I'm no more hot then you. I am tired of posters playing pretend medical expert though. Which opinion to trust on an injured player's time table... a collection of medical experts who've been overseeing a player's recovery or some internet posters with no specific knowledge of the injury, no contact with the player, and who don't know jack shit about this sort of thing playing international ball isn't Portland's call, it's Rudy's. I'm sure every pro club would rather their guys under contract never played internationally. STOMP
The Spurs encouraged Parker from sitting out in a few games in the tournament. The Bulls didn't allow Noah from playing in games outside of the practice, exhibition ones. http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2009/08/france-italy-begin-quest-for-eurobasket.html I'm sure something similar could have been done with Rudy (and Batum, for that matter).
Is this all just a bad dream? I keep hoping I'm going to wake up and find that the Blazers are on a 12-game winning streak and Oden is playing like an all-star.
Exactly my point. Why even take the risk? I know the team is short-handed, and there is pressure for everyone to suck it up (eg LMA's sore ankle), but I just don't see the point. As for what I know - not much. I popped my shoulder out in high-school football practice, and was told to keep it in a sling for a couple of days. Once the ache eased up, I could go back to normal activity - no worries. Since turning 40, I have had the shoulder scoped, gone through PT, and had regular cortisone shots. Most days, I still can't raise that arm above my shoulder. How much of that is genetic predisposition to arthritis, and how much was the Dr being a doofus - I can't say. Granted, Roy is not 16. His body isn't still growing, so maybe the issues are different.
Tonight might be a game for Nate to pull a Greg Popovich and sit Brandon & Lamarcus. We've already won 2 games on this brutal 4 game trip so we're playing with "house money" (so to speak) Roy leads the NBA in minutes, and he & LA are both averaging over 40 minutes/game in December. Last night's win was great, and normally I'd say we have a better chance of beating SA than Dallas on the road. But with Joel out, it changes everything. Fortunately Dallas doesn't have a low post scorer, and that allowed us to stay in the game. But tonight? Duncan is going to control the paint on both sides of the floor. You can't roll Juwan Howard out there and expect him to contain TD. And that means LA will have to guard him more often than not. The guy is already playing on a sprained ankle and a bruised knee, and he played 45 minutes last night. I realize that sitting LA & Brandon leaves us with 7 available bodies (including Pendegraph) Start Cunningham and Tolliver and let them play 30-40 minutes. You never know, they still might make it a game. Remember the SA @ Denver game last season (link below) where Pop sat TD, Parker, Finley? Manu was already hurt . . . their 2 leading scorers for that game were Mason (11 PPG) & Bonner (8 PPG) and they kept it close somehow. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290203007
yah i think i hate more mavs players then any other team in the nba. dirk always irritated me. jj is the new earl boykins howard is a blazer killer.
I say we rest Roy and get him taken care of, in fact let's be waaaay overly cautious. Maybe keep him out the rest of the year. Call it tanking if you want, but honestly, I don't want any of our legit players playing anymore this year. I'm seriously worried they'll also suffer serious injuries, maybe career-ending. It's clear a higher power is against us this year, so I say we quit trying to tempt fate and spare the rest of the roster a season-long rehab as well. I don't want them to quit, but we need to realize it's just going to keep happening. We already have 18 wins, more than the Nets will get all year, but if we field the entire roster of the Idaho Stampede, maybe we'll end up with a great lottery pick, which is better than dwelling in mediocrity the rest of the season and probably barely missing the playoffs. Of course, once all the Idaho Stampede are injured, we'll have to figure a plan Z, but I'm sure we'll think of something. Maybe the WNBA. Maybe hold a tryout for Blazer fans. This could be the break some of us have been waiting for.
I talked to my doctor father this morning describing the symptoms that have been relayed. He said it was probably just a contusion and the nerves were affected by swelling. If so, he wouldn't be risking injury any more then he always does when he plays. Pop is a Urologist and hasn't spent a moment with BR so thats just his guess at the situation, but it's at least it's somewhat informed insight into whats what here getting old sucks. I'd guess that like most former pro athletes Brandon will eventually ache a lot. But today he's young and being judged by the experts as good to go so hopefully everything works out. STOMP
If Portland is going to tank for a reasonable chance at John Wall, they need to let it leak that one of their players (maybe Steve Blake) was academically ineligible due to having someone else take a test for him, so that the league will take away Blazers wins that are already in the books. We need some way to catch up to teams like New Jersey in losses.
Yikes. Initially I want to say 'cool, he is playing' but with our medical staff, I am worried he is going to get hurt tonight. Oh dear lord. Now I feel like I should delete that, I don't want to Nik Brandon.
