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Re: Have the Suns ever had any legit two-way (offense, defense) players?

Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 1:44 pm
by SunsRIt
Thanks for those Shel, they answered a lot of questions.

I guess I should rephrase, I think it ruined his Suns career.

Re: Have the Suns ever had any legit two-way (offense, defense) players?

Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 1:46 pm
by Indy
ShelC wrote:This article spells it out pretty clearly:

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2014/03/21/ama ... at-it-was/

And this one from a couple years ago makes it seem like it's an outdated practice and there are better alternatives:

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/gr ... 3m8bgvdv2q

I also don't think microfracture "ruined" Amare's career. He came back strong and had several good years after it. Zach Randolph had it when he was young (in 2005) and he's still playing. KMart had it while he was with the Nuggets in 2006 and had some good years afterwards. Each situation is different and it seems like the older the player, the less likely they are to recover - Penny, CWeb, Allan Houston, Mashburn, TMac never really made it back but were older or had knee issues prior and it was done as a last resort. Jason Kidd may be the most successful story; he had surgery in July 2004 when he was 31, returned that December and didn't miss a beat. Played another 8 seasons, averaging about 80 games for 7 of them.
Today there are solutions that include replacement of the cartalage/meniscus with constructed implants (including those grown from bovine tissue), which have been approved by the FDA. Not sure what current studies show with their impact on high-use patients (like professional athletes), though.

Re: Have the Suns ever had any legit two-way (offense, defense) players?

Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 1:47 pm
by Indy
SunsRIt wrote:Thanks for those Shel, they answered a lot of questions.

I guess I should rephrase, I think it ruined his Suns career.
That is assuming they had other options besides scoping it time and time again, seeing if it would do the trick.

Re: Have the Suns ever had any legit two-way (offense, defense) players?

Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 2:00 pm
by ShelC
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... m:per_game

He had 4 really good years for us once he came back. He definitely lost some bounce and relied a lot more on his jumper but that was also a natural progression and I'm glad he had the jumper to fall back.