Injury Woes

[Andrew]

Well, Grant Hill's return to action was short-lived, as he experienced pain in the Magic/Pacers game. The Magic are now 19-19, eighth in the East. Hill's numbers have been fairly decent this season, but his durability means that any given night, he could be a non-factor.

Anfernee Hardaway will be out 6-8 weeks after thumb surgery. The Suns are 23-14, third in the West. Penny is no longer the player he used to be, but has had a few decent games this season, and was contributing in his role as third fiddle.

In Toronto, Vince Carter is not quite ready to return.

And of course, the Antonio McDyess/Marcus Camby deal resulted in the Knicks and Nuggets merely trading damaged goods who have yet to make an impact with their new teams. Both are eyeing returns, though their teams are 13-21 and 9-27 respectively, with both having little to no chance of making a run at the playoffs.

I would argue that Orlando has been hurt most by injury, despite being only one of two teams I mentioned to actually be among the top eight in its conference. On paper, the Magic are much better than 19-19, and with Grant Hill being billed as feeling better than he has in two years before the season started, Orlando was set to have a much better season than this. Still, I have to cast my vote for Toronto, since they have so many players injured, and are a dismal 8-28. I didn't realise how low they were in the standings until recently. On a related note, the RealGM Wiretap reports that Wilkens' future with the Raptors is in question after their disappointing season thus far.

[scubilete]

Well, I would agree Toronto might be affected in general with all the injuries, but I believe the Knicks would be the team showing more improvement after all those players come back, that's why I voted for the Knicks.

[Rens]

The Knicks merely remained stagnant because of that trade.. they are basically the same as last year. The Raptors however fell back a long way because of the injuries to arguably their best players, and entire projected starting 5: Carter, Davis, N'Diaye, Alvin Williams, Lamond Murray.And not only that, also pretty much all their bench players have had injuries, either minor or forcing them to miss multiple games.

[scubilete]

I know, but what I meant is for me: that's the Raptors team, they would be doing just a bit better than that, not just cause of the injuries. That's why Wilkens is on the hot seat, cause even if they had the whole team, they wouldn't be doing that great as expected. However for me the Knicks would be doing much better if Antonio was playing than the Raptors with their complete team. The Knicks were expecting too much from Antonio and obviously like you said, they are pretty much the same than last year cause last year they didn't have camby either, lol. But that doesn't mean McDyess' return would make the same impact on the team that Camby's when he was with the Knicks.


I agree, the Raptors team has been the team affected with most injuries this season. But the Knicks team injuries has been more significant breaking all the expectations.

[benji]

And of course, the Antonio McDyess/Marcus Camby deal resulted in the Knicks and Nuggets merely trading damaged goods who have yet to make an impact with their new teams.

Because Maybner Hilario doesn't exist?

[TheBob]

I know, but what I meant is for me: that's the Raptors team, they would be doing just a bit better than that, not just cause of the injuries. That's why Wilkens is on the hot seat, cause even if they had the whole team, they wouldn't be doing that great as expected. However for me the Knicks would be doing much better if Antonio was playing than the Raptors with their complete team.

Oh gimme a break, the Knicks have lost one substantial player. The Raptors on the other hand have lost arguably one of the best players in the league in Vince carter as well as their other two top scoring options for huge chunks of the season. They've also had plenty of minor injuries to role players that have forced other players to play minutes far beyond their capabilities, which ends up causing even more injuries. When last I checked the Raptors had lost 224 man games so far this season. Furthermore, they havn't been able to dress 12 players all season and have dressed only 9 players 10 times so far.

I agree, the Raptors team has been the team affected with most injuries this season. But the Knicks team injuries has been more significant breaking all the expectations.

The knicks injuries are not even comparable to missing Carter, Davis, Murray and a handfull of other players for a large percentage of the season.

[Electrifyer]

And not only does Toronto have a whole bunch of there roster sitting on the bench from injuries, but most of there players are playing hurt too. Alvin Williams, Jerome Williams, McCoy, Hunter are still playing hurt on the court. Toronto has easily been affected by the injury bug the most.

[scubilete]

I was really expecting you TheBob,

the Raptors team, they would be doing just a bit better than that, not just cause of the injuries. That's why Wilkens is on the hot seat, cause even if they had the whole team, they wouldn't be doing that great as expected

[Andrew]

Because Maybner Hilario doesn't exist?

Forgot about Hilario. But the players who were at the heart of the deal, McDyess and Camby, have been non-factors due to their injuries. I'm sure the Nuggets hoped to play both Camby and Hilario, while the Knicks were looking forward to having 'Dyess in their frontcourt.