How difficult it is for NBA centers to stay healthy
Moving forward, I’m sure we’re going to hear much more about the durability of Greg Oden. But at some point, something should be said about how difficult it seems to be in today’s NBA for centers to stay healthy.
People, in general, aren’t meant to be as tall as some of these centers. Or as heavy. And it puts an incredible amount of stress on the bones, joints, tendons, heart — everything — just to keep them going. It would seem to me, they are a lot more vulnerable than average-sized people to all sorts of injuries.
For example, Oden has been injured twice this season and people are concerned it will become a pattern. That may be. But, it’s not an uncommon pattern for centers. According to official NBA stats Sunday morning, Oden — who has played in 46 games — stacks up reasonably well against the number of games played by other players listed as centers. Most teams, at this point of the season, have played around 54 or 55 games. Here are the number of games played by some other starting centers in the league:
Al Jefferson, 50 (but out for the season); Dwight Howard, 52; Yao Ming, 52; Mehmet Okur, 47, Shaquille O’Neal, 47; Andrew Bynum, 46 (probably out for the season); Chris Kaman, 15; Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 37; Jermaine O’Neal, 43; Andris Biedrins, 50; Brad Miller, 43; Andrew Bogut, 36; Marcus Canby, 43; Al Horford, 41; Tyson Chandler, 32.
That’s a lot of quality players missing a lot of games.
Portland has been fortunate this season that Joel Przybilla has played in 54 games. But Przybilla has had seasons when he played in just 32, 17, 56 and 43 games.
Without a scientific study, it seems to me off the top of my head that this is a relatively recent happening. In the old days, centers weren’t too much more at risk than other players — possibly because the floor was so much more spread out due to a lack of “help” defense and the faster pace of the game. But in today’s game, which is slower paced, so much of the defense is packed in the paint.
There’s an incredible amount of traffic near the basket — which leads to so many more collisions where ankles can be sprained, knees can be bumped and players can be knocked down. Big players now are always attempting to take charges, too, which was looked down upon in the old days of the NBA. That also leads to injuries.
All I’m saying is that the bodies on these guys take a pounding. And the structure of that body may not be as able to withstand the stress as the bodies of other players built in a more conventional fashion.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | February 22, 2009
Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, injuries, NBA centers, Portland Trail Blazers
Dwight you are becoming one of the biggest Oden apologists in the local ‘media’.
Physics wins every time- the force applied to a joint increases with the cube of the height. Big people are fragile and don’t live as long for a reason.
Steroids and HGH just make things worse, as muscles grow without the corresponding bones, attachment points, and connective tissue needed to hold things in place.
P.S. There are hundreds of research papers published on this every year, but they’re not quite as likely to appear in media outlets than a research finding that can be twisted in a manner that appeals to prurience. (That’s fancy talk for sex sells)
For example, there was a well designed study that came out last week that showed how (The NFL keeps decent records) steroid users had injury rates (serious enough to prevent playing) several times higher than players that didn’t test positive for ‘roids.
Franklin — So I’m “aplogizing” for Oden’s injuries? Nope. Just trying to make people aware that whether your center is Oden, Przybilla, Chandler, Ilgauskas or whomever, he’s going to be injured. It’s just part of the package.Maybe Dwight Howard is immune to it. We’ll see.
– Dwight
Dwight you are absolutely apologizing.
Why use only this year’s missed games as proof that Oden is ‘normal’? If you were going to be fair wouldn’t you want to use the fact Oden missed the ENTIRE year last year as well? Incorporating that would certainly skew your ‘statistics’.
Let me help you out, when you look at Oden’s entire career (2 years) he has played in a whopping 46 of 136 total games. I don’t think that could be characterized as average do you?
The problem is that Greg Oden was the #1 pick. Most of those guys on that list were not. We expect more from him than all the other centers because we drafted him so highly. Also, there should be some digging into what exactly has happened to Martell Webster. Was there some clear negligence done by the Blazers medical staff? It just seems weird to me that he is out for the season because of an injury that was not detected till the preseason. Either way, 34-20 is pretty good. Go Ducks!
Jeff,
Uh, you may want to take another look at the draft position of the guys on Dwight’s list. They weren’t all the #1 pick, though several were, and they were almost all in the top 5
I really do believe the hype of being the #1 pick has a lot to do with the hysteria surrounding Oden’s injuries. On one hand he has been injured twice this year, on the other hand they were both typical basketball injuries; rolling and ankle and knocking knees with someone. Yes the microfracture is a concern. I also see Oden doing some really nice things at times. I wish he had some pep in his step, and I wish he would figure out some post positioning.
The draft is not an exact science. Anytime you factor humans into any equation you have a chance for error.
I believe as some in here do that if you keep Greg and Joel together they could be a nice pairing for years.
Hopefully Greg can recover and contribute. It is possible for him to have a very good career still. I will root for him to, and hope and pray and possibly sacrifice a chicken or two if need be to keep hime healthy. GO BLAZERS!
Keep it up Dwight, good thoughts.
It is awfully quiet at 1 Center Court regarding Greg “SamBowie” Oden’s latest injury….. It looks more and more that TBI got sold another bad bill of goods….. Time to move on w/o Oden as the focus of the offense….
I agree with Dwight. I throw last year out as well. It was supposedly a minor (if it could ever be considered minor) Micro-fracture). It is a mandatory year off and it was precautionary. People have been griping about this year. Dwight is guilty of trying to give fans a dose of reality by showing the comparison. Fans love to hate on their players. I just got off the phone with a Phoenix fan who hates JRich, says he ain’t giving them anything. You look at JRich’s stats and he has a good fg pct, 3pt pct since coming over. For a guy trying to figure how to fit in he’s doing good, but that particular fan would give JRich to us for nothing. Point is, fans don’t like people to interfere with their hatin’.
You are right Bob. A 12 year wouldn’t even argue with fact that Oden is a bust at this point. He has missed 90 out of the 136 games the Blazer’s have played since picking him. Beyond that, even when he does play his numbers are poor at best. Sam Bowie had better numbers his rookie year than Greg this year.
Come on Dwight, stop apologizing for the FACT that Oden is a Bust. It is making you look bad.
I would let Greg play a few more years before you make a bust of him. If you do go with the bronze, but I would like to see him have a career before you start making statues and busts of him.
Sebastian Telfair=bust
Letting Jermaine Oneal go=bust by management
Bringing Isaih Rider in=bust by management….list can go on and on.
It’s too soon to call Oden a bust. If he is out of the league or a bench player in two years then he’s a bust.
The fact is, even with foul trouble, get him 20+ minutes and he’s a likely double-double. He alters the opposing team’s offense. So, when he plays he is already a force. And he has played most of this season.
That said, I can’t imagine how anybody at this point wouldn’t choose Durant with that top pick. Hindsight being 20/20… Big men like Oden don’t come along often, but neither do players like Durant. Like, ever. It’s incredible what Durant has been doing already… is he 21 yet?
So what, though. The Blazers are platooning two quality, legitimate NBA centers right now. Many teams don’t have one.
I am fine with it.
The same thing could have been said about Sam Bowie jbird. His problem was never ability it was RELIABILITY. Sam was a good player he just couldn’t stay healthy, thus he is/was (fairly I might add) considered a bust. Greg, like Sam, has NEVER shown the ability to stay healthy during his 1 year of college and now 2 years in the NBA.
Franklin seriously give it a rest. Your selling it way too hard. Dwight has merely laid out the facts. Most big guys in the league will get injusred at least once a season. They also take longer to heal. Those are just the facts
It is not just centers but also power forwards. Guys like Boozer, Stoudemire, and even Aldridge have been out for extended periods. Big guys often play physical ball yet are also expected to run the floor. In a span of 82 games, add this all up and injuries should be expected…
As far as Oden, I am glad we took him. We needed a big man and luckily for him he didn’t have to do it all as we have players on this team who can score. Sure Durant can score but so can Allen Iverson…nuff said
Oden has now missed 91 of 137 games. Dwight conveniently left out 82 missed games. Those ARE the facts junior.
Call it what you want, but most would call a BUST.
How many players are injured during their college careers? BRoy was at Washington, and he has had nagging injuries in the NBA, but noone calls him a bust. Greg would be a redshirt sophomore this year (medical redshirt). Nobody would be calling him a bust for having to sit out one year of college.
Another thing, he played through his injury in college. If you are going to hold that against him, than Joel is having a bust of a season because he has been playing injured.
Problem is you negative ninnies have nothing to lose by voicing your opinion. You can conveniently say we should have taken Durant and play the bust card. However, if Oden went to OKC and took them to a championship while Portland didn’t win anything (or Durant suffered injuries which was a consideration due to his slight frame), you would be right there talking down on the organization, “should have taken Oden, athletic at that size, how stupid!”. Convenient.
You think OKC is bad now, can you imagine how bad they would be with Oden?
Franklin -
Your posts are humerous. I expect from the ignorance of your postings, that you are also a Nate McMillian supporter.
Let’s get a few things straight here.
Based on your logic, Jermaine O’Neal was a 4x bust. He didn’t have a fraction of Oden’s statistics, not even in his 4th year. Am I correct that Jermaine was a multi-time All-Star? He must have been a bust for you right?
Let’s take Bynum as an example. In his career, he has the following:
year 1 – 46
year 2 – 82
year 3 – 35 (out for season)
year 4 – 46 (out for season)
So with Bynum and his VERY low statistics the first 2 years and being the 10th pick in a draft. He must be a huge bust right?
Let’s look at the last 4 years of Yao ming:
57, 48, 55 and current year is on strong. …. Soooo, he must be a bust too right? 13.5 pts per game his rookie year? Yep, a definite bust according to your logic.
Better yet, how about Amare Stoudamire?
On his career average, he misses about 25% of the year based on his averages. He was also a 13pt a game first year player. Definite bust right?
—–
Point in summary is that you are making an opinion on a guy that had a legit issue with his knee. Year 1 was not his fault. This year, how can you fault him for CHIPPING a bone? He collided knees. How is that making him a bust?
The funniest thing is the kid is 20 years old and played about 75% of 1/2 of a season and you are labeling him as a bust already. I am glad your not a GM, a basketball coach and just a plain ignorant fan.
You have little logic or validity.
careful Blazer MVP you will be on Bob Whitsitt’s enemy of the state list as well. I secretly think Bob=Franklin.
Talk about ignorance GODunk, are you suggesting that Nate is not getting it done? Damn man he’s got the youngest team in the NBA with a complete bust #1 pick at 35-20. I’d say that’s pretty GD good don’t ya think?
Let me guess, you were a Maurice Cheeks supporter!
As far as Andrew Bynum goes, who cares! He was a #10 overall pick and didn’t come in with 1/10th the hype as Oden. Furthermore, the Lakers didn’t pass on picking Durant to get him did they?
Did you say the Oden’s 1st year injury wasn’t his fault? What is that supposed to mean? If injuries aren’t his fault does that make them less of a concern? Was Sam Bowie to blame for any of his injuries?
The Odenites running to the rescue !!! Once the Odenites get their head out of the sand, they will soon realize that their desperate yearning of Oden to bring… What was it ??? Oh thats right 10 NBA championships….. Will NEVER HAPPEN. Oden is the Ryan Leaf of the NBA.
All I know is Durant is now the league’s 4th leading scorer and Oden is the # 1 in injuries.
Franklin got OWNED.
No legit response to my statements. ’nuff said.
Bob,
Greg Oden and Ryan Leaf=Ebony and Ivory? Sorry poor attempt at humor. seriously though isn’t that apples and oranges? I understand your contempt for Oden but isn’t that still a stretch?
Peace Bob have a good one!
Excellent analysis, BlazerMVP.
Franklin is a complete tool.