dwight and tjones sit while we tune the rest of the roster. ya we'll be exposed... but if we win the games we're supposed to, we'll be alright.
My thing is this Kobe does this procedure during the off season to work out all the soreness issues during his own workouts and by the time the season roles around he is 100 percent. DH12 will not have that luxury during the season without the team suffering in his absence. So that makes this another season for the Rockets not to be at full strength. It's puts more of a strain on Harden minutes wise. We can't forget he just played the entire summer with USA basketball. So the beard will need some rest at some point to. Hopefully, things will fall in line around the All-star break.
Stop comparing this to kobe's situation. Whoever wrote this up wanted people to make the false comparison so they can get page hits.
NO. This isn't surgery. They just draw your blood, isolate the "healing" stuff from it and inject it into the injured tissue to promote quicker healing.
Dallas has no injuries..Houston has too many injuries...SMH. Our team is weak. We need to do something about it. I don't know why our players keep injuring. It seems like at least one player on Rockets is injured every game. I guess it's Houston curse.
Heh, that's pretty good. I'll be the 1st to admit that many people have grown so tired of Howard's issues and failures, as they pertain to basketball, that many of us have simply lost all faith in him and tend to doubt him on almost all levels. I mean, what other alternative is there? Let's just suppose, for the sake of argument, that Howard is on the up-and-up in regards to all of the various issues he's been vilified for the past few years. So throw out the injury debates, throw out the Lakers departure, and throw out the whole Orlando departure as well. What's left? Well let's see... (and I've noted these things in other threads) - 11+ years in the league, working with the likes of Ewing, Olajuwan, Gasol, Carroll Dawson, Riley, Van Gundy, etc... and he hasn't improved his footwork, positioning, techniques, shooting, timing, or any other other basic fundamentals much at all. After all of these years he's basically at the same level (both offensively and defensively) of skill and proficiency, that he was at in his 1st few years in the league. - he makes (supposedly) 70% or more of his free throws in practice... yet in actual games, when the pressure is on... he shoots 50% or worse. (almost all NBA analyst, players and ex-players, say this is most likely due to the pressure and his nerves. after all, what else could it be?) - he continues, year after year, to commit the same silly offensive fouls, which take him out of the game. And he continues to commit far too many ridiculous goal tending violations, which are nowhere close to being clean blocks, and then he laughs and chuckles about them. Those things are costing his team both points and possessions, and ultimately games. - he doesn't play completely focused, and he doesn't give 100% effort for 48 minutes, for every game. He takes too many games off where he's not locked in and giving the team his absolute best. There are games where he'll go 20pts, 15rbs, and 3-4 blocks, and then the next game he'll be a no-show and get 6pts, 5rbs, and 0 blocks. And it's not due to just having a bad game. Most times it's plainly obvious that he's not engaged or focused, and he's not giving his best effort. And more times than not, he seems to try harder when he's going against weaker opposition, and try less hard when he's going against better opponents. And that's supposed to be the exact OPPOSITE. Great players are supposed to rise to challenges, whereas Howard seems to sink or cower when faced with challenges. (example: almost everyone agrees that he purposely fouled himself out of the Lakers playoff game a few years ago. Why? Perhaps because the game wasn't going well and it was riding on him to rise to the occasion... and he couldn't, or wouldn't.) All in all, what does all of this say about his desire and ability to apply all of the advice and knowledge that he's received over the years? And what does it tell us about his focus and determination to improve his overall game and basketball IQ? Anyhow, the point of all of this is because we're trying to get a better understanding, and a logical assessment of Howard's game, and his place on this Rockets team. Understanding exactly who he is, and what he brings, is essential in maximizing the potential of the team. Then again, perhaps understanding who he is, and what he DOESN'T bring... may actually be far more important.
Dwight's Procedure. Looks simple enough. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ui6QQ3BIdYk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I haven't really followed the latest studies, but is there any strong evidence that PRP therapy is better than placebo? Last I read, it seemed like there wasn't much evidence that it did anything special: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/phys-ed-does-platelet-rich-plasma-therapy-really-work/?_r=0 I'd prefer more science/evidence behind these procedures for such high profile athletes, but this does seem common in the sports world (especially since these types of procedures are rarely studied thoroughly). I saw something recently that indicated arthroscopic knee surgery for a torn meniscus/osteoarthritis (both) was no/little better than a sham surgery. That blew my mind given how often that procedure is carried out. I haven't looked into that some more, so perhaps I missed something (perhaps athletes see different results vs "normal" people), but it wouldn't surprise me.
The procedure is the same, but the situation isn't. He's had different injuries, which surely affects how much rest he needs compared to Howard. Plasma therapy is just an injection. They're nott cutting you and repairing anything, where it would cause you to need extended rest. He'll recover from it within a day or two. Now, he may need more time because of the injury, but this procedure won't really affect that overall time.
The kinesio tape Harden is wearing isn't evidence based either. When things becomes really popular like that with professionals tough, I tend to believe it's working somehow. It could just mean they haven't had enough time or the right set up to prove something. Teams have to try it out to exhaust all options and these options are fairly harmless, low risk.
Who are these "many people" that you speak of and how many do so devoid of ulterior motives and agendas? Or are you just trying to add (false) credibility to your argument by asking us to assume these others exist? The vilification of Howard is irrelevant to the issue at hand, his basketball ability. Is this anything more than a red herring intended to elicit an emotional response? Let's stick to the relevant facts. First, as a supposed Rockets fan, you would do well to learn to spell Olajuwon correctly. Gasol? Riley? Please explain. Also, what expertise does Stan Van Gundy have in NBA big man development? How do you quantify this perceived lack of development? Relevance? Foul trouble is a concern but one could easily argue that is part and parcel of being a dominant big man in the NBA. Which games have the Rockets lost due to a Howard goal tending violation? Can you give examples where Howard followed a 20/25/3 game with a 6/5/0 game? Or are you once again making up numbers to give your argument false credibility. If your argument is legit there should be no need for you to use imaginary stats. The real numbers should support your position, shouldn't they? Again, how is this anything more than your own jaded opinion? If you seriously want us to take your gripes as anything more than hateful and incessant whining you should at least make an attempt to support them with more that your own self-serving opinion. If that is truly the case then why not take the time to first present a cogent argument to voice your concerns. So far, all I've seen from you is emotionally charged rhetoric with little or no objective info to support it.
Hehe I know, and that's probably why I'm always yelling at the TV when I see him wearing it every game! I assume it's a placebo effect, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Believing that a treatment will make you feel better often results in...well, feeling better. Not to mention that we might be giving credit to the wrong mechanism involved in these treatments (could the injection itself be what is stimulating recovery?). As you said, these tend to be low-risk (and relative to the salaries involved, low-cost). Similar to eating chicken noodle soup or drinking a glass of orange juice when you have a cold. Use a harmless treatment to take advantage of placebo benefits. My only concern is if these treatments gain popularity in the sports worlds, "normal" people might try to use them, turning this from harmless to harmful. While $800 (or I guess a few thousand dollars for multiple injections) might not be much for Dwight Howard to throw away, that's a lot of money for the average person. Hopefully more research can shed some light on these treatments, possibly resulting in a treatment that is definitively better than a placebo. But in the meantime, I'm hoping Dwight ignores all those articles and believes 100% that this works, possibly resulting in a quicker return to the starting lineup. :grin:
Nicholas Batum is doing the same type of therapy for his knee, too. Might be worthwhile to see how he responds.
