Morning News

by Dave on Oct 4, 2007 12:33 AM PDT in News

To start off the morning Jason Quick has the latest skinny on Brandon Roy's feet and ankles. The verdict: try to get a refund for those pre-season tickets. Didn't they promise you Roy would play?

For those who are asking, by the way, the curse will be officially dispersed one week from Saturday, burn pile and all. We'll announce what's going on and provide pictures and such. Just cross your fingers that Lamarcus Aldridge doesn't trip and get a concussion before then, falling right on Channing Frye's knee, blowing out the knee and causing Frye to involuntarily spasm, leading to the ball he was holding flying from his hands and hitting the back of Sergio's head, causing his left eyeball to fall out of its socket which grosses Jarrett Jack out so much he runs away and never comes back.

That would be bad.

In brighter news Brent Hunsberger gives us this article on the simultaneous increase, yet availability, of tickets.

And by the way a little bird told me that Blazersedge Night at the Garden will probably also be Greg Oden Bobblehead night. Bonus to all who are going. We will have an official announcement about how many kids we helped tomorrow morning.

Brian Hendrickson gives us some discussion of the Brandon Roy surgery decision tree in his blogs. Also as Brian and several other sources are reporting James Jones is not practicing either due to a sore left knee.

I don't know folks...I've heard many a coach in the middle of a miserable season say, "It started when we didn't have everybody in training camp. We never quite got it together." I know it's just pre-season, but still this could be going better.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

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Comments

I'm just waiting for the announcement

that Joel has spontaneously combusted, a la the ill-fated drummer from Spinal Tap.

Either that, or JR Rider will announce his triumphant return to the Blazers. On second thought, I'll take the combustion.

by DonkeyShins on Oct 4, 2007 1:41 AM PDT reply actions

it seems like

i read some time ago that j.r. was going on sabbatical, in a structured environment, after the exchange of some unprescribed medications in oakland, california. but i could be wrong.

ignacio

by ignacio on Oct 4, 2007 3:37 AM PDT reply actions

don't panic

This thing with Roy and Jones is relatively minor. It'd be better if they were all going full speed but these are typical training camp issues. Things could be going a heck of a lot worse. I mean, it's just practice. What are we talking about? Practice? Pshh. It's just practice. It'd be different if it were a game, but this is practice. Practice man.

by jon @ Blazer's Edge on Oct 4, 2007 6:37 AM PDT reply actions

haha

Nice refrence to the iverson practice speech on youtube!

"Besides, I met a girl who loves basketball, blazers, and spurs. I'm sorry, you really can't dampen my mood right now :)" -ratbastird(after oden's surgery)

by nateinaloha on Oct 4, 2007 10:11 AM PDT up reply actions

Not Good Developments

Yes, it sounds like the James Jones issue is a minor one, although anytime 'basketball player' and 'problem with knee' are in the same sentence, there is some cause for concern.

But the Brandon Roy issue is not minor in my view. Missing preseason is not a regular season killer. But the blazers are a very young team with several new players, so a missed preseason by the team's floor-leader will set them back...or at least not allow them to advance as far as they could before the season starts.

In one year, Brandon's problem has manifested 3 times: last year's injury forcing him to miss 21 games; pain this summer severe enough that he came to portland from seattle for treatment; and now the latest setback that may cause him to miss preseason.

Does anybody really believe that he will play the season without a recurrence? Or for that matter, play any season without having game-missing pain?

I tried to google 'talus surgery' etc. to find out some more about it. Actually, I wasn't even sure where exactly the talus bone was so I learned something. Generally, correcting the talus bone seems to be somewhat minor surgery (as if any surgery is) with a high success rate. But that 'success rate' is for regular people who don't make a living playing basketball.

But I just haven't gathered enough information on Roy's specific problem, nor would I know what it meant if I had.

However, last year, Roy and the Blazers were certainly talking like he was going to have the corrective surgery in the off-season and that it wasn't a 'big deal'. Certainly there are risks with any surgery, but if Roy's career is going to be one where he misses preseasons, is limited to less then 30 minutes a game, and less then 60 games a year, then the risks of surgery need to be weighed against an abbreviated career.

And if the surgery is a situation of 'sooner or later' then a strong case can be made that sooner is better, and now is as good a 'sooner' as any.

But as I said, I'm not Dr. Moldorf...more like dr. dementia at times.

by moldorf on Oct 4, 2007 8:20 AM PDT reply actions

I've heard a couple of coaches...

say something to the effect of: When the adversity started hitting us, we pulled together and became a team.

by ken @ Blazer's Edge on Oct 4, 2007 9:28 AM PDT reply actions

The Curse

Hey Dave,

Are you going to film it when you burn everything? I want to know if some sort of Harry Potteresque ghost will scream and rise from the flames on it's way to purgatory.

"WHAT PART OF "SQUEAL" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"

by tominhawaii on Oct 4, 2007 11:32 AM PDT reply actions

feet

have so many bones.....one reason why beating the soles of the feet is supposedly one of the worst tortures.....also why foot massage can be so relatively intense.

"shaving the bone" seems extremely dangerous to me, with uncertain consequences for the rest of brandon roy's life.

he might, post-surgery, be able to walk around pain-free, but the very nature of the sport of basketball means bouncing and landing on hard wood. and once the surgery has been done it cannot be undone.

ignacio

by ignacio on Oct 4, 2007 5:36 PM PDT reply actions

Let him tough it out

If Roy-Bot can function with the foot being ouchie and it doesn't make him want to switch off, then let him play through it. Messing with the foot is soooo iffy un-spiffy, and the reports make it sound like it isn't a simple procedure. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, toenails, wires, gears, lots of stuff in the way and will have to be cut through with a hacksaw.

They can be as careful as they want with our prized leader, but I vote NO for surgery. Unless the pain is unbearable and the docs are convinced that surgery will fix it. Sounds like a big negatory thus far on those two requirements, so NO surgery please!

We need to just hurry up and win the champonship so we can stop worrying about injuries and stuff. I'm getting impatient!!!

Mortimer

by Mortimer on Oct 5, 2007 1:08 AM PDT reply actions

Heels

It's a little off-topic, maybe. But my older brother was in a head-on collision about 16 months ago. Extremely nasty thing: he was in a coma for 3 weeks and suffered many serious injuries. The worst of those was a traumatic brain injury (TBI)--similar to what so many Iraq War vets are returning with. But his second-worst injury, as we came to learn, was a shattered heel. This is despite the fact that he also had muliple broken bones in his arms and legs, a smashed nose, broken ribs, collapsed lung, bruised heart, lacerations, and on & on.

As the doctors explained, in order for someone to walk pain-free and without a limp, their heel must be able to bend every which-way, and there are many bones, ligaments, muscles, etc., involved. In other words, a serious heel injury is one of the worst things you can have. Who knew?

Of course, Roy doesn't have a serious heel injury. Apparently he just naturally has an elongated talus bone that acts up now and then. But if he goes ahead and has surgery to correct the condition, that could effectively GIVE him a serious heel injury. So I think the Blazers have been right to proceed so cautiously.

by hurryup09 on Oct 5, 2007 2:43 PM PDT reply actions