Injury bug starting to hit Sixers
Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes were both hurting today at the Sixers brief practice today.
Injury bug starting to hit Sixers
Bob Cooney
The injuries are starting to pile up a little bit for the 76ers.
Today at the team’s practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, coach Doug Collins brought in a yoga expert so his club could work out some of the kinks it has collected during the blitz of an early season that has had them play nine games in 13 days.
Gimping around the practice facility were Evan Turner (thigh contusion) and Spencer Hawes (Achilles’ strain). Hawes has also been struggling with a strained back recently. Collins said he was grateful there was no game today as he thought neither one of those players would have been able to play. For tomorrow, when the team hosts the Denver Nuggets, the coach said both would be a game-time decision.
“We’re beat up,” said Collins. “Evan is still pretty sore, Spencer has a sore Achilles’. I think playing (Monday) his back was still not right and I think he was probably just compensating. So we did a little something different, we brought a yoga instructor in today and our guys had 30 minutes of yoga and I think they really enjoyed that. It was good.
“We’re trying everything we can just to try to keep our guys fresh mentally and physically. We’re a little beat up right now. I’m a little bit concerned about Evan and Spencer for (tonight). Right now “Pistol” (Turner) is still not moving great. We tried to get him to walk through some stuff today and he’s still a little gimpy and Spencer’s Achilles’, he’s walking heel-toe right now. Hopefully (trainer Kevin Johnson) can get those guys some good treatment. These next two home games (tomorrow and Friday against Atlanta) are really important.”
Hawes’ potential absence could leave a huge void for Collins, perhaps causing him to rely on rookie center Nikola Vucevic for heavy minutes. After that, it’s veteran Tony Battie, who has seen limited action this season. The team could go small with Elton Brand manning the center at times.
“We need every big guy,” said Collins. “Denver has a huge front line. And then Atlanta comes in with Josh Smith and their huge front line. Then you go to Miami (Saturday), not so much their front line but their perimeter, although they do have (Chris) Bosh on the front line.”
Though gimpy, Turner said the pain is subsiding somewhat.
“Right now I’m just resting it,” said the second-year swingman. “I think the best decision I made was to sit out (Monday). I feel 100 times better than I did (Monday). I got to shoot around, got some movement on it and it felt good. (Monday) I couldn’t get any balance, I couldn’t get any push. I feel better. It hurt when it first occurred (Saturday) and then the more and more I sat down the tighter and tighter it got. I feel fine to go (tomorrow).”
Sixshots: After the yoga session, players got in some foul shooting before calling it a day…Beginning tomorrow the Sixers play 12 of their next 14 games at the Wells Fargo Center.
jumping the gun on this post aren't ya bob! it's still tuesday and the team doesn't play til tomorrow. starting to get concerned about the frontcourt situation. might be time to take those picks and move noc to get another body to throw out there.— 76ers in 2076- How about Manimal?...Are you gonna check him out tomorrow night?...I think moving Nocioni will be pretty tough...unless of course the Sixers were getting an expiring contract of similar salary that fits a need...Tough sledding, don't want to continue to pile on, but the Sixers should not have played "headhunter" and set up Mo so well for employment opportunities in Memphis unless they were going to get warm flesh back. — bearsfriend
- might want to edit your blog post, they were playing yesterday, not practicing
Hit the "send" button a bit early there, eh, Bob?- unfortunately hawes will be hurt his entire career— psualum
- 9 games in 13 days ...... sounds to me like the owners want a quick return on their investment. Slavery couldn't have been worse than this.— RufusG
- I understand moving Speights, and the need for big guys, but why not have another guard on the roster, they only have 4, so with Turner banged up, down to 3, with Iggy somewhat capable of sliding over. They have nobody for garbage time, which they have had with a lot of the blowouts. That forces guys to play extra minutes and end up with nagging injuries. What about the guy from camp, Xavier Silas? Maybe someone from NBDL? Seems short-sighted to not have a 5th guard.— craigmack
- Im pretty sure Ive read somewhere that Kobe does yoga almost daily as part of his injury prevention. Im surprised more players havent used it more, especially when its your job to be able to stay on the court.— krh66
- Well the kid La will have to play some and Nik and even Noc. Hey if the guys can play D like they have been, they can rest Turner and Hawes for at least one game more.— Koons
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
