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There’s no denying the magic of James Harden, but his hamstrings may be his undoing

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Stormy1234, Oct 31, 2018.

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  1. Stormy1234

    Stormy1234 Member

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    As a result, the hip and the hamstring work hand in hand. The hip muscles push the hamstrings to extend with the knee, allowing for acceleration. The hamstrings will then create a mechanism to brake and decelerate. If not in harmony, or if one is inoperable due to injury, this takes away Harden’s capacity to bewitch his opponents.

    Unfortunately for Harden, an element to his performance was broken, he left during the fourth quarter of an Oct. 24 game vs. Utah with a hamstring injury. Following an MRI, he was diagnosed with a Grade 1-Plus left hamstring strain. This has caused him to miss games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers, with the possibility of missing Houston’s second road back-to-back of the season against the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls, which starts Friday.

    A grade 1+ hamstring strain is very close to a grade 2 injury, but not quite. Hamstring strains are very tricky to understand, but here’s a Cliff Notes version. A strain occurs when excessive demand is placed on a muscle, resulting in stretching, fatigue or overuse. A grade 1 strain is a mild hamstring strain, where a small amount of muscle fibers are damaged along the surface of the muscle tissue. A grade 2 strain is much worse, involving partial tears due to a higher percentage of muscle fibers being damaged. Harden has a grade 1+, meaning he saw muscle fibers damaged, but not to that percentage of a grade 2 hamstring strain. Still, for a player who relies heavily on his hamstrings to generate the power and deceleration needed for efficient offensive production, how might this affect Harden and the way the training staff approaches the injury?

    “You bring him back slow,” Rockets athletic trainer Keith Jones said. “You bring him back safely. We have stages that we bring every guy back. We’ll take him through some stuff. If he does that well, then we step up, we step up, we step up. And then we try to get him to a certain amount of minutes of practice or working out a certain load that would mimic a game. Obviously, you can’t mimic game movements and a game, it’s just the load he puts on his body. We’ll see how he does. We’ll see how he recovers from that and we just add to that level every day to get him back safely.”

    Once Harden does return, the next question becomes will this hamstring become a nagging concern for the team? The Rockets know they can’t control that. “There’s nothing you can do (to minimize risk), he’s got to play basketball,” Jones said. “You can’t tape it or wrap it or something to protect it because he’s got to use it. But you just try to bring it back so it’s stronger or stronger than the other leg, and just progress it and progress a little every day.”

    As of right now, Harden is going through a plethora of exercises and machines. He’s working on movement, stretching, on-the-floor work and consistent machine time. “Just a ton of stuff,” was Keith Jones’ basic interpretation of what exercises and work the Rockets are doing to get Harden back on the court as soon as possible.

    The Rockets begin a five-game road trip this weekend. Harden and the training staff will continue to increase his workload in the days leading up to the game against Brooklyn, before making a decision on playing. With Harden’s footwork, balance and deceleration a pivotal part of his overall game, the Rockets need his hamstring healthy. They’ll continue to rely on Haden as a magician, as a hypnotist, surveying for his ideal mismatch, going one-on-one in isolation, and leaving fans and players mesmerized with transcendent ability to stop, step-back and score.
     
    #1 Stormy1234, Oct 31, 2018
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  2. topfive

    topfive CF OG

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    Harden has strained his hammies before. He takes a few games off and comes back as good as new.

    Something to worry about down the road, maybe, when his recovery time will be longer. Not so much right now.
     
    #2 topfive, Oct 31, 2018
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  3. Will

    Will Clutch Crew
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    Zero in this article, zero, supports the words "may be his undoing."
     
    #3 Will, Oct 31, 2018
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  4. riko

    riko Member

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    Honestly I’ll be fine if he missed the entire road trip. We can’t afford to rush him .
     
    #4 riko, Oct 31, 2018
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  5. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    Dieting and alcohol is his problem. You can get away with it in your 20s but you're now approaching 30s. Put some respek on your body.
     
    #5 cheke64, Oct 31, 2018
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  6. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    Alcohol literally eats your hamstrings. It is known.
     
    #6 Carl Herrera, Nov 1, 2018
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  7. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Trust in Keith Jones?
     
    #7 daywalker02, Nov 1, 2018
  8. Buck Turgidson

    Buck Turgidson Member

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    There's no denying the magic of James Harden, but his hamstrings may be his undoing

    That's the strangest and most melodramatic description of a pulled hammy I've ever seen.
     
    #8 Buck Turgidson, Nov 1, 2018
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  9. hakeem94

    hakeem94 Member

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    there is no denying of clutchfans knee jerking but the return of james harden may be its undoing
     
    #9 hakeem94, Nov 1, 2018
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  10. John Harvey

    John Harvey Member

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    OP why would you even post this junk article? Ban.
     
    #10 John Harvey, Nov 1, 2018
  11. Corrosion

    Corrosion Member

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    What are you , the thread police ?!
     
    #11 Corrosion, Nov 1, 2018
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  12. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    The season so far has been an undoing to itself.
     
    #12 daywalker02, Nov 1, 2018
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  13. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    IKR?!!?!?
    A big ole NothingBurger

    Rocket River
     
    #13 Rocket River, Nov 1, 2018
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  14. Dankstronaut

    Dankstronaut Way, way out here.

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    No denying the magic of James Harden????

    b****, 99% of media coverage on James is negative. Haters abound. You hate so much you gotta pretend like you ain't even hate when it's time to declare his prime over huh? God damn dude. That's some serious delusional ****.
     
    #14 Dankstronaut, Nov 1, 2018
  15. Jake Tower

    Jake Tower Member

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    Bone on bone
     
    #15 Jake Tower, Nov 1, 2018
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  16. Moleb

    Moleb Member

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    Weird, every time I pulled my hamstring was because I started a quick sprint. Not when I deaccelerated.
     
    #16 Moleb, Nov 1, 2018
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  17. hakeem94

    hakeem94 Member

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    you are not james harden , weird
     
    #17 hakeem94, Nov 1, 2018
  18. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    A nothing burger wrapped in a stale tortilla. The quotes from Jones were fine. Nothing new in those quotes that we haven't heard before, but straight forward information about treating a hamstring injury. As @Will pointed out, however, the "undoing" line was based on nothing, except probably an effort to get attention on the part of the author. "Click-bait," in other words, and he wasn't too subtle about it. The fellow didn't need to go there. Harden, unless I missed it, doesn't have a long history of issues with his hamstrings. He's simply had a not uncommon injury to his very uncommon physique.

    James will be terrorizing the opposition soon enough, if not as soon as we'd like. I'm far more worried about how the team is playing in his absence. The cohesion of the Rockets on the court has been a confused mess in the early going, with or without the reigning MVP, but without Harden, they've gone from confused to helpless, and that's unacceptable, in my humble opinion.

    We've seen some good individual play during this nightmare stretch, but not a lot of playing well as a team, so I'll repeat myself and what a lot of others have been saying. We need a top flight defensive guru to replace Jeff Bezdlik. I don't care if the cat likes Donovan and meditates standing on his or her head. Not that kind of guru, but rather a deeply experienced defensive coach. That'll help everyone's "hamstrings."
     
    #18 Deckard, Nov 1, 2018
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  19. JVL713

    JVL713 Member

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    normally I like this guy a lot but this article was pretty weak imo.
     
    #19 JVL713, Nov 1, 2018
  20. MystikArkitect

    MystikArkitect Member
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    Harden is the healthiest superstar of his generation.

    But sure let’s talk about how unhealthy he is.
     
    #20 MystikArkitect, Nov 1, 2018
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