McDonald: Spurs' Parker has plantar fasciitis

[Marcus Bryant]

Doesn't every NBA player deal with some form of plantar fasciitisisisis?

[HankChinaski]

Well at my previous job we dealt with footwear and orthopedic insoles. And Plantar Fasciitis was a common thing I saw on a day to day basis. Pretty much rest is a big factor in recovering but that isn't treating the cause of him getting the PF.

Its an overstretching of the plantar fascia tendon through the gait cycle. An over pronated step. Basically the arch is flattening out or being over stretched which will easily happen due to the amount of impact, force, and use the guy puts on his feet. So the few treatments that help with this is arch support via orthopedic inserts in shoes that support the arches and reduce the collapsing of the arches. splints that stretch out the tendon comfortably so that he doesn't have tightness in the arch when he gets up in the mornings.

Pretty much whatever that earlier poster mentioned him resting after going to the bench is when he is going to have problems because once he cools down a bit that first step is going to hurt when he gets up. Its an annoying injury. But that sock TP had mentioned should reduce some of the straining of the tendon, i'm sure that spurs staff can work with it so that it is manageable. But he isn't going to get 100% during the season regardless of a few weeks off. This is something he'll have to work with during the summer.

[HankChinaski]

They also have probably been taping his left foot underneath the arch to lift it up and provide support as well. That is something podiatrist do with people that have that issue that aren't willing to foot the bill for higher costing remedies. So I imagine that med staff has done that as well.

[Bukefal]

Well at my previous job we dealt with footwear and orthopedic insoles. And Plantar Fasciitis was a common thing I saw on a day to day basis. Pretty much rest is a big factor in recovering but that isn't treating the cause of him getting the PF.

Its an overstretching of the plantar fascia tendon through the gait cycle. An over pronated step. Basically the arch is flattening out or being over stretched which will easily happen due to the amount of impact, force, and use the guy puts on his feet. So the few treatments that help with this is arch support via orthopedic inserts in shoes that support the arches and reduce the collapsing of the arches. splints that stretch out the tendon comfortably so that he doesn't have tightness in the arch when he gets up in the mornings.

Pretty much whatever that earlier poster mentioned him resting after going to the bench is when he is going to have problems because once he cools down a bit that first step is going to hurt when he gets up. Its an annoying injury. But that sock TP had mentioned should reduce some of the straining of the tendon, i'm sure that spurs staff can work with it so that it is manageable. But he isn't going to get 100% during the season regardless of a few weeks off. This is something he'll have to work with during the summer.

Thanks for posting, nice to read someone with a bit of experience on this.

Welcome to the forums

[Spursmania]

Give him the month off.

Rip it out.

He should have taken the months off in the Summer.

[ElNono]

Non-Issue

[wildbill2u]

Say goodbye to Championship hopes. We need Parker at his Big Three best to compete with the elite teams.

Unfortunately, This is the type of injury that will last for the rest of the season without much improvement in all probability. We saw what it did to Duncan and he doesn't rely on speed like Parker.

Overall, with Parker's efficiency impaired, I don't think we have the horses to win. Maybe next year.

[EricB]

Say goodbye to Championship hopes. We need Parker at his Big Three best to compete with the elite teams.

Unfortunately, This is the type of injury that will last for the rest of the season without much improvement in all probability. We saw what it did to Duncan and he doesn't rely on speed like Parker.

Overall, with Parker's efficiency impaired, I don't think we have the horses to win. Maybe next year.

I don't see how you can say that after that second half last night.

[Dex]

Doesn't every NBA player deal with some form of plantar fasciitisisisis?

Gilbert Arenas suffers plantar fasciitis of the brain.

[Chomag]

I don't see how you can say that after that second half last night.

TP had a pretty good game, but to say this isn't a concern is being pretty blind to it. There might be games where it wont bother him much, but then others where it might. Unfortunately we need a consistent TP this season.

I'm not saying this ruins Spurs chances at a le, however it is a concern.

[Chomag]

Gilbert Arenas suffers plantar fasciitis of the brain.

LOL, funny because it's true.

[ElNono]

I don't see how you can say that after that second half last night.

You can say it because his speed and explosiveness wasn't there. He should have toyed with Fisher, much like Brooks does. It's good to see that he can contribute with his shot here and there, but that certainly is not his forte.

And it's undeniable that it bothers him. He missed a lot of gimmies under the basket this season (including one last night) and his free throw shooting also has been affected.

Now, I don't really think we can't win without Tony peaking. We actually retooled our roster to deal with the eventuality of one of our big 3 going down.
I think Tony needs to see what works and what doesn't and still try to contribute. So let's see how it works out.

[Whisky Dog]

National teams destroyed the dynasty.


This is why Jefferson is here. Hill needs to be main point now with Parker getting 25 to 30 mpg. Jefferson needs to pick up the scoring slack.

I know Timmy played with it in '06, but this has to be a much more restrictive injury for Parker since his quick feet and hard cuts are his game.

[Kori Ellis]

People can't say that Parker's injury is as bad as (or worse than) Duncan's was. There are varying degrees of plantar fasciitis. Some players have it, but only feel it once in a blue moon, and then go for treatment. Other players have so much pain that they constantly feel like they are running on knives. At that point, most people say it's better that it tears, so they can heal faster. But it could be a relatively light case for Tony. Who knows. My friend (basketball player) had it for a year at one point, but it only bothered him a handful of times. With stretching and treatments, it doesn't have to be a death sentence for the Spurs le hopes.

[TJastal]

You can say it because his speed and explosiveness wasn't there. He should have toyed with Fisher, much like Brooks does. It's good to see that he can contribute with his shot here and there, but that certainly is not his forte.

And it's undeniable that it bothers him. He missed a lot of gimmies under the basket this season (including one last night) and his free throw shooting also has been affected.

Now, I don't really think we can't win without Tony peaking. We actually retooled our roster to deal with the eventuality of one of our big 3 going down.
I think Tony needs to see what works and what doesn't and still try to contribute. So let's see how it works out.

Tony can totally still help this team win a championship by passing the ball more and looking to get his assists up, something that he needs to do more of anyways.

[wildbill2u]

I don't see how you can say that after that second half last night.

He will have some games where the pain doesn't limit him as much, but maybe the first half was caused by it.

Once the cause and extent of his injury becomes widely known (after all, we didn't know about it until today so you'd have to think that the Spurs wanted to keep it quiet as long as possible) then other teams will look to how they can take advantage of the injury and take him out of his game.

We've all noted how his play was lacking something this season without knowing why. The toughest part of our schedule against the elite teams is coming up.

If you feel good about the situation you are more optimistic than I. I hope you are right and I am wrong.

[ElNono]

Tony can totally still help this team win a championship by passing the ball more and looking to get his assists up, something that he needs to do more of anyways.

And shooting... he can be streaky, but no different than a bunch of guys on the team... we will just have to ask Hill, RJ and Manu to drive more...

[dbestpro]

Make a move with Finley and bring in a servicable point guard. Rest Parker till the final month. Play Hill and the new PG at the point until then. If the servicable PG is playing well, let him remain as the backup PG and move Hill to SG with occasional PG duties.
Fill the rest of the slate with RMJ, Manu, RJ and Bogans. Do not try to go into the playoffs with a hurt TP who could quickly become this year's Manu.

[duhoh]

Rest him for a month. Let Hill, Mason and Manu run the show.

good solid idea, but those never happen

[Mavs<Spurs]

People can't say that Parker's injury is as bad as (or worse than) Duncan's was. There are varying degrees of plantar fasciitis. Some players have it, but only feel it once in a blue moon, and then go for treatment. Other players have so much pain that they constantly feel like they are running on knives. At that point, most people say it's better that it tears, so they can heal faster. But it could be a relatively light case for Tony. Who knows. My friend (basketball player) had it for a year at one point, but it only bothered him a handful of times. With stretching and treatments, it doesn't have to be a death sentence for the Spurs le hopes.

You give me enough hope to consider walking away from the ledge. I am still on the ledge. But I am now contemplating leaving it. Damn this sucks ! Thanks for providing some hope for us, Kori !

[SpuronyourFace]

Fortunately its an injury you can play with. But if I were Pop, Id rest him as much as possible. Especially against inferior teams. Give Hill those minutes. It can only help him.

[NFGIII]

Unfortunate injury to TP but as of now we still don't know the extent of it. Kori stated as such. This issue will be managed as best as possible and we will probably see more Hill and others vs. TP. This will continue to be an issue for the reat of the season and only with time off from BB this summer plus treatment will it heal.

Now, as discussed in another thread, what does TP do about his committment to the French NT? This will be interesting to see how it plays out since I believe the French will be pushing hard for TP to play. They don't care about the NBA (nor does the Spurs FO care whether France wins or not) so I expect the French to use strongarm tactics coupled with some classic ing and whining come this summer. TP needs to get his priorities in order and decide what is more important - the NBA Spurs or the French NT. At this point in his life it seems he can't have both. Year round BB is taking too much toll on his body and he needs to recognize this and come to terms with it.