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Icing the knees after games is SOP for a lot of players even when they are injury free. They just do it to recover more quickly.

tontoz wrote:Icing the knees after games is SOP for a lot of players even when they are injury free. They just do it to recover more quickly.

Only thing is, with Nene I'm not so sure it's just for "SOP." Dude's wheels aren't in very good shape.

Certainly good news, but given the nature of his injury I'm not holding my breath.

I sure as hell hope that Nene and Wall don't feel obligated to return prematurely given the way the season is going so far.

When a player watches the end of practice with ice bags on his knees, it’s not usually an encouraging sign.

Unless, of course, you are the Wizards and you’re 0-7 without Nene.

Sidelined since the start of training camp with plantar fasciitis, the Wizards’ big man was back on the practice court at Verizon Center Friday, taking part in some half court drills.

“He got on the floor a little bit today and did some half-court stuff that we were doing,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “He took another step forward today.”

Asked how Nene looked in his limited action, Wittman quipped. “He looked good. He was on the floor.”

Acquired from Denver in exchange for JaVale McGee last March, Nene has been battling pain in his left heel since last season, when he missed 27 games. He aggravated the injury while playing for Brazil in the Summer Olympics and had not practiced with the Wizards until Friday.

Averaging just 88 points a game, the Wizards are in desperate need of scoring help down low, where Trevor Booker [8.1 points, 5 rebounds], Kevin Seraphin [10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds] and Emeka Okafor [8.4 points, 6 rebounds] have been inconsistent. Nene averaged 13.7 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Nuggets and Wizards last season.

Although Nene, 30, is believed to be at least two weeks away from returning to the lineup, point guard A.J. Price said he saw an immediate impact from the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Brazilian at Friday’s practice.

“It would be huge [to get Nene back],” Price said. “Just his presence out there today for the few things that we had him in there, you could see the difference. It was night and day. It would be good to have him out there.”

The problem with plantar fascitiis is that other than rest there is little else an athlete can do to treat it. That’s why the Wizards are showing as much patience as possible with Nene.

“I have no idea [when Nene will return], I really don’t,” Wittman said. “When I do I’ll let you know.

“It’s absolutely a step in the right direction. We haven’t had any setback with John [Wall, stress injury to right knee] or him. As long as we keep moving in that direction it’s positive, very positive.”

dandridge 10 wrote:
Well, if you guys just want to see all rainbows and kittens, why don't you just stick to the optimism thread and spare yourself of all the "disgusting" postings.

How about no............

I really hope they don't rush him back.

noworriesinmd wrote:I really hope they don't rush him back.

Nene has always decided when he is ready to be play, he won't be rushed-back.

It won't matter though, Nene is going to be a part-time Wizard for the reminder of his contract most-likely.

I have this crazy conspiracy where Nene just doesn't want to play with a bunch of chumps.

Nene is out tonight against the Spurs. Hooray.

fishercob wrote:Nene is out tonight against the Spurs. Hooray.

Surprise!

queridiculo wrote:

fishercob wrote:Nene is out tonight against the Spurs. Hooray.

Surprise!

I know. I'm still trying to recover from the shock. F*ck this franchise.

Can we get a betting-pool going to predict the number of games Nene will play this year? We can have a separate pool for number of games in-which Nene plays over 30 minutes.

So glad the Wizards blew past that minutes limit for Nene.

Hmm, maybe that minutes limit was for a reason?

Never thought Nene would play more than 65% of the games. That number looks pretty high right now. Given the nature of his injury, the Wizards should consider shutting him down until well after the All-Star break.

Nivek wrote:So glad the Wizards blew past that minutes limit for Nene.

Hmm, maybe that minutes limit was for a reason?

Wish it was that simple, but it's more a matter of when not if with this injury.

Yep.

Didn't like the trade when it went down. Still not looking good. Nene can play, but the combination of age, injury and contract are not good. Wizards bought the wrong end of his career.

I was hopeful, but I clearly had blinders on with respect to his injury.

Thought CCJ was being way too angsty, but he called it.

Somebody with Nene's body type and athleticism isn't going to recover from this injury easily. What makes it worse is the pressure he probably puts himself under in light of the teams struggles.

It totally is a shame, cause he's clearly a good guy and a very talented (and fun to watch) player. I'll be shocked if he beats 50 games.

sashae wrote:It totally is a shame, cause he's clearly a good guy and a very talented (and fun to watch) player. I'll be shocked if he beats 50 games.

The real question is -- do we want him to?

This season is lost already. Any wins this franchise gets this season only set the long-term prospect of the organization back.

I want Nene at 100% next year. Now, even at 100%, he's an injury risk. But Nene playing at 70-80% is an even greater injury risk.

If we can go into next season with a top-3 pick in the draft, a healthy Wall and Nene and hopefully some tactful moves by a new GM, our future will look a lot brighter.

I wonder what is was specifically that Denver spotted that they knew they had to dump Nene immediately?

Did Anyone see the episode of The Association when Denver GM Masai Ujiri is fretting about making a deal before the draft when he is told that Washington was calling? Ujiri is shown closing the door to his office. Behind closed doors he must have been grinning from ear to ear knowing that Ernie Grunfeld was waiting to be taken.