Lowry having wrist surgery (Woj says could be back in 4-5 weeks)

[Lew Alcindor]

Me: Remove loose bodies in right wrist?

Friend: Loose fragments are likely bone fragments from an old break. Doubt it will make his wrist feel much better but should only by 3-4 week recovery

Me: Raps docs said 4-5. I'm holding you to 3 weeks

Friend: I feel like team docs always quote longer so that when the player makes "an early return" it's sensational team news

That was a brief text exchange I had with a friend that is an actual Doctor. Idk if that makes anyone feel any better but I figured what's better than an outside opinion from another doctor (as far as you know) that has absolutely no insight on the situation except can quote from previous experience he may or may not have actually had.

Could be one of those things where you don't pick up a basketball for 3 weeks, and so you need a week of practice shooting before you return

Haha. More than likely. I did like his take on over extending the timeline to make it look like an early return. He told me to give him a call and he could say more but we began by talking about the oscars and then he said he had to go. Either way it doesn't matter I was just trying to bring some (false?) hope to people.

[Totem]

Me: Remove loose bodies in right wrist?

Friend: Loose fragments are likely bone fragments from an old break. Doubt it will make his wrist feel much better but should only by 3-4 week recovery

Me: Raps docs said 4-5. I'm holding you to 3 weeks

Friend: I feel like team docs always quote longer so that when the player makes "an early return" it's sensational team news

That was a brief text exchange I had with a friend that is an actual Doctor. Idk if that makes anyone feel any better but I figured what's better than an outside opinion from another doctor (as far as you know) that has absolutely no insight on the situation except can quote from previous experience he may or may not have actually had.

This is exactly what I've been saying. Raps are doing this now instead of in the offseason knowing he'll be back before the playoffs, so he could:

a) get some rest before the playoffs
b) be 100% healthy in the playoffs

[Mitty87]

I had wrist surgery and WCB told me I was fine to go back to heavy duty labour two weeks later, said they would cut me off if I didn't go back to work, he should be fine by st pats day

[Scott Hall]

A DeRozan/Cojo back court is gonna be one of the worst 3 point shooting starting back courts in the league....

And the back ups Wright and Powell aren't great 3 point shooters either....

So what good can come out of this? The Raps are gonna have to play top of the line defence to grind out games with poor 3 point shooting. If DeRozan or Ibaka is off its gonna be a grind especially on the road.

So they need to change the identity of the team now and rally like the 2002 Raptors when Vince Carter went down with a season ending injury.

And while Lowrys much needed 3 point shooting will be missed they need to take advantage of JVs efficiency in the middle.

We'll not be getting much offensive production from the PG and SF spots on most nights but we can get by and possibly benefit from this if we develop a defensive identity and learn how to win games defensively which is great for the playoffs. Also hopefully Val will get more integrated in the offence from this.

As for Lowry I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and believe him that he thought it wasn't something serious I'm sure this is the last thing he wants in a contract year in his prime at his age.

Who knows if he's a fast healer or not but I have a good vibe he'll comeback earlier then expected.


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[Yosemite Dan]

I think the worst thing out of all this is if he returns and plays terribly, there will be a dozen threads about how Lowry is still hurt and that's why he's playing like a D-leaguer in the playoffs. Last year it was the elbow and the year before was the shoulder....rinse and repeat. At this rate we're gonna run out of body parts to use as an excuse for him sometime around 2020. Worst part is he'll be making 40 million by then.

[John Murdoch]

F THE HORNETS

huh

[CoachJReturns]

Jonas needs to get more touches for the next few weeks and he has to stay out of foul trouble.

[RaptorsLife]

I think he hurt bumping into the camera man

[Lord Eder]

I had wrist surgery and WCB told me I was fine to go back to heavy duty labour two weeks later, said they would cut me off if I didn't go back to work, he should be fine by st pats day

I dunno if the Raptors are going to treat their franchise player with the same treatment as a WSIB claim.

[TheAlchemist]

We definitely need a scorer bad. Here's hoping Rose gets cut so he can join us and start. Although he doesn't necessarily bring the shooting, he still has quite an offensive game and it's good enough in my opinion.

Not worried about locker room issues either, PJ tucker got us.

But what I am worried about is the offensive issues that have been highlighted even before Lowry left, as we don't got many guys to fill the void.

We have to do 3 things consistently to maintain or even grab the #2 spot;

1. Derozan will have to score 30+ every game. It just is the reality of things, as we don't have a better scorer and/or offensive talent.

2. We need another guard to step up or scoring from a waiver wire guy like Rose. If there was ever a chance for Powell to start scoring, now it's it. No Ross, no Lowry for a bit. Same goes to Delon. One of these young guys should take an step offensively. If not, we need to pick up a more offensive ended talent who can make plays, and a guy like Rose will be it.

3. Jonas/Ibaka need set plays. Both need touches and both need set plays that differ from Isolations. I saw yesterday exactly how we where running plays for Ibaka, and no he is not going to be a guy you can Just run isolation plays for. That's now how he'll get buckets. Same goes with Jonas.

[zippy]

There's always releasing the waste of space Bruno and sign a vet scorer from the free agency...... I guess that would be too easy though.

[bluerap23]

The only evidence we have that this happened against Charlotte is Kyle's word. I love Kyle, but he showed poor judgement.

[SaveTheHens]

Man how unfortunate. I won't go and throw it all on DCasey, sometimes there's no foreseeing things, but this is the 3rd season in a row Lowry is going into the playoffs not in rhythm. Against washington he had the back plus other minor injuries, last year he was sitting games near the end of the season banged up, and again this happens this season. This isn't really anyones fault directly, but the organization should really put some research into avoiding this next year. Lowry is capable of playing like a superstar, of controlling the momentum of the game, he's got a great feel for the game and knows when to score timely buckets. If he can't shoot he's a fraction of himself and I could care less about a few extra regular season wins in the last 3 years because we played Lowry hard early/mid season. Dude needs rest, he needs to be sidelined immediately when a game is ours, we have to take losses in stride no matter how bad he wants to play. We have a great team but we're not getting over any playoff humps unless Lowry shows up as a superstar. Still hoping that he comes back looking great this season and if we get to ECF he's 100%, but this is a waste of a talent to see him dominate in the regular season & see a fraction of himself in the playoffs.

[hsb]

Thought this was kind of apt for some people laughing off how Raps PR makes it seem things are better than they are injury wise over the past few years, regardless of the differences case-by-case.

Joel Embiid missed 14 of 15 games amid confusion about his injury status. Then, the 76ers announced he’d miss four more. Then, they said he’d be out indefinitely.

...

“I wasn’t too happy with the way it was kind of handled before,” Embiid said. “I saw the day-to-day part. I was told that I was going to miss at least two or three weeks. So I wasn’t happy with the way it was handled.

“I thought keeping my name out there was going to just like literally have people think about me all the time instead of just saying when I was going to be back."

...

This is why teams often err on the side of a longer timeline in their public releases. If the player stays on his real timeline, he looks heroic for returning early. If he has a setback, maybe nobody outside the organization will ever know and question his toughness.

76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo, via Camerato

“We should have just said ‘out indefinitely,’ even though the treatment was still day to day,” Colangelo said. “But the fact that there was uncertainty, I’ll own that.”

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/02/28/joel-embiid-wasnt-too-happy-with-way-76ers-handled-earlier-injury-announcement/

[ATLTimekeeper]

This isn't making sense.... If I were a professional basketball player and my shooting hand starts swelling up I'd be nervous as **** because that's my livelihood. If I were someone paying said professional player, who happens to be my best player and PG I'd also be **** bricks if his hand/wrist is swelling up... small little injuries don't just swell up for days at a time. They see their doctors and trainers on a daily basis, how was this not disclosed and how was he not examined at the first sign of symptoms?

Either he hid it or he talked them into letting him play anyway. Either way I sense a major **** and a lot of BS in this whole scenario.

He played through the playoffs with a grapefruit on his elbow last year. He's not going to be out of a job next year, one way or the other. Even the way the story broke, it went from nothing major in the scans and day-to-day to surgery from a second opinion. The Raptors aren't going to gain anything from releasing the information like this. It was just a second opinion and maybe a wager in Kyle's head that he can be healthier for the playoffs with this surgery than if he opts for rest and treatment and off-season surgery.

[Lady3Jane]

A DeRozan/Cojo back court is gonna be one of the worst 3 point shooting starting back courts in the league....

And the back ups Wright and Powell aren't great 3 point shooters either....

So what good can come out of this? The Raps are gonna have to play top of the line defence to grind out games with poor 3 point shooting. If DeRozan or Ibaka is off its gonna be a grind especially on the road.

So they need to change the identity of the team now and rally like the 2002 Raptors when Vince Carter went down with a season ending injury.

And while Lowrys much needed 3 point shooting will be missed they need to take advantage of JVs efficiency in the middle.

We'll not be getting much offensive production from the PG and SF spots on most nights but we can get by and possibly benefit from this if we develop a defensive identity and learn how to win games defensively which is great for the playoffs. Also hopefully Val will get more integrated in the offence from this.

As for Lowry I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and believe him that he thought it wasn't something serious I'm sure this is the last thing he wants in a contract year in his prime at his age.

Who knows if he's a fast healer or not but I have a good vibe he'll comeback earlier then expected.


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This is EXACTLY what needs to happen. But we both know it wont. Because Casey. JV should be the 2nd option for the duration of Kyle being out. Instead, he'll continue playing 15-20 minutes per game, shooting 100% and being glued to the bench because of it. All the while Casey will try to win games with "defense"

[LJKO]

People here said what if Lowry goes down what we going do this team will be dysfunctional; well the time is now to prove it and see if Demar can carry this team to the next level. I still say Pow should start over cojo or carroll; time and time again he produce as a starter more then coming off the bench. He did good against wall and beal last time but knowing our clown coach he's not likely going to do so. Also JV need to play both this game from start to finish; this is Gortat we talking about

[Steelo Green]

People here said what if Lowry goes down what we going do this team will be dysfunctional; well the time is now to prove it and see if Demar can carry this team to the next level. I still say Pow should start over cojo or carroll; time and time again he produce as a starter more then coming off the bench. He did good against wall and beal last time

We had two big adds in Ibaka & Tucker. We should be fine without Kyle until he returns. Obviously not as good, but stay afloat.

I would have loved to have seen Kyle get the rest of the regular season with these guys. Would be a really strong group. Not Cleveland good but my goodness would it be a really good basketball team.

[Throwback24]

better off shutting him down completely if you plan on locking him up long term. we dont want any recurring lowry elbow/wrist issues, his shot facilitates his entire game. without he's.... not a max player

[720]

People here said what if Lowry goes down what we going do this team will be dysfunctional; well the time is now to prove it and see if Demar can carry this team to the next level. I still say Pow should start over cojo or carroll; time and time again he produce as a starter more then coming off the bench. He did good against wall and beal last time

We had two big adds in Ibaka & Tucker. We should be fine without Kyle until he returns. Obviously not as good, but stay afloat.

I would have loved to have seen Kyle get the rest of the regular season with these guys. Would be a really strong group. Not Cleveland good but my goodness would it be a really good basketball team.

That was my biggest disappointment too. Not being able to see this team full health, because imo they would have been dominant.

It will be hard to retain this team with all the extensions that Masai will be signing. Which means we probably won't see the full capabilities of this core group together.