Wizards medical staff issues

[Nivek]

For some reason I thought he played that game. I swear I have the memory of guppy these days. Correct that, and the Wiz averaged 81.0 points without Blatche and 87.8 with him. Those three games without him just happened to be against the two best defensive teams in the league -- two of those games on the road.

So, let's get even more basic -- a straight comparison of Blatche's efficiency game-by-game against the team's efficiency.

In the 10 games Blatche has played in, his individual efficiency has been better than the team's efficiency 3 times. So, in 7 of those games, he actually hurt the team's efficiency. Here's the comparison:

Code: Select all

GAME    Blatche Team
NJN     76      93.6
atl     41      90.4
mil     67      85.9
BOS     80      95.3
bos     125     102.0
orl     102     92.4
NYK     102     94.8
MIN     63      80.5
TOR     79      103.0
chi     dnp     74.3
phi     dnp     93.4
PHI     dnp     96.1
HOU     111     114.7


If Blatche plays the way he did against Houston -- I agree he can help the team. Most nights -- the way he's been playing for most of the season (and his career) -- he doesn't help. He flings the ball at the basket a lot. Or turns it over. Most nights, he hurts the team.

[Zonkerbl]

I think my argument is that, while Blatche sucks, he forces the opposing defense to play you differently as a team than when Booker is on the floor. Booker may be more efficient individually, but the team's efficiency suffers. I suspect it's true but I'd be willing to be disproven by data.

I guess you could test that by looking at the relative offensive efficiency of the team when Blatche is on the floor vs. when Booker is on with otherwise the same lineup (don't want to compare the efficiency of a team with four starters and Blatche to a team with four subs and Booker, that wouldn't be fair for my argument).

[Nivek]

I think we more or less agree. The team has been better this season with Blatche on the floor (about 6 points per 100 possessions). With Booker, they're about 3 points better per 100 possessions. But back to Blatche -- with him the Wizards still would have the worst offensive rating in the league by almost a full point. Yes, they're a bit less horrifically bad with Blatche, but they're still horrifically bad.

Worst = Worst

[fishercob]

...Then they have a good offensive performance against one of the league's worst defensive teams...

This is amazing to me. A quick scan on hoopdata looks like Houston was in the middle of the pack at the end of RudyT's tenure, then 5 years of top 5 defenses (4 under JVG, plus 1st year of Adelman), then they fell off the table in 09-10, and now are horrific. There were a few changes at both the start of that 5-year span and at the end, and of course Battier was at the heart of the team during that era.

But ultimately, it reinforces the idea for me that strategy and willingness (on the part of the players) to execute it are more important to a successful defense than raw talent

I think it has a ton to do with Yao's presence and lack thereof.

[Zonkerbl]

I think we more or less agree. The team has been better this season with Blatche on the floor (about 6 points per 100 possessions). With Booker, they're about 3 points better per 100 possessions. But back to Blatche -- with him the Wizards still would have the worst offensive rating in the league by almost a full point. Yes, they're a bit less horrifically bad with Blatche, but they're still horrifically bad.

Worst = Worst

Oh, things can ALWAYS get worse. And for the wizards it usually does.

[Severn Hoos]

...Then they have a good offensive performance against one of the league's worst defensive teams...

This is amazing to me. A quick scan on hoopdata looks like Houston was in the middle of the pack at the end of RudyT's tenure, then 5 years of top 5 defenses (4 under JVG, plus 1st year of Adelman), then they fell off the table in 09-10, and now are horrific. There were a few changes at both the start of that 5-year span and at the end, and of course Battier was at the heart of the team during that era.

But ultimately, it reinforces the idea for me that strategy and willingness (on the part of the players) to execute it are more important to a successful defense than raw talent

I think it has a ton to do with Yao's presence and lack thereof.

Thanks. So now I feel about you the way you feel about Kev.

[fishercob]

You hate me for my brilliance?

[Severn Hoos]

No, just for pointing out my ignorance.

[montestewart]

No, just for pointing out my ignorance.

When the Rockets won 20+ games in a row with Yao injured, that was done largely on defense and team play. They d believed in themselves and their system, and they played hard.

[gesa2]

bump to show a link to this article on the Suns training staff:

Schwartz explains Suns rotation players undergo particular assessments at least four times a week, which typically includes:

•Utilizing a goniometer to evaluate players’ flexibility in eight different areas, including the big toe, the foot and ankle, the knee, the hips, internal and external rotations, and shoulder flexibility.
•Manual muscle testing to evaluate the strength of particular muscles. The trainers will also look for differences in the measurements of the legs, ankles and hips to see if they’ve deviated from game to game.
•Visual and movement assessments involving leg squats. The training staff will have players squat down a few times and watch for deviations. “Do the feet turn out, do the feet cave in, do the knees come in, do they come out, does the low back arch, does it round, all that kind of stuff, do they fall forward in their motion?” Nelson said.
•From there Nelson and his staff can determine which muscles are tight or weak, which joints aren’t moving properly, and if there’s any neurological component that may be eliciting pain and causing dysfunction.

Then the trainers put together a program to counteract the issue.

I can't speak for the science, but the results speak for themselves. The only surprise at this point is that every team isn't doing it.

http://valleyofthesuns.com/2012/04/05/s ... ing-staff/

Got the link from espn's TrueHoop site :

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... ning-staff


You've got to believe that it's cost effective to get the best, most up to date training staff we can. Minimally, a move to copy the Suns would be good PR with both the public and future free agents.

[closg00]

Amazing stuff^^^ Thanks for posting. Please, can the poster who used to Post the article from the Post where Gilbert criticizes the Wizard org/facilities, please re-post. Nothing has changed since Ted has taken-over.

[7-Day Dray]

Amazing stuff^^^ Thanks for posting. Please, can the poster who used to Post the article from the Post where Gilbert criticizes the Wizard org/facilities, please re-post. Nothing has changed since Ted has taken-over.

Didn't Rip Hamilton criticize the medical staff when he left DC? Or was that Jerry Stackhouse? Either way there have been too many instances where players have complained about the medical staff. Javaris Crittenton said that they went in the wrong way when he had foot surgery, and had to sit out longer. Doesn't Ted care about his product staying healthy.

[hands11]

Send that stuff to Ted. It isn't going to do any good just posting it here.

If we want it, we need to ask for it. Give our team the competitive edge. That's how you win.

[keynote]

I think this might be old news for the Wizards' medical staff. Sure, they had some issues with Rip, Jarvis and Etan. But have they had any more recent misdiagnoses?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[7-Day Dray]

I think this might be old news for the Wizards' medical staff. Sure, they had some issues with Rip, Jarvis and Etan. But have they had any more recent misdiagnoses?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

They misdiagnosed Wall's injury last year and were saying that it was knee tendinitis for the longest, but it was actually a bone bruise right below the knee, and he should've had more rest. And the situation with Critt happened recently too.

[fishercob]

Fascinating read from Blazersedge, their SB Nation blog:

The Curious Case Of Greg Oden And Zig Ziegler

The first section of the article is all about the shady business dealings of this Ziegler character, a sports kinesiologist out of Phoenix. I guess it's there to put the subject of the article in to some context, though journalistically it seems irrelevant to the point of the story. None of his actual work appears t o be questioned. Anyhoe, that seems to complicate the fact that he may indeed be an ahead of his time (i.e. out of the dark ages) sports scientist -- more more in line with the philosophies of the Suns staff.

It's terribly sad for Greg Oden. If he had come along a generation later when sports medicine and science were more evolved, he may have been one of the all time greats.

[Nivek]

Jacob Grinyer at Brewhoop did some research into games lost because of injury over the past decade. From 2001-2011 (last season), the average team lost 78.5 player games (from their top 9 players, i.e. the "rotation") per season. The Wizards lost the most: 125.5 games per season. The Clippers were next at 124.0 games lost per season, then Golden State (107.2), Portland (98.0) and Miami (94.4).

The top 5 in fewest games lost due to injury per season:

1. San Antonio -- 41.4
2. Phoenix -- 43.1
3. Detroit -- 49.5
4. Utah -- 56.4
5. OKC -- 57.3

Philly was virtually tied for 5th at 57.5 games lost due to injury per season.

But I'm sure there's nothing the Wizards could do better in terms of their medical/training practices.

[Zonkerbl]

Well, a lot of those missing days are Arenas botching his recovery from a routine meniscus repair.

Although you can argue the medical staff are responsible for getting through to Arenas to take it easy.

But maybe the arthritis he developed had nothing to do with Arenas or the medical staff?

So many questions...

[Nivek]

Well, a lot of those missing days are Arenas botching his recovery from a routine meniscus repair.

Although you can argue the medical staff are responsible for getting through to Arenas to take it easy.

But maybe the arthritis he developed had nothing to do with Arenas or the medical staff?

So many questions...

There have been reports about Arenas returning to the floor with a leg muscle still atrophied despite rehab. That just causes more damage to the joint because the muscles can't do the support work -- all the shocks of starting, stopping, jumping are borne by the joint -- the cartilage. Which would contribute to the osteoarthritis.

I'm speaking with some personal experience on this. I have osteoarthritis in one knee. The doc described me continuing to play basketball in these terms: Imagine a ceiling in your house that's had water damage. It dries after awhile, but it can't heal. There's a little warping -- a small hole. Now take a broomstick and poke it. What happens? Powder starts falling. Larger chunks fall out if you hit it harder. A direct hit widens the hole -- makes it bigger, uglier, messier. Same sorta thing happens when playing ball on an arthritic knee.

Doc put me on some rehab, and the rehab lady had me doing stuff like strengthening my hip flexors and trying to increase flexibility in my hamstrings. That and Pilate's had me back on the floor for a couple years. This year, I didn't have time for Pilate's, the knee was hurting now and then, so I didn't try to play in a league.

But I digress. Obviously we'll never know if things could have gone differently with a Suns-like medical staff managing Gil's recovery and rehab. Given the stories that have been published about the condition of his leg when he returned to the floor, there's reason to think there would have been a significant difference.

[JonathanJoseph]

Well, a lot of those missing days are Arenas botching his recovery from a routine meniscus repair.

Although you can argue the medical staff are responsible for getting through to Arenas to take it easy.

But maybe the arthritis he developed had nothing to do with Arenas or the medical staff?

So many questions...

There have been reports about Arenas returning to the floor with a leg muscle still atrophied despite rehab. That just causes more damage to the joint because the muscles can't do the support work -- all the shocks of starting, stopping, jumping are borne by the joint -- the cartilage. Which would contribute to the osteoarthritis.

I'm speaking with some personal experience on this. I have osteoarthritis in one knee. The doc described me continuing to play basketball in these terms: Imagine a ceiling in your house that's had water damage. It dries after awhile, but it can't heal. There's a little warping -- a small hole. Now take a broomstick and poke it. What happens? Powder starts falling. Larger chunks fall out if you hit it harder. A direct hit widens the hole -- makes it bigger, uglier, messier. Same sorta thing happens when playing ball on an arthritic knee.

Doc put me on some rehab, and the rehab lady had me doing stuff like strengthening my hip flexors and trying to increase flexibility in my hamstrings. That and Pilate's had me back on the floor for a couple years. This year, I didn't have time for Pilate's, the knee was hurting now and then, so I didn't try to play in a league.

But I digress. Obviously we'll never know if things could have gone differently with a Suns-like medical staff managing Gil's recovery and rehab. Given the stories that have been published about the condition of his leg when he returned to the floor, there's reason to think there would have been a significant difference.

You can't convince me that the Wiz medical staff didn't blow it with Arenas' knee. Watching him play now is painful. He runs with an obvious and stated limp.

Arenas' original injury was a pretty routine meniscus tear. It has evolved into the single most-impactful knee injury in NBA history (if you would argue that Oden's knees never had a chance to begin with). Yes it was a massive organizational failure not to have the medical staff on top of the recovery of the player you've spent $170M on.