That’s it.
I give up.
If this were a war, this team would have been declared combat ineffective and moved off the battlefield.
Roy Williams said during his radio show Monday night that they are awaiting test results to determine whether or not Wear’s bad hip is actually a torn labrum. If that is the case the freshman forward is done for the season….such as it is.
Yet another injury raises the question of whether there is something going on with the training program at UNC that might be making Tar Heel players more susceptible to injuries. Right now it seems that is the case but sometimes perception is not reality. Obviously certain injuries like broken wrists, toes jammed in basket supports, Ryan Reid wrestling players to the floor and Bobby Frasor blowing his knee out are the type of injuries that no one can do anything about. The sprained ankles are a common basketball injury however the suggestion has been made that UNC’s Jordan team shoes might not be helping. The same goes for the mysterious foot injury of Marcus Ginyard or the fact Tyler Zeller ended up with a stress fracture in the foot. Tyler Hansbrough’s shin issues which flared up in the early part of last season and again after he left UNC could have simply been overtraining.
We could obviously speculate as to the cause of these injuries. Too much strength and conditioning work? Just a freak run of injuries? Or could it be that the change in the head trainer which occurred after the 2008 season has something to do with it. Based on what we have seen there appear to be more injuries in the almost two seasons since Marc Davis left than the first five years he worked under Roy Williams. Of course the nature and cause of the injuries matter a great deal. I do think plenty of questions have been raised as to why Marcus Giyard’s original foot injury took so long to heal then required surgery and then Ginyard still did not make it back. Now, I have no idea what goes on in the training room at UNC. Therefore I cannot say definitively that preventive measures and treatments used by the current staff are inadequate. I am merely pointing out that there appears to be a significant uptick in player injures since Marc Davis left and Chris Hirth took over.
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At this point this can no longer be chalked up as just bad luck. Statistically, this points to something more then just an unfortunate turn of events. So, a study needs to be done. Of the training techniques and staff, of the facilities, of the shoes, of whatever else might be a candidate.
I couldn’t agree more. This appears to be more than bad luck.
And it can’t hurt to evaluate the training program.
I gave up a while ago on this season, but these injuries are ridiculous. I don’t ever remember a season like this for UNC. Event he 8-20 season didn’t feel like this because that team didn’t have the talent or the coach UNC has now. There is definitely something strange going on with all these injuries. It is just too much of a coincidence. With regards to Ginyard, I don’t know if it was the surgeon that screwed up, or the rehab afterwards, but he was never the same again. I wish I knew who operated on him so I could stay away from him in case I ever need foot surgery. I also believe the problems now could be a combination of the shoes and the training staff, with the exception of Davis. It’s just too freaky for all of these injuries to be bad luck. I will be so glad when this season is over.
As someone who has a friend in D1 (football) strength and conditioning, I know there needs to be a symbiotic relationship between the training and strength and conditioning staff. This might not have happened as fast as it could/should have. Differing philosophies might be causing an issue. I am not saying either of the two groups are putting their own agenda ahead of the kids, most all coaches and staff care very deeply about the kids they coach and work with. Just like in the Doherty years, we made a change and the old and new did not mesh very well. Time will tell.
had to read up on it, because a torn hip labrum sounds terrible.
seems they can often repair the damage arthroscopically, so thats good. rehab in water, strengthening the muscles.
hopefully he’s ready to go next year.
i know chris hirth and his staff from my days at unc when he was head trainer for the olympic sports (which basically was the group term for everything not basketball or football…i.e. “non revenue sports”). he’s a great guy and a great trainer….i think the trainer works on repairing and mending, not prevention of injuries…prevention is in preparation, conditioning, and strength training….of course i’ve never been a part of a shoe conspiracy theory either…but either way, yes, something should be looked at….the twisted ankles and ed davis falling and breaking his wrist don’t seem systemic, but constant, stress fractures and foot problems could be something relating to the floors or shoes….maybe we’d run less wind sprints if we won more games and played better and beating our team into the dirt in practice is actually causing the injuries….what am i saying i’m not an expert, haha….
Word from folks I’ve spoken to is that the practice floor (which was essentially built right on top of the old Skipper Bowles Donor’s hall may be the problem. The shoes may also be an issue but that one that is harder to diagnose — not to mention, it’s a little more problematic in terms of sponsorship. Hard for Tiger Woods to suddenly stop using Nike clubs.
^Nike can customize shoes for their clientele. They do it for Olympians all the time. I bet they’d be willing to devote some resources into looking for potential problems with the shoes UNC is using.
We heard something about the practice floor last year with Hansbrough. Apparently Hansbrough had done a majority of his work in the Dean Dome but when Carmichael was being renovated he had to move to the practice floor because of volleyball and such. They theorized the pounding on that floor did his shins in.
The training staff works in conjunction with some of the best orthopedist and physical therapist in the country. The shoes these guys wear are 10x more supportive than the shoes worn in the 60′s and 70′s. Many of the players have specialized inserts catered to their foot shape, etc.
The vast majority of these injuries are traumatic. Only Hansbrough’s shins and Zeller’s foot (possibly D Wear’s) hip are overuse type injuries. In TH’s case he was high risk for something due to his over training. C Michael can you do some stats that cover injury patterns at UNC over the years?
The Heels over the years have been snake bitten by key injuries over the years. Maybe Marc Davis is a reader and can comment????
You can seriously shoot me now. That’s fine. Just put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. *sigh* I give up.