Zig Ziegler is a sport’s kinesiologist whose website lists Shaquille O’Neal, Anquan Boldin, and Johan Santana (or more pertinent to this discussion, Greg Oden) as professional atheletes that he’s worked closely with and helped recover form injury. Ziegler is concerned that one of the NBA’s brightest young stars may be burning out right before our eyes.
In a recent post to his ZigSports website, Ziegler stated, “Yes. Derrick Rose will play again but it is highly unlikely he be the same high flying Derrick Rose we knew before the fourth quarter was near its end this past Saturday.”
Last Saturday, the NBA’s reigning MVP tore both his ACL and MCL late in the fourth quarter of Game 1 103-91 playoff win against the Indiana Pacers.
He listed a number of factors, including Rose’s recent injury history, his signature jump-stop move, and the ferocity with which Rose plays, particularly when attacking the basket. He notes that what he saw on the play that injured Rose was not out of the ordinary from what he sees from any number of NBA players who have trained their bodies to land incorrectly, whether conciously or due to compensating for an injury.
“In my opinion,” Ziegler said, ”Rose was most likely compensating (as many great athletes would do) for the foot injury/soreness he felt less than two weeks ago.”
Ziegler dates the recent ACL/MCL tear in Rose all the way back to the injury of Rose’s left big toe in January of this season, something he lists as a “catalyst to right leg injuries”.
Rose’s season-ending injuries are also interesting because he feels that they were inevitable.
“In my opinion,” he says ”this injury would have happened anytime. And unless Rose and his medical team address the root mean cause of his previous injuries and compensations related to them, the ACL injury could not have been prevented.”
However, he doesn’t completely let head coach Tom Thibodeau off the hook either.
“Rose ACL tear is clearly related to his recent injuries. Many people are asking should Coach Tom Thibodeau have taken Rose out of the game. Actually, coach has no idea about limits that should have been placed on Rose after his recent string of injuries. However, common sense would tell any medical professional that Rose’s play should have been limited (bring up images of Brandon Roy against Phoenix in 2009 playoffs).”
Safe to say its never a good feeling to have your team’s star player with an injury linked to images of Brandon Roy.
