If Rice is out for the year are the Rox entitled to an injury exception? If so it could be a good trade chip for a quality deal.
Injury jeopardizes Rice's season Forward hopes to avoid surgery By JANNY HU Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle As tough as the past two days have been for Rockets forward Glen Rice, the next few weeks will be even harder. An MRI taken on his left shoulder Monday revealed a torn superior labrum, and if Rice cannot sufficiently rehabilitate his shoulder in the coming weeks, the 35-year-old veteran could be facing season-ending surgery for the second straight year. "How do I feel? I don't feel good," Rice said Monday after learning the news. "It's tough. It's kind of hard to even talk about it. I can't compare this to anything." Rice was injured driving to the basket during Saturday's victory over Denver. He left the game in the third quarter after experiencing tightness in his non-shooting arm. The Rockets initially thought Rice had torn cartilage in his shoulder, but Rice improved so much over the weekend, regaining most of his strength and motion, they hoped the injury could be less severe. Monday's examination, however, confirmed the original diagnosis. Rice has already begun a rehabilitation program, which he will continue for the next seven to 10 days before the Rockets re-evaluate his status for the season. He could be back in as few as two weeks, and out as long as the remainder of the season, if surgical repair is necessary. That procedure would require 14 to 16 weeks of rehabilitation. If Rice only needs to clean out the shoulder and have pieces of the labrum trimmed, he would be out closer to four to six weeks. "He's improved probably 75 to 80 percent in two days, so there's a pretty good chance (of avoiding surgery)," said Rockets team physician Dr. Walter Lowe. "We'll want to get him strong, get him involved in practices, get all of that squared away, and then we would consider putting him back on the court. "I think it's going to take a week or 10 days to get to a point where we start to play some basketball, and after that, we'll make a decision -- if he can make it through the season, or if it's going to require something else, like surgery, to repair. "The worst-case scenario is that it requires repairs, (and that would likely be) the end of his season. We'll give him a chance before that. He has nothing to lose ( by rehabbing)." Lowe said Rice's injury is similar to the one suffered by Steve Francis last March against Golden State. Francis also tore his labrum cartilage and underwent arthroscopic surgery during the off-season to repair his shoulder. But unlike the 25-year-old Francis, Rice has endured 14 years of the physical NBA grind. "He's got to get the strength back and his range of motion back and be able to play basketball at this level," said Rockets trainer Keith Jones, "And that's why we've got to get a couple of practice in and see how he responds. "He's made a pretty good recovery, but you look at the MRI, the exam from Saturday and today, and there's obviously something there. He's not a hundred percent. We got to give him the benefit of the doubt, let him rehab, and see what he can do." This is the second major setback for Rice in his two seasons with the Rockets. Rice tore his right patella tendon on Dec. 6, 2001, underwent surgery about a month later, and missed the remainder of the year. He averaged 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 20 starts. This season, Rice leads the Rockets in 3-point field goals made (43) and attempted (123) . He has averaged 9.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 31 games, reaching double digits 16 times. "I really feel for the guy," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich. "He had a devastating injury last year. He worked hard. He likes being here, likes this team. Works so hard, and he's been doing a great job for us." In Rice's place, the Rockets activated center Jason Collier, who has had his own share of injury-plagued seasons, suffering ailments ranging from shin splints to a torn meniscus and a quadriceps tendon injury. Collier has been on the injured list since Nov. 22 with medial tibial periostitis but started three games early in the season. He did not play Monday and is averaging 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in six games this season. "It's a shame that to come off the injured list, somebody else has to go on," Collier said. "But I just want to make the best of the situation and make a contribution. It might be just for five games. This has been the hardest time (on the injured list) for me. It's been frustrating. I think I persevered pretty well."
How long will rice be out hopefully ALAP (as long as possible) Posey can finally flourish and nachbar get the time he deserves
Hate to sound too cold but if he's done for the year and if he were to decide to call it quits(hey,we can dream),would the last year of his contract come off the Rockets'cap?
SA Rocket, no, I believe Rice would still get paid. I really do feel for Glen. I really do. I'm a big fan of shooters, but Rice has lost his consistency. <b>withmustard</b> made a great point about the other older shooters that still had a shot towards the end of there careers, unfortunately Rice is just too injury plagued. Rice is too inconsistent to be a starter, and he takes to long to get into the flow of the game to be "instant offense" off the bench. So I'm afraid he's pretty much done for. Upside is of course Posey gets to start...and hopefully the Rockets will be better because of it. Also, Hawkins gets some of his minutes back, and if he plays like he did for that period tonight, he'll be huge...we needed that short dose of <i>smart</i> basketball from him, like Calvin said. As much as I'd like to see Boki play, I think ultimately Hawkins has earned those minutes. Only if Mo stays hurt will Boki really get a shot, since that moves TMo over to PF.
Screw it, the guy is getting paid 9 million a year and he has a sore shoulder. I don't feel one bit sorry for him. He was contributing very little to the Rockets, and it will open doors for younger more talented players. I did not have a problem pushing Dream out the door when his time has come, I am certainly not going to have a problem booting out Rice. Later Rice...you had a good career, now it is time for you to rest on the bench and collect a paycheck. DD
It's unfortunate from a personal standpoint that Rice got hurt, but the longer he is out, the more that benefits the Rockets. He has one good game out of every ten, and that isn't gonna cut it. Posey brings more intangibles. I agree with DaDakota.
Don't be so hatey. Rice is still the only pure shooter on the team (aside from Boki who is not playing). Maybe I am rare here I still believe that Rice could be useful in some certain situations maybe playoffs should we get there. You never want fewer shooters.
Rice has had his problems this season but if hadn't gotten injured he still could have provided some shooting off the bench. Posey will start but it's going to take some time for him to becoming a starter but I would prefer him as a starter to a fully fit Rice. I feel sorry for Rice he wanted the guys to win and pointed out their mistakes. Although I'm glad for Hawkins we still could benefit from another shooter because Mobley can go cold and that would make things more difficult for Francis and Posey.
Don't be mean. You want the players to be loyal to Rockets, don't you? I hope Dream would retire a rockets. Lakers does a better job on this.
Do you think Rice could be a good soldier and just <i>quietly</i> collect his check if that is what Rudy decides?
Hehe, that's what I did. I know very little about his injury or the circumstances, but I voted for season with my fingers crossed. ... That doesn't make me a bad person, does it?
Prediction: Rice will attempt to return to the game in two weeks. He will try to play for 2 or 3 games, but will not do well (possibly costing us some losses). He will then return to the IR, get surgery, and kiss off the rest of the year. -- droxford
The longer the better. He is getting minutes b/c of his contract. The team needs to look to the future and there is little doubt that after his contract, he is gone.
So, was Rice on the injured list when this thread started?? If so, someone could have told me...I would have said 2-4 weeks. Man ... this sucks big time!! Rice just had the best game as a Rocket and is acting like the team captain that he is. Now how well will the team respond to his words of wisdom if he's out for the year. sigh NIKEstrad, let's not rehash this whole argument. but you will allow me a response, right. I can agree with Raven Lunatic that the trade was, at worst, too early...everything else makes sense. Posey and TMo are not low post players. No use trying to convince me they are. Maurice getting injured was a given, imo, as soon as we started seeing him not use his right foot on jumpshots back in November. Guy was never ready. Posey is perfect for a Rice injury, and probably the better overall starter, but we could have landed him in the Summer via Free Agency as well, even if he got traded to another team or not. But the Western Conference is not about winning the SF position, it is about hanging with the big boys, Brand, Garnett, Duncan, Webber, Nowitski, Amare, Wallace. We need another big body. TMo?? You think?? This year?? and two towers is an idea that might not work, because it will place added pressure on Yao (as Cato cannot pull out his man at ALL). all in all: trade was too early if you insist like me that we *must* make the playoffs this year.
I don't know about that, I still like the trade.. It's all about the long run and it's certainly better for us as KT wasn't going to play the small forward, and Eddie Griffin is hopefully going to keep improving with the time he's gonna get with the injuries, Him and Yao in a few years could be terror for the league,, As for this year, I still think we can make the playoffs with a team like this,, so I believe everything will work out for the best, Cato and yao playing together MIGHT work, we won't know until we see it, and I really wish we see it soon, I also wish boki would get some minutes .. just like 7 a game or something,, it'd be better than nothing,, anyways,, things are looking up.. if I can say that now hehe,, they are..
There's a difference between a sore shoulder and torn cartilage. It's like when I was watching the Michigan State-Ohio State basketball game last week on ESPN and they said that one of OSU players that was out only had a sore back and basically ripped him for being soft when the guy had a freaking stress fracture in his back. Big difference. The same injury Rice has kept Francis out all summer. Those are SERIOUS injuries. Dream actually pushed himself out the door with unreasonable contract demands. Dream already got paid for his service, and then he wanted to potentially break up a young team to get another payday, and the Rockets didn't fall for it, but Toronto did. Ask Toronto if it was worth it. Rice is already under contract so you can't force him out. I agree though, it's time for Rice to go to the bench.
heypartner, just some final thoughts- I agree that it could be argued the trade was made too early (if the NBA was paying attention, it wouldn't have been allowed to be made that early). As far as waiting for Posey through free agency...if we were going to lose KT anyway (Griffin not being traded, Mo pretty untradeable, and no way we resign KT in that situation, nor does he want to resign) I think it's safer to nab the rights to Posey now. He's now our RFA, making contract negotiations a lot easier for us than if he was on Denver (or wherever else). However, to your point of making the playoffs this year, I'm VERY glad to have Posey in the mix. I have bigger qualms with riding a T-Mo/Nachbar/more 3-guard at the SF than I do with Griffin and T-Mo at PF. I consider T-Mo quality depth: he's not going to get minutes on a healthy team, but he can play the 3 or the 4, and does everything ok-nothing exceptional, nothing poor. He just plays a solid game, and is capable of eating 20-25 minutes if need be. I also think you're not giving Griffin enough credit-he's ready to handle 30-35 mins. a game now. His play has REALLY stepped up, since about that Chron article-starting to see less 3 pointers, more transition post-ups. Remember, by most accounts his flu was very bad and probably shouldn't have been playing yesterday. Of the premiere 4s you listed, only Brand and Stoudamire worry me, because their game is overpowering people. The others are skilled, and will get theirs because they're good.
