When Brandon Roy hurt his left heel in practice Tuesday, it didn't just cost the reigning Rookie of the Year a chance to participate in the Trail Blazers' first practice, it might have cost him a chance to play in the preseason.
Coach Nate McMillan on Wednesday said he is leaning toward holding Roy out of the Blazers' eight preseason games in order to have his star player ready for the Oct. 30 season opener at San Antonio.
"Right now, my thought is he won't play in the preseason," McMillan said. "(The preseason schedule) is not important. What is important is that we have him for the season."
Roy, who missed 20 of the Blazers' first 25 games last season with the same heel injury, said McMillan informed him of his preseason plan Tuesday. But Roy said he thinks he can sweet talk his coach into squeezing him into at least one of the eight preseason contests.
"He sounded firm with me about it, but that was (Tuesday)," Roy said. "I think we will talk about it. I don't want to go into San Antonio and have it be my first game. I definitely want to get some run in and get a rhythm of being on the floor."
Roy said he felt a sharp pain in his heel as he was completing a fast break layup in the opening moments of the Blazers' first practice. He was immediately removed from practice and given a magnetic resonance imaging test. The test revealed no major problems, but indicated an irritation caused by the talus bone in his heel. Last season, Roy was diagnosed with an abnormally long talus bone, which at times causes pinched nerves in the foot.
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source : blog.oregonlive.com
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Heel Injury Might Sideline Blazers' Roy Until Regular Season
European Fans Love Dwyane Wade's No. 3 Jjersey
The MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals has the most popular jersey in Europe as his No. 3 is the top seller, according to the league. Wade, rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder, averaged 27.4 points, 7.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds last season in 51 regular-season games with the Heat.
The list of most popular jerseys is based on sales from European retail locations last season. The NBA said sales of league merchandise in Europe increased 40% from the 2005-06 season, with international sales accounting for 25% of the league's overall global merchandise business.
Wade is followed by Allen Iverson of the Denver Nuggets, Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
European fans are getting an up-close-and-personal look at the NBA this month as the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves are holding training camp in Europe. They will play each other and European teams in London; Rome and Treviso, Italy; Madrid and Malaga, Spain; and Istanbul.
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source : usatoday.com
Battie to Undergo Shoulder Surgery, Likely Out for Season
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 3 (AP) -- Orlando Magic forward Tony Battie will undergo rotator cuff surgery likely to end his season, the team said Wednesday.
He partially tore a ligament a few weeks ago in a pickup game. He had an arm on center Dwight Howard as Howard backed toward the bucket and felt the shoulder give.
Battie knew surgery was the likely option after seeing two doctors just before training camp. He had been a lineup fixture, one of a dozen players in the league to start all 82 games two years ago. The season before Battie played 81.
Battie has averaged 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in 10 years with Denver, Boston, Cleveland and the Magic.
With the 6-foot-10 Battie out, offseason acquisition Adonal Foyle and rookie Marcin Gortat could be called to fill the post beside Howard. Gortat was drafted in 2005 but has stayed overseas, playing only in the NBA summer league.
The Magic signed Foyle after losing free agent Darko Milicic to the Memphis Grizzlies.
source : NBA.com
Yi Jianlian Makes His Way To Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE -- The Yi watch has been in effect since he was drafted by the Bucks in late June. After spending most of the summer with the Chinese National Team, including an appearance in the CBA-Euroleague Challenge in Kunshan earlier this week, Yi is officially en route to the United States and is expected to join his new teammates for training camp practice on Thursday morning.
"I know he's really excited about getting here," Bucks general manager Larry Harris told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Probably his most relaxing time will be on that flight."
Bucks.com representatives will be on hand for Yi's arrival at Chicago's O'Hare Airport this afternoon and subsequent trip to Milwaukee. Check back for exclusive photos from today's events, as well as continuing coverage of Bucks training camp which can be found at Training Camp Central.
source : NBA.com
MARCUS WILLIAMS MEDICAL UPDATE
East Rutherford, NJ–New Jersey Nets guard Marcus Williams underwent successful surgery this morning, Wednesday, October 3, 2007, to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal of his right foot, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today. The surgery, performed by Dr. Martin O'Malley and Nets team physician Dr. Riley Williams III at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, included the insertion of a screw into Williams’ foot.
Williams will be on crutches for two weeks after which he will begin rehabilitation. He is expected to return to the lineup in six to eight weeks.
As a rookie in 2006-07, Williams played in 79 games for the Nets, averaging 6.8 ppg and 3.3 apg. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and participated in the T-Mobile Rookie Sophomore Challenge at All Star Weekend.
source : NBA.com
Aaron McKie Joins 76ers As Assistant Coach
PIHLADELPHIA, Oct. 3 (AP)-- Aaron McKie, the NBA's sixth man of the year when Philadelphia went to the NBA Finals, rejoined the 76ers as an assistant coach on Wednesday.
McKie averaged 7.4 points and 3.3 rebounds over a 13-year career with Portland, Detroit, the Sixers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 11.6 points for the 76ers and was chosen the league's top sixth man in 2001, when they lost to the Lakers in the finals.
McKie, who finished his three-year career with Temple tied for sixth on the school's career scoring list, was selected Atlantic 10 Conference player of the year in 1993.
source : NBA.com
Noah Running With Bulls' Starting Five
And now, the first unit for the first drill in the first practice of the Bulls' 2007-08 season: Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Ben Wallace and—drum roll please—Joakim Noah.
For Joe Smith and Tyrus Thomas fans, coach Scott Skiles used one word to summarize the significance: "Zero."
Skiles then elaborated.
"It's only because those guys know all the stuff so they can direct Joakim around for a few days," Skiles said after practice Tuesday morning.
Call Noah the super sponge.
"I feel real fortunate," he said after his first NBA practice. "This is all a learning process for me. It's really different. You're used to being that guy to tell the rookies how to do it. And now you're just thrown into a situation where you have no idea what's going on, and it's a whole different speed. But I accept it, and I'm real excited to be in this position.
"Work habits and basketball IQ don't even make the list of management's concerns for Noah. Keeping his right shoulder healthy and making his jumper look less sickly do rank high.
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source : chicagosports.chicagotribune.com
Big Man Sees The Big Picture
It is customary to regard a torn anterior cruciate ligament as a two- year injury, divided into physical and mental hurdles; the first year spent on regaining strength and flexibility, the second year spent getting over the residual discom fort and learning to trust this fragile human hinge to do the explosive stuff again.
Nenad Krstic seems to have an innate understanding of this timetable, and the fact that he hasn't played a game in more than nine months isn't making him restive.
But he is keeping an eye on the calendar.
"I really believe that's my goal, opening day," the Nets' center said yesterday after the team's first practice of training camp. "I don't know how long -- maybe ten minutes, maybe less, maybe more. But I'm going to be getting ready for the game."
Remarkable patience, you might say. But Krstic has myriad reasons why he should keep his distance from the court until his left knee is near 100 percent healed.
For starters, he's playing for a contract, and the numbers could nose dive if he doesn't return at full strength. Secondly, he is the team's best big man, which means he could be the difference between a long playoff run or a quick exit. Rod Thorn has said it, more than once: "My feeling is, if we had Krstic, we would have beaten Cleveland," the team president said.
Third, Krstic had a scare this summer, when he sprained the MCL in the same knee, which set back his rehab for a month. And finally, Krstic trusts the people who have more experience in these mat ters, so he takes orders without protest, and follows a routine that is different from teammates: He took part in 5-on-0 drills yesterday, but he may be weeks away from absorbing contact.
"It's going to be a process," coach Lawrence Frank said. "I have no timetable. It's all basically how his body adjusts."
"Some days I feel great. I feel right now I can play with some contact," Krstic said. "But obvi ously Tim (Walsh, the trainer) knows better than me, and he just tells me to be patient. So I don't know if I'm going to play five or six preseason games or two. We just go day by day."
Pain is part of the process, al beit a small part: "Maybe sometimes it's tender, but I can get through it," he said. "It's not really like a big thing at all."
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source : nj.com
Avery Johnson’s Number To Be Retired By The Spurs
Though his current NBA home is in Dallas, the playing career of Avery Johnson will always be associated with San Antonio. Soon, there’s going to be a permanent reminder.
Johnson is receiving an early Christmas gift in the Alamo City with the retirement of his jersey by the Spurs. The ceremony to place No. 6 in the rafters of the SBC Center is set for Dec. 22 before San Antonio’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and owner Peter Holt told Johnson about the honor this summer. Johnson, along with David Robinson and Sean Elliott, were considered the heart of San Antonio’s first championship team in 1999. The numbers of Robinson and Elliott are already hanging in the arena.
“That’s a really special deal,” Johnson said Tuesday after the first practice of training camp. “I got that call from Peter and Pop this summer, and it’s something to really be excited about. I don’t think I ever would have thought when I started playing in the NBA I’d get my jersey retired.”
Johnson is San Antonio’s all-time assists leader, and ranks in the top seven in scoring, games played and steals. His baseline jumper in Game 5 of the 1999 NBA Finals clinched the Spurs’ first title.
“I’m ecstatic about that,” said first-year Mavericks assistant Mario Elie, also Johnson’s backcourt partner on the 1999 Spurs. “Avery is an amazing man, father and part of the community. I just remember how much joy he had when he hit that shot and we won the championship.
“I had the pleasure of playing with three of those guys up there, and I knew it was only a matter of time for Avery. We both have such a special relationship because of the hard road we took to the NBA, and it’s going to be hard for me to hold back the tears when it happens.”
Johnson had one request for the ceremony.
“We’re not having it when the Mavericks play them,” he said, referring to a break in the Mavs' schedule. “Pop and I both agreed to that, so I’m really excited about that. It’s going to be a special night for me and my family, and all of the people that invested in me.”
source : NBA.com
Warriors Hire Sidney Moncrief As Shooting Coach
Moncrief, 50, had a successful 11-year NBA career from 1979-80 thru 1990-91, appearing in 767 regular-season games and averaging 15.6 points per contest, while shooting 50.2% from the field and 83.1% from the free throw line. The Little Rock, AR, native played his first 10 seasons in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks, the first eight of which (1979-80 thru 1986-87) he played under current Warriors’ Head Coach Don Nelson. During that time, Moncrief enjoyed a five-year stretch from 1981-82 thru 1985-86 in which he averaged more than 19 points per game and earned a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star squad and was named All-NBA each season. Additionally, he was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in both 1983 and 1984. Originally selected by Milwaukee with the fifth overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, Moncrief also averaged 16.0 points in 93 career playoff games. On January 6, 1990, his #4 jersey was retired by the Bucks.
This past season Moncrief served as head coach of the NBA Development League’s Fort Worth Flyers, leading the team to a 29-21 record (.580). He owns three years of NBA coaching experience, having served as an assistant coach for Nelson with the Dallas Mavericks from 2000-01 thru 2002-03, during which time the team posted seasons of 53, 57 and 60 wins. Moncrief began his coaching career as the head coach at University of Arkansas-Little Rock in 1999.
Spurs Aiming For First Repeat Title
SAN ANTONIO (AP) The San Antonio Spurs seem to have it all.
Four championships in nine seasons, "dynasty talk" that they routinely blow off and a humble but capable team led by a disciplined and winning coach.
This summer they had the big parade and citywide party, their Finals MVP had his storybook wedding, and players' families added little ones here and there. No, they didn't host "Saturday Night Live" last weekend, but in the Finals they swept the team of the player who did.
Still, there's one thing the Spurs don't have no matter how you say it: a repeat, a back-to-back, two in a row.
"If it doesn't happen there will be no suicides on my watch. But you know, you have goals and you reach those goals and there are new goals and you reach those goals and somebody comes up with something else," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said a day before the defending champions opened training camp. "And we're going to try, but it's an even year, so it's tough for us."
Popovich was referring to the fact that all of the Spurs' titles have come in odd years: 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
So, with the evens against them for a 2008 title, the Spurs will do what they always do, no matter how deep their talent, no matter how many returning players they boast.
"We go back to the beginning every year. We're really big on trying not to skip steps, realizing it's a long journey and that the building blocks have to be there," Popovich said, moments after referencing the latest banner in the Spurs' practice gym proclaiming them the champions.
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source : stats.washingtontimes.com
Stoudemire Undergoes Sucessful Arthroscopic Surgery
The Phoenix Suns today announced that center Amaré Stoudemire underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this morning.
Team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Carter performed the surgery at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. As expected, a loose body was removed from Stoudemire’s right knee. The two-time All-Star is expected to resume basketball activities in 2-3 weeks.
2007 Phoenix Suns training camp runs Oct. 2-7 at McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.
source : NBA.com
