Yeah. He quit for long enough to come back and read who read his thread. Kingspeed is all or nothing. The Blazers have 4 at home and hold the tie breaker. The Nuggets just lost to Houston. The fact is it's in the Blazers hands. This is why they play the games. Throw the ball in the air and see what happens. My biggest problem is not making the playoffs or not. It's the timeline on the injury. Typically this is a 4-6 week injury. He is undergoing bone stimulators and PRP while also wearing "The Boot" so there is a huge amount of work being done to help him out. He is also tough. The problem is this kind of injury is also what ended a couple careers. Steve Nash being one of the most notable. There were instances of guys like Jack Youngblood (NFL RAMS linebacker) playing with this injury in the superbowl. But that is only one game and back then it was on grass. I think Jack Ham or Lambert also played a game with this injury? Again Football and only one game. The risk of re-injury is the problem here. Early return on an injury like this could be catastrophic when you are talking about 280 lbs and 7+ foot tall. So making the playoffs is really not what worries me at all. It's making them and the organization having to make a call that puts him at risk. Either way does anyone anywhere think they pull a win out in a 7 game series against the Warriors? Honestly? Is bringing Nurkic back early in this injury worth it really?
Can someone just sacrifice themselves and then we don't have to go through the messy voting process? The Russians would probably influence the results anyway.
I don't really care. Eeking into the playoffs in the NFL is a much bigger deal because anything can happen in one game, but it's really rare to beat a better team in a 7 game series.
I don't understand those who rejoiced over Denver losing to Houston last night. If the Blazers make the playoffs, do we want it to be because we sucked slightly less than the Nuggets? Or do we want it to be because we played well after losing Nurkic due to injury? Honestly, if we're going to limp to the finish line under .500, I hope Denver wins out and knocks us out. My prediction however: both squads finish 40-42.
I think the Blazers still make the Playoffs. With Denver's loss to Houston, Portland can almost back their way into the Playoffs with just 1 or 2 wins. KAT will be tough again with the T-Wolves and I expect a loss against Utah but the Spurs will be resting just about everyone but the 3rd string by the time we play them and then you get the Pels on a 'mail-it-in', final game of the season on the road effort. Then you get the Warriors so the pain won't last too long.
Even though I root for the Blazers to win every time I watch them play; I would not be unhappy if they lost all the rest of their games. Not only would it probably move them up 4 spots in draft order. But it would it would also mean they would not be tempted to play Nurkic; I am in the small group who think it would be very foolish to risk aggravating his injury or incurring a new injury (which might happen because of his lack of conditioning, not helped by his resting for last two weeks).
I get the concern, especially given the Blazers' past history with some of our centers, but we have no information about Nurkic's injury other than the minimal amount issued in the press release. From what little I've read, it sounds pretty minor and there's usually a 2-4 week recovery. If he's ready to play, he's ready to play. If not, then missing the playoffs would certainly be the best bet. I'd bet the Blazers have a pretty good idea as to how soon he'll be available to play.
The concern is if he needs closer to 4 weeks, but he wants to play in the playoffs (players frequently come back sooner than they "should" in the playoffs) and ends up aggravating it and making it longer-term issue. Probably not a very likely scenario, but humans (and especially Blazers fans) tend to dwell on the worst case scenarios.
I’m having visions of Nurkic making a triumphant playoff return to save the day that are on the same level as BRoy’s 2010 playoff return. Except, Nurkic returns next season 100% healed.
How many other teams have a starting lineup with nobody over 6'9"? I do agree that this is the best lineup however, with Biebs playing the way he has. Having said that I sure would be tempted to play Vonleh and Layman as many minutes as they could take before fouling out.
If the Blazers were likely to beat the Warriors if they rushed Nurkic back for the playoffs, I could see that dynamic being in play. As it is, I see it at full strength, Nurkic might be the difference between the Blazers getting swept and them winning one or two games. I can't see the Blazers or Nurkic being willing to accept any serious risk to his long term health over that prospect. But, hey, I'm just one of those crazy guys who figures that there's a reason why teams pay for medical and physical therapy services.
I don't think he'll be allowed to play if the doctors say he can't. But there's a difference being medically cleared to play and it being advisable. A player will often get to dictate coming back, especially for the playoffs, if he's been cleared. And I can imagine Nurkic wanting to play in the playoffs, even if doctors say it might be wiser not to, if he "feels" okay. Players do that all the time.
Could happen. At this point though, I'd say it's 50-50 if the Blazers make the playoffs anyway, so I'm content to leave that worry for another day.
