Overreact much? Kobe is almost 35 and has like a gazillion years in the league. He has to push himself 100% on nearly every play to keep the Lakers in the race, or at least that's how he sees it. He has to rush to that board, loose ball, defensive rotation, drive, shot, etc. Harden hasn't really experienced that. That's what caused his achilles to give out, not playing 40 mins a game at 23.
The other secretariat the D'Antoni rode? Yes, Lin was young and fresh. But he also went from not playing much for 1.5 seasons to playing 40+ minutes regularly for a while. People don't understand pushing the body to your limits can have unexpected consequences. It's not just high level sports. The same thing could be said of working 100hr weeks continuously. Somewhere, somehow, the body starts to break down, even if not so obvious immediately. The breaking point may be fast and appear unrelated to the slow death ... but it always is.
excellent post... ie. look at Yao...at 7 6, Yao played continuously all season every season...He never had rest, and it cost him at least 5 years of basketball... Do we blame China, the Rockets, medical staff, coaching, or Yao? What about the remarkable Yao's comeback during the Rocket-Laker playoffs in 2009...Yao was later determined to have a stress fracture by the end of game 3... Physical stress is real. Its why people need vacations...we arent machines, and the body needs to mentally resolve stress...and vacations do that...breaks do that... In Kobe's situation, the Lakers were caught in a rock and a hard place...Kobe guaranteed that he would take this Laker team to the playoffs...guarantee...If Kobe does that...regardless of the pain, and little nicks and knacks he may have, he will fight thru it just to prove that the Lakers need the Mamba... But what we saw last night happens in almost every facet of life...things that are old break down over time...When you drive a brand new Porsche, 170 mph...nobody would flinch...Put a 100K miles on the car, and then try still achieving that speed...something is bound to break down... Kobe mind may be as sharp as ever and his will may be there, but DAntoni, the Lakers and its players may have cost the legacy of arguably one of the best Laker and a top ten player of all time... All good things must come to an end...and its terrible to see that Kobe's came just a bit too early...(imho, without any injuries, I still thought Kobe has at least 2 more solid years left)...
Not just Lin and Kobe, D'Antoni was known for terrible minutes management and overplaying guys with little rest even during his Phoenix days.
Anyone thinking Ewing Theory with Kobe? The Lakers still have two-time MVP Nash and Best Defensive Player Howard plus all-star Gasol, who were all complaining about Kobe ball-hogging.
They will look better against OKC running through Pau, still don't think they'd beat them but they go from no chance to some small chance when compared to Kobe Hero ball.
Kobe is Kobe. He's not going to sit down in a situation like this. Yes, D'Antoni is the coach, but it's ridiculous to put the blame on him when he's just a puppet. It's even more ridiculous to compare their situation with ours. We're not LA, not the lakers, don't HAVE to make the playoffs, don't HAVE to get past the first round and beyond. They are facing a ton of pressure over there. Yes, the minutes played a role, but we all know Kobe was out there pushing himself hard on top of that. There is no question a younger player, with less pressure to win and less responsibility, could have physically dealt better with those many minutes. He has his moments...
No coach watches young star players minutes. Popovich rode Tim Duncan brutally until Duncan stopped being healthy, cost the Spurs a season (or two?) before Popovich changed his tune. And yes, the Rockets are going to do the same. Whether it's McHale, Van Gundy, Adelman, or any other coach working on a salary with a chance to be fired. The only way to stop this is if Morey steps in and give the dreaded "limiting minutes" ultimatum. One that Adelman laughed his ass off when Morey tried with Yao.
Yao was gigantic and T-Mac had already had injury issues by the time we got him. Not a valid analogy. But of course you know that.
I read somewhere that in the past yr Kobe has played the minutes equivalent of three seasons. This wasn't dantonis fault
Agreed. It's just too tempting with all that is on the line. This is reality. Look at Harden and even Lin's minutes against Memphis.
But, you see, Rose and Harden play a lot of uptempo minutes. Seems like these "freak" injuries sort of creep up on a player. To say minutes played and these injuries have no correlation....I don't know. I know one doesn't always lead directly to another. But can we really say extreme fatigue of muscles/tissues/bones can't facilitate these injuries? All these coaches with their "he's young, he can play 40 mpg....OOPS!, well that's a freak injury."
what? 16 years and Team USA committments aren't wear and tear? lol derrick rose plays a very impactful style of basketball.. lots of hard cutting hopsteps etc. james plays a more horizontal inbetween game. his knees have less chance of getting into a bad position. look at gallinaris knee injury. hopstep. knee buckles in.
