Amare Back tommorow?

[Kori Ellis]

He's been playing 5-on-5 for three straight days with no complaints of pain. I had scope surgery on my knee once and it took me months after I was cleared for normal activity to feel comfortable. It was in my head.

And nothing is a better indicator to judge whether you're ready or not than actually doing it. What's the worst that could happen? He'd ruin his career? Duncan does that every day with his ankle, but nobody's complaining.

Umm.. what's wrong with Duncan's ankle?

And having your knee scoped is nothing compared to having holes drilled into it for microfracture surgery. Only one NBA player (Zach Randolph) has ever come back from this surgery in less than a years time and had no problems. There's nothing wrong with being careful and bringing him along slowly. His game relies solely on his athleticism and he's awesome .. so it would be a shame to see him get ruined (ala Penny Hardaway, Allan Houston).

[Melmart1]

He's been playing 5-on-5 for three straight days with no complaints of pain. I had scope surgery on my knee once and it took me months after I was cleared for normal activity to feel comfortable. It was in my head.

And nothing is a better indicator to judge whether you're ready or not than actually doing it. What's the worst that could happen? He'd ruin his career? Duncan does that every day with his ankle, but nobody's complaining.

First, I said IF he isn't ready, not that he absolutely was not. If indeed he is ready, then go for it. No need to get defensive.

Second, the worst that can happen is exactly what you said- he could ruin his career.

Third, Duncan has no ankle issues. It's his foot. Comparing his PF problem to major surgery for Amare is apples to oranges. One has nothing to do with the other. They are completely different injuries on completely different levels.

[baseline bum]

Man, I'd let him sit out the season. I would always error on the side of caution with someone as young and talented as Amare. Imagine if Pop had let Tim play in 2000...

[Catharsis]

the talk with colangelo is what worries me. i thought amare was being smart by being tentative. no harm can come to him if he sits out this season and takes it slow. then he talks to colangelo and he all of a sudden feels fine and can play this week? sounds wack, if i were the suns i would make him sit - you don't want to potentially ruin his career. then again, i'm not the suns...

First, everyone in Phoenix knows Colangelo has mafia ties--so a "talking to" should always be of concern.

But from what Colangelo said, it was more of a pep talk. You can't rush a mental injury, you can only improve your feeling by playing, But it is a risk anyway you look at it.

[Culburn Castleberry]

I hope he fooks it up, Cath.

[virtual_9]

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Spurs fans here - you generally seem a pretty classy bunch - much more so than Mavs fans or Lakers fans. All except for this guy:

>We should use Rasho just to kick Amare in the knee if we face the Suns in the playoffs.

I do admit we have some morons of this stripe around where I come from, though.

Cubby - predictible response. Now, go away and leave these people alone.

Bill - saw your posting on ASFN - good call! I would have said sometime next week.

[Kori Ellis]

All except for this guy:

>We should use Rasho just to kick Amare in the knee if we face the Suns in the playoffs.

Don't worry about him. He's just an idiot.

Welcome to the forum.

[Culburn Castleberry]

[Cubby - predictible response. Now, go away and leave these people alone.]

I'm just sittin', scratchin', ain't doin' much of anything.

[timvp]

If Amare comes back and is 100% by the playoffs, the postseason just got a lot more interesting.

[Catharsis]

Umm.. what's wrong with Duncan's ankle?

And having your knee scoped is nothing compared to having holes drilled into it for microfracture surgery. Only one NBA player (Zach Randolph) has ever come back from this surgery in less than a years time and had no problems. There's nothing wrong with being careful and bringing him along slowly. His game relies solely on his athleticism and he's awesome .. so it would be a shame to see him get ruined (ala Penny Hardaway, Allan Houston).

I understand what you mean, but Stoudemire's procedure was unlike all the other examples. The degree of the procedure was much more tame and the doctor who performed it said his age played significantly into the projected recovery time. He even said the knee was structuraly sound despite the area of damage. Anything related to microfracture surgery should be taken seriously, and that's why he's planning on a comeback in late March instead of mid February when they first projected a return. All the MRIs have been negative--he needs to make the mental leap, which is what he's been doing the last week.

Hardaway and Houston were already at the end of their careers when they had the procedure...well, Houston was. Hardaway was 30 when he went through it. There's a difference between 22 and 30 when it comes to strength and conditioning.

[mavsfan1000]

This could be the dumbest move in the history of the nba if Amare gets injured again. How can you let a franchise player risk is career like that after some serious surgery. He should be playing next year.

[Catharsis]

I hope he fooks it up, Cath.

Good to know you're still breathing, Dale. Tomorrow could be one of those black calendar days for you.

[Catharsis]

This could be the dumbest move in the history of the nba if Amare gets injured again. How can you let a franchise player risk is career like that after some serious surgery. He should be playing next year.

If he's physically healthy, what's the difference between March and November?

[T Park]

I believe I told people when he came out and said it was 50=50 hed play this year, that it was all BS.

Amare coming back, IMO, puts them as enemy numero uno, and if the Spurs play them in the Western Finals, itll go 7.

[Culburn Castleberry]

[Good to know you're still breathing, Dale. Tomorrow could be one of those black calendar days for you.]

At O & 37, I ain't ever had a black calendar day.

I watched, I say I watched CWEBB turn his back on Robert Horry and its been shaved snootchie every day since.

[baseline bum]

I'm a big Amare fan and I hope he is 100%. I don't want to see him turn into McDyess (another one of my favorite players I've ever seen).

[Kori Ellis]

I understand what you mean, but Stoudemire's procedure was unlike all the other examples. The degree of the procedure was much more tame and the doctor who performed it said his age played significantly into the projected recovery time. He even said the knee was structuraly sound despite the area of damage. Anything related to microfracture surgery should be taken seriously, and that's why he's planning on a comeback in late March instead of mid February when they first projected a return. All the MRIs have been negative--he needs to make the mental leap, which is what he's been doing the last week.

Hardaway and Houston were already at the end of their careers when they had the procedure...well, Houston was. Hardaway was 30 when he went through it. There's a difference between 22 and 30 when it comes to strength and conditioning.

Very true about the age thing.

I wish him the very best.

When you look at the guys who had it, it's pretty scary though:

Houston, Hardaway, Chris Webber, Jamal Mashburn, Terrell Brandon, Pat Garrity.

I guess the successful ones have been Randolph, Jason Kidd, Eduardo Najera (who admits he got rushed back), Matt Harpring, Kerry Kittles.

[Despot]

The degree of the procedure was much more tame and the doctor who performed it said his age played significantly into the projected recovery time. He even said the knee was structuraly sound despite the area of damage.

Again I wish him all the best of luck, hopefully he will come back strong and play for the Spurs some day, but the at first the doctor who performed the surgery actually said the knee was extremely damaged, much worse than they had expected, but that he was able to repair it with no problems. It was not until after that statement, and probably after Amare and the Suns threatened a lawsuit, that he made a reverse and said everything went perfectly and that it was not that bad in the first place. Although, I'm sure the doctor was just trying to pump up his value in the medical community.

[Spurologist]

I ain't sayin' nothin'.

Are you ever gonna say somethin.

I think it's a bit premature for the suns to bringing Amare into full contact basketball. The report on his condition seems to change everytime his this story comes up. I'm not Amare's body or doctor, but I'd wait for 100-0 before letting him play.

[T Park]

I guess the successful ones have been Randolph, Jason Kidd, Eduardo Najera (who admits he got rushed back), Matt Harpring, Kerry Kittles

Kittles had a couple years, but last year he hardly played, and is now out of the league.

[Kori Ellis]

Kittles had a couple years, but last year he hardly played, and is now out of the league.

He also sat out one full year after the surgery I believe.

[Spurologist]

Kittles had a couple years, but last year he hardly played, and is now out of the league.

sad for an 8th pick with promise. Does anyone know if he's playing overseas or elsewhere?

[Catharsis]

Again I wish him all the best of luck, hopefully he will come back strong and play for the Spurs some day, but the at first the doctor who performed the surgery actually said the knee was extremely damaged, much worse than they had expected, but that he was able to repair it with no problems. It was not until after that statement, and probably after Amare and the Suns threatened a lawsuit, that he made a reverse and said everything went perfectly and that it was not that bad in the first place. Although, I'm sure the doctor was just trying to pump up his value in the medical community.

Sorry, that quib is 100% BS. But you can believe that as well as flouride being used as a mind controling device by the government and other conspiracies.

What he really said:

And given Stoudemire’s youth, the location of the centimeter-wide lesion and that the rest of the knee was pristine, Carter has every confidence that the 22-year-old will be able to resume his career unobstructed and in time for the end of the season. "It’s a best-case scenario when you go in there and there’s nothing else wrong with the knee,’’ said Carter, who said the lesion on the inside of Stoudemire’s knee measured 8 millimeters by 1 centimeter. Carter compared the lesion to "a pothole," which would get bigger, cause more pain and become harder to treat as time passed.

"When you treat athletes, you are aggressively conservative,’’ he said. "Rather than waiting and be retroactive, we wanted to be proactive to keep anything from coming up later down the line.’’

So while the Suns will have to go without Stoudemire until the Feb. 17-21 All-Star break, Carter doesn’t foresee any of the problems that plagued players like Penny Hardaway after microfracture procedures on knees that were already surgically repaired and beginning to break down.


Carter used a surgical awl to poke five shallow holes around the lesion, 3 millimeters apart, to facilitate the bleeding that will harden and form the "fibrocartilage’’ that will fill in the tiny hole.

"Not all defects are the same; it’s like comparing apples and oranges,’’ he said. "You try to compare it to (surgeries of athletes) and some of those results have been abysmal. But you’re talking about patients that have arthritic knees (like Hardaway), or kissing lesions (bare bone-onbone involving femur and tibia) and other things. Those are degenerative lesions compared to this, which is an isolated lesion where the rest of the knee is normal.’’

Carter said Stoudemire complained of knee pain during the summer, but when asked if it really bothered him, he would say ""No, it’s OK.’’ Even as recently as Oct. 3, almost two weeks after an MRI exam revealed the lesion — Stoudemire said he felt great when the Suns took their physicals before heading to Tucson for training camp.

"But when he started bumping up his activities (at camp), that’s when we started to see more symptoms and swelling that we get concerned about,’’ Carter said. "We never ignore pain, but when you see swelling it changes the game.’’

[Obstructed_View]

...having your knee scoped is nothing compared to having holes drilled into it for microfracture surgery. Only one NBA player (Zach Randolph) has ever come back from this surgery in less than a years time and had no problems. There's nothing wrong with being careful and bringing him along slowly. His game relies solely on his athleticism and he's awesome .. so it would be a shame to see him get ruined (ala Penny Hardaway, Allan Houston).

I couldn't agree more. Amare is a big dude and is incredibly strong. I hope he comes back and is the old Amare in a week, but it would be bad for all fans of basketball if he came back too quickly and got hurt.

[Please_dont_ban_me]

The only thing Amare has is his dunks in the lane.

If he can't elevate to finish, he's no better than a...Dampier.