Brandon Roy's Torn Meniscus

[Redz]

Another blow for the Blazers.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13201453/blazers-allstar-roy-has-torn-meniscus-status-for-playoffs-uncertain?tag=globalNav.nba;cover

Would they really let him play through it? 

Seems like a heck of a break for whoever ends up playing the Blazers in the first round, although I'll bet they still put up a good fight.

[Roy Hobbs]

Man, that team has some seriously bad karma around it this season.

I don't think you can let him play through it.  You simply need to make the best of it, and look toward next year.

[Lucky17]

"I want to play," Roy said. "It's the playoffs. You play 82 games and take a beating just to get to this point."

Sounds like he's making it his call.

With a healthy Roy, I think the Blazers have as good a chance as anyone in that Western Conference. The Lakers have been on everyone's short list to make the finals, but they're recently proving that they're certainly not invincible.

Without Roy, it'll be tough sledding for Portland. He is unquestionably the soul of the team. If he's in street clothes, they roll over. If he's in uniform, even playing limited minutes, the team will play much harder.

[Roy Hobbs]

"I want to play," Roy said. "It's the playoffs. You play 82 games and take a beating just to get to this point."

Sounds like he's making it his call.

You've got to admire that mindset, but I think the team almost has to shut him down.  I mean, in hindsight, was it a good idea allowing Kevin McHale to play on a broken foot in '87?  It almost won us a championship, but it shortened / limited his career, so I would say no.

[LB3533]

I would say no too because the Blazers need to protect their young investment.

Wouldn't it be a shame if they allowed Roy to play hurt and the rest of his career he won't be the same while Greg Oden (knock on wood) becomes the healthy one?

The Blazers need to do their best to have all their guys healthy for the rest of their young careers.

[chelsearules]

[dang] blazers were looking so good early on... better shut him down and get him and oden healthy

[jgod213]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/roy-may-play-despite-torn-meniscus

He will require surgery and will be out from four to six weeks. But he said he may try to play with the injury in the playoffs because doctors told him it cannot get worse.

Not really sure how an injury like this "cannot get worse," but that's from what i read on msn this morning.

[jdpapa3]

Yea, the injury itself might not get worse, but I feel it is a huge risk that he will overcompensate and hurt something else seriously. Isn't that what Powe did last year? And you've gotta think that it's pointless to risk it since they have no shot with an 80% Roy.

[Donoghus]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/roy-may-play-despite-torn-meniscus

He will require surgery and will be out from four to six weeks. But he said he may try to play with the injury in the playoffs because doctors told him it cannot get worse.

Not really sure how an injury like this "cannot get worse," but that's from what i read on msn this morning.

Call me crazy but that's the thing that drew me in to.  If doctors are saying that he can't possibly get any worse before surgery, then maybe he can try and gut it out.  I have no idea how effective he'd be, though.  He's clearly going to have limited mobility too.

I wouldn't be surprised if the organization seriously frowned upon this attempt to play but I am curious about his ability to play through it if the doctors are saying that nothing is going to really change between now and surgery.  

I'm not a doctor but wouldn't a torn meniscus lead to added compensation on other joints in the knee?  So wouldn't the possibility exist that this added stress elsewhere could lead to another injury non-meniscus related?

[Roy Hobbs]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/roy-may-play-despite-torn-meniscus

He will require surgery and will be out from four to six weeks. But he said he may try to play with the injury in the playoffs because doctors told him it cannot get worse.

Not really sure how an injury like this "cannot get worse," but that's from what i read on msn this morning.

Call me crazy but that's the thing that drew me in to.  If doctors are saying that he can't possibly get any worse before surgery, then maybe he can try and gut it out.  I have no idea how effective he'd be, though.  He's clearly going to have limited mobility too.

I wouldn't be surprised if the organization seriously frowned upon this attempt to play but I am curious about his ability to play through it if the doctors are saying that nothing is going to really change between now and surgery.  

I'm not a doctor but wouldn't a torn meniscus lead to added compensation on other joints in the knee?  So wouldn't the possibility exist that this added stress elsewhere could lead to another injury non-meniscus related?

I agree with what you and jdp said.  Even if the meniscus itself can't be injured further, there's got to be a risk to other parts of the knee, right?  Any time you're playing in pain, your body is compensating somehow.

I think it's a stupid risk to let him play, made riskier by the fact that Roy has had other knee issues in the past.

[Donoghus]

[Redz]

and there's your case in point for why teams limit their stars' minutes the last week of the season.  Yes, they can happen any time, but you're a lot less likely to have one sitting on the bench.

[boston.balla]

20 years ago, when the alternative was open knee surgery - often worse than the injury itself - plenty of NBA players would play on mild meniscus tears, in many cases for years till the end of their careers. They'd have diminished range in some games, they had to ice their knees a lot, have them drained and take pain pills. It still happens.

No significant risk of overcompensating, as long as the pain is tolerable and he's moving decently. It's like playing with arthritis: if all the players suffering from it decided to sit down, teams would need 30 players rosters because at least 20 of them would always be injured. Pro athletes aren't supposed to be healthy, the human body wasn't designed to endure the level of physical effort they go through. If Roy can deal with the pain and the inflammations are under control he should play.

[FallGuy]

Depending on the tear, pieces of the meniscus can be free-floating in the knee and (as I remember it with my own tear) catch on other parts of the knee. The result, when movement is attempted, is an explosive POPPING within the knee. Very painful and halts movement entirely. It's hard to say whether Roy can gut it out or not without knowing the particulars of his injury.

Just brutal luck for the Blazers. If they'd had their two bigs and Roy all season, they'd probably be the best team in the west.

[Hoops]

20 years ago, when the alternative was open knee surgery - often worse than the injury itself - plenty of NBA players would play on mild meniscus tears, in many cases for years till the end of their careers. They'd have diminished range in some games, they had to ice their knees a lot, have them drained and take pain pills. It still happens.

No significant risk of overcompensating, as long as the pain is tolerable and he's moving decently. It's like playing with arthritis: if all the players suffering from it decided to sit down, teams would need 30 players rosters because at least 20 of them would always be injured. Pro athletes aren't supposed to be healthy, the human body wasn't designed to endure the level of physical effort they go through. If Roy can deal with the pain and the inflammations are under control he should play.

Good stuff. I agree. I actually have a meniscus tear in my knee right now. I happen to live in Portland as well and my doc (one of the best in town, but probably not B-Roy's doc) told me pretty much the same thing - that there's really no risk of further damage. I told him I wanted to finish out the rest of my rec league basketball season and he said that would be totally fine as long as I can handle any discomfort. He also said that lots of people go for years and years without even knowing that they have a meniscus tear - then one day, their knee starts hurting and they end up getting an MRI that shows the tear.

I'm like a lot of people that look at knee injuries as being really scary for athletes. But I've become convinced that a meniscus tear is easily the most minor of all knee injuries and perhaps less of a big deal than a bad ankle sprain. Long term, it shouldn't be a problem (unless the tear is so bad that he's left with no meniscus). In the short term, it's just a matter of getting any swelling down and then managing pain and mobility. I think he'll gut it out.