Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Injuries never lower expectations for a coach

Hoopsworld's Jason Fleming had a good piece recently about how injuries impact a team.

But as DEN coach George Karl points out, "injuries never lower expectations for a coach."

"For the last three years we've had NenĂª and Kenyon (Martin) out, but the expectations remained the same. Coaches also don't get praised for handling injuries well. 'Oh, that's what they are supposed to do.' It's not always as easy as people seem to think it is. The special organizations work together on how to construct a roster to prepare for injuries. Do you put three prospects on the end of your bench or do you put two prospects and one insurance policy on the end of your bench? Sometimes you don't use them for 50 games. And then something happens and you use them for 25 straight games and they become a part of your playoff personality. Usually veteran players understand that better."