I am sure everyone saw Juwan Howard rooting for the team on the bench during the NO game. A couple of observations: 1. He was not on crutches. 2. He stood up during the timeouts. I had heard JVG said that Juwan would not be back for the regular season and that his status for the playoffs is uncertain. I just have a feeling after watching him on the bench that Juwans knee is not that bad, I remember when I had a bad knee, I didn't want to get out of my Barco Lounger. Don't know why JVG plays these mind games but I am betting Juwan will be back last week of the season, plays the last 1 or 2 games during the regular season and is ready for the playoffs. Man we need him back for the playoffs.
It's one thing to be able to walk and stand up and down over and over. It's another dealing with how the knee holds up with running, cutting and jumping on the court with all that physical contact. I see it as a 'better be safe than sorry' situation because, if not healed properly, a mild knee injury like he has can easily turn into a lingering problem for a long time. I'll tell you from experience, you don't mess around with the knees or you will experience chronic pain for the rest of your life.
not to beat a dead horse here, but I'm taking some basketball coaching classes. This is one of the key things we talked about was the return from an injury. The knee is so key because of that explosivness to get up for rebounds, jumping for a jumper, or just the movement and phyiscal contact of the game. Not to minimze anyone else's expierience here, but the knee is so key in basketball. I'm a full believer in just trusting our staff and letting JHo return when he is full strength, and not just when it feels a little bit better.
