Monday, August 20, 2007

First Bosh, now Delfino

Newest Toronto Raptors Carlos Delfino injuried his knee playing ball over the weekend and could miss some of Argentina's games in the FIBA championship. Something new to me was the fact that he had surjery on his knee 2 years ago and even if this current problem is minor, it could have long lasting affects. I think it's human nature for most people to be more hesitant doing certain things when they have been hurt numerous times in the past. Of course a players knee is involved in almost everything you do playing basketball, so is Carlos going to have some built up fear now when it comes to pushing the knee via cuts and slashs to the net? The Raptors got Carlos cheap, but in my opinion, Carlos is the replacement of Morris Peterson. To lose Carlos, even if it was technically only for two 2nd round draft picks, would eliminate any progress the Raptors made this off season. Instead of adding Delfino and Kapono while losing Mo-Pete, it would just be Kapono replacing Mo-Pete.
As for Argentina, well this is a big blow for them. With Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto and Walter Herrmann all NBA players not running for Argentina this summer, Carlos Defino definitely could have been a major factor towards any success Argentina would have. I am not sure how the rest of the Argentina team is, but I have to feel that with out Delfino and especially Manu, this is not quite the same team that won gold in 2004 and reached second position in FIBA men's ranking in 2006.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you 100% about the concern of Carlos' knee. I also was unaware of the the fact that he had surgery. However reports are making it sound like this is a more precautionary measure than anything else. You have to remember that as passionate as these players may be about playing for their countries, they are also surrounded by people who, for the most part, look out for their well being. Therefore I have to believe Carlos, like Bosh, is sitting out to play safe rather than because of a serious injury. As far as Argentina goes, Luis Scola who will play for Houston this year has been lighting it up.