Wednesday, February 25th, 2009...3:55 pm
Falling in with the Tired Old Nags
Several weeks back, I wrote a piece called Gagging the Tired Old Nag. It was short and to the point. The average age of the last 5 NBA champion rosters is 28.9. At the time of writing, the average age of the Spurs roster stood at 29.6. I thought it sounded really smart to kill the overblown assumption that the Spurs needed to get younger, and fast. This afternoon, I’m feeling too clever by half. As our readers know by now, Duncan is out of tonight’s contest with right quad tendonosis.
From one perspective, this is not serious. A bit of good bad news. A common injury with which many people struggle. From another perspective, it absolutely stinks. As a friend who covers the team put it, “My hunch is he’s basically going to be day-to-day for the rest of the season.”
This is the sort of injury that requires time to heal. Duncan and the Spurs are not helped by rushing him back. They need to give him as much time as he needs to get back to full strength, a difficult task this time of year. But rest and relaxation may only go so far. One cannot turn back the clock just by spending a week on the dole. One definition of tendonosis reads:
The suffix “osis” implies a pathology of chronic degeneration without inflammation. Doctors prefer the term tendinosis for the kind of chronic tendon injuries that most of us have. The main problem for someone with tendinosis is failed healing, not inflammation; tendinosis is an accumulation over time of microscopic injuries that don’t heal properly. Although inflammation can be involved in the initial stages of the injury, it is the inability of the tendon to heal that perpetuates the pain and disability.
In other words, Tim Duncan is getting old. This is a degenerative wear and tear injury. This is something his body is not able to make right.
Couple this with Manu’s ankle struggles this season and the Spurs have yet more incentive to get on with the youth movement. They’ve added a few younger pieces this year, and they would do well to go into the offseason with a mind toward adding one or two more young bodies. In addition to getting younger, I prefer Popovich’s minutes management program, up to and including letting his stars forego the rigors of back to back contests. Let the league whine. The games don’t count until May and June, anyway.
Well, at least this injury gives Pops Mensah-Bonsu a chance to bring the goods. Let’s see what you’ve got, Pops.
8 Comments
February 25th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
This is what all of us Spurs’ fan have been dreading for years. When Tim starts getting age related injuries. Manu seems to have the same problem already.
Hold me, I’m scared…
February 25th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
And once again, the talk of “what’s the Spurs championship window” will resurface. Yes, Tim Duncan is the window, but an injury like this makes me think twice about how much longer does this team really have to get another ring or two.
But then again, we are just one injury ridden season away from being a lottery team, where we could always find our future superstar…
February 25th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Quick update, Jeff McDonald had Duncan listed as having tendinitis, not tendonosis, and he just confirmed that on the live chat for the game. Hopefully his information is the correct stuff, and its not chronic, though he did say that Duncan would be day-to-day the rest of the season as well.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Never mind, scratch that. He just confirmed tendonosis. Apparently Pop had said tendinitis before the game. Crap.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
As an unabashed Pops fan, I’m excited about this chance for minutes. Raw offensively, but great at cleaning up with offensive rebounds and open layups/dunks off or either Parker’s penetration or a fast break (which he runs well). Given some burn, he’ll be a solid 4th big in the rotation.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Calm down people, we still have Tony. Lets see how well he can carry a team for a while. He’s the youngest of the “Big Three” and will be leading the team soon to come. So far we shouldn’t be too worried.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I think Pop knows how to get this group rested and ready for a playoff run, so I’ll trust him in his management of minutes down the stretch.
As for the proverbial window, I think this group, as is, has this season and next to get Timmy one for the thumb. Mason is a pleasant surprise and has some good years left and Tony looks like an All-NBA candidate for the next 5 years to come, but I think we’re seeing the best of manu and TD that we’re going to see form this point forward. I think the effect on Manu has been, and will continue to be more dramatic - his game is all speed and contortionism, which are qualities that don’t stick with even the best of athletes long after 30. TD could very well give us 5 more productive years of steady decline, but his days of taking over games - much less a 7-game series - are coming to a close.
Answer - get some talented youth at the 4 and on the wing immediately. Find the Millsap to Duncan’s Boozer (God forgive me for such a blasphemous metaphor). Time to begin the casting call for TP’s future running mates, even if it means a bigger cap number, because 2011 ain’t that far off.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:29 am
[...] of the Timberwolves game. Undoubtedly, this has everything to do with the weariness associated with right quad tendonosis. I’m all for Popovich resting Duncan as much as needed between now and the playoffs. [...]
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