On Coming Back Too Soon From Injuries....

by frankpos on Jan 17, 2012 11:30 PM EST

I won't dive into the beehive like C. L Brown did... I won't question the rigor of the conditioning program or "too much practice."

But I will point out that I personally feel Pitino and his staff push players to get on the court as soon as possible-- and I'll go so far as to say, perhaps sooner than they should after injury.

Jared Swopshire resisted this "encouragement" strongly. He may yet get re-injured, but not yet.

We've now seen both Blackshear and Buckles come back not near 100%--and get re-injured.

I hear directly from Siva after the DePaul game that he had STILL been wearing a brace and that the ankle was not 100% yet. Are we surprised he can't jet past players or execute those spin moves off that pivot foot?

I hear Coach saying he is disappointed and "surprised" that SVT and Kuric were not ready to go last game against Marquette. If you saw the injuries to teammates mounting up, wouldn't you be reluctant to push it too?

Forget too much practice or too tough conditioning ...how about the simple question: Are players being pushed to play too soon after injuries?

Poll

Are players being pushed to come back and play too soon after injuries?

yes

34 votes

no

35 votes

69 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

Honestly...

I think this is ridiculous. First, Blackshear got injured working out with his dad, his injury had nothing to do with the team.

Second, as an athlete you want to come back as quickly as possible, you feel a need to come back, your only goal is to get back into the game so you can make a difference. If Pitino and staff are encouraging them to come back, something is wrong not with the staff but with the will of the players, and I don’t see that being true.

Preston! said you never play at 100% at Louisville, I think that isn’t exclusive to Louisville. If you look in every sport players are being injured and playing when they are not 100% because they know their playing has an impact. Athletes consistently play while recovering from minor injuries. Also, after your first serious injury there is truly no such thing as 100%. As depressing as it is, you will never be able to get back to where you once were because of the physical impact the injury leaves on your body.

TLDR: No

by mtbred on Jan 17, 2012 11:48 PM EST reply actions

Honestly,... Swopshire was injured working out with his dad

Of course players want to come back ASAP. They’re 19yr old kids. Frank makes good points, while offering a reasonable theory. To be so dismissive of it is a little “ridiculous”

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by Chick-Stratino'sUrDaddy on Jan 18, 2012 1:28 AM EST up reply actions

Honestly, I don't think I much care for these conversations on whether the staff is causing all misfortunes or not anymore.

by gary west on Jan 18, 2012 7:36 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

I don't either when it comes to "over working" them. But this question Frank has raised is something else entirely.

Rick has been saying, since Rak came back, that “he’s not 100% back from the ACL yet.”
Don’t know what that means in Rick Speak,…. but I know that Rak looked good for one game and then looked like he was struggling ever since.

If he wasn’t right, maybe he wasn’t telling anyone. I don’t know; but maybe someone on the medical staff should have a better grip on these things

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by Chick-Stratino'sUrDaddy on Jan 18, 2012 9:29 AM EST up reply actions

I'm telling you-the strength and conditioning staff need to be examined

by twistedwedge on Jan 18, 2012 9:55 AM EST up reply actions

Everything needs to be examined.

We need to find out what is causing this problem and if there’s anything we can do about it. If it proves to be just bad luck, okay. We’ll just have to live with it. But examine every possibility.

by Carolina Cardinal on Jan 18, 2012 10:11 AM EST up reply actions

I've had the opportunity to watch Coach up close in press conferences for the last few years and...

this year I sense not just exasperation but unfortunately a bit of desperation in his manner. He knows his time is limited and that he has not hit a home run in a while, and I think he sees not just this hoped-for season slipping away, but with it the ability to recruit top notch guys for the next few years.

I won’t say outright that this is causing him to push the guys to get ready too soon…but there’s seems to be more comments from him indicating impatience with any guys who aren’t ready to resume play when he thinks they should.

by frankpos on Jan 18, 2012 7:39 AM EST reply actions

I wonder if there is some desperation at work as well

And the thing is, there need not be. Even though I count myself among those who are disappointed that CRP hasn’t accomplished more in 10 years, I am also realistic enough to see that injuries have derailed what could have been an outstanding season. But with our projected roster for next year, there is no reason to be desperate. If this season doesn’t pan out as expected, and even if it results in an NIT bid, so be it. Let’s get everyone healthy and ready for next year.

We shouldn’t forget that our 1986 national title was preceded by a 1985 NIT bid (and more recently, UConn’s 2011 national title was preceded by a 2010 NIT appearance). I’m not arguing that it is a good thing to play in the NIT, but I am saying that given all of the injuries this year to key players, we should be patient with CRP and the team. An NIT bid this year would not prevent us from having an outstanding season next year with a healthy roster.

by cardsinindy2010 on Jan 18, 2012 8:42 AM EST up reply actions

I don't follow this argument.

It would make sense if people were reinjuring the same thing. But, Blackshear hurt his OTHER shoulder, and Buckles hurt his OTHER knee.

Plus, its been over a year since Buckles was hurt.

by johnnyjoejohnson on Jan 18, 2012 9:42 AM EST up reply actions

When you come back too soon from an injury, often you injure another part of your body, because you are favoring the previously injured part.

Pitino has even made this same comment in more than one press conference recently.

by frankpos on Jan 18, 2012 9:52 AM EST up reply actions

and its completely true

even if it came from Pitino, lol

by twistedwedge on Jan 18, 2012 9:56 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, this is what I've always heard from sports trainers

Compensating for an injury with the other leg/arm can result in injury to the other leg/arm.

by cardsinindy2010 on Jan 18, 2012 10:17 AM EST up reply actions

I'd believe it if I saw some data.

Its an empirical question.

I’ve been around science long enough to know that theories like this spring up from anecdotes and personal experience. They’re believed by the field for years and years without any actual evidence. If someone could show me a published study that I could examine, I’d believe it. Otherwise, there isn’t even a correlation, let alone a causal relationship.

As a related example: How many people think athletes go on “streaks” where they get hot and make more shots? Their confidence increases and they’re more likely to make the next shot because ot it? It doesn’t happen. Statistically, they’re no more likely to make the next shot than they were to make the last one.

by johnnyjoejohnson on Jan 18, 2012 10:21 AM EST up reply actions

yep

if you play poker for awhile – hell, if you toss a coin a thousand times – you’ll see “streaks” of good hands and bad hands, or heads and tails. When the coin comes down tails nine times out of ten in a row, which is guaranteed to happen at some point, you don’t assume that some force is causing it to happen. (Well, some people do, but those people are clearly wrong.)

Call it a run of bad luck, or a curse, or chalk it up to whatever bugaboo you want to attribute it to – more than likely, it is random chance.

"I am willing to donate to the charity that is working on the prevention of whatever the hell Dick Vitale has." - noobmaster

by rickmbari on Jan 19, 2012 3:22 PM EST up reply actions

I can't buy this theory

I think it’s a medical decision, not a coaching decision, as to whether a player is ready to return to individual instruction, full practice, or game action. And I would be nothing short of astounded if the team doctors, who I presume are from Rudy Ellis’ practice (I heard an ad for Ellis and Somebody on a UofL broadcast, and they were touted as the doctors all UofL teams have used for years), let a coach tell them when a player is ready to be cleared for any level of participation. They’d not only be in violation of their Hippocratic oath, they’d be committing professional suicide.

"I am willing to donate to the charity that is working on the prevention of whatever the hell Dick Vitale has." - noobmaster

by rickmbari on Jan 19, 2012 3:16 PM EST reply actions