Shot blockers that have torn their Achilles?

[Kenny11]

I was bored so a took a look at nba frontcourt players who have torn their Achilles and how they came back from it. It’s so hard to find a comparison because most of them had the injury in their late 20’s or 30’s. Some players came back at a high level but there is always a drop off although for most of these guys it can easily be attributed to their age too.

I worry about akok because, as a shot blocker he gets a lot of explosion from jumping quick without really bending his knees. His big advantage has been getting up quick for blocked shots, surprising the hell out of the shooter even when they know he’s there. Besides timing and length, this is from the explosiveness in his lower legs, not his quads, glutes, hamstrings, etc.

Has there been a shotblocker like akok who has had this injury? How did they come back from it? Maybe akok is really the first guy with this body type, skillset, and age to have this injury? Some of the big guys like demarcus cousins and Okur are just huge wide body guys and don’t compare to akok at all. Kevin Durant’s return may be the best test case because of similar body type but even Durant is much older. Rudy gay is still a great athlete and had a good comeback but his production dropped off a lot too.

Durant wasn’t going to play this year at all. I think that may be the best choice for akok too.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Varejao tore his achilles and was really never the same after it. It's really tough to compare a lot of guys who have had the injury to Akok though because so many of them were older when they got injured and who knows if their production would've plateaued anyway regardless of the injury. Akok is such an outlier age wise so it will be interesting to see how he is when he returns.

 

[Kenny11]

Varejao tore his achilles and was really never the same after it. It's really tough to compare a lot of guys who have had the injury to Akok though because so many of them were older when they got injured and who knows if their production would've plateaued anyway regardless of the injury. Akok is such an outlier age wise so it will be interesting to see how he is when he returns.

yeah I think he is a unique test case for Achilles injuries

 

[HuskyFich]

He’s also really light for the typical big guy center

 

[uconngb]

Most big guys know how to stretch their Achilles properly to avoid this type of injury. Unfortunately Akok has been cursed with a training staff that doesn’t have such knowledge.

 

[LIuconn]

There's just so much torque put on limbs of skinny 6'10"+ guys, hard to imagine Akok being the same for a long time, if ever.

Then you see Durant in that short video shooting and his leg is 1/2 the width post-surgery. It's a grueling long road back. Hoping for the best but...

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Most big guys know how to stretch their Achilles properly to avoid this type of injury. Unfortunately Akok has been cursed with a training staff that doesn’t have such knowledge.

This is false.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Most big guys know how to stretch their Achilles properly to avoid this type of injury. Unfortunately Akok has been cursed with a training staff that doesn’t have such knowledge.

You have no idea what you are talking about but it sounds like you do

 

[UCSouth]

Most big guys know how to stretch their Achilles properly to avoid this type of injury. Unfortunately Akok has been cursed with a training staff that doesn’t have such knowledge.

And you know for a fact that they have no knowledge when it comes to this?

 

[uconngb]

And you know for a fact that they have no knowledge when it comes to this?

My god, you guys have no sense of humor. This goes to Chief saying the reason Akok tore his Achilles is because he didn’t have the proper stretch regimen in place as a result of our strength and conditioning coaches. My goodness this board sometimes.

 

[Edward Sargent]

My god, you guys have no sense of humor. This goes to Chief saying the reason Akok tore his Achilles is because he didn’t have the proper stretch regimen in place as a result of our strength and conditioning coaches. My goodness this board sometimes.

Sorry, my bad some days harder to see humor than others

 

[uconngb]

Sorry, my bad some days harder to see humor than others

I hear ya

 

[smoothcriminal]

As tragic an injury as this is, at least he was not a slasher. He really just needs to shoot 3s on offense and block shots in the paint on defense to be effective. I think he will come back fine, same type of player he was, though this may cap his potential of becoming a very very dynamic offensive player

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I hear ya

Sorry, I missed the sarcasm too. Seen this too many times on this board.

 

[uconngb]

Sorry, I missed the sarcasm too. Seen this too many times on this board.

No worries, does happen way too much.