Inside the medical room: How an NBL club maximises its athletes

New South East Melbourne import Gary Browne takes three flights — Puerto Rico to New York to Japan to Melbourne.

You’d think he’d be ready to hit the sack, but no. His plane lands in Melbourne — at 5am — and he’s straight into the car to the Phoenix’s Knox gym and then to the club’s spiritual home in Wantirna. One day, when the $132 million redevelopment of the State Basketball Centre is complete, one of those trips won’t be required — the Phoenix will have their own training facilities, gym and administration, all under the one roof.

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For now, it’s a frame. An industrial skeleton that is slowly adding skin. But that’s another story.

Browne’s key job on his first day is something called an “injury screen”.

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Team physiotherapist Av Kumar uses a phone, tablet and a tool that measures Browne’s range of movement, strength and other aspects that make the point guard the athlete that he is.

The screen includes exercises like moving cups with one leg while maintaining balance on the other, holding a Superman pose, hopping on one leg, a long jump off one leg and isometric strength testing.

It seems basic, but it’s imperative to what the Phoenix performance team can find out about their athletes, allowing them to tailor programs to maximise their health, comfort and abilities.

“The injury screen is a comprehensive assessment of the important elements specific to basketball,” Kumar said.

“It focuses on strength, mobility and movement control for the on-court demands that basketballers experience.

“The more thorough the screen, the more we find we can help our players stay on court and improve performance.”

Browne’s immediately intrigued by the testing — it’s like nothing he’s ever been through.

“They stuck me on a treadmill in Turkey.

“One place they put me on a bike riding as hard as I could for 20 minutes.

“Technically, this is definitely the most involved.”

It’s tedious at times, but he’s up for the challenge, and there are both happy and testing moments throughout.

He says he has “great knees” — and isn’t a fan of them being pushed on.

“If I had a student, I’d say come here, feel this, it’s textbook,” Kumar says of Browne’s knees on examination.

There’s a stretching exercise that produces one of the best results Kumar has seen.

“I haven’t even stretched, I just came from the plane,” Browne says.

He’s not keen on some of the drills, but some gentle encouragement from Kumar brings out the competitor.

“I ain’t on the gymnastics team,” he says at one point.

Once the screening is done — it’s about 45 minutes to an hour — Browne is keen to get together with his new teammates. Fellow imports Trey Kell and Alan Williams have already done the testing and nod in unison when asked if it’s a “necessary evil” of being a professional basketballer.

For the record, Kumar says “Gary had good mobility markers and good lower-limb strength.”

Browne says that’s what helps him “glide” across the court.

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