interesting what espn just said about KG

[Chris]

we really won't know until friday or saturday...hope for the best...expect the worst i guess

...or Sunday.  I have a feeling the first game won't be until Sunday, and I know I won't feel 100% confident he is coming back until he is smacking his head against the basket support.

I thought Saturday was pretty much a done deal. I guess they could do Sunday and then Wednesday for game 2 to avoid the Springsteen concert.

I don't know where everyone came up with that.  I have seen it a bunch in the press, but it has all been speculation. 

Considering the Bruins are playing at 8pm on Saturday night, I think it is likely that they will play the C's game on Sunday instead. 

[celticinorlando]

i would rather play saturday

[Chris]

i would rather play saturday

If the options are 12:30pm on Saturday, or later on Sunday (3pm is an ABC slot I believe), I would vote for Sunday.  I hate early games like that.

[crownsy]

i would rather play saturday

If the options are 12:30pm on Saturday, or later on Sunday (3pm is an ABC slot I believe), I would vote for Sunday.  I hate early games like that.

judging by there performance in them so does the team, rather go sunday night.

[Steve Weinman]

i would rather play saturday

If the options are 12:30pm on Saturday, or later on Sunday (3pm is an ABC slot I believe), I would vote for Sunday.  I hate early games like that.

judging by there performance in them so does the team, rather go sunday night.

With ya.  I loved getting seven 'warm-up' games to open up playoff weekend and then the Celtics hosting a Sunday night primetime game.  It'd be nice to have that again...

-sw

[LarBrd33]

I'm kinda happy I'll be in Maui in mid-June.  I'll need a distraction as the Lakers beat the Cavs in the finals.

[nickagneta]

What goes through my mind when I read that Danny knows it is some spur on the knee causing the pain because of it rubbing against the tendon is when did this information get to the Celtics? If they knew straight from the beginning that was the problem and had the options of surgery right away or trying to see if rest and therapy worked, then I wonder if they made the wrong decision.

KG has been down since February 19th. That's eight weeks. Is it unheard of for an arthroscopic exam to have been done to reduce or eliminate the spur and have had KG back pain free for the playoffs? I don't know. Maybe those types of operations require large scale surgery and would have automaticallt put him out for the season. But I hope they don't wait to long to do surgery if that is what is needed. No sense losing part of next year as well.

[Chief]

In football, players always get a shot to play through pain. I wonder if this works in basketball too.

[Hoops]

It may be worth it to play through the pain and hope for the best in the eastern finals/nba finals but I'm not crazy about risking it in the first round or two.  What if he gets through the first two rounds before the pain becomes too much?  That would be a total waste and we wouldn't have a shot against Cleveland.

I think of McHale gutting it out in '87 (?), only to ruin his foot and shorten his career. Of course I don't want that to happen to KG. But title opportunities are fleeting. There's no guarantee that you'll get another chance (ask Dan Marino about that). Boston has a legitimate chance this year. If KG can play through pain, without turning his injury into a career-ending injury, then I say go for it.

Cleveland, LA, Orlando, and Portland all figure to be better in the coming years. Meanwhile, Boston's Big Three grow a year older. I'm not saying the window is closing after this year, but if KG wants another ring, he might be better served to gut it out.

Of course, I'm not making KG's decisions for him. KG has got to do what's best for KG. I'll support him whatever he does. But I'd like to see him play. And my gut tells me he will.

[BillfromBoston]

What goes through my mind when I read that Danny knows it is some spur on the knee causing the pain because of it rubbing against the tendon is when did this information get to the Celtics? If they knew straight from the beginning that was the problem and had the options of surgery right away or trying to see if rest and therapy worked, then I wonder if they made the wrong decision.

KG has been down since February 19th. That's eight weeks. Is it unheard of for an arthroscopic exam to have been done to reduce or eliminate the spur and have had KG back pain free for the playoffs? I don't know. Maybe those types of operations require large scale surgery and would have automaticallt put him out for the season. But I hope they don't wait to long to do surgery if that is what is needed. No sense losing part of next year as well.

Two things:

1. the surgery itself is relatively minor, so if it was done 2 months ago KG could have been back.

2. Assuming the initial examination detected that spur, KG himself still would have to approve of surgery over rest/rehab regimen.

Its not solely up to the team to make the call for surgery and considering KG has never gone under the knife, I wouldn't be suprised if he was reluctant to take that course of action over rest/rehab.

In the end, I think he'll make it through the playoffs on a regiment of minutes designed to give him optimal recovery time - I expect 20-25 mpg with situational usage paramount for opening 1st/2nd half, closing 4th, and stopping opponents runs...it can be done...

[Hoops]

In the end, I think he'll make it through the playoffs on a regiment of minutes designed to give him optimal recovery time - I expect 20-25 mpg with situational usage paramount for opening 1st/2nd half, closing 4th, and stopping opponents runs...it can be done...

This seems like a sensible view to me. I think there are too many extremists in the KG debate.

[Amonkey]

The bottom line is that it's important that KG is healthy, and if he's not ready to go then he shouldn't, but we are not hanging #18 if he doesn't play in the playoffs.  We might say let him rest, better rest now for next year.  Well, we don't know how we'll be next season, but we sure are not winning the championship this year if KG is not playing.  Just saying...

[Chris]

In the end, I think he'll make it through the playoffs on a regiment of minutes designed to give him optimal recovery time - I expect 20-25 mpg with situational usage paramount for opening 1st/2nd half, closing 4th, and stopping opponents runs...it can be done...

This seems like a sensible view to me. I think there are too many extremists in the KG debate.

I'll pile on, and say I agree too.

For me, the biggest question is whether KG will be able to sit down on the bench, and then come back without having a problem.  If he can do that, then they can absolutely structure his minutes for the maximum production. 

Big Baby and Powe are going to need to be huge in this playoff run.  They have both shown that they have the ability to be quality rotation players on a 60 win team, as has Perk.  I feel completely comfortable with all 4 big men playing somewhere between 20-30 minutes each game, with the flexibility to interchange them based on matchups. 

[celticinorlando]

if KG can give boston 27-30 minutes...i will be happy

[nickagneta]

2. Assuming the initial examination detected that spur, KG himself still would have to approve of surgery over rest/rehab regimen.

Its not solely up to the team to make the call for surgery and considering KG has never gone under the knife, I wouldn't be suprised if he was reluctant to take that course of action over rest/rehab.

Well, of course, but what you are doing is speculation. No one but KG, his doctors, and the team know for sure when the spur was detected and what options were put on the table to rectify the situation. If the procedure was done arthroscopically, there would have been no knife and I am sure KG is well aware that arthroscopes are extremely minorly invasive and have fast recovery times, so whether he had surgery or not before just isn't a good excuse for not going forward with it.

I don't think the full truth of what happened behind the scenes with this injury will ever become public, but if this was something that could already have been fixed by now if the spur was detected right away, then either KG let the team down by not going through with it or the team, the doctors and KG all erred greatly in thinking that rest and rehab would be the way to go.

I love what the Celtics have done without KG and proud that they have shown the heart and tenacity of the Champion that they are. But the "window" is only open so long and I just hope that someone didn't make a dumb decision that could have cost the Celtics banner 18.