The first reply to Doctor Robert’s thread was Rox stating just "putting Griffin” in. My post went on to expand why I thought that was not a good idea. Anyway, on to Collier, which I largely neglected as some of you noted. Last I heard he is waiting in the wings for a roster spot. His conditioning seems about average, the rehab of his surgery certainly limited his actual “on court” (read that as: strenuous) movement. He also had two or three relapses while rehabing but his touch and his shot apparently is okay. In short, from what I hear, he is available to play, wants to play, but not in game condition physically (read that as: legs & stamina). The real guessing game is: (1) With the upcoming schedule, who do you IR in his place? … and (2) What overall benefit would it be to have him on the bench? Regardless of the results of the last couple of games (I guess I mean the performance of the center spots … Cato …. Kevin …. Griff … (and Walt?) ) it is doubtful that inserting Jason Collier would have improved the overall results. Well I see the Kings game may have been tighter. My feeling is that Collier will be out of mothballs soon. Especially now that KT is hurting. We play the kings again soon, and one of the primary reasons the Kings banged us around was that their very mobile and fluid pivot position (Divac & Pollard) owned the middle. Offensively Divac was allowed to range in that front and center basket spot for his loop-de-loops. I have a feeling even the slow moving Collier may be able to move him off that spot, and also present a mid-range offensive threat at the other end. Pollard is porous defending 16 foot shots by big men, and Divac can easily be pulled out there to open our middle attack some. Watch for Griff to get more four-position duty. Watch for Collier in red jammers within the next couple of games. I also see Francis getting some rest. He probably should have had a game rest last night. To me letting him play as much as he did, while hurt and no premiere PG opposing him … well to me that was a poor decision all around.
From the Chronicle, Collier makes trip Center Jason Collier is with the Rockets on the road trip but is not close to returning to action from his shinsplints. Collier is traveling for the first time this season to step up his rehabilitation workouts and to work with Rockets coaches. But trainer Keith Jones said Collier could be several weeks away from returning at the earliest and that it could take more than a month before Collier is ready to return to the active roster. "He's slowly working his way into it," Jones said. "We'll do a little bit and if it's not too painful, we'll do a little more. He's still in some pain. We're going to ease into it, do some running and shooting with the coaches, more every day. We'll follow what the pain allows. But he is getting better. The pain is in a smaller area." Collier said he prefers being with the team, especially after spending so much of his rookie year last season on the injured list. "It's a lot better being on the road with the team and being around," he said. "With me out a lot last year, it's better, better to get acquainted with the guys. "I still feel it. But I'm beginning to deal with it better than I did before. I've done quite a bit the last couple of days. It's definitely getting better." Oeilpere, can you elaborate on KT's condition? I know I keep peppering threads with this question. I'll stop after this one.
Relativist: That article seems more pessimistic than I thought was going on. I was under the impression (from some people that know) that Collier was ready to go in for some limited duty soon. "Real soon", is what was said. But Keith's statements sound less sure. Oh,well. KT - I have no idea. I know he has had a nagging achilles and plantar aspect of BOTH his feet this summer. His work out schedule was accelerated that aggravated a mild fascia inflammation. A couple of things about this condition ... and I know it has been hammered to death on several fronts .... it can be caused for inexplicable reasons, but ususally is related to a stretching of the affected tissues by overuse (heavy sustained excercise), repeated re-injury (not properly rehabed after a mild reaction) or a sudden traumatic episode (usually stretched/strained). The two key things to remember - You can play with it. It can be merely a distracion on the court or it can hurt like hell and really effect performance. The other thing is that (other than surgery in some extreme cases) only anti-inflammatory medication, and REST ... will heal it. It seems to me that KT has been working above his depth a lot lately. By that I mean, really athletically getting at it ... pushing himself .... and well, it is no surprise his body is suffering under the stress. I suspect they will ease off his minutes or sub him earlier in the game. At some point though he may have to sit down for a games (IR).
outlaw: I believe, but I am not positive and cannot confirm this, that Nwanko was on the Venezualian team with Torres and has returned to play on that team.
