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

Dwight won't do anything in the playoffs. I laugh at you homers thinking he will revisit last year's domination

 

But how many players have that surgery at Dwight's age and dominate afterwards? Amare was younger when he had it, so that allowed him to retain his explosiveness for a few more years. But Webber was never the same. T-Mac was basically done. Kidd was always more about fundamentals, so he was able to still play well. Dwight though is so dependent on his athleticism and is already approaching 30 with a lot of mileage on those legs. I'm not optimistic if he winds up needing microfracture.

 

This is starting to remind me of Tracy's knee and quite a few other athletes -- I sense microfracture surgery in Dwight's future and the odds at best (if he does need surgery) are weak that he will return to anything close to superstar status.

 

D-Mo had it too. It took him a long while to get back to current condition. Microfracture was definitely successful in prolonging his career.

 

It was a mistake to bring him back and have him play with knee soreness. Very dumb in fact.

Howard should not play the rest of the season. We might have just shot ourselves in the knee again.

 

Sorry. I mean Z-Bo. Whew...

 

First he's recovering from his back now the knee man if he gets another surgery he just needs to go unless we have him on contract like we have Josh Smith on contract. If Dwight can play like Dwight of last year's playoffs then that's different.

 

With McHale talking about the team having to adjust between Dwight and no Dwight, I think a strict minute-count will work best here. 20-25 minutes every game. Start the game, come out around 6 minute mark. Play roughly 6~7 minutes from quarters 1-3. Then in the 4th, depending on the game, come in for defensive subsitutions.

And of course rests on B2Bs. I think the Rockets just need to tread water until the playoffs. If we can grab homecourt without compromising Harden? So be it. Otherwise, we can basically allow ourselves to drop to as low as 7th to just avoid GS. Just be prepared for the playoffs.

 

I gotta question for y'all. If Dwight is ruled out for the remainder of the season including playoffs, would you trade the NOP pick back to the Pelicans for Asik?

 

Nope, would roll with DMo, Tjo, and JSmo.

DD

 

No, because that still won't get us over the hump as a contender. I would rather just keep the pick...

 

loo

Can't do it for 12 months after a trade but I wouldn't anyway.

 

Funny the irony you posted this. I was going to my weekly back rehab today, and I asked about edema. The conversation went something like this (take with grain of salt):

Me - "If I may ask, what is edema? Like, what does it do really?"
PT - "Edema is just with bone irritation. It can be caused by many things, like ACL, meniscus, lack of cartilage, sprain, strain. Why do you ask?"
Me - "Well, I am a big Houston Rockets fan, you know, the basketball team, and Dwight Howard has edema. Like Dwight is the superstar of the team"
PT - "Oh ok, you like them a lot I see? Well I don't see why you should worry about having edema. Having it in your back doesn't affect your knees..."
Me - "Oh no no no I am not worried about me. You see, I am a die-hard fan, I am worried about Dwight. No, I could care less about my knees haha. You see, if Dwight is seriously hurt, then the next 3 years as a Rockets fan are basically ruined."
PT - "Ah ok, well it's not big thing."
Me - "See the thing is, he has been having knee problems for a long while. He had a knee strain for a month, then came back and looked good, then has been looking injured for another month."
PT - "Did you say he had a knee strain?"
Me - "Yea?"
PT - "Ah ok (nonchalantly), should be good in a couple weeks. It would be much longer with an ACL or meniscus."
Me - "No no, he just had the knee strain."
PT - "Yea, shouldn't take long."

Based on the several MRIs, they can be pretty in depth. It's funny how you are saying the exact same thing! FWIW, I have back edema, and I have been out of commission for three years. I think Dwight is done

I might have also had many stress fractures, spasms, and disk problems in the meantime :grin: However, from a players' perspective, I can easily see how Dwight could have taken this approach. I personally played on my back edema for 3 months, for what it's worth. And I slowly got worse and worse: very gradually. I would just take necessary steps to reduce the pain before practice.

1). He gets hurt: heals up.
2). First game back, gets 26/13. Article actually written about him being fully back, including the FTs (lol). Life is good.
3). Continues good stretch.
4). Slowly, his play depreciates.
5). It keeps struggling more and more. However, one can still see the athleticism (not mobility), and I am sure Dwight saw that, and knows that since he is a cornerstone of the team, feels the need to play through injury for the team.
6). Article is written about his struggles, thinking it is the "knee strain".
7). Hurts ankle, probably overcompensation?
8). cyberx drops the microfracture bomb
9). Edema is an irritation, where the lack of cartilage could be the cause. This explains the fear of microfracture surgery. And after the Tmac Yao era, I am sure many Rockets organization members are still there from that era, and thus are seeing similarities between the two, like the fans.
10). Dwight gets second opinion. Considering he has been hurting for two months, could he not just want to be sure that they are separate injuries (as in one is the actual strain, other is a different irritation from a strain).
11). (Probably) rests through ASG. McHale has a "when" attitude of returning to the court. He is not necessarily worried. However, a minutes restriction is brought up. Is it not plausible they just don't want to take chances? Remember, last year Dwight missed several games before the playoffs.
12). Profit.
13). Finals MVP.


Questionable aspects:
1) Getting the 2nd opinion - still fishy.
2) A bunch of the PRP treatments.
3) "Bone on bone" quote - maybe Dwight is clueless, maybe he is not?

On a side note, wonder if he ever thought about steroid or cortisone shot? I have gotten a couple of those bad boys. Not a doctor of course...

I can't think of others.

tl;dr I am still optimistic. Edema based off a knee strain is positive news.

 

I think we'll hold him out and bring him back with 15 games or so left in the regular season to mesh with the team. We should have him for the playoffs. Would be nice to have a better C than Dorsey.

Then he can deal with the knee in the offseason. We really do not know if it's anything that requires surgery. All speculation right now. Might be a case of just having to do lots of rehab. They may have underestimated that last time around.

 

You know, while I am a extremely strong Dwight advocate, there can always be worse on this board. :grin:

 

Oh right. Forgot about that. I would do it but either way, no point talking about it now

 

lol

True. I liked him but he didn't want to be here.

 

Knees don't swell for no reason. This is a tear of some kind more than likely.

 

ZBo had an inch vertical to begin with though.

 

True that, but can you tell apart Z-Bo pre and post surgery? Not much difference when you account for some decline due to aging. Bottom line, microfracture surgery is not a career ending procedure, with the exception of Mashburn. He never came back after his. Still, Dwight might not even that drastic. (Knocking on wood).