Actually, Nico just announced in Le Monde that he's retiring. I'm sure we'll get news stateside anytime now.
I think it is fair to raise the issue . . . should the Blazers have let Batum play this summer after the reported injury? Do the Blazers start implementing the same policy as Cuban and not allow players to play for their country (except Olympics) during the summer?
Well, they did bring him in and the doctors gave him the "go ahead". It's really impossible to know for sure about these things without opening him up to have a look-see. I can't really see what more they could do. Fixing and diagnosing people is not an exact science...
I think this is actually not terrible news for us chemistry-wise. It opens more time for Webs, Travis and Rudy. I expect Webster to be huge for us. Nico will come back 100% next year and fit right into this team. We'll miss him, of course, but this is where our depth really helps us out.
Basically, Nic seems to be out at least 4 months and possibly the entire season. Webs, it's your time to shine.
Not all labral tears call for surgery ... it's more of a pain issue than a structural defect issue. If Nico had been able to resume play without a lot of pain then surgery wouldn't have been called for. At this point it's something that is obviously chronic and no longer manageable for him. Him playing this summer or not would likely have made no appreciable difference in how his shoulder would be reacting to his labral tear right now ... especially since he would have likely been training anyway.
This, to me, is bigger news than the Blazers signing Miller . . . in other words I think losing Batum is a bigger loss than what we get by adding Miller. Are we now better than we were last year . . . depends of the improvement of Oden this year. But I don't think it is an automatic that we are better this year . . . hate to put the pressure on Oden, but it will probably come down to him (and how much Miller can fit inot the system)
Why not move Roy to the 3, and either Miller, Rudy or Bayless into the starting back court? I realize this is way too unconventional for our coach, but I think it makes us the best team. Anything is better than Travis getting more minutes.
Good god. I made the same suggestion (at least with Rudy). Someone wake me up if I start complaining about our slow pace.
Jameer Nelson had this surgery in Feb, was back only in June for the Finals, and it was a pushed timeline/recovery
Well hell, with your track record on success as an NBA coach, KP would be crazy not to force Nate to coach as you would coach.
Well, Nate could have coached him not to hurt his shoulder, but since Nate is only a motivator - Nic was motivated, but did not really understand that he should not hurt his shoulder...
