Fire Eddie Lacerte

[Mike-Dub]

Yeah, it's Eddie's fault that we signed Shaq and JO. That Marquis was hurt in a extremely fluke play. That West's bone wasn't strong enough to take that hard fall earlier in the year. That we were forced to play Semih Erden with a hurt shoulder, because we were literally down too 3 bigs earlier in the year.

 

[mgent]

I can't say that I've been particularly impressed with the Celtics medical staff over the last few years.  That's not on Lacerte, but the team has mishandled Big Al and Wally without question, and arguably the medical staff has handled KG, JO, Delonte, Pierce (back in the day), Avery Bradley and a whole host of other guys poorly.  Outside of Perk, very few guys seem to recover as quickly as predicted, and we've seen more than our fair share of setbacks.  Those facts, coupled with the MRSA outbreak, call into question the entire medical side of the organization.

I don't know enough facts to give any sort of qualified opinion, but there are at least some open questions.

For the record TA came from his ACL/MCL tear very fast.  Other than him, KG, and Wally I can't think any other really lengthy injuries in recent years.

[birdbrady]

It's not Eddie's fault KG's knee gave way in Utah, or that Perk landed awkwardly in LA, or Delonte landed on his wrist against NJN, or that Marquis has a history with this spinal cord.  Injuries are a part of the game, there's no way to prevent them.

Um, he was playing with bone spurs in his knee at the time.  That was primarily the reason why he got hurt so bad in Utah.  That was *ABSOLUTELY* the medical staff's fault.  And the worst part about it, was they were trotting KG out there playing meaningless games in mid-February.

Perk came back earlier than scheduled, and if for some reason he got hurt you'd be blaming the medical staff.  If anything you can blame West; he's been pushing hard to get back earlier than scheduled.

No, I'm not going to blame a player for wanting to play.  All players want to get back out there as soon as they can, and not sit around and watch games all while doing hard, and monotonous rehab.  It's the medical staff's responsibility to make sure the player goes through the right rehab and makes a correct evaluation on when said player shouldn't return.

[Celtics4ever]

Tony Allen and Perk both recovered nicely from knee injuries.  This leads me to believe that the problem is less with Lacerte and more with the individuals.  Perk and Allen I've read worked their butts off.  Some of the others did not and correspondingly they recovered slower.  

West doesn't look like he trains at all in the weight room, if your arms are twigs they are easier to get hurt.   I am not advocating him to become muscle bound but develop some strength and durability, already.

We've got some old guys and there is very little a trainer can do to combat Father Time.   Again, the individuals in questions often hold the keys to their own fates.  Look how good of shape Ray is in but dude works out.  There is nothing a trainer could have done to prevent Daniels injury.  A bigger neck might not have got tweaked as easily but at some point too much muscle hurts a basketball player.  I don't think that one was on Lacerte.  

I think Delonte is a slacker in the weight room, look at the guy.   Rondo has bulked up some since coming into the league but not West.  Even a hard gainer could have shown some progress in this time.  Dude plays hard on the court, but his conditioning and training habits need to be looked at.

[jasail]

I understand the OPs frustration, particularly since this is Boston and there is really no excuse for having a poor medical/training staff if that is the case. 

But as fans we have no idea of what goes on in the training, we have no idea about the advice given and whether it is take or not.  But looking from the outside in, it appears as thought the staff is not doing their jobs as well as they could.  But I can't say that I know that for a fact with any type of certainty, lacking both the medical and inside information to make any type of informed decision. 

So while I certainly understand the frustration and why this topic is being broached, I have to file it as fans looking for heads to roll. 

[indeedproceed]

No, I'm not going to blame a player for wanting to play.  All players want to get back out there as soon as they can, and not sit around and watch games all while doing hard, and monotonous rehab.  It's the medical staff's responsibility to make sure the player goes through the right rehab and makes a correct evaluation on when said player shouldn't return.

This is a dbl edged sword though. You think the players are the only ones applying pressure. Caron Butler is going to allegedly come back in time for the playoffs, from a pretty bad injury.

Contract year?

Then you have players who want the full rehab that get lambasted by their organization..and some players who want to come back, that organizations want to keep on the bench, and say its not safe for them to play.

There are lots of reasons or motivations for this stuff, and the advice of the medical staff is hardly a default rule. They're treated like a guideline.

[Boris Badenov]

Isn't a more natural explanation just that we have an injury-prone team?

Let's look at our current roster, and focus on players' health on their *previous* teams. All of the numbers below refer to history before joining the Celtics.

1. West: averaged roughly 60 gms/yr over last three years;
2. JO: played <50 games in 3 out of last 6 seasons;
3. Shaq: played <60 games in 4 out of last 5 seasons;
4. Marquis: played <63 games in 5 out of 6 seasons;

These are the guys who've been hurt for most of this year. But given their history, and the fact that they're all a year older, that is hardly surprising, right?

[zerophase]

I do have some long time concern of Eddie. I seems that players are always healthy until them come to the Celtics. It's long been known that the Sun's have an incredible medical team- Grant Hill, Steve Nash, and even Shaq's renaissance year when he was an All-Star there.  Why can't we be known for that or have that?

If a team is losing, people want to fire the coach. If a team isn't going in the right direction as far as players go, people want to get rid of the GM. So if the team is always getting hurt, shouldn't there be at least some legit concern over the medical staff? It doesn't seem fair that they are able to avoid blame.

[indeedproceed]

I do have some long time concern of Eddie. I seems that players are always healthy until them come to the Celtics. It's long been known that the Sun's have an incredible medical team- Grant Hill, Steve Nash, and even Shaq's renaissance year when he was an All-Star there.  Why can't we be known for that or have that?

Maybe sunshine and dry air are a lot more important than anyone knows.

[Fred Roberts]

We ARE injury prone which is exactly why we require the best medical staff in the NBA. I think there is merit to this post, even if we don't have the facts.

I've been treated 1st hand for a back injury by Lacerte and by his staff at his facility .... and was not very impressed. I wound up having to get surgery. The whole level of knowledge, facility and treatment seemed pretty average.  

I just don't think the guy is really the type of cutting edge top notch person for the job. Could be wrong but you never know. It's an interesting point.

Bill Walton could have used a better staff in '87!