Mike Brown Says Playoff Injuries Due To Shortened Schedule

Playing The Role Of NBA Coach

The first day of the 2012 NBA playoffs saw two players the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose and the New York Knicks Iman Shumpert go down with season-ending knee injuries, and on the second day the Los Angeles Clippers lost Caron Butler with a broken hand. Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown puts the blame partly on the compressed schedule that followed the lockout.

“I believe the truncated season had something to do with the injuries, but it’s nothing medical or anything like that,” Brown said. “I have nowhere near the knowledge where I probably even shouldn’t be making the statement. But yeah, I think so. A shortened season, a lot of games in a short amount of time, your body changes and stuff like that, you never know. I’ve just seen a lot of injuries this whole year, and I think it probably has to do with playing a lot of games in a short amount of time.”

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, meanwhile, has had to defend himself against criticism for his decision to have Rose in the game with about a minute-and-a-half to play and the Chicago holding a 12-point lead.

Brown thinks Thibodeau’s decision was the right one.

“You’re trying to win and there was a minute and a half I think, a minute and 10 seconds left up 12, anything can happen in a short amount of time,” Brown said. “I’ve been around a few incidents where the tide has changed in less than 10 seconds, so there is a paranoia that coaches I think have. I thought what (Thibodeau) did was the right thing.”

At least one former player agrees with Brown and that’s former all-star guard Stephon Marbury who tweeted

“Because of the #Greed of the #NBA another great player goes down in Derrick Rose. To many games in such a short time. Players need to learn.”

“The NBA is putting players careers at risk, these aren’t just ticky tack injuries, these are major structural problems”