[Woj] Howard to get second opinion on knee, could miss extended time

Someone mentioned earlier that we will miss Tarik Black now. He's right. Looking at the box scores of games Howard missed, Black was our best rebounder when Howard was out. We got out rebounded a lot with out Dwight earlier this season (minus the Grizzlies blowout win)

Dorsey cannot be the starting center. McHale has to start Dmo or Jones at the 5. More minutes for Papa?

 

lol

I have been assuming that Dmo is the center if not Dorsey. I can't see TJ doing it and especially with a minutes restriction.

 

Well.... sure. Don't we all? All I'm saying is don't throw out names like Dalembert and Okafor (who hasn't played in 2 years) and think that's the answer. Guys that guard the rim like Dwight and Asik just aren't available like folks think, and just because someone is 7 foot tall doesn't mean he can do the same. Guys like Asik and Dwight are very very rare, and there is a reason why they are paid the way they are.

I'm just saying that since that probably wont be an option dont rule out one of those guys that "Does More With the Size He Has" guys instead of the typical Clutchfans responses.

Reg Jones' size. Its debated all the time, and I really don't care if he grows or not. The guy has tools to be a much better defender than he's been at times. I think he can definitely do more with the size he has later on... its no reason to trade him just yet like everyone is itching for.

 

Marcus Camby, hope you've been working out.

 

TJ & DMo will need to step up on the boards BIG time. That's where you miss Tarik, especially on the offensive glass. That kid ate offensive rebounds.

 

lol

I agree with you on all said here. I also think TJ will improve enough defensively to be what we need at the 4 within a year or 2.

I see us OK right now at the 4 but am cringing at the 5 and our basket protection. Maybe a defense by committee can be done by the bigs we have.

And yes I know how rare those players are to get.

 

I think having more length and athleticism in other areas can really help there. Keep in mind the Rockets defensive philosophy of switching everything. Take a look at the best defensive team in the league right now Atlanta. Most of their defense comes from great offense (low turnovers & playing set defense), but they have a lineup that is so good at switching everything with a ton of versatility.

Also another surprisingly good defensive team this year is Milwaukee. The length and athleticism for them has really put them on the map defensively even with Sanders being Sanders this year, and having really no other rim protectors. Their primary defensive center for the rest of the year looks to be Kenyon Martin believe it or not.

As long as these young bigs continue to play the way they have defensively, improve, and they get good contributions from Smith, I still like this team to be good enough defensively to get in the playoffs, and they can win a series or two IF they play to their strengths enough to dominate the other team they match up with offensively.

 

Listening to Rocketscast they think Dwight's injury could be something similar to Boguts injury earlier in the year but even IF that's true I still let him sit the 2nd half of the season till the postseason just to be safe

 

True that. We don't have undersized PFs. We has them in Hayes, Ppat, and Landry. Those guys were likely 6'7" and below with the exception of Ppat who was 6'8".

 

lol

Agree again and that is what I meant by defense by committee. Dmo is long and Smith is Athletic. TJ is also. Dorsey always has those 6 fouls he can give us at the least and he is a pretty good rebounder.

We have some serious west coast elite big teams coming up and if we can look good against them then we will be OK. I personally hate to have to give up assets if we don't need to. Just thinking of Dorsey as our starting center gives me a headache.

 

I don't think we're getting the whole story here. I'm a fourth year med student going into Orthopaedic Surgery and I just don't understand what is going on.

1. MRI revealed edema. Edema is just fluid build up from inflammation due to some irritation (Eg. Meniscus tear, ACL rupture, bone on bone, ligament strain, even minor stuff) to the knee.
- Was the rest of the MRI negative for ACL or meniscal pathology?

2. What is the second opinion about? If nothing but edema was found on MRI, that would pretty much rule out ACL or meniscal tears or other ligamentous injury because MRI is the best imaging modality we have for soft tissue.

I think dwight has been having pain in the knee and is trying to figure out a solution and when the MRI only revealed edema, he expected it to be something bad. I think they may end up doing a diagnostic scope and going from there to see what is wrong.

If nothing is found and it is only edema, He should be good to go in 1-2 weeks MAX

 

Edit edit edit

 

I don't think it's that simple. McHale is spot on when he references how the Rockets haven't been able to get in a rhythm playing with Dwight all year. Rest is important, but I don't think it's as simple as sitting him down for 3 months and then snapping your fingers when the postseason begins and expecting everything to be fine.

I think they're going to have to do this in phases. My guess now is that he's out through the All-Star break. The next game he's not already "ruled out" for is Feb. 4 vs. Chicago, and from there it's only 8 days until the break. So if you shut Dwight down through then, he'll get almost a month's worth of rest -- from the Jan. 23 ankle tweak until Feb. 20 in Dallas, the first game after the break.

My thought is that you need Dwight to play from ideally late February until early April to let both he and the team get into a rhythm of having him out there. THEN, once April arrives, shut Dwight down again and let him have 2-3 weeks off before the playoffs.

 

Really? You'd better brush up then or you're going to fail the exam where they make you diagnose and treat medical issues from cryptic tweets.

 

It's also almost guaranteed we'll add another rotation player in the next few weeks. We'll work in Jones. It'll be even harder to get him in rhythm once these emerging changes occur.

 

Haha thanks for the vote of confidence. Touche. It is just interesting to see what will happen to the guy. If he is bone on bone, a simple X-ray would determine that.

I just hope it isn't something huge!

 

lol, just screwing around Thanks for posting. Some interesting stuff in there for sure.

 

That too.

I really urge everyone to listen to the McHale interview yesterday on 790, if you haven't yet. There's a very distinct tone of "when", not if, regarding Dwight's regular-season return. It's a big priority for the Rockets to get Dwight back out there and start building that chemistry -- it's mostly going to be an issue of managing minutes. It certainly didn't sound like "shut him down until the playoffs" is under consideration at all.

 

I agree with you on this.

 

lol

Well since that interview there was a Woj bomb about Dwight getting a 2nd opinion and extended non play.