25 days and counting
From the start of USA Basketball training camp July 21 in Las Vegas, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer now have been on the road for 25 days. They'll hit 35 days assuming the U.S. fulfills its mission of recapturing gold on Aug. 24 in Beijing.
They've traveled halfway around the world, to a place where Thursday morning there is Wednesday night here. By the time they return home, the U.S. players will have flown nearly 15,000 miles and played 13 games.
I bring this up only as a reminder that while you're enjoying watching the U.S. and Greece play this morning, keep in mind that Boozer and Williams very likely could pay the price for their busy summers during the NBA season.
Same thing for Andrei Kirilenko and all the other NBA stars who are playing for their respective countries at the Olympics.
The injury risk is probably overstated, although the broken foot Pau Gasol suffered playing for Spain at the 2006 world championships unquestionably changed the direction of the Memphis Grizzlies as a franchise.
But I don't think you can discount the effects of spending so much time so far away from home in an already short NBA summer, even if the Americans are staying at five-star hotels and having their meals cooked by a private chef.
Once Williams and Boozer return home, they'll have only 35 days to turn around and get ready for the start of training camp. It's a given that they'll sit out practices during two-a-days and play fewer minutes in the preseason because of their summer schedule.
Even so, there will come various times when Williams, Boozer and Kirilenko each has to fight through a slump this season. I think it's a pretty safe bet as well that the three will combine to miss more than the 11 games they did last season because of injury.
(I would be especially concerned about Boozer and his back, which bothered him at times last season even though he never missed a game because of it.)
Does this mean the Jazz players should have stayed home? Absolutely not. It seems like the U.S. team is having an unforgettable experience in Beijing, where they've been embraced by the Chinese fans and done a commendable job as ambassadors of the game.
But it's worth remembering that the Jazz's two biggest question marks going into the season will be how their three stars play after busy summers and whether they can come together as a team even with so many of their players facing uncertain free-agent futures.
--Ross Siler
They've traveled halfway around the world, to a place where Thursday morning there is Wednesday night here. By the time they return home, the U.S. players will have flown nearly 15,000 miles and played 13 games.
I bring this up only as a reminder that while you're enjoying watching the U.S. and Greece play this morning, keep in mind that Boozer and Williams very likely could pay the price for their busy summers during the NBA season.
Same thing for Andrei Kirilenko and all the other NBA stars who are playing for their respective countries at the Olympics.
The injury risk is probably overstated, although the broken foot Pau Gasol suffered playing for Spain at the 2006 world championships unquestionably changed the direction of the Memphis Grizzlies as a franchise.
But I don't think you can discount the effects of spending so much time so far away from home in an already short NBA summer, even if the Americans are staying at five-star hotels and having their meals cooked by a private chef.
Once Williams and Boozer return home, they'll have only 35 days to turn around and get ready for the start of training camp. It's a given that they'll sit out practices during two-a-days and play fewer minutes in the preseason because of their summer schedule.
Even so, there will come various times when Williams, Boozer and Kirilenko each has to fight through a slump this season. I think it's a pretty safe bet as well that the three will combine to miss more than the 11 games they did last season because of injury.
(I would be especially concerned about Boozer and his back, which bothered him at times last season even though he never missed a game because of it.)
Does this mean the Jazz players should have stayed home? Absolutely not. It seems like the U.S. team is having an unforgettable experience in Beijing, where they've been embraced by the Chinese fans and done a commendable job as ambassadors of the game.
But it's worth remembering that the Jazz's two biggest question marks going into the season will be how their three stars play after busy summers and whether they can come together as a team even with so many of their players facing uncertain free-agent futures.
--Ross Siler
1:25 AM
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3 Comments:
They're fine. They're young.
Plus, as long as the other big names, Kobe, LeBron et all are playing too, they would be a bit worn down as well.
Basketball John said it best. They are young and in great condition. In fact, they will not have to get into game shape (see Memo Okur and Kyrylo Fesenko).
What I would like to see, is the Jazz win more than half their road games. If Williams and Boozer can perform well in Beijing, halfway across the globe, there should really be no reason they can't play well in a road game 800 miles away in Portland.
"13 days and counting" (when you might blog again)
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