Kyle Lowry's Elbow Injury - to rest, or not to rest...

[JWash]

This is pretty cut and dry imo. 2nd seed is all clinched. Health >> wins. But surely it's important to win a few games and go into the playoffs with momentum right? Well here's the thing: starting "injured kyle lowry" leads to losses anyways. And it increases the chance that injured kyle lowry is still here in the playoffs. Why not sit him for a week to 10 days, get him 100% healthy, and then get beast mode kyle back for re last 3 or 4 games as a tune up and to get that winning momentum, firing on all cylinders? Heck we could get lucky and get healthy kyle, healthy Carroll, and last night is like a bad dream.

It's like driving your car and hearing engine problems and going "ah it's nothing" hoping it will fix itself, instead of taking it to the shop take the bus for a few days and have the car humming beautifully before a big road trip.

Not about winning games, about staying in playoff shape. The Warriors basically clinched the top overall seed and still had Klay playing the entire 4th quarter against Philadelphia when the game was over already.

[Barolt]

No, because he stays in the shape required to produce and not get hurt.

This is a ridiculous assertion, because you're now claiming that every guy who's played high minutes and got hurt only got hurt because they weren't staying in as good shape as DeMar.

[JWash]

This is a ridiculous assertion, because you're now claiming that every guy who's played high minutes and got hurt only got hurt because they weren't staying in as good shape as DeMar.

Well when it becomes a pattern? Yes, to an extent you have to look at the player.

We need Lowry to be able to handle heavy minutes. He's gonna have to play like 40+ in the playoffs. You gotta be able to stay on the floor man.

[KeonClark]

Not about winning games, about staying in playoff shape. The Warriors basically clinched the top overall seed and still had Klay playing the entire 4th quarter against Philadelphia when the game was over already.

STAYING in playoff shape? Bro, he's been looking like 2015 wizards the last few games. Everybody here wants what's best for the team in April and may. I've seen you mention klay Thompson a few times, I don't know what that has to do with kyle lowry and his injured wing but ok..

[Barolt]

Well when it becomes a pattern? Yes, to an extent you have to look at the player.

We need Lowry to be able to handle heavy minutes. He's gonna have to play like 40+ in the playoffs. You gotta be able to stay on the floor man.

And to some extent, guys are who they are. We saw Lowry break down last year towards the end of the year and get hurt.

We played the exact same script and somehow thought something different would happen.

[JWash]

And to some extent, guys are who they are. We saw Lowry break down last year towards the end of the year and get hurt.

We played the exact same script and somehow thought something different would happen.

Well he supposedly got himself in better shape in the summer and had been fine up until now.

[Barolt]

Well he supposedly got himself in better shape in the summer and had been fine up until now.

Here's the thing, despite that better shape, some of us having been calling for months for his minutes to come down so he could stay healthy until the playoffs.

His minutes didn't come down, it's now 2 weeks before the playoffs and he's hurt.

Not to say "I told you so", but...

[DanH]

Well when it becomes a pattern? Yes, to an extent you have to look at the player.

We need Lowry to be able to handle heavy minutes. He's gonna have to play like 40+ in the playoffs. You gotta be able to stay on the floor man.

Lowry only has to play 40+ minutes because our coach insists on him playing a huge chunk of his minutes with one of the worst starting lineups conceivable. And playing 40+ minutes a night only in the playoffs, for a few weeks, with lots of days off between games, is not the same thing as averaging 40 minutes for 82 games with back to backs and excessive travel.

The problem is not that Lowry is not a machine like DeRozan. He isn't, and most aren't, and one of the big sources of DD's value lies in him being a machine (ie unlike most of his fellow NBA players). The problem is that Casey apparently expects everyone to be a machine like DeRozan (heck, even CoJo has had way too many minutes this year compared to his career averages and it's showing in his shooting falling off a cliff).

[JWash]

Here's the thing, despite that better shape, some of us having been calling for months for his minutes to come down so he could stay healthy until the playoffs.

His minutes didn't come down, it's now 2 weeks before the playoffs and he's hurt.

Not to say "I told you so", but...

His minutes coming down wouldn't have made a difference. If he hits his elbow and hurts it, he hits his elbow and hurts it.

[Barolt]

His minutes coming down wouldn't have made a difference. If he hits his elbow and hurts it, he hits his elbow and hurts it.

If his minutes come down since the London game, maybe the injury heals and he's in better shape at this point. Instead, he's played 38.6 minutes per game since then.

[JWash]

Lowry only has to play 40+ minutes because our coach insists on him playing a huge chunk of his minutes with one of the worst starting lineups conceivable. And playing 40+ minutes a night only in the playoffs, for a few weeks, with lots of days off between games, is not the same thing as averaging 40 minutes for 82 games with back to backs and excessive travel.

The problem is not that Lowry is not a machine like DeRozan. He isn't, and most aren't, and one of the big sources of DD's value lies in him being a machine (ie unlike most of his fellow NBA players). The problem is that Casey apparently expects everyone to be a machine like DeRozan (heck, even CoJo has had way too many minutes this year compared to his career averages and it's showing in his shooting falling off a cliff).

Wrong, most top stars do play around 40 minutes per game in the playoffs, just look at last year: Brow-43, LeBron-42, Butler-42, Beal-42, Aldridge-42, JJ-42, Blake-40, DeMar-40, Steph-39, Wall-39, it's not made up it's a fact. It's what happens when rotations shorten and you're trying to have your best players out there for a significant chunk of the game because of the high stakes.

You keep attesting he got hurt because of his high minutes. That is simple not true. He got a bump and got hurt from that, playing less minutes wouldn't have made a difference there.

[JWash]

If his minutes come down since the London game, maybe the injury heals and he's in better shape at this point. Instead, he's played 38.6 minutes per game since then.

Maybe? You don't know that, maybe it makes no difference AND we lose more resulting in a worse record and him being more out of rhythm?

[Barolt]

Maybe? You don't know that, maybe it makes no difference AND we lose more resulting in a worse record and him being more out of rhythm?

What we do know is that what we did didn't work.

So doing more of it in the next two weeks probably also won't work.

[JWash]

What we do know is that what we did didn't work.

So doing more of it in the next two weeks probably also won't work.

What we do know is that the rest didn't work like Kyle said and playing through it is the best option right now.

[Barolt]

What we do know is that the rest didn't work like Kyle said and playing through it is the best option right now.

There was no rest! There was a period with 5 days off in between games of 40+ minutes, and a period of 4 days off in between games of 40+ minutes.

Neither of those counts as real rest.