Why on earth would you be thinking that our center and the backbone of this team was going to go down??
Fuck. Man, I wish Joel the best. The guy has little talent, but tons of heart (and seven feet of size). One of my favorite Blazers on this squad. Man, in the past year I've seen Mutombo, Yao, Oden and Przybilla all go down for the season. Fuck. There literally aren't any centers left I like. Fuck. Basically our team is now Roy, Aldridge, Miller, a bunch of scrubs, and the possibility of Bayless. It was enough to win tonight, at least...
I think it's time to throw down $10+ million on medical staff next year and see what happens. Maybe it's just a hell of a coincidence, but maybe these events are not. The franchise needs to figure out what the hell's going on. Keep Jay Jensen and Bobby Medina around as consultant's but bring in a team of the best expert doctors and sports medicine specialists to critique all team medical practices, training, diagnostics, rehabilitation and prevention.
Blazer starters or significant bench players who missed better than half a year due to injuries over the last five years: 2005-06: Darius Miles 42 games 2006-07: Darius Miles 82 games 2007-08: Greg Oden 82 games, Darius Miles 82 games 2008-09: Martell Webster 81 games 43 minutes 2009-10: Nic Batum, Travis Outlaw, Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla... who knows who else.
Poor Joel. In the awe inspiring just WOWNESS of this situation it's easy to lose sight of poor Joel. I pray for him and wish him the best. At least he's a rich man if this is career ending he had a decent career and is now far richer then most will ever be. Get well Joel and I hope you come to peace with this.
Agree with this. Time to get serious about this. It might be worth it to look into Yoga and other additional supplemental care. Make Pilates mandatory etc.
First of all, a get well to Joel. He played hard every night and I respect that. Center by committe here we come. I am guessing that all 3 of our biggest bigs (LA, Howard and Pendergraph) take up minutes there. My guess is Aldridge will play center most of the time, and my guess is, it will also be very good for him. This could be the move that gets him the time in the paint to start rebounding at a higher rate. Dante Cunningham should also see some minutes now. Seasons like these can be a blessing in disguise. By end of season, the bench will be highly experienced, and we will also have a better idea of what we have in many of those players. If the team makes the playoffs still, all the better. That means mentally we are strong.
In my opinion Joel had a big part of forming the mindset here. He started during jail blazers, but was alway a bright spot in the good guy column. He helped our current core of the team develop. He is a team player, very loyal. I wish him the best, but he may not recover from this. That rupture sounds bad.
Come on guys lets be a little logical about this. These are not medical staff issues or lack of training or poor diet issues.
At least we are guaranteed to have him next year, whether it's on the floor or as another expiring contract asset. Opt-out isn't an option for him.
[video=youtube;4kpHmtA7LOk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kpHmtA7LOk[/video] What else is there to say about this season?
The curse of COMCAST. Oden losing all of 2007, a first round flameout last year. Year three of COMCAST: Blazer Armegeddon.
