Doesnt history show with this surgery that your next year and a half is basically a write off? I think if your a young guys who relys SO MUCH on your athletic ability....you skip this season and look to your future. Thats not even a 50/50 call....thats just what you do.
Everything happens with A REASON!!! This is the price the Suns and Mike A**tonio whatever the coach name is, have to pay for playing Amare out of position. I believe amare injured his knee becos of the pounding he has to take from all the REAL Centers the whole last season. All the while Amare has said he dont like to play center position becos he is afraid to get injured, seems like he knows what to coming..... wish you all the BEST, the great next generation center, amare.
There's nothing to blame Amare for - since the Suns knew he needed surgery. No way they didn't talk to Amare's doctor. He did go in for "exploratory" surgery, so how would Amare, who's not a doctor, some how magically know what was inside his knee? He probably can't even spell microfracture. He's a good kid, and I'm glad he's going to get paid. That said, I'm sure glad we picked Yao! No more Monday morning quarterbacking on the pick.
I hope he wont take the same path of Ralph Sampson. So much promise, played well for a few years, not the same player after knee problem...
It's been said before: Amare depends too much on his athleticism. Sucks for him, and for the Suns. But good for the Rox. I never liked him that much anyways. He'll get his money, so he won't get any sympathy from me.
This really is horrible news for the Suns. A lot has already been said about Microfracture, but the results are usually not that great. Perhaps with Amare being so young he might be able to overcome it. We'll see. I dont wish injury on any team. I think it's bad karma. I dont want injuries on the Rockets. Let everyone be at full stregth and win and lose on their own merits. The good news for the Suns though, is even though they will be without Amare for half a season, at least they have guys to lean on to take over the scoring load like Joe Johnson and Q Richardson........oops!
"Microfracture has been successfully used to rehabilitate the knees of football folks like Bruce Smith, Dan Marino and Rod Woodson. Microfracture has also allowed Joe Montana to resume an active, normal life after limping away from the 49ers. In addition, weekend warriors have also had their active sports lives revived after microfracture." http://www.woohoo.org/whatis.htm Couldn't find basketball examples, and I'm not sure how analagous football is to the grind of a basketball court.
Team has insurance for such things. Quick there's SEVEN figures on the line; are YOU gonna 'fess up? Suns are big boys, and its all business. Besides all indications are that he didn't know how bad it was. If he did, good play on his part to keep it hush hush.
Yeah, I also don't think that a football field puts quite as much tear on your knees as the constant cutting, jumping, running, and pounding you take on a basketball court. Which is why I probably couldn't find success stories outside of football. I'm still not totally clear on the surgery? Was it done because Amare didn't have cartilage or has arthritis? Or was it because he had a microfracture in his knee? From what I've read it sounds like a microfracture is sometimes used as a cure for arthritic knees and sometimes it's an injury. Maybe our examples aren't that analagous. Can any doctors/surgeons clear this up?
Someone mentioned that Stephen Davis and Deshawn Foster have come back from this surgery. And as running backs, that's a bit closer to the kind of athleticism that an NBA player would need.
I hate ...well I think I do and I should... to see a guy get hurt. But I'm happy he'll be out for 4 months.
I feel similiar about the 'think and should part'. I find it kind of ironic that whenever Suns fans compared Yao and Amare, one of the reasons they would take Amare is b/c Yao was too big and he'd eventually have injuries, specifically knee injuries, because of it (knock on wood). I guess all that athleticism can take a pounding on your body, but Amare is too young for it to start happening to him. It's very unlikely he'll consistently be the athlete he was, and it's probably only going to get worse for him given his size and playing style. Maybe that's why he was practicing all those 3s.
I would agree with you about the Suns being able to win in the regular season IF they still had Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson. But, this year, they're going into the season COMPLETELY changing their personality and style from a perimeter oriented team with a low post stud, to a low post oriented team with limited perimeter talent. And that low post is VERY suspect with a solid Kurt Thomas, an aging and banged up Brian Grant, and Paul Shirley. Their perimeter game is going to be shut down since teams are going to be willing to let Thomas do what he wants. Nash is getting older, but should still have a few strong years left in him. Right now, I don't see Phoenix being any better then the Lakers, Golden State (who I think will be the surprise of the league and will challenge for the 8th seed), or the Clippers, another strong team that could be a sleeper for the 7th or 8th seed. The Suns are in SERIOUS trouble, though they still have a trade exception.
Hey RM, always good to see you posting. No doubt I think they are worse off than before. But I didn't have them as highly ranked as everyone else. I think they were a middle of the pack team before the injury, and are now a borderline playoff team, sort of like the rockets in the Francis era. Bad enough to be having to duke it out for the 7th or 8th seed but good enough not to get a high pick(provided there is no divine intervention). With Amare out I think they should and will go with a lineup similar to last year: KT Marion JJ or Diaw Bell Nash With Barbosa and scrubs off the bench. That lineup will keep them competitive against most teams. Will they win enough games to make the playoffs? Hmm I doubt it, mostly because I believe other injuries will creep in, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them hovering around 40 wins at the end of the year. But like I said, the biggest blow is that they have no shot for a title this year, and with the old players with hefty contracts they have around Stoudemire, that really puts a damper on their window of opportunity. I don't care what their optimistic prognosis is, Amare wont be Amare in 4 months after that surgery. He might never be the same again, but if he is, or close to it, it'll be at least a year, more likely a year and a half.
