I don't think that's it.. I think it's more of their conditioning.. if you look at the veteran stars now, those who've played for over 10 years, they've already made a name for themselves before they succumbed to a major injury.. Ildefonso and Seigle already won multiple individual awards and championships before they got injured.. same with Mark Caguioa and Helterbrand.. and these guys played all-out during their rookie days..
the last 3 ROY winners have had major surgery already before even finishing their 2nd year.. Paul Lee was becoming the face of RoS but now, when you talk about RoS, you think Jeff Chan.. Maierhofer was going to be one of the main frontline guys for then B-Meg but he got injured and lost his spot.. same with Al-Hussaini.. the PBA these days isn't even that physical and yet young guys are dropping like flies..
I think it's a combination of a few things ..... bad luck, the physical nature of today's PBA (it wasn't so just a few years ago) plus the propensity of younger players to play hyper - except for Al-Hussaini, the guy is a lazy-boy.
One more thing I can think of ..... the lack of a full-calendar amateur league (PBL) might have something to do with the injuries to the younger set.
The PBL was a close approximation of the PBA, since they have a full calendar ...... plus the the league had no restrictions on players - meaning everyone from newbies to old veterans play.
The PBA D-League pales in comparison to the PBL ...... only players below 27 can play, which guarantees no grizzled vets to simulate the PBA's atmosphere.
Plus, there are no draft rules here - which results in a parity gap greater than the PBA (NLEX rules, even if it fields only it's starting five).