"No matter whether the team, personal trainer or doctor has a good plan, it ultimately depends on the players themselves. Athletes make money from their bodies, and they know their condition and health best." Zormelo said, " This is the team and the players working hard for their business and career, and it cannot be entirely blamed on the compressed season."
Cody Toppert, the former director of player development for the Suns and now an assistant coach at the University of Memphis, briefly described the five levels of the entire season. The first is the accumulation phase, which focuses on pushing players to exceed their past limits, and then the short-term phase. The high-intensity strengthening phase, the third phase is recovery and injury prevention after exhaustion, the fourth phase is to focus on rest before the playoffs, with a small amount of high-intensity planning, and the final phase is to adjust to being able to stabilize in the playoffs. At the highest level of competition.
For the team, how to tailor the management and planning of the players is crucial. Each player's maximum efficiency is different. Instructions and types are important. A difficult training for one player may be a piece of cake for another. For example, Giannis Antetokounmpo plays 30 minutes and it is normal for him. , but it may take some time for Pat Connaughton to adjust.
Coincidentally, four of the five players with the longest playing time in the 2020-21 season were injured at the end of the season, Luka Doncic (neck tightness), Joel Embiid (torn cartilage in right knee), Bradley Beal (hamstring) strain), Donovan Mitchell (hamstring strain), and Stephen Curry only played 5 games last season. After the end of this season, the Warriors made it clear that they would find ways to offload Curry.
Clippers ace Kawhi Leonard was injured in the playoffs. He was the only player in the conference championship game to average more than 34 minutes per game, and he has struggled with load management all season. There are only five teams in the league whose players are not in the top 40 in minutes played per game, and one of them is the Bucks.
"It's like going to the doctor, the case is very important," Toppert said. "Without a full understanding of the player's injury history and personal status, everything is just speculation. Is there overtraining? Is it possible that the calf strain may have occurred earlier?" Did it happen in the off-season? How did it happen? Was it because of basketball? Was it dealt with now? Is there a balanced rehabilitation plan after the treatment? And the only person who can fully understand it is the players and team personnel. Without this background knowledge, it is difficult Deal with it all. But most well-run teams have plans in place to deal with any changes."
Toppert pointed to Devin Booker as an example. Team data shows that if he plays more than 36 minutes in back-to-back games, the Suns will have to reduce his intensity, and if he plays more than 40 minutes, the risk of injury will double. And if there are three games in four days, Booker must be given a full day of rest.
"Booker is the kind of person who will treat every training with the same attitude as if he were playing in Game 7 of the championship. This is why he is so powerful at a young age. And he is also lucky that the Suns have a team led by their director of health management Brady Howe. A team with the title of "Medical Dragon" can keep players in the best condition at all times," Toppert said.
Booker has only played more than 30 minutes in the second game this season. In the four games from January 20 to 30, Booker had leg soreness in two games. The Suns immediately asked him to rest for four consecutive games. Except for the inconsequential final game of the regular season, Booker played every game.
Zormelo noted another injury risk factor is a change in playing style. Over the past three seasons, the NBA's pace has been the fastest since the 1980s, with players often running to exhaustion on the court.
Interestingly, the MVP of the 2020-21 season is the ultimate weapon in the half court and is slow center Nikola Jokic. The Clippers, Suns, and Hawks are three of the eight teams with the slowest pace on the court (the Bucks are the second fastest this season).
"If players don't try to adjust their style, what do you think is going to happen?" Zormelo said. "Can John Wall play fast and fast for more than 15 years?"
Trae Young may be an anomaly, ranking sixth in the league in usage rate this season. At 22 years old, he has the body of a marathon player and has a superior rhythm in the half court. Strength is no longer a key training item in modern basketball; lightness and flexibility are the value.
Chris Paul started eating a vegetarian diet around the age of 35. The past two seasons have been the healthiest since he turned 30.
"Basketball players need to have self-awareness, learn to eat or recover according to their body shape, and improve their knowledge of sports science, and the team also needs to monitor the entire season." Zormel said, "Investment of 200 million in projects such as Anthony With star players like Davis, you have to protect such an expensive asset as much as possible."
Most people assume that every team in the league has a complete sports science background and professional team, but as Toppert said, "I'm actually not surprised to see these injuries. No team can control so many factors." Even so. If you do it perfectly, there will often be a surprise mother fucker.
The next season may start in October again, and it is very likely to be a shortened season. The Golden Nuggets have already proposed to let Jokic load management. If the team has not formulated a personalized training and player protection plan, it will already be A big step behind in the 2022 championship, the Suns are proving to everyone how to beat their opponents with health.
