Well...the road through the West just got tougher. This sucks as Weatherspoon and Padgett will be the guys down the stretch. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3122158 LOS ANGELES Juwan Howard, desperately missed in the Rockets frontcourt, will not be back this season, team sources confirmed today. Howard suffered a viral infection in his heart that will bar him from physical exertion for four to six months, according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity. Howard, who had been out with a sprained right knee, had hoped to come back from that injury for the playoffs, but doctors told him Monday and again today that though his condition has been remedied he will not be cleared to play this season. Howard was unavailable for comment. His agent, David Falk, did not return phone calls this week. Rockets officials would not comment, citing privacy laws. Howard had been battling the flu since March 11 and left the Rockets game March 22 against the Heat because of flu symptoms. Early March 25, he developed symptoms of viral myocarditis, including heart palpitations, mild chest pains and fever, and was taken to the hospital. He was released with a heart monitor, but he now has no symptoms and no longer needs the monitor. He is not taking any medication. Howard is not expected to be limited in any way next season. Because he must limit his activity, Howard will have to scale back much of his planned rehabilitation from the second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Howard was expected to miss at least four weeks after the injury suffered March 14 and planned to be back for the start of the postseason later this month. Howard, 32, averaged 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds. The Rockets were 15-2 when he got eight rebounds or more, winning five consecutive games to go to 38-25. The Rockets are 6-6 since Howard's injury, including losing their past three games heading into tonight's game against the Lakers at Staples Center. Speaking March 31 in Portland Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said the Rockets could make up for the loss of Howard, but that Howard had become one of the keys to the Rockets' success. "I feel badly for Juwan because he's put so much into the season, accepted what he needed to do for this team, played great for the last two months," Van Gundy said. "I don't feel sorry for us because we have more than enough capable players. We can rebound despite him being a big factor in why we turned around our rebounding. "There's a lot uncertainty there (about when Howard would return)." Acquired in the Rockets trade for Tracy McGrady, Howard began the season coming off the Rockets bench and even missed a pair of games when Maurice Taylor and Scott Padgett manned the power forward position. But since he was inserted to the starting lineup, Howard's ability to make a spot-up jumper punished teams for double-teaming Yao Ming in the low-post or trapping Tracy McGrady on the perimeter. His rebounding was a key to the Rockets' eight-game winning streak before the All-Star break and to the first five games of a six-game winning streak in March. Clarence Weatherspoon has started 11 of the 12 games since Howard's injury, averaging 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in that stretch. Scott Padgett has four points and 4.4 rebounds off the bench in the past 12 games. Ryan Bowen, who has increasingly played as a power forward and started Sunday against the Suns, averaged 2.8 points and one rebound, with playing time ranging from one to 23 minutes. An 11-year veteran, Howard has never missed as many games as he will this season. In the past five seasons combined he missed eight games while playing for the Wizards, Mavericks, Nuggets and Magic. "I'm a guy, who has been very fortunate," Howard said when he was put on the injured list with the knee injury March 16. "I haven't been injured. And so I don't know how this thing is going to play out. But I'm going to do my part. "We don't need any of our guys (ellipses) to be injured. And for myself personally, for a guy, who has been pretty much healthy throughout my career, I've been pretty much fortunate and blessed. But to have something like this (the knee injury) is frustrating. It's going to be difficult for me to deal with but I'm going to get through it. I have my family, my teammates and the coaching staff and the fans who are going to support me. And I'm going to work hard. I'm going to work very hard to get back out on the court because I want to be out there. And I want to get ready for this playoff run. Because that's something we've worked very hard for."
Hmm, this article substantiated the claims by the recent Sina article about Howard's heart problem. Looks like we need to take the Sina article's in the future with some new light. BTW Howard should be traded this offseason If it could be done or made the back up PF. We have got to try and get the younger rebounding PF this summer and not lose sight of that. Howard will be missed this season but I still don't think he is that integral -not a difference maker between us being a championship contender or not.
Why didn't we go and get Glen Robinson. Watching the Spurs tonight is making me sick. I don't care if Big Dog is a SF because he's 6'10" or 6'11" tall and can give us more than Padgett and Weatherspoon. This is tough news. I really don't see us making it out of the first round where we'll face San Antonio. Yeah, we're gonna slip to 7th.
Unfortunately, Yao is no Hakeem. Back in '95, we had Chucky Brown and Pete Chilcutt splitting time at PF. Wish we would've signed James Thomas in time for him to make our playoff roster. Sh*t at this point, I'd take Jason Klotz over what we have now.
gonna have-ta sorta disagree with you on that one, bob...... Howard helps us out tremendously, IMO. he opens up the offense a great deal since he can score both down low and outside. on top of that, he's a consistent rebounder and a pretty solid defender. more importantly, he makes life easier for Yao on both ends of the court. when compared to what we have replacing him, a say he's a huge difference maker in regards to our caliber as a championship team. not saying he cant be replaced after this year, but his loss is a pretty big blow for our playoff chances. i just cant imagine us making a strong showing in the playoffs with weatherspoon and pagett as our PF's; although i still think we could knock off the sonics.
Back in 95 Robert Horry was our PF in the playoffs and he was unbelievable. It's uncommon for a player to peak at 23. We have no one this roster who can play the way Horry did then. And we have no Sam Cassell either. That team was not just Hakeem and Clyde.
Oh well, at least we can watch a good playoff series, maybe 2. Viral infection of the heart? Good god, what are the odds of him getting that?
With the PFs we are stiuck with now, what Van Gundy should of done immediately after Howard went down was to have VIn Baker train like hell was on fire, like Rocky did in Rocky 4 where he was running up and down freakin mountains in Siberia and carrying logs on his back for the fight against the Russian dude. Hell Vin baker should have been shooting every chance he got at toyota center and running up and down the stairs when there was no game on at TC to get in decent NBA PF shape. If he would have done that Baker would be a decent choice to help aleviate our PF deficiencies now but intead all he is good for is an overpaid bench warming cheerleader. Baker would have been the best substitute for Howard given his size and former Allstar credential as juxtaposed to our other Pfs.
Now we know why flu can kill. Anyway, let's just hope that Juwon completely recovers from this and returns healthy next year. Otherwise we're screwed with his big contract. We're toasted for this year. I'm predicting another first round exit.
So the Sina stuff is not BS after all. They reported it almost a week earlier than the Chron did. When they report news that doesn't involve Yao, it is usually pretty fast and accurate.
Geez, that sucks BIG time. Well, everyone is going to have to step it up. We still might not make it out of the first round. JH, get better soon....
You guys REALLY underestimate how integral Howard's presence/skills are for this team. Our record since he has been injured says it all: 6-6. So we are a .500 team without him. I think we are playing at that level right now if you have watched the last few games. There goes our season and our hopes for a good showing in teh playoffs Every team that plays us now knows they will be playing us 5-on-4, which only gives them that much more flexibility to double and triple our star players. Now, we REALLY better wish for a team in the playoffs that is just as hammered with injuries as we are and are struggling a bit. Only the Sonics fit that bill, and even then we are still a clear underdog. Boy, what a tough, tough end of a season that looked soooooo promising just a few weeks ago. Not only is Howard not going to be back, but T-MAc and Yao are nowhere near healthy or physically ready for the playoffs. It will be tough...
it's all over next season we need to clean out the bench and keep only contributors and have a solid lineup at the 4 we're desperate at the 4
