Archives For Injuries

Report: Ricky Rubio will probably return to action Saturday

Zach Harper —  December 12, 2012 — 1 Comment

Rubio Smile

Ricky… you got some playing to do…

Our friend Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN is reporting that Ricky Rubio will return to action Saturday night at home against the Dallas Mavericks:

A league source told 1500ESPN.com that Rubio will play on Saturday at Target Center against Dallas.

Rubio is returning from torn anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in his left knee that he suffered last March.

The source said the Wolves, while busy receiving trade calls, are reluctant to make any move before they see Rubio with the rest of the team.

I talked to a couple people after Wolfson’s story was posted and they’ve basically said as long as nothing bad happens with Ricky in the next couple of days, they’d be shocked if he didn’t make his debut against the Mavericks. So nothing is a given right now but it’s looking good.

In 2012-13 Season, Injuries
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Ricky Rubio cleared to practice

Benjamin Polk —  November 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

From our Wolves:

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that guard Ricky Rubio has been cleared to participate in full-contact practices with no limitations after consultation with Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colorado. With the final medical hurdle being cleared, Rubio will now practice with the team. Rubio and the Wolves medical staff will assess his ability to participate in an NBA game after monitoring his progress during these practices.

But considering the intensity of his backyard wrestling bouts, this probably comes as no surprise. This means that we might just see Ricky Rubio in an NBA basketball game in the coming weeks. What version of himself he’ll be when that day comes remains to be seen.

In Injuries , , ,
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Brandon Roy had knee surgery, act accordingly

Zach Harper —  November 21, 2012 — 1 Comment

From the team’s press release:

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Brandon Roy underwent successful arthroscopic surgery today on his right knee. The surgery was performed by Timberwolves team orthopaedic surgeon Dr. David Fischer at the TRIA Orthopaedic Center in Bloomington, Minn.  Roy is expected to be out approximately one month.

“Brandon had been experiencing some right knee pain, dating back to Oct. 26, when he banged knees with a Milwaukee Bucks player in a preseason game,” said Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn. “The pain became more pronounced on Nov. 9 during our game against Indiana. We fully support Brandon’s decision to have today’s arthroscopic procedure, and look forward to his return when he feels ready to play.”

Roy has played in five games this season, averaging 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Roy was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Wolves on July 31, 2012.

So what does this mean? What does it change?

Nothing really. The Wolves are still a team that isn’t depending on Brandon Roy, only now there isn’t a question of “will he be back soon?” hanging over the depth chart’s head. Roy has always been and will always be a luxury on this team. By all accounts so far, he’s been a great presence in the locker room and even if that’s all he is for $5 million this season, it’s a nice change from the lack of focus that infected last season’s roster (once the injuries occurred).

I don’t believe Roy is done yet. I think he’ll probably be back well after the approximated “one month” timetable, but I do believe he’ll be back. I think we’ll have a couple of special Roy moments and then he’ll retire after this season. That could just be naiveté talking but I think he’s got more fight left in him. He wasn’t a scorer but he was a distributor during his few minutes with the Wolves so far. If he’s helping them make plays for even 20 minutes a game, it’s worth it.

The reason this isn’t such a disappointment in terms of the team concept is two-fold. 1) I think we all knew we had to temper our expectations with Roy’s return and for the most part, people have done that. 2) Alexey Shved has emerged off the bench and has added much needed depth and playmaking with the second unit and at the end of games.

We don’t know when Roy will be back, but Pek, Barea, Love, and Rubio will all be back within the next month or so. Some (Pek and Barea) will be much earlier than others. This is still a good team and I’m still feeling good about their chances moving forward. Wish Roy a speedy recovery.

In 2012-13 Season, Injuries ,
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Chase Budinger is out 3-4 months

Zach Harper —  November 13, 2012 — 2 Comments

The news is being sourced out to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski that Chase Budinger will be out for three months:

After surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, Minnesota Timberwolves starter Chase Budinger will miss minimally three months, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery on Tuesday, and a source said the meniscus was completely repaired and will allow for a full recovery for Budinger. He had averaged nearly 12 points a game for the Wolves this season, after coming over from the Houston Rockets for the 18th overall pick in the June NBA Draft.

Since the Woj report earlier in the day, the team has released their official statement on the surgery:

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Chase Budinger underwent successful surgery today to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews at the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Budinger’s injury occurred at the 6:00 mark of the fourth quarter in Minnesota’s game at Chicago on Nov. 10.

Budinger is expected to be out approximately 3-4 months.

I’d imagine it’s closer to three months, just because the team seems to be pretty conservative on their estimations with recovery.

This is not ideal and much longer than the standard that has been set with previous injuries. But we also had no idea how damaged the meniscus was before the surgery happened. This puts Chase back around the All-Star break and in shape for a playoff push in March and April. I’m not sure if the winning basketball or the amount of injuries are making me numb to it, but the news post-surgery doesn’t actually make me feel bad about the team right now.

Wolves will keep dealing with it and move on. Miss you, Chase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrlO2x9NmkI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er0doVospqI

In 2012-13 Season, Injuries
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Wolves 90, Mavericks 82: “I don’t use crutches”

Zach Harper —  November 13, 2012 — 10 Comments

Adelman

Rick Adelman became a broken record last year. Someone for the Wolves would go down with an injury and he’d start talking about how guys couldn’t feel sorry for themselves and had to step up. They had to make the most of their opportunity to help the team. Ricky Rubio went down with his ACL injury. Kevin Love got a concussion. Nikola Pekovic had bone spurs in his ankle the size of Gibraltar. Pick any of JJ Barea’s 27 injuries from last year.

Guys went down and the Wolves went down with them. Nobody stepped up. Nobody cared. Everybody had the calendar circled for their vacation and not for the playoffs. Once Rubio was gone, the season was lost. Once Love was gone, the season was a joke. Once Pek was gone, it was the same old Wolves again. Adelman begged a set of players without anything close to a guarantee of a future with this organization to show some pride and we only saw it one game, when they finally broke their April losing streak.  Continue Reading…

In 2012-13 Season, Game Analysis, Injuries , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Chase Budinger has a lateral meniscus tear in his knee; will have surgery

Zach Harper —  November 11, 2012 — 2 Comments

WELP. Wolves announce Chase Budinger has a lateral meniscus tear in his injured knee and will have surgery later this week. There is no time table set for his return yet. Full press release:

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that forward Chase Budinger suffered a lateral meniscus tear of his left knee during yesterday’s game at Chicago. Budinger suffered the injury at the 6:00 mark of the fourth quarter in Minnesota’s 87-80 loss to the Bulls. Surgery will be scheduled later this week. A timetable for his return will be determined after the surgery.

Budinger is averaging 11.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in six games for the Wolves this season. He was acquired by Minnesota in a trade with Houston on June 26, 2012.

Well, this sucks.

For what it’s worth, Tyrus Thomas had this injury late January of 2011 and was out from January 20th until March 11th. That doesn’t mean a whole lot with Chase but it does give us a decent idea of how long he could be out. The tricky part is if the surgeon will have to cut away torn meniscus or try to repair it. Trying to repair it will probably mean he’s out closer to two months than six weeks. Either way, we’re not seeing Chase again until the new year. That is if the Mayans don’t eliminate the Wolves in December.

Here’s the play Chase got hurt on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qNAbVEqkiQ

In 2012-13 Season, Injuries
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JJ Barea warned for flopping; next one is a paddlin’

Zach Harper —  November 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

JJ Barea has been warned by the NBA for a flop against the Sacramento Kings. Jimmer Fredette was dribbling toward the right side of the floor, put his forearm up to clear space from Barea, and was whistled for the foul as Barea snapped his head back.

This is what I like to call “JJ Barea’s Three-Card Monte.” He does this pretty much every game and it usually works in drawing a foul against his opponent. I don’t know that they’re often as fabricated as this one, but it does happen. Either he tricks his opponent into raising their forearm into him and he takes the contact, or he makes it look like they do. Either way, it happens a lot.

Next one for JJ will result in a $5,000 fine from the league office. If Barea does this once a game for all 82 games, it will cost him just over $400,000 of his $4 million salary this season. He didn’t get a chance to do it against the Raptors, but he can make up for that tonight against the bigger Deron Williams.

If you look at that play slowly, it almost looks like Barea brings his arm up into Jimmer’s raised arm and forces Jimmer’s hand near his face. Is that close to the self-flop seen on this play?

Not quite there but it’s close.

Also, it looks like Barea is likely to play tonight. According to Jerry Zgoda, he went through the concussion tests and thinks it “looks good.” Good to know he’s okay and not feeling any ill effects from the collision last night.

In 2012-13 Season, Highlights, Injuries, J.J. Barea
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Preseason Game Five Preview: Wolves at Bulls in the United Center

Zach Harper —  October 19, 2012 — 1 Comment

I’d like to talk to you about a serious pandemic that is hurting this great planet we inhabit.

It’s called Knuckle Pushup Prehensile Fracture Disorder, or KPPFD. KPPFD literally affects dozen of power forwards each year, crippling their hands for month at a time. The key to battling KPPFD is to make sure workouts for star athletes are being done in a safe and secured environment. You want to have a soft floor of carpeting or a yoga mat to soften the force affecting the carpal bones in your hands. If not done properly, you can suffer from KPPFD and send thousands of fans into a panic.

We have not found a cure for KPPFD but with even a donation of just $15 million per year, we can support those who suffer.

Continue Reading…

In 2012 Preseason, Game Preview, Injuries, Kevin Love
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Injury update: Kevin Love is probably out (I have no idea how long)

Zach Harper —  October 18, 2012 — 3 Comments

 

Well, that’s good news. Apparently Kevin Love was doing knuckle push-ups with his trainer in his condo and that’s how he broke his hand. No word yet on whether or not he had JJ Barea on his back while he did them.

If Kevin Love misses six weeks from today, he’ll be back for the game against Milwaukee on November 30th. If he’s out just five weeks, he’ll be back for the Blazers showdown on November 23rd. This would mean he’ll miss roughly 10 to 14 games or 12-17% of the regular season. That sounds a lot better than everybody thinking he’d be back in mid-December.

So while it’s not good news still, it’s definitely not the Lovepocalypse many of us had feared yesterday when the news came down.

LoveMonster

UPDATE: Statement released by the team isn’t the same time table as Woj’s source. Now I’m just confused.

Minneapolis/St. Paul – Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love was examined today by hand specialist Dr. Andy Weiland of the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York for further evaluation of the fracture of the third and fourth metacarpal in his right hand. The evaluation revealed that surgery will not be required on his hand and confirmed that his expected return will be in 6-8 weeks.

The following is a statement from Wolves Kevin Love regarding his injury:

“Yesterday, I had a post-practice commitment and decided to work out at my home with my personal trainer before heading to Target Center. While doing various pushups, including knuckle pushups, which are part of my regular workout routine, I hurt my hand. I immediately knew something was wrong and called head athletic trainer Gregg Farnam.

“Although I’m disappointed that this injury happened, I will work extremely hard to stay in shape and return to the court as quickly as possible. We have added a lot of depth to our roster this season, and I have complete confidence in my teammates and coaching staff that they will step up and we will be successful during this time. I’m looking forward to supporting our team and helping out any way I can until I get back on the court.”

In 2012 Preseason, 2012-13 Season, Injuries, Kevin Love
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What a glorious sight… Ricky is running again

Zach Harper —  October 3, 2012 — 8 Comments

Mark Remme of Timberwolves.com tweeted this afternoon a photo of Ricky Rubio running during the Wolves’ practice.

Screen Shot 2012-10-03 at 2.04.48 PM

With Ricky running now and eventually starting up some light basketball drills, we should be able to find out just how realistic our dreams of a late December return as a Christmas present to us really is.

In 2012 Offseason, Injuries , ,
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