Gay/Cousins status updates

Is anyone afraid that Rudy will be treated by one of those spooky doctors that introduces the injury report. :) I too am interested how the Kings handle these two problems. I have no doubts that both players want to play. I doubt that Boogie would worsen his injury by playing. Does anyone know the risk of playing on an achilles tendon that still has pain? I can't find anything.

Here's the one statement that grabbed my attention:

As debilitating as they can be, the good news is that minor to moderate Achilles tendon injuries should heal on their own. You just need to give them time.
Then there is a whole list of measures to be taken that I presume most people would not find surprising. I find it hard to believe that Rudy could be pain free in 3-5 days but then re-evaluating in that time is a good idea.

And, yes, folks, fatigue can lead to an achilles injury among many other things. I suspect this will be the last time Malone asks a player to play a huge amount of minutes simply for an ego thing. Makes me wonder about the risks to IT.

I've thought the same thing. I don't think IT should be playing 40 minutes, that's for sure.
 
I wouldn't mind at all if Cousins is held out a couple of weeks and Rudy comes back after the All Star break. I don't want to see Cousins playing on a hurting ankle and I certainly don't want to risk an Achilles tear with Gay.
 
And, yes, folks, fatigue can lead to an achilles injury among many other things. I suspect this will be the last time Malone asks a player to play a huge amount of minutes simply for an ego thing. Makes me wonder about the risks to IT.

I thought the very same thing when the injuries occurred. But these are athletes. Well tuned machines. They should be able to back to back double headers !! But they are human, so fatigue is going to happen. I wondered when the starters played extended minutes in NO how Malone would handle the minutes in Houston. I think it did not turn out well for the Kings. Dont know if the injuries have anything to do with the extended minutes the game before but it is certainly an odd coincidence no ??
 
I would think it to be a coincidence, since, again, Cousins did not log heavy minutes the night before. In addition, with all of the minutes IT has played, he should be hobbling around, held together with Spanx™ and duct tape, but he seems fine. ;)
 
http://www.nba.com/kings/news/kings-injury-update

Kings Injury Update
SACRAMENTO, CA –Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and forward Rudy Gay, both injured during the first half of last night’s contest against the Houston Rockets, were examined today in Sacramento at Kaiser Permanente by Dr. Jason Zemanovic.

Cousins was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle and is currently listed as day-to-day. He is averaging a team-leading 22.6 points (.488 FG%, .721 FT%), a team-high 11.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.78 steals, 1.20 blocks and 32.0 minutes per game in starting all 40 games he has played in.

Additionally, an MRI examination on Gay was negative and he is also listed as day-to-day with a left Achilles strain.

Gay has accrued averages of 20.1 points (.523 FG%, .370 3pt%, .853 FT%), 4.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.14 steals, 0.71 blocks and 34.1 minutes per contest in 21 games with Sacramento since being acquired from the Raptors on December 9.

--------------

Woj, on Twitter, says Gay will be in a walking boot for 3-5 days, then re-evaluated.

examined at Kaiser?
Oh my...
 
They're in good hands if they're at Kaiser. You see for them, everything can be fixed with Ibuprofen and rest.

I had blue shield previously and Kaiser the last 8 years. I was actually surprised how much I like Kaiser and my doctor. I think it really depends on your Dr more than anything.
 
I would think it to be a coincidence, since, again, Cousins did not log heavy minutes the night before. In addition, with all of the minutes IT has played, he should be hobbling around, held together with Spanx™ and duct tape, but he seems fine. ;)

I can answer your questions if you and others have not already made up your minds.
 
I can answer your questions if you and others have not already made up your minds.
...IS IT held together with Spanx™ and duct tape?!

Yes, I believe that increased playing time could lead to injury. It's only logical - the more you play, the more likely something could happen. Do I think that was the case in this instance? I don't know. Nobody does. I certainly don't think so in the case of Cousins - Gay has more miles, and the injury could be attributed to usage..but you never know.
 
...IS IT held together with Spanx™ and duct tape?!

Yes, I believe that increased playing time could lead to injury. It's only logical - the more you play, the more likely something could happen. Do I think that was the case in this instance? I don't know. Nobody does. I certainly don't think so in the case of Cousins - Gay has more miles, and the injury could be attributed to usage..but you never know.

Would you play Gay 42 minutes with nothing at stake in a back to back series in the future?

I have just spent 15 minutes on a peer reviewed site (that's science, folks although I understand science is not popular in modern culture) and there are many factors involved. It is likely that the number of causes of achilles problems is far too many for this forum to digest and anyone with a serious interest can do what I did. Different people are more susceptible to injury than others. Muscular people, especially those with muscular calf muscles, are less susceptible to the injury. I would guess that IT has more muscular calf muscles than Rudy. I would even guess the same for Boogie.

Boogie played 29 minutes. Rudy played 42. My first question still stands. Why put people at risk for no reason even if there is no 100% direct correlation between use, limited recovery time, and injury? Limited recovery time IS a contributory factor. Did it contribute in this case? I don't know but what happened, happened and to ignore this particular situation, especially when several factors are already in place that COULD lead to an achilles injury, why do it again?
 
I had blue shield previously and Kaiser the last 8 years. I was actually surprised how much I like Kaiser and my doctor. I think it really depends on your Dr more than anything.

I have had Kaiser for a long time and I agree, it depends on the Dr. I have been lucky in having good Drs. What I don't like is the reps that answer the phone when you need to make an appointment.
 
You would have to define "nothing."

Would I do it? Considering that I was mentally questioning why they were still out there, I don't know. I don't write the checks and I'm not sure what the purpose truly was? Was it to learn how to close the game out? Was it to allow Rudy to get a new career high? Or something else?

Motive could make nothing something.
 
I think it depends on the player ( we are all different.). Wilt Chamberlain averaged OVER 48 mins per game one season,, but was never injury prone.
 
You would have to define "nothing."

Would I do it? Considering that I was mentally questioning why they were still out there, I don't know. I don't write the checks and I'm not sure what the purpose truly was? Was it to learn how to close the game out? Was it to allow Rudy to get a new career high? Or something else?

Motive could make nothing something.

I will define "nothing" if that is relevant to you. "Nothing" means: was the game at risk? Was there a special prize for Rudy if he broke his career high? Was it really that important to teach a team how to close out a game given the margin was relatively high? Etc. Apparently it was worth teaching the team how to close out a game so much that it was worth risking the health of the ball players. I absolutely do not believe that Rudy was kept on the court for 42 minutes to help the team learn how to close out the game. He was on the court to see if he could break a career high in points. At the end of the game Malone said he was not going to take Rudy out because he was so hot or words to that effect. I may even find the interview if you wish but it was evident to me why Rudy played so many minutes.

Are people defending the overuse of players? Really?
 
I don't think they played the amount of games then than now. Could be wrong

It went from 75 year in 59/60 to 79 in 60/61. Did bother looking at other changes, but thats close enough to what they play today. Plus travel, treatments and medicine was way different back then.
 
I will define "nothing" if that is relevant to you. "Nothing" means: was the game at risk? Was there a special prize for Rudy if he broke his career high? Was it really that important to teach a team how to close out a game given the margin was relatively high? Etc. Apparently it was worth teaching the team how to close out a game so much that it was worth risking the health of the ball players. I absolutely do not believe that Rudy was kept on the court for 42 minutes to help the team learn how to close out the game. He was on the court to see if he could break a career high in points. At the end of the game Malone said he was not going to take Rudy out because he was so hot or words to that effect. I may even find the interview if you wish but it was evident to me why Rudy played so many minutes.
Are people defending the overuse of players? Really?
Overuse is in the eyes of the beholder. And Malone was the only beholder involved. Fortunately Gay wasn't injured when he played 42. I think he had only played 6or 8. I don't think I would throw blame on anyone. Hope both guys heal well and get back quick.
 
I will define "nothing" if that is relevant to you. "Nothing" means: was the game at risk? Was there a special prize for Rudy if he broke his career high? Was it really that important to teach a team how to close out a game given the margin was relatively high? Etc. Apparently it was worth teaching the team how to close out a game so much that it was worth risking the health of the ball players. I absolutely do not believe that Rudy was kept on the court for 42 minutes to help the team learn how to close out the game. He was on the court to see if he could break a career high in points. At the end of the game Malone said he was not going to take Rudy out because he was so hot or words to that effect. I may even find the interview if you wish but it was evident to me why Rudy played so many minutes.

Are people defending the overuse of players? Really?

No need to find the interview. That is not worth the risk, especially with a game the next night. Health risk aside, the team is more important than individual stats and having the players fresh for the next game is important.

disclaimer: Hindsight is 20/20. If it hadn't happened would we be still talking about it?
 
No need to find the interview. That is not worth the risk, especially with a game the next night. Health risk aside, the team is more important than individual stats and having the players fresh for the next game is important.

disclaimer: Hindsight is 20/20. If it hadn't happened would we be still talking about it?

The past predicts the future and also many people on the game thread were questioning overuse of players in back to backs. They were told that the Kings had to learn to finish out games and that pretty much stopped the conversation. The most solid bit of info to come from this is never play Rudy Gay 42 minutes and then expect him to play the next day. The injury came very quickly in the Houston game. Rudy came up limping 5 minutes into the game and was taken out a minute later. I dare anyone to find where he injured himself as I saw nothing.

What I found interesting for the amateur athlete other than the need for stretching and all the things I suspect people know is that if you use any muscle to get that burn and the burn/pain/ache is still present the next day, take the day off. You risk some kind of injury if you don't.

If this isn't a learning moment, it is wasted.
 
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Overuse and recovery time does clearly effect potential of injury. It's why athletes take ice baths most days. They don't do it because it feels good. They do it because it greatly cuts down on recovery time and prevents swelling which can lead to muscular imbalance which itself leads to a greater chance of injury.

At the same time I don't fault Malone. We're a young team who had a poor record on the road trip, were winning and I think to improve the confidence of the squad Malone wanted a blowout through the final whistle. Also doesn't help that our bench is crap and can give up 10 points in under 2 mins. To a certain extent at this level there's not a whole lot you can do. An extra 4-5 mins here or there really isn't going to be the cause of injury. The cause more than likely is going to be based on the entire picture as a pro athlete, games/practices/lifting most days of the week. Overuse could have been a factor in Rose or Rondo getting hurt but what can you really do? Play them 30 a night? Style of play and the general demands of being a pro athlete weigh considerably. We're not talking weekend warriors here. The entire workload of a pro athlete increases risk of injury. There's luck involved as well in staying healthy. The travel on long road trips is also a factor.

Most don't know this but the body structure of teen girls in the pelvic/hip region greatly increases the risk of an ACL tear compared to any other age group. Teenage girl soccer/basketball players have a greater rate of ACL tears than any other age group or sport, male or female. What can you really do to prevent it? It's structural. Practice only twice per week? There's too much IMO which goes into the cause of injuries to look at a coach for playing a guy a few extra mins. Now if Rudy or Boogie hurt themselves when playing in garbage time of a blowout that's a bit different. That's more where an unnecessary risk comes into play.

BTW, an Achilles issue many times, just like with calf and foot(plantar fasciitis) issues come from an issue elsewhere, often in the hip/pelvic/glute region. Even knee issues are many times a result of imbalance in the pelvic/glute region and issues with the IT band, the muscle running from the outside of your hip, across your quad to the inside of your knee. It's an imbalance or tightness issues elsewhere which puts more pressure on an ankle or a knee. A foam roller helps with that, as does yoga. Likewise, often times if you have a back issue the problem originates below the waste. Doctors often look past this and treat the symptoms, the pain, while a physical therapist will look at the cause in the hips/glutes or below. The muscles in the posterior chain are linked and affect one another.
 
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Most don't know this but the body structure of teen girls in the pelvic/hip region greatly increases the risk of an ACL tear compared to any other age group. Teenage girl soccer/basketball players have a greater rate of ACL tears than any other age group or sport, male or female. What can you really do to prevent it? It's structural. Practice only twice per week? There's too much IMO which goes into the cause of injuries to look at a coach for playing a guy a few extra mins. Now if Rudy or Boogie hurt themselves when playing in garbage time of a blowout that's a bit different. That's more where an unnecessary risk comes into play.

Actually I knew this as I presume does Slim, VF21, 6th, etc. Just further proof that women should stay in the kitchen and out of sports. :eek:







The devil made me do it.
 
Regardless, I hope we err on the side of caution with both. Kings might suck to watch for a few games, but I'd rather they both miss a few extra games and be 100% than have them come back too soon.
 
Actually I knew this as I presume does Slim, VF21, 6th, etc. Just further proof that women should stay in the kitchen and out of sports. :eek:







The devil made me do it.
So what you're telling me, is there's actually a medical excuse for asking the wife to make me a sandwich?

Lol.


I'll stop. Don't want to anger any of our female contingent here.
 
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