered is the team doing enough to limit these factors?

 

[c-webb1s#1]

aleksandar,you have the most scary avatar on the internet.that thing is gonna give me nightmares

 

[EmKingsFan4]

^^me too! frightening!

I don't think our injury woes are any different than any other NBA team. They just seem more magnified for us because we don't have any one superstar but a collective entity of players who are all important to the game so when one is missing it can throw all of us off. Basketball is a tough physical game with many games to play in one season so injuries are a given. They are disappointing but we have to live with what we're given and try to make the best of it...I know this is hard for most people who need someone to blame when bad things happen...

 

[soulrhapsody]

Maybe we are not meant to win a championship...look here game 7 w/ lakers long ago no peja the next yr chris gets injured vs mavs then following yr chris hasnt recovrd and mike jst came frm an injury we lose again...cursed

 

[iheartBrad]

jury's still out

 

[kingsfannPDX]

BAD KARMA

 

[bibbinator]

It's my impression that NBA injuries have gone up over the years. The players are bigger and buffer then they've ever been. The charges are harder, the rebound battles tougher and the wear on one's own body increases. The knees, ankles and feet have to absorb every extra pound of muscle put on to the upper body.

The age of the NBA superstar is coming to an end. You can't put your team's hopes on a Duncan or a Bryant, because it is almost a certainty that they will take some sort of serious injury during the season and cripple your team. The only way to save the superstars is cut the number of games. Basketball takes a harder toll on the body than it used to. More rest between games would help keep people playing and remove the war of attrition trend at work in the NBA.

Outside of shortening the season somehow, which would be hard, I think winning teams of the future will look a lot like Memphis: well rounded role players playing tightly managed minutes, and playing as a team. A team like that has a much better chance of surviving the season as an intact unit for playoffs than those that are heavily dependent on key players.

Webber is a perfect illustration of the superstar problem, he was great before he got hurt and then that big contract became the noose around our neck. Trading Webber is another sign that Sac is moving in the Memphis direction. I predict Sac comes back next year without a big contract superstar but rather several good, healthy, role players.

 

[bigbadred00]

bibbinator. if you do some research. you'll realize that the Grizzles are in worse of a cap situation then us (salary is almost 70 million) and they just gave Gasol a Max deal. they have too many pretty good players. and other than detroit last year, when has the last time a couple of good players won the title before that. i don't think it is ever. also, i think detroit did have 1 "great" player in ben wallace.

 

[bibbinator]

I mean the Memphis strategy rather than the actual team.

Wallace was a key player for Detroit last year, but not as key as Shaq or Kobe.

 

[bigbadred00]

You sure about that bibbinator. I remember Detroit sucking without Ben when he was suspended this year. If you don't think Ben Wallace is an important part of that team and that teams D, you haven't been watching that much Pistons basketball. He is the team, the heart of the team and by far there best defensive weapon.

 

[Bricklayer]

Actually I think injuries are only marginally more common now than they used to be -- and even the marginal is just because the game is played more physically now. But what HAS changed is modern medicine's ability to patch guys up and get them back ont he court with bailing wire and a few cadaver parts. Its only been about 15 years since a torn ACL was pretty much career ending, let alone the sorts of injuries Penny, Webb, Houston, Kidd etc. have had.

And the dynamic hasn't changed -- the teams with great leading players are still winning, the team without, not so much. In fact if anything I would say as our own experience indicates, injuries may actually be MORE of a concern for a team without the great superstar. If you have Shaq and Kobe, injuries are only realyl killers to 2/12 of your players. You can thrive if any of the other 10 guys goes down. If you are equally dependant on 8 or 10 guys, thenyou lose any one of them, and all fo a sudden you are still good, but not good enough to beat the best.

Put another (statistical) way -- if your two choices for distributing your team's fortunes are a) 30% Player 1; 30% Player 2; 4% for Player 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 or b) 10% Player 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 5% for Players 9, 10, 11, 12, which team really has the bigger chance of having a significant cog out at playoff time?

 

[ovrush]

We weren't injured at all the beginning of the season. In fact, there were a number of games when the injury reports actually said "Sacramento Kings: NO INJURIES"...

As far as your comments go, what exactly would you like Pete Youngman to do that you think he's not doing or not doing correctly? This idea that the trainers are to blame for things like sprained thumbs, hairline fractures in toes, etc. is just not supported by any facts I've ever seen. Look at the variety of injuries our guys are experiencing. If anything, I think the Indian Burial Ground Curse under Arco might just be the most likely culprit.

IF there was any possibility the training staff was either doing something wrong or wasn't doing what every other training staff in the NBA does, it would have been fodder for many articles by AV or other Bee writers. They wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be able to place blame for all the injuries.

Training staffs pretty much follow standardized procedures. These aren't voodoo rituals. They are established protocols for NBA basketball and from what I've heard just about all the teams follow those same guidelines, etc.

Skinner's injury could well be because all of a sudden he's logging pretty good minutes after languishing on the bench all year in Philly. On the other hand, it could just be a freak accident.

Cat's injury is a hairline fracture of his fourth toe, which can happen to anyone at any time. I broke a toe by running into a chair barefoot in the middle of the night.

Brad's leg was apparently the result of a stress fracture that hadn't shown up on MRIs.

Bobby's injury was just something that happened. His hand was hit at just the wrong time.

Peja's back problems and hamstring? Dehydration could be a factor in the latter, which occurred when he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. As far as the back problem goes, I don't think it was ever clearly identified as to what the problem actually was.

Evans' head struck the floor - hard. That was his injury.

Daniels was on the injured list simply to make room for the new guys on the active roster.

I saw Bibby's ankle injury. It happens, just as Tim Duncan's. As far as hyperextending his knee goes, that can happen when you step down awkwardly and your weight shifts.

I'm not sure about what happened to Corliss and his elbow, although I suspect it could be recurring tendinitis which I think he's had for a while.

I don't see anything there that indicates some common cause.

Sometimes there just aren't any underlying common causes.

VF - I wasn't blaming Youngman at all. Maybe I wasn't clear enough in pointing out that these were just thoughts I've had. I AM, however looking for a reason we are consistantly injured. I know that many people would like to just tack it up to bad luck, but the fact is we have been in a state of perpetual poor health for nearly 3 years now. While I admit when looked at on a case by case basis the injuries do just look like bad luck, the simple fact remains this is an alarming trend, and I for one tend to beleive that when something becomes such a reoccuring problem that it has lasted for nearly three years there is more to it than simple bad luck or coincidence. I was not blaming Youngman Per Se, just as I was not blaming Adelman. I just thought it was a relevant discussion to have and was throwing out some thoughts that I felt could be relevant.

I understand that with the amount of negative sentiment that has been flying around this board at times you feel like you have to defend individuals in the organization from negative fans, but in this case it was just a lead in to what I thought was a good discussion as opposed to flaming the training staff.

 

[VF21]

I AM, however looking for a reason we are consistantly injured.

I understand your points. What I'm trying to get across, and probably failing miserably, is that sometimes there just AREN'T reasons that we can put into little boxes and isolate as the specific reasons for the plethora of injuries. As much as we as humans want and need to know the answers, sometimes they just aren't there.

If you look at other teams, they are also suffering a myrid of injuries of various degrees. And I agree with Bricklayer:

Actually I think injuries are only marginally more common now than they used to be -- and even the marginal is just because the game is played more physically now. But what HAS changed is modern medicine's ability to patch guys up and get them back ont he court with bailing wire and a few cadaver parts. Its only been about 15 years since a torn ACL was pretty much career ending, let alone the sorts of injuries Penny, Webb, Houston, Kidd etc. have had.

And the dynamic hasn't changed -- the teams with great leading players are still winning, the team without, not so much. In fact if anything I would say as our own experience indicates, injuries may actually be MORE of a concern for a team without the great superstar. If you have Shaq and Kobe, injuries are only realyl killers to 2/12 of your players. You can thrive if any of the other 10 guys goes down. If you are equally dependant on 8 or 10 guys, thenyou lose any one of them, and all fo a sudden you are still good, but not good enough to beat the best.

What's the old AA pledge? God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the ability to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference between them."

I honestly think most of the team injuries fall into the accepting category. We can't change them because I honestly do not think they're attributable to any one CHANGEABLE cause.

Sorry if I came across too strong. I just firmly believe that if there was a common causal factor for the injuries the local media would have been all over it. It would be headline banner news...

GO KINGS!!!!!