Paul George recovering from surgery for fracture Georges injury was felt by the entire basketball community, with his Team USA teammates clearly disturbed by what they had seen and questions instantly arising about what this all meant for the national program that has been on such a fantastic run these past nine years. Since former Phoenix Suns owner and general manager Jerry Colangelo took over as Team USAs managing director in 2005, star players had made it a priority to take part again and the infamous bronze medal finish in the 2004 Olympics had become a distant memory. Yet through all those years in which players and executives quietly worried about a nightmare scenario such as this, it finally happened. There had been serious injuries during Team USA before, most recently when the Los Angeles Clippers Blake Griffin went down during the 2012 training camp and had to undergo arthroscopic surgery as a result (he was ready in time for Clippers training camp three months later). But there has never been a setback such as this. George, who had made a running leap while chasing down James Harden down on a fourth-quarter fastbreak when his right foot slammed against the basket stanchion and bent in such gruesome fashion, was a lock to make this Team USA squad that will begin the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain on Aug. 30. He was coming off his best season yet for the Pacers, having played like an MVP candidate for the first half of the season and ultimately averaging 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the team that went 56-26 and lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. While injuries will always be part of the game, there is understandable concern around the NBA regarding the distance between the baseline and the basket stanchion in this exhibition game. The exact distance between the Thomas & Mack baseline and the stanchion is not known, but it appeared to be a tighter set-up than in most, if not all, NBA arenas. According to league spokesman Tim Frank, stanchions are required to be at least four feet behind the baseline for NBA games.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 15:41:39 +0000
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