Coping with injuries

Hero · Post #1 » by **Hero** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 1:44 pm

Last year the team was extremely fortunate to avoid major games lost to injury.

While we all hope that no player gets injured, they are inevitable in the NBA.

The question is, how do you see this team handling injuries? Will they crumble? Will others step up?

Looking at the East last year, we finished 3rd and a big part of that was other teams having major guys get injured.

Example : Horford on Hawks, Brook on Nets, Nene on Wizards, Rose on Bulls, Bargnani on Knicks.

I think it's safe to say that many of these teams will be stronger this year while the Raptors will face a bit more adversity.

Do you have faith in our depth? Will an injury allow others to step up such as with the Bulls or will it be a major speed bump.

I think that as much as we have depth, the team is one where it needs contributions from everyone. The one player who might benefit from more touches in particular is JV but then with foul trouble I'm not sure. Lowry was healthy last year and was such a boost to the team. We need to hope this is the norm because it is scary to imagine GV playing 40 mins a night.

Thoughts?

jonny three time · Post #2 » by **jonny three time** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 2:08 pm

Hero wrote:
Example : Horford on Hawks, Brook on Nets, Nene on Wizards, Rose on Bulls, Bargnani on Knicks.

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong, can you tell which thing is not like the others by the time I finish this song.

DJ_RnC · Post #3 » by **DJ_RnC** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 2:13 pm

Hero wrote:
Example : Horford on Hawks, Brook on Nets, Nene on Wizards, Rose on Bulls, Bargnani on Knicks.

witnessraps · Post #4 » by **witnessraps** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 2:29 pm

depth is one of the major strengths of our team. We're 2 deep at just about every position so we can absorb some injuries, you just don't want to have a Horford situation where we lose one of our top guys for the season

RaptorsJunkie · Post #5 » by **RaptorsJunkie** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 2:36 pm

Stopped reading after you mentioned Bargnani as being a major guy

Sent from my SGH-I337M using RealGM Forums mobile app

hankscorpioLA · Post #6 » by **hankscorpioLA** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 2:36 pm

Hero wrote:Last year the team was extremely fortunate to avoid major games lost to injury.

Fortunate?

Perhaps in part.

But a big part is also Alex McKechnie. Phil Jackson talked about this last year. And if you look at the Lakers during his time there, they were also a remarkably healthy team with several players every year playing in all 82 games.

That is not to say that injuries won't happen. Of course they will. But its wrong to say that we were just lucky.

"A real man makes his own luck. Billy Zane. Titanic"
- Dwight Schrute

gerrit4 · Post #7 » by **gerrit4** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 2:45 pm

I've said it before, but that's part of why I think the James Johnson signing could really help us in that regard, and why I think he'll see a lot of minutes.

In theory:
• An injury to Demar means Ross starts at the 2 and JJ at the 3. (Or Lou at 2 and Ross at 3).
• An injury to Ross puts JJ at starting 3
• An injury to Amir starts PP at the 4, with JJ playing backup 4 minutes along with Psycho T.
• An injury to JV (this would hurt the most) puts Amir as our starting C, and then JJ/Patterson playing most minutes at the 4.

And so on. So basically, any injury probably means more minutes for James Johnson, assuming he doesn't blow it this year.

hankscorpioLA · Post #8 » by **hankscorpioLA** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 3:07 pm

Its more than just Johnson.

Other than at C, we are very well prepared to deal with an injury at any position. The only potential challenge would be if Jonas missed significant time. If Lowry goes out for a long time that could be a problem as well, but at least we have competent backups who could step in and start if needed. If Jonas goes down we would have no choice but to go small.

godkingleonidas · Post #9 » by **godkingleonidas** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 4:09 pm

God forbid there should be an injury at the center position I imagine Hansbrough would start. Nogueira would back him up and Hayes would become the 3rd stringer. Before the season starts Hayes and/or Fields have/has to be dealt because Hansbrough is an NCAA center but, not tall enough to play the position in the NBA.

RedX · Post #10 » by **RedX** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 4:26 pm

First of all: Remove Bargnani from your list. It physically hurts me to see him listed next to great players.

--

Honestly, I think in true Raptors fashion this team will go on a winning streak and we'll all have discussions like "are we a better team without said player?"

We're built to withstand short-term injuries at most positions. An injury to Jonas however would rock our boat a little too far I think, can't afford to shelf him.

chuckdevlin · Post #11 » by **chuckdevlin** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 4:39 pm

y u mad b?

shimmy · Post #12 » by **shimmy** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 5:01 pm

Only guy we can't really stand to lose for significant time is Jonas. I have faith in our depth right up until Chuck Hayes.

Bluu · Post #13 » by **Bluu** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 5:46 pm

We are in good hands

6ixSideSniper · Post #14 » by **6ixSideSniper** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 5:56 pm

Bluu wrote:

We are in good hands

Is that a cross dresser Patman picked up? :-?

Bluu · Post #15 » by **Bluu** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 5:59 pm

Vt_Mc wrote:
Bluu wrote:

We are in good hands

Is that a cross dresser Patman picked up?

Looks like he already paid her/him/it

Stolen Identity · Post #16 » by **Stolen Identity** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 6:24 pm

Raptors were 13-0 (technically 14-0) when a starter missed a game with an injury. They cope by being a resilient team and the bench guys stepping up.

Might be my favourite game of last season:

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CLEDUGHY9TA[/youtube]

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JGtzpHy42nY[/youtube]

Ross, Valanciunas, and DeRozan all stepped up huge in that game. I expect no different next season, especially with James Johnson and Lou Williams (100% with his leg) coming off the bench.

And since it has already been mentioned, might as well again. Give a lot of credit to the training staff for keeping them in top condition

cammac · Post #17 » by **cammac** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 6:26 pm

hankscorpioLA wrote:
Hero wrote:Last year the team was extremely fortunate to avoid major games lost to injury.

Fortunate?

Perhaps in part.

But a big part is also Alex McKechnie. Phil Jackson talked about this last year. And if you look at the Lakers during his time there, they were also a remarkably healthy team with several players every year playing in all 82 games.

That is not to say that injuries won't happen. Of course they will. But its wrong to say that we were just lucky.

"A real man makes his own luck. Billy Zane. Titanic"
- Dwight Schrute

None of our players historically have been injury prone except Amir in that he plays through nagging injuries when he should sit. Lowry was brought up a lot before he signed his contract but that was mostly hyperbole since his major loss of games was a bacterial infection.

But Alex and his staff are the 6th man on this team.

hankscorpioLA · Post #18 » by **hankscorpioLA** » Mon Sep 1, 2014 8:10 pm

godkingleonidas wrote:God forbid there should be an injury at the center position I imagine Hansbrough would start. Nogueira would back him up and Hayes would become the 3rd stringer. Before the season starts Hayes and/or Fields have/has to be dealt because Hansbrough is an NCAA center but, not tall enough to play the position in the NBA.

My guess is right now we would start Amir at C and Patterson at PF most nights if Jonas was out. Going forward it would depend on Nogueira. And if Jonas was going to be out for an extended period of time we would probably look to sign a free agent.

No question that, at the moment, center is our most vulnerable position.

Hero · Post #19 » by **Hero** » Tue Sep 2, 2014 12:16 am

hankscorpioLA wrote:
Hero wrote:Last year the team was extremely fortunate to avoid major games lost to injury.

Fortunate?

Perhaps in part.

But a big part is also Alex McKechnie. Phil Jackson talked about this last year. And if you look at the Lakers during his time there, they were also a remarkably healthy team with several players every year playing in all 82 games.

That is not to say that injuries won't happen. Of course they will. But its wrong to say that we were just lucky.

"A real man makes his own luck. Billy Zane. Titanic"
- Dwight Schrute

Well, compared to past Raptor teams, I felt our team was extremely fortunate to dodge major injuries. I can't recall a recent season where our main guys avoided injuries. In the past we had to deal with Bargnani constantly injured, Jose, Lowry, JV, Bosh etc etc.

We will see this season how much of a factor Alex was. I'm hoping you're right.

Kenyon009 · Post #20 » by **Kenyon009** » Tue Sep 2, 2014 9:58 pm

The center position isn't that thin. Nogueira is defensively ready for the NBA he could have asik like effect for us.