Poor Robbie Hummel. Torn meniscus isn’t that bad of an injury and he should be back in about a month, but I do feel bad for someone that keeps getting setbacks every time he’s moving forward with his career.
It’s not nearly as bad as him tearing his ACL multiple times, which is good. I just hope he’s able to move on from this injury and get a good season in with Blu:sens Monbús in Liga ACB in Spain. If he can be healthy, Hummel definitely can play in the NBA. With guys like Steve Novak and James Jones making long careers for themselves by shooting the ball from outside, it’s hard to imagine Hummel can’t find a role.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for Robbie, and that we get a chance to see him on an international court real soon.
We’re all wondering when Ricky Rubio will be back for the Timberwolves to throw inspirational bounce passes back into our collective hearts.
It’s pretty improbable that he’d be back for the start of the regular season, considering he hasn’t started doing many exercises with heavy impact (i.e. – running and basketball related workouts/drills). That would have put him just under eight months from the injury in a rehabilitation window that usually spans anywhere from six to twelve months.
“The doctors said he was progressing faster than normal, and normal was supposed to be in January,” Taylor said Tuesday, Aug. 14, a day before heading to China on a two-week charity mission. “Faster than normal would be December. He’s going to start running and stuff in a few weeks.”
I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again. Just about everybody with a knee injury as severe as this one is ahead of schedule before they do impact exercises. When those begin, we start to see just what the actual schedule for returning to the court is. But that doesn’t mean Ricky won’t be back before the new year is born.
My guess on the schedule would be December 20th for his 2012-13 debut. That’s the first big time nationally televised game for the Wolves, when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Target Center on TNT. It’s late enough into December to be a realistic return date, and would generate an immense amount of buzz for the team and the telecast.
Of course, that’s just a guess on my part. Perhaps he’ll be back sooner or maybe they’ll be cautious with him and keep him out until January. I know there seems to be a lot of pressure to win now and make the playoffs this year, but I’d rather see him fully recovered and continue to be handled in a responsible manner over rushing him back to the court to feel better about the Wolves chances this season.
Brandon Roy mentioned his goal was to become a 35-minute per game player and Twitter seemingly exploded with incredulity. Personally, I didn’t get what the reaction was because it seemed like he was pretty clear in how he shaded the situation:
“I think, even before I had any knee problems in the NBA, me and coach would always sit down and talk about minutes. It’s a long season and you want guys to be fresher down the stretch. I’m sure it’s something that me and coach will talk about. My goal is, yeah, I would still love to be around that 35 minute mark. Really, whatever the team needs. I don’t want those situations where coach has to say, ‘We’re in a tough game but you’re at your minute limit.’ That was something I had to deal with in my last season in Portland. That was really hard. Physically I feel good. I want to play as much as possible but at the same time be smart because it’s a long season and we want to be at our best down the stretch.”
Sometimes people hear numbers given as goals and latch onto those numbers. We’ve become less about comprehending the context of what someone says and would much rather misquote them. Maybe it all stemmed from Charles Barkley being misquoted in his autobiography, maybe it’s the product of an ever deteriorating education system in this country, or maybe people were always like this and it’s just more prevalent now because we have much more communication on a global scale. Whatever the reasoning is, we often freak out over things out of context. Continue Reading…
Alas, it is not so. Wolves put together a nice look at the work Ricky has been doing to get his knee back to strength after the tear against the Lakers. It’s one thing to see the workouts that are bringing him back, but I enjoyed hearing Rubio’s mental state with the process and how hard it is to think about when you’re back playing. I also really found Wolves’ physical trainer Andre Deloya’s thoughts about how making things goal-oriented for Ricky fascinating.
Instead of getting back to playing regular season games as the big goal, breaking it down into much smaller goals that come right away definitely help with the mental fatigue that can set in from this rehab process.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love suffered a mild concussion and neck strain in last night’s game at Denver, and stayed overnight at a hospital for precautionary reasons. After further evaluation today, Love’s diagnosis remains unchanged and he has been cleared to return to Minneapolis. He will not play in tonight’s game vs. the L.A. Clippers. In the upcoming days, Love will be further evaluated by the Timberwolves medical staff, and an update to his status will be provided when warranted.
As Zach describes on Truehoop today, even mild concussions are serious. Still, its good to hear that Love’s injury is not more serious than that.
Ricky Rubio has been at this a long time. He’s grown up in front of the press due to his professional career beginning when he was 14 years old. He’s as savvy as just about any NBA player when it comes to understanding what the fans and media all want and expect from the stars in this league.
Whether people believe his PER and shooting percentages make him a star or not, the outcry of support and sad feelings that deluged through the internet after the announcement of his ACL tear prove his stardom. He’s an important figure in the NBA at such a young age and he knows that the hopes of a fan base rest on his ligaments. Because of who he is and what he understands, I think the effort and updates on his injury he’s provided have been extra upbeat. Maybe I’m just reading into this too much or maybe he just understands his place in our NBA world that well. Regardless, he’s given us a lot of smiles in a time in which most of us have been sad about the news.
The first two pictures he tweeted were fantastic. He’s all smiles:
Ricky, we already miss you. Its hard to tell if Saturday’s performance against the Hornets was simply the product of an emotional hangover or if its simply what we can expect from the post-Ricky Wolves. Either way, it was an unlovely melange of poor shot selection, stagnant ball-movement and listless, unaware defense. As Rick Adelman put it afterwards, (via Kent Youngblood at the Strib) “I thought maybe it was the worst game in a long time defensively for us. No communication, ball-watching, not playing as a team.” True that.
It’s an ominous moment for your Timberwolves. Rick Adelman’s arrival notwithstanding, it often seemed that the only thing standing between this year’s Wolves and the gauzy nightmare of the Wittman/McHale/Rambis era was the floppy-haired Catalan hope machine. Without him, things feel a little scary.
By way of providing solace, Truehoop points out that, despite the surplus of charming smiles, warm feelings and ecstatic moments, Rubio had hardly transformed the Wolves into a titan of offensive efficiency. Last season, the Wolves scored 101.1 points per 100 possessions, this year they’re scoring 101.5 pts/100. Because of this season’s league-wide, lockout-induced offensive tumble, that number is good for 14th in the NBA, but the point remains. What’s more, according to 82games, the Wolves offense was exactly as efficient with him on the floor as off. On the other hand, it seemed clear on Saturday that without Rubio’s probing ballhandling and preternatural vision, there were fewer open shooters, fewer rhythmic spot up jumpers.
On the other other hand, as we’ve already discussed, Rubio was probably even more integral to the Wolves’ defensive renewal. The team was 3.3 points/100 possessions better defensively when he was on the floor this season. The lack of Ricky’s ability to create turnovers, disrupt the pick-and-roll game and conjure frenzied defensive energy was painfully evident against New Orleans.
So how does this affect the Wolves’ decision-making moving forward? Well, as Jerry Zgoda pointed out to ESPN, this probably means the team won’t be looking to move Luke Ridnour, the only Wolf left with any natural-born ball-distribution skills, not to mention their best perimeter scorer, any time soon. And most observers seem to agree that, short of possibly moving Mike Beasley for a draft-pick (would any vampires in the audience care to glamour the Nets into parting with their first-round pick?), the Wolves are best served by standing pat. After all, their long-term needs are still most glaringly at shooting guard and in the middle. Here’s how Zach put it in his most recent 5-on-5 appearance:
I’ll say no move for the backcourt is necessary right now. Ridnour has been one of the more unheralded role players this season and is capable of keeping Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Love scoring at high clips. The key will be getting Barea healthy and seeing if Malcolm Lee can provide a spark. Now, if they want to go after Pau Gasol to add elite size, that’s a much better plan to me.
Which, yes, agreed. But can you see any combination of Timberwolves short of Kevin Love or Ricky himself that could entice the Lakers into moving Gasol? Well I can’t.
After all, Rubio’s most significant contribution, as attested to by the recent outpouring of Twitter love, was spiritual. And it was that loss–the way he made us feel, the way he inspired his teammates to play–that was felt most acutely on Saturday.
Malcolm Lee’s pro career has gotten off to a bummer of a start. From the Timberwolves:
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malcolm Lee underwent successful surgery this morning to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Timberwolves team orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Fischer performed the surgery at TRIA Orthopaedic Center. The typical recovery time for this type of injury is approximately six weeks.
The Minnesota Timberwolves announced today that guard Martell Webster is out indefinitely as he recovers from microdiscectomy surgery that was performed on Sept. 28. Webster is currently undergoing further evaluation by the Timberwolves medical staff.
“Out indefinitely” is such an ominous phrase. Whatever that means, considering how immobile Webster was after his surgery last year, the Wolves will definitely be thin at the two guard position this year. As Zach pointed out, for all of the optimism, the Wolves still don’t have a single proven perimeter scorer or defender on their roster. Arron Afflalo sure would be nice.
