I honestly bet its hard to decide not to share. You know from a fans perspective how exciting some information could be, how happy it might make other fans. As much as I'd love to hear what's going on, it's also cool you're able to resist the urge when it might hurt your relationship and the organization.
The quality posts and sharing of ROX gold from a longtimer like Batman Jones is another reason you don't shut down this thread. Glad you are well, Batman and thanks for sharing (to echo many others here)
So our players are injured b/c of our trainers and medical staff? Meanwhile, Suns players are not injured b/c of their trainers and medical staff?
When players go to Phoenix, somehow even regularly injured guys like Grant Hill, old Shaq, Nash, they all played consistent minutes for the Sus, and once they left the Sun, boom, instantly injured.
Nash averaged 78 games a year his last four years in Dallas, which is more than he averaged in Phoenix. He only got injured as a 38 year old.
This could be total quack science, but I thought I heard somewhere that the dry air in Arizona is good for your joints. Maybe it has some positive effect on basketball players?
People get injured all the time, but the Phoenix staff seem to get them back on the court more quickly.
Yeah, I've heard this all before but IMO it's largely overblown. Not saying the Suns medical staff isn't stellar at rehabbing broken down vets, but injuries (even nagging ones) are going to happen due to the physical demands (and collisions) of the game. Last season we were relatively injury free, with the notable exception of Asik (and later Beverley in the playoffs). Good fortune had everything to do with it. OTOH, here's a breakdown of Phoenix Suns' injury-riddled 2013-14 season: Spoiler November 3, 2013: Goran Dragić injures his left ankle during a third quarter play against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He would miss three more games after the injury took effect. Olexsiy "Alex" Len would also be day-by-day on his appearances due to his rehabilitation on his left ankle. He would miss 7 games with those concerns before returning to play against the Sacramento Kings on November 19, 2013. November 19, 2013: Eric Bledsoe injures his left shin due to a collision with teammate P.J. Tucker during practice. He would miss six games because of it before returning to play on November 29, 2013 against the Utah Jazz. November 20, 2013: Olexsiy "Alex" Len re-injures his left knee after a home game against the Sacramento Kings a day after returning to play. He would miss close to two months worth of games before returning on January 7, 2014 against the Chicago Bulls. December 30, 2013: Eric Bledsoe swells up his right knee in a collision play against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, during the third quarter. His swollen knee would later on result in a torn meniscus, which left Bledsoe out for two months and a near fortnight. This injury helped influence the Suns to re-sign Leandro Barbosa to the team for the rest of the year. Bledsoe would finally return on March 12, 2014 at a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. January 15, 2014: Leandro Barbosa would be out for two games due to an right shoulder sprain that he'd get after the road game against the New York Knicks. He'd return on January 19, 2014 for his first home game with the Suns in 4 years against the Denver Nuggets immediately after he signed his second 10 day contract. February 21, 2014: Leandro Barbosa would injure his left big toe after their 100-94 home victory against the Boston Celtics. He would miss five games in the process before returning on March 2, 2014 against the Atlanta Hawks. February 26, 2014: Goran Dragić injures his right ankle during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He would miss only the last road game against the Utah Jazz after the injury took effect before he came back on February 28 against the New Orleans Pelicans. March 4, 2014: Miles Plumlee would be out for two games due to an injured knee before coming back in a road game against the Golden State Warriors. This would result in rookie Olexsiy "Alex" Len to be the team's starting center during their first home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, as well as their first home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder (with Len starting in place of Plumlee for the Warriors game as well before taking over the starting role for the rest of the season). Leandro Barbosa would also fracture his right hand during the home game against the Clippers. As a result, Barbosa would miss at least 4–6 weeks of action for the team. April 11, 2014: Goran Dragić injures his right ankle during their last match-up against the New Orleans Pelicans. He would miss only the last road game against the San Antonio Spurs after the injury took effect before he came back a day later against the Dallas Mavericks. Currently, Isaiah Thomas is out with an ankle injury -- and has been day-to-day since 12/2. The point here is that if our team suffered through Phoenix's injury-plagued season (last year), some fans here would be calling for a medical team 'trade' then. As it stands, Dwight seems to have fully recovered from his back surgery. He tweaked his knee and that happens. Beverley's issues are related to his intense style of play. His body takes a pounding, but that's his game. Pap's right knee was rolled up on unexpectedly while in the paint. It happens. Of a more pressing concern is Jones's nerve injury. But again, to say the Suns medical staff is better qualified in treating this type of injury is unfounded. Houston boasts among the most advanced medical professionals on the planet. I'm confident the Rockets are exhausting every resource at their disposal. Just like Phoenix did last year when they fought through injuries affecting FIVE of their rotational players. The most serious of which sidelined Bledsoe and Barbosa for several months.
I think that it was that of the 4 PG targets being discussed (Gogi, Rondo, Bledsoe and Rubio), Morey had only had discussions regarding one of them.
Your opinion is as valid as mine but personally I don't think there's a better defensive PG in the league. I think he's in the top echelon at least in that way and I was amazed at how much he apparently worked on his shot in the offseason. It was really making a difference until he went out. I know that a lot of people are concerned about him being injury prone but my feeling is that he only gets injured because he plays as hard as anyone in the league and it's hard to complain about that. Especially when he usually heals more quickly than anyone predicts. Of course, this injury is more frightening to me. But to be clear injuries are one thing Daryl and I never talk about and we haven't talked about Beverley in terms of how he fits into the top defenders in the league. Personally I'd be devastated to lose him. Especially after Daryl went and found him in Russia(!). (Nobody better at finding diamonds in the rough around the world or in the draft.) I think we could use another playmaker (besides Harden, really our only one) and I'd love to get a Dragic and have Pat in a four guard rotation but I'd be brokenhearted to lose him. All just my opinions as all my posts always have been and always will be.
If I get the time I will run some defensive SportsVU numbers for you. They are the gold standard for evaluating NBA player's defensive performance.
That would be cool but it's not necessary. I'm interested to know your findings and what you think of Pat as a defensive player. All I know is that Pat isn't just good at traditional D or schematics or strategy. He is that guy that makes his opponent really hate playing that night. I don't know if any numbers analysis would account for that intangible. Probably it would. But his greatest gift, along with his tenacity, is his ability to make the guy he's guarding so incredibly frustrated.
Without running the numbers I believe Bev is one of the best fits with Harden in the league. On the defensive side he literally hounds the opposing PG. And he and Ariza surround Harden and can cover for him as needed. On the offensive side Bev meshes perfectly with Harden. Lin proved that any wing that needs the rock to perform is just not going to cut it with the Rockets. No one is taking the ball out of Harden's hands. However that being said, Canaan provides both great spot up shooting and the ability to break down the defense. And they cost under $2M this season. I personally could not be happier. And I do believe Bev will grade out as somewhere aroung the fifth best defensive PG in the league.
Let's not start this again. There's nothing that shows Houston dropped the ball on any player recently, nothing that is the fault of the staff, anyway. Staff can't prevent contact injuries. Phoenix's staff was regarded as the best years ago. I'm sure they are still good, but the rest of the league has had time to catch up. I can't speak for the rest of the league, but Houston is doing it's part to catch up. all phoenix was doing was looking at the body as a whole to determine what was causing problems. Traditionally, professionals just treated the location. Bad knee? You get a brace, drugs, knee rehab, etc...almost completely ignored that the rest of the body can affect the knee because the body is a closed system. Pheonix looked at everything and basically helped players move better as a whole, allowing injuries to heal and preventing any that would happen from poor mechanics.
