Even if Rice manages to pass this physical, we are getting injured goods and not the 19 point scorer that he was in yesteryear. As I have said in previous postings I play ball and have the same injury. At his age and with this particular injury he is not worth the money. If you think he is bad defensively wait until you see him try to cover some of the most athletic individuals in the world while hobbling up and down the court. Until the injury is healed 100% he will favor his foot and it will continue to get worse(like a stress fracture)until he rests it for about a year. You can say I am not a doctor but once again I had it and had the best care my team could give me and this is just the sad facts about this type of injury. If it was minor he would not have worn a cast for about six weeks after the season ended. I could care less about Shandon Anderson who will be nothing more than average with the new zone defense rule but the Rockets were insane to let Bullard go with his valuable and consistant outside shot. I love Glen Rice's game and would love to see him here but we will regret this move for the next three years if we decide to pass him with the physical to try to save whatever pride is left in this disaster they are calling the offseason.
There were some other posters who went into this injury and talked about it. They didn't seem to think it would make all that big a difference. Remember, Rice's numbers went down partially form the injury, and partially because Houston and Sprewell sucked up his opportunities since they are also star quality players playing the same position. http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20790
check out my other post "If Rice is gone..." and you will now see other posters are agreeing with me (one of them had the same injury and said he posted the other day and said at that time that the injury was nothing but now he agrees with me after hearing more info). Once again Rice says he still has pain each day with the foot and questions whether he will be ready for the season. You can play with this injury as I did but you are not nearly as good and TRUST ME when I say it would be team suicide to let him pass this physical to save face in an embarrassing situation. 28 million is a lot of money!!!
Plantar Faciitis is essentially an inflamation. Not a broken bone like a stress fracture. If he can heal, there are no long term problems associated with this injury. There are no tendins, bones, mucles, or ligiments involved. He wore a cast because he had surgery to cut the Plantar Faciitis to releive the pressure. Again, it only affects his game because of the pain. Get the pain under control, and he is fine. But it is concerning because this tends to be a nagging type of injury. -krosfyah
That's the thing walt, you make it seem like he isn't nearly as good because of the injury, others are saying it's just a matter of managing through the pain. And almost every player in the league plays through some kind of foot, knee, elbow or back pain.
Everyone must be here .cause this board is crawling..... http://www.scoi.com/plantar.htm The plantar fascia is a broad ligament-like structure that extends from the heel bone to the base of the toes, acting like a thick rubberband on the bottom arch of the foot. With a few extra pounds on board, or with activities such as exercise, the plantar fascia can develop microtrauma at its insertion into the heel bone, or anywhere along its length. This causes pain which can be quite severe at times. One disturbing fact about plantar fasciitis is that it sometimes takes many months to resolve. Indeed, it takes approximately 6 months for 75% of people to recover from this problem. 98% of people seem to be better at 12 months.
I just heard from the other post that Rice was limping when he came off of the plane. When I had that injury people who did not know me thought that I walked like an old man because of my limp. As he continually jumps up and down on it it will get no better. With his history of playing with pain there is no doubt that he can play 70 plus games with us but as pathetic as this is I would rather the Rockets play a healthy Walt Williams than a gimpy Rice. And he will continue to favor his foot all season. Are we happy paying Walt six million a year? With this injury it is like having 2 Walts on the team and we will be lottery bound for years to come because of the cap restrictions.
- forget taking a risk on Rice - dump Walt - sign Mooch - cover SF position by committee - use our wad of capspace next summer on someone worthwhile
pippendagimp is absolutely right: Cut our losses and sign Moochie. We screwed up on Bullard but we can't look back. Signing Moochie is top priority right now and we should look to get Shandon back and we can still be competitive. We can say that we retained Mo, Shandon, and Moochie plus we added TMO, and Eddie Griffin. This would turn a disastrous offseason into a successful one given the current state of affairs. If problems arise trade Shandon down the line as he is at least tradeable.
I may be Dallas Rocket, but maybe I should be Dallas DocRocket. I haven't read all of today's posts on this topic but maybe I can help shed some light. I'm an orthopedic surgeon who has treated many patients with this problem. It's quite common in basketball and tennis players...particularly high performance athletes who run and pound their feet on hard surfaces. And I have had a severe case myself that took almost a year to quiet down. Many NBA players endure this problem, some with mild cases and others more severe. It may be helped by modalities such as stretching, nonsteroidals like Advil etc., heat, whirlpool, ultrasound, ice, taping the foot, and good orthotics and shoes for support etc. Sometimes cortisone injections are needed, but only rarely does it require surgery. It tends to be most painful after you've been off your feet for a while (like after sitting on a plane for 3-4 hours!!). Patients are typically worse first thing in the morning; their first step feels like a knife has stuck them in the base of the heel. And then can play competitive sports later the same day! What is important is specifically what his treatment program has been, over what period of time, how he has responded, and whether his is gradually improving, stabilized, or getting worse. Dr. Lowe's (and consultants')review of the medical records and examination of Glen will be critical; the devil is in the details. Even though plantar fasciitis is painful and sometimes very difficult to totally eliminate, most NBA players can play through the problem...it's just worse some days than others. They just don't have the luxury of stopping the pounding during the season! Occasionally it gets too painful to run on, but not for prolonged periods of time. (Michael Finley of the Mavs lives with plantar fasciitis, but I don't think he has missed any time b/o it.) It's one of those overuse syndromes that can almost always can be managed by good team doctors and trainers, and a willing patient.
Doctor Dallas, Could Vioxx or Celebrex provide a continuing treatment for the pain involved in the injury. I know as a pain releiver it's not much different from ibuprofren but the fact that is more easily tolerated by the digestive system can it be taken everyday for a long peiod of time. And by the way, I 've got this pain right here........ (aren't doctors supposed to be working at 4:00)
Plantar Facitis (sp) is probably the worst injury (other than a blown out knee) that an NBA player can have. No one recovers from this in a short time. Remember when Zo had it a few yrs back? This guy can play with pain better than anyone (kidney problems, and a severley sprained ankle and a gauged eye in the 99 playoffs) but he couldnt even walk with this plantar crap. I say ship him back up here and try to S&T SA to someone else. IMO, the Knicks knew about the severity of the injury. Why else would they lock in another off guard for 6 yrs just to dump Rice???
Why's everyone over-reacting to this? If he needs time to hell, he doesn't need to play more than 15 minutes a night, or at all for that matter. Remember, we have Langhi, Griffin and Morris on the bench. Then we have the 3-guard line-up when Moochie comes in. It's not anything to worry about.
hey Dallas Rocket, If you wouldn't mind, could you send an email to the address in my profile so that I could return it with a question?
Gene Peterson, Vioxx or Celebrex are two of a newer category of anti-inflammatory meds that typically cause fewer GI side effects than the more traditional Advils or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-NSAIDs. So for those who are prone to GI problems when taking NSAIDs , they may represent a smart alternative. The good thing about anti-inflammatory drugs is that they reduce the pain or symptoms, NOT by masking it but by reducing the inflammation that causes it (in this case plantar fasciitis). So yes, these meds can be part of an overall treatment plan. ...and always remember, free medical advice is generally worth what you pay for it!
rimbaud, I didn't want to ignore your request, however I would like to maintain the privacy of my personal email. I hope you understand. DR
Get outta here, don't be so dramatic. It is a common thing. If you had to choose an injury (silly hypothetical situation), plantar faciitis would be on your list. It isn't career ending. Once healed, there are no residual affects. You can play through it if you can stand the pain It is very treatable with anit-inflamitory drugs and other treatment As the good Dr said (which I can attest to), it is often worse in the mornings. -krosfyah
