2023-24 Injury Thread

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[macdaddy]

This is a long time to be out for personal reasons with no explanation.  I'm worried about the guy. 

[ShooterSays]

Jalen Johnson has been cleared to return to full team practice and the Hawks forward is nearing a return from a left distal radius fracture, the team announced Wednesday.

In addition, guard Kobe Bufkin, who has been out since Nov. 2 with a left thumb fracture, has been cleared to return to full team practice.

Forward Mouhamed Gueye, who has been out with a right low back stress fracture, underwent a CT scan on Monday. He has been cleared to begin light on-court individual workouts. He will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

Guard AJ Griffin remains out for personal reasons.

Guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who missed the past two games with right ankle inflammation, remains questionable for tonight’s game against the Rockets.

Edited December 20, 2023 by ShooterSays

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[macdaddy]

2 hours ago, ShooterSays said:

Jalen Johnson has been cleared to return to full team practice and the Hawks forward is nearing a return from a left distal radius fracture, the team announced Wednesday.

They're talking about practice?

[RedDawg#8]

AJ’s days may be numbered. I think it’s definitely a psychological thing too, reminds me of when Vic Beasley fell out of love with football in the name of religion. AJ had so much going for him at the end of last season but was pretty unspectacular in SL, and has only gotten further and further away from the lineup.

I never thought he was as good as some were hyping his potential, but he is still plenty talented enough to be a regular contributor. Something has been up this whole time beyond the X’s and O’s of basketball. 

[bleachkit]

4 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

AJ’s days may be numbered. I think it’s definitely a psychological thing too, reminds me of when Vic Beasley fell out of love with football in the name of religion. AJ had so much going for him at the end of last season but was pretty unspectacular in SL, and has only gotten further and further away from the lineup.

I never thought he was as good as some were hyping his potential, but he is still plenty talented enough to be a regular contributor. Something has been up this whole time beyond the X’s and O’s of basketball. 

I believe he had mentioned he had psychological issues in high school, maybe it's a relapse. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[ShooterSays]

 

[Spud2nique]

JJ BACK ON TUESDAY VS BULLS LETS GOOOO!!! We need him!

 

.    

[Spud2nique]

3 hours ago, ShooterSays said:

 

Oooohhhh crap.. is this the same knee as a couple years ago that kept him from consistently playing?  

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[SalvorMallow]

16 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

Oooohhhh crap.. is this the same knee as a couple years ago that kept him from consistently playing?  

Yeah this is the one he tore a couple years ago and couldn't stay in the lineup. 

[Gray Mule]

Hunter's injured knee makes the Squawk posters remember this old Hee Haw song:

Gloom, despair and agony on me,

If it weren't for bad luck

I'd have no luck at all!

On the bright side, Kobe has joined the Skyhawks, off the injured list and ready to play.  Likewise, JJ will suit up for tonight's game in Chicago.  M. Gueye has been cleared for light practice and will be cleared, we hope, for full contact very soon.

[JayBirdHawk]

15 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

M. Gueye has been cleared for light practice and will be cleared, we hope, for full contact very soon.

Mo has another evaluation in about 3-4 weeks before being even cleared.

[Gray Mule]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Mo has another evaluation in about 3-4 weeks before being even cleared.

3-4 weeks.  This is not long, really.  Time is relevant to whatever you are discussing.

  Examples:

3-4  You must hold your breath for this many minutes.  This is a terribly long time.

3-4  You will die within the next 3 or 4 weeks.  This is a terribly short time.

  Hoping he's playing by the end of January...

Edited December 26, 2023 by Gray Mule

[bird_dirt]

15 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Trae shouldering the heavy load is taking a toll on him. 

[JayBirdHawk]

AJ no longer on injury report.

 

 

[macdaddy]

AJ Griffin gets his joy back as he returns to Hawks practice (ajc.com)

Anyone got more of this story.  Most is behind the paywall. 

The lead makes it sound like he was away because he wasn't playing but I don't know if that's right

Quote

After a whirlwind of a rookie season, AJ Griffin of the Hawks is looking to find himself and where he fits among this new group. So he took a couple of weeks away from basketball, as well as the team, and he has returned with fresh frame of mind.

 

[SalvorMallow]

16 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

AJ Griffin gets his joy back as he returns to Hawks practice (ajc.com)

Anyone got more of this story.  Most is behind the paywall. 

The lead makes it sound like he was away because he wasn't playing but I don't know if that's right

 

Quote

After a whirlwind of a rookie season, AJ Griffin of the Hawks is looking to find himself and where he fits among this new group. So he took a couple of weeks away from basketball, as well as the team, and he has returned with fresh frame of mind.

Griffin has been inactive for the past eight games after the team ruled him out of its matchup against the Raptors on Dec. 13 for personal reasons. Then, they ruled him out and kept designating him as inactive for the next couple of weeks before his return Thursday, which raised questions of why the 20-year-old had missed so much time.

 

This season alone has brought up so many questions regarding Griffin, who has averaged 10 minutes per game after he became a key part of the team’s rotation his rookie season. He has averaged only 2.5 points on 32% shooting on 3-point shots in 12 appearances, so far.

It has left many fans wondering why the second-year wing has not had more playing in the team’s typical nine-man rotation, even with injuries piling up.

But Griffin has had a lot going on even sharing some of his struggles publicly in an article for The Christian Post.

He declined to go into detail about what led to his absence, but after taking some time to reflect, he’s gotten himself back into a better space.

 

“Yeah, I would say I’m glad to be back,” Griffin told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The team has been great to be able to support me through that time stepping away for a little, just for personal reasons. I definitely want to keep it brief and not put it all out there, But I have a great staff, great teammates here, checking in on me just to make sure everything’s good. And just really walking in today, just, it’s always good to see your loved ones too, your family and stuff like that, to be able to reconnect and so I just had a great time today and moving on from there.”

 

During his time away, he leaned on his family and friends, while also staying in contact with his teammates. He received plenty of words of wisdom from veterans such as Dejounte Murray and Wesley Matthews, who have shared their experiences from their years in the NBA.

“I mean, the biggest thing is a lot of people don’t understand when we throw a jersey on they think we’re somebody else than when we don’t have this jersey on and we’re humans,” Matthews said. “We’re people at the end of the day, first and foremost, and most important, a lot of us are fathers, obviously sons and all that kind of stuff.

“So, it was ‘just take care of what you need to take care of. Basketball is basketball.’ It’s a blessing. It’s fun. It’s amazing, but it’s a game at the end of the day. Yeah, it provides and all that, but hell, your mental is what keeps you going and what’s most important. So (if), you got to take time away, you got to take time away because that’s what’s most important.”

Griffin also continued to lean heavily on his faith to help relieve his stress and get his joy back.

“One thing that spoke to me was, one story (in the Bible) of Peter, he was on a boat and he took his eyes off Jesus,” Griffin said. “And then that’s when you start seeing the storms of life and instead of keeping your eyes on him to where like, that’s where your joy comes from despite any circumstances or anything you may be going through, in life. And so, I think that’s where I had to reconnect, just refocus and yeah, it feels great to be back.”

 

His teammates and coaches could feel his excitement upon his return to practice Thursday. For Griffin, it felt like a little more.

“I think it’s kind of like opening a present for Christmas Day,” he said. “Just that joy of coming back you, doing what you love and knowing the people just love being around you.”