TNT on Amare

[George O'Brien]

Just listened to KTAR talking with Coach D...he stated that AMare will start jogging the next 10 days with rest every 3 days...it will progress to running, then 5 on zero, then 3 on 3, 2 on 2, one on one with the team...and eventually 5 on 5...he stated that he should be ready around the first two weeks in March if he is up to it physically and mentally...the doctors are very confident.

Everyone says the key will be to make sure he does not try to push too hard and try to do things before he's ready. My guess is that he has learned about that problem after his foot injury relapse a couple of years ago.

 

[playstation]

so the question i have is: what exactly does this mean?

i've read a couple websites (http://orthopedics.about.com/od/hipknee/a/microfracture_2.htm), and have come to my own conclusions.

It seems as if this MRI was a big deal because this shows the fibrocartiledge has fully come into place. In other words, for better or worse, he is 'healed.' Now, its about getting back into the swing of things. Of course, he could still hurt himself getting back into the swing of things due to improper technique, or the doctors could be wrong in what they read, but it seems that doing normal activities at this point should not cause problems.

Also, i listened to the D'antoni radio report. He said (almost exactly) that amare will be jogging for the next 10 days, then they'll amp up the workload every 3-4 days assuming everything is still kosher. start with sprints in a 5-on-0 situation (for about a week), 1-on-1, 2-on-2, and finally full practices after the all-star break. then its up to him on when he's good to go.

here's my informal timetable based on that info:

jogging: 3rd-12th
sprint (5-on-0): 13th-19th
1-on-1: 20th-22nd
2-on-2: 23rd-26th
full practice: 27th-???

this tells me that if everything goes PERFECT, he'd still need at least a week in full practice, but he won't come back on the second game of a roadtrip. So either the Spurs on the 9th or Minnesota on the 11th is probably what I would expect if everything goes well.

 

[HooverDam]

the Spurs on the 9th or Minnesota on the 11th is probably what I would expect if everything goes well.

Just for dramatic purposes, I'd love to see him come back against the Spurs. I'd love to see the Suns fully healthy take on the Spurs and just throttle them

 

[jibikao]

The result is still blur... I mean it is still up to Amare's decision after he starts doing more intense workout. We still don't know if Amare is coming back or not. I thought we'll get a definite answer today. lol

 

[playstation]

The result is still blur... I mean it is still up to Amare's decision after he starts doing more intense workout. We still don't know if Amare is coming back or not. I thought we'll get a definite answer today. lol

dude, do you not know amare at all? you won't get a definite answer from him even after he plays in his first game! they'll be like "so what was it like playing in your first game?", and his response will be "whoa whoa whoa, lets not get ahead of ourselves. i'm still taking it step by step".

fact is, if they read the MRI correctly, amare shouldn't feel any pain when he steps up workouts. however, freak things do happen and amare is not guaranteeing anything for that reason. the only issue is how long will it take for amare to get back up to speed. i stated what d'antoni said about that, but it could always take longer. knowing STAT, i don't think it'll take much longer unless there's a setback.

 

[Chaz]

The result is still blur... I mean it is still up to Amare's decision after he starts doing more intense workout. We still don't know if Amare is coming back or not. I thought we'll get a definite answer today. lol

The only answer we were going to get is if the injury is healing properly. It appears as though it is.


The only groundbreaking news we could have received yesterday would have been bad news. No change in the prognosis is the best we could have hoped for and that is basically what we got.


The MRI cleared him to do more intense workouts. It can't tell us when he is coming back.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Just for dramatic purposes, I'd love to see him come back against the Spurs. I'd love to see the Suns fully healthy take on the Spurs and just throttle them

I agree this would be great in terms of sheer drama, but I hope we as fans have a proper expectation level of what to expect initially. I would say we probaly lose that Spurs game because it will take about 8-10 games before he completly gets his legs under him and the team becomes acclimated to having him around. Thats why i am hoping we can put some big time distance between us and Clippers now so that the playoff implications are not as big and the pressure to win games doesnt take the precedent of having the kid get back into the flow. I expect we would go 5-5 over that ten game stretch and then get the ship righted before we go to the playoffs...

Im hoping (praying even) that everything goes great and he returns back as the player he was last year. I hope im not setting up myself for a fall, but i truly believe with a healthy Amare, this is the best suns team ever....(at least in the modern era...and i consider "modern" era to be 1981 and beyond)

 

[myrondizzo]

even if we brought him in off the bench he could at least help as a solid big off the bench. amare at 70% is still better than burke at 100%.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

even if we brought him in off the bench he could at least help as a solid big off the bench. amare at 70% is still better than burke at 100%.

I think he is better then Burke at1000%

 

[jibikao]

I think he is better then Burke at1000%

Make it 10,000%

 

[jibikao]

Hey guys, I still don't feel too good about this result.

Ok, right now, we DO NOT know if Amare can play in the end because even if he thinks he is ready, we don't know if he is mentally ready and we don't know how READY he is. He may feel pain after some intense workout and later, he decides that he is not going to play this season.

Well, the trade deadline is coming up and we are operating under the assumption that Amare is coming back. What if Amare doesn't? Do we really need any more trades to compete without Amare this year or we are fine with the players we have now? What about Jim Jackson? He is not seeing ANY playing time at all.

 

[Chaplin]

Hey guys, I still don't feel too good about this result.

Ok, right now, we DO NOT know if Amare can play in the end because even if he thinks he is ready, we don't know if he is mentally ready and we don't know how READY he is. He may feel pain after some intense workout and later, he decides that he is not going to play this season.

Well, the trade deadline is coming up and we are operating under the assumption that Amare is coming back. What if Amare doesn't? Do we really need any more trades to compete without Amare this year or we are fine the players we have now? What about Jim Jackson? He is not seeing ANY playing time at all.

You need to calm down. What is the best news you expected from an MRI? The best news we could have gotten is exactly what we got. You're definitely not going to have someone come out and say, "He's playing in March!"

The fact of the matter is that this MRI was a checkup to make sure what they prognosticated way back in October was on track. And it is. That's it. There's nothing else to be gleaned from the MRI except that what they said in October about Amare possibly returning after the All-Star break is still true.

This is just an update. That's all it is. You should never have expected definitive answers about whether he's going to play or not.

 

[fordronken]

Hey guys, I still don't feel too good about this result.

Ok, right now, we DO NOT know if Amare can play in the end because even if he thinks he is ready, we don't know if he is mentally ready and we don't know how READY he is. He may feel pain after some intense workout and later, he decides that he is not going to play this season.

Well, the trade deadline is coming up and we are operating under the assumption that Amare is coming back. What if Amare doesn't? Do we really need any more trades to compete without Amare this year or we are fine with the players we have now? What about Jim Jackson? He is not seeing ANY playing time at all.

We're not winning a championship without Amare this year. So, if he doesn't come back, there's no point in trading assets.

 

[jibikao]

Then Amare needs to get well soon! That's all I can hope for.

 

[Yuma]

You need to calm down. What is the best news you expected from an MRI? The best news we could have gotten is exactly what we got. You're definitely not going to have someone come out and say, "He's playing in March!"

The fact of the matter is that this MRI was a checkup to make sure what they prognosticated way back in October was on track. And it is. That's it. There's nothing else to be gleaned from the MRI except that what they said in October about Amare possibly returning after the All-Star break is still true.

This is just an update. That's all it is. You should never have expected definitive answers about whether he's going to play or not.

It also showed that what they are doing so far hasn't screwed up his knee. I think it was supposed to show if healing was progressing, or not. If it wasn't, THAT would have been devastating news. Of course there's a mental aspect to all this for Amare, too. It's good to know if you're knee really is getting better, or not.

 

[devilalum]

This is why the Suns have to pull out all the stops NOW.

 

[boisesuns]

 

[playstation]

so the question i have is: what exactly does this mean?

i've read a couple websites (http://orthopedics.about.com/od/hipknee/a/microfracture_2.htm), and have come to my own conclusions.

It seems as if this MRI was a big deal because this shows the fibrocartiledge has fully come into place. In other words, for better or worse, he is 'healed.' Now, its about getting back into the swing of things. Of course, he could still hurt himself getting back into the swing of things due to improper technique, or the doctors could be wrong in what they read, but it seems that doing normal activities at this point should not cause problems.

Also, i listened to the D'antoni radio report. He said (almost exactly) that amare will be jogging for the next 10 days, then they'll amp up the workload every 3-4 days assuming everything is still kosher. start with sprints in a 5-on-0 situation (for about a week), 1-on-1, 2-on-2, and finally full practices after the all-star break. then its up to him on when he's good to go.

here's my informal timetable based on that info:

jogging: 3rd-12th
sprint (5-on-0): 13th-19th
1-on-1: 20th-22nd
2-on-2: 23rd-26th
full practice: 27th-???

this tells me that if everything goes PERFECT, he'd still need at least a week in full practice, but he won't come back on the second game of a roadtrip. So either the Spurs on the 9th or Minnesota on the 11th is probably what I would expect if everything goes well.

so, against my informal timetable, amare is 1 day ahead (since there is no practice today or tomorrow). without any problems, its still looking good.

 

[George O'Brien]

I hope the players will use this time to get used to Amare being around (Nash and Marion already know). The only real problem I can see with Amare coming back will be guys stopping to watch rather than continuing to play their game.