Was watching last night's courtside and Barrett said he talked to Przbyilla last week and that Przy said he's a month and a half ahead of schedule and is on track to starting running in April. Good news. Sounds like he'll be ready to go by training camp.
Mike has guy love for Joel. Joel could have his leg amputated and Barrett would report that Joel has lost weight and will be quicker when he returns. The bottom line is that injury is very difficult to come back from, especially at Joel's age. I don't expect him to be the same player when he returns. I hope I'm wrong.
I'm kind of on board with this... They know the players hear what they say and they sometimes make statements accordingly. We need to be hoping for the best, planning for the worst in this case,
I think he'll be fine. Joel never depended on superior athletic gifts anyway. He's a hard worker with great length and he's very active. As long as he doesn't have too much pain I think he will be back to the same old Joel.
While you're right about Barrett being an obvious homer, I certainly don't see Barrett as someone who would spread false information just to get hopes up. Rice maybe, but not Barrett. He either reports the positive or doesn't say anything at all, and this is a positive. You can come back from them, it's just key to make sure you don't re-aggravate it, which is what Antonio McDyess did.
My pessimism with Joel's injury is that it's one that will affect his jumping. Joel was never a skywalker, but he was a pretty quick leaper. Shotblocking is about timing. Joel is probably going to come back just a bit slower. That little bit could be the difference between blocking a shot and fouling someone. Like I said, I hope I'm wrong and he comes back 100%. I'm a big fan of Przy's.
I hope you're right. Joel's game really was based more on height, strength and timing over speed. At worst, he'll basically be Arvydas Sabonis without any offense. (Kind of hard to imagine, I know.) Which ain't great, but is still serviceable in a backup center. If he can deliver 6 hard fouls and twelve minutes of breather for Oden, it'll be enough. If (and it's a big damned "if") Oden can stay on the floor.
I concur and would like to add that MB attributed his news to Joel directly. It is not MB's oppinion, it is MB reporting what Joel told him. MB's man love for Joel plays no part in this report. I see this good news for Joel as bad news for Mixum.
Barrett also reported that Joel said if the Blazers got to round 2 he could maybe get in there, but that's probably unrealistic to say the least. Again, just Barrett reporting what Przy told him, and he said Przy was dead serious.
I wish Joel the best and I'd love to see him return to full strength in time for next season's training camp, but with the organization's track record of over estimating recovery timelines, and under estimating injury severity, I would say 'wait and see' especially when the team's resident sunshine pumper MB is the one spreading the news. You'll have to pardon my lack of enthusiasm.
Glad to hear he's doing well. Obviously, we all take a wait and see on these things, but given Joel's work ethic, I'm not surprised that he's ahead of schedule.
Ouch . . . this team's medical staff has lost a lot of crediblity with fans. And the fact Roy went to get an second medical opinion might speak as to how much crediblity players are giving the staff these days.
So which players have had this injury before that had a hard time coming back from it? I have seen other posters state that he would never play again. I am totally clueless on why this would even be a question. what is this based on?
