Posts Tagged ‘knee’

Andrew Bynum Should Receive Blood Injections for Knee

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Andrew Bynum is still out for roughly another 2 months…again putting in doubt his availability for the playoffs. 

His rehabilitation should involve a new treatment involving the athlete’s own blood to heal injuries, as reported by the New York Times:

“The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting portions of a patient’s blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body’s instincts to repair muscle, bone and other tissue. Most enticing, many doctors said, is that the technique appears to help regenerate ligament and tendon fibers, which could shorten rehabilitation time and possibly obviate surgery.”

Takeashi Saito, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy to heal a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. Instead of being out for a year after surgery, he recovered in 2-3 months.

Hines Ward, the Pittsburgh Steeler’s receiver, suffered a grade-2 MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprain. While originally predicted to miss 5-6 weeks, Ward underwent the blood injection treatment and came back in two weeks to play in the superbowl. Equally important, he avoided offseason surgery on his knee. 

Andrew Bynum also injured his MCL on his right knee. The Lakers didn’t reveal what level sprain it was, the 8-12 week recovery time hinted at a level 2 or 3 sprain. A level 2 is a partial tear and is somewhat disabling. A level 3 is a complete tear and often requires surgery. Considering Bynum and the Lakers’ optimism, minimal swelling, and Bynum’s relative mobility (he now walks without a crutch and took some pregame shots yesterday), his injury appears to be a level 2 sprain, which is what Hines Ward suffered.

I hope he does receive this cutting edge blood injection treatment, because it would mean not only a faster recovery time for the playoffs, but also a good way to avoid surgery.

What’s troubling is the fact that Bynum prefers to work with his own people rather than the Lakers. The difference in medical opinions between the Lakers’ medical consultants and Bynum’s personal doctors on the East Coast caused some problems last year, especially since Bynum’s extension was at stake. 

This may be an ongoing problem. According to the OC Register’s Kevin Ding, Lakers trainer Gary Vitti revealed that Bynum would be susceptible to knee injuries due to his body (knock knees and wide pelvis).

All this should call for perhaps a more comprehensive approach to Bynum’s condition. Jordan Farmar does Yoga for better balance and body control. Perhaps Bynum should follow suit; at this point, he’s undoubtedly injury-prone, with 3 major knee injuries in the past 5 years. 

I just hope Bynum’s personal trainer and doctors are open to these ideas. Blood injections to help him heal, then daily Yoga or dance sessions to prevent injuries.

He’s a gangly, awkward big man with an odd gait. In contrast, Shaq, despite his massive size, had great mobility, footwork, and body control. Probably the best in history for a 300-pound, 7-footer. That’s probably why Shaq’s been relatively durable over his career, despite frequently being out of shape.

 

 

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Bynum Out 2-3 Months; Lakers Must Look to Deal

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

If the Lakers want to win a championship this year, the Lakers need to prepare for Bynum’s absence by considering him out for the season. Out. Gone. No mas.

Now, let’s revisit the team that made it to the Finals against Boston.

First of all, the Spurs will be a much bigger threat if Manu Ginobili is healthy. We handled them last year, but only after a controversial, game-deciding no-call involving Fisher. Bynum actually played extremely well against Tim Duncan in the last game, so losing Bynum would hurt us most in this series, where Bynum’s length and strength clearly bothered the Hall-of-Fame bound big man.

But the bigger challenge is still the Boston Celtics. True, Bynum has never played well offensively against the Celtics. Kendrick Perkins has outplayed him almost every time, except for the last game we won on Christmas, where they both played to a standstill:

9 (on 4-7 shooting, 1-2 free throws), 7 rebounds, 2 blocks for Bynum;
8(on 4-5 shooting), 7 and 2 for Perkins.

However, Bynum did add something missing from last year: defense, specifically basket protection on drives. Last year, Boston’s guards had open layups after getting simple picks. Bynum alters a lot of shots due to his length, even without getting credited for a block. Andrew also has a bigger presence, which discourages post play from Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett, who himself has a tendency to shoot jumpers.

In short, Bynum is a big blow for our defensive potential.

Still, there are two ways to slice this pickle. 

Get another big man. Sacramento seems to be begging for an Lamar Odom – Brad Miller swap. It might not be bad, considering Odom is likely gone anyways after this season. Brad Miller has one more year on his contract, but Buss may be wiling to eat the tax on that for a chance to play his hand at the championship table. Getting another physical post player would take pressure off the finesse-oriented Gasol. If we were to get another big man, he must be able to protect the basket, rebound, and defend the pick-and-roll well.

However, these big men are rare. Thus, Mitch Kupchak may be best served by thinking outside the box: Find ways to upgrade at SF and PG. Defensively, the Lakers must do a better job on Pierce and Rondo. Believe it or not, Odom did play reasonably well against Perkins in the playoffs. However, our biggest deficiencies, in both the regular season and the playoffs, are at point guard and small forward.

Now, some are very high on Ariza. I’m not sold on him. His outside shot is inconsistent (32% on threes this year), he can’t create his own shot, and he’s an abysmal playmaker. His game is playing off the ball, shooting corner threes, and crashing boards. Defensively, he’s overrated. He’s not an individual lockdown defender. He has long arms and good anticipation, so he’s good at stealing the ball. He’s like a SF version of Smush Parker. He has the long, gangly frame, but there’s little power or strength in there, and he lacks essential triangle guard skills. 

On the other hand, Luke is injury-prone with an inconsistent outside shot and Radamn is absolutely deadweight on both ends of the floor. We don’t have a true starter, and Ariza prefers coming off the bench, which plays an uptempo game that fits his style.

Fish is just a pure point shooting guard in a point guard’s body, with the lack of speed or length to play adequate defense. Due to limited playmaking skills and drives-on-a-prayer, he’s a one-trick pony. On the other hand, Farmar has never been consistent throughout the year, including the playoffs, and is frequently exploited on the defensive end. He also doesn’t seem to fit too well with the starting unit and the triangle offense. Like Ariza and Odom, he thrives when pushing the ball and getting opportunities off the break. Sasha has been inconsistent at both guard positions so far this year. Again, there is no reliable starter at point guard.

As the trade deadline looms, we need to look for a point guard and small forward that are both starter quality and good fits with the team. They must make Lamar Odom, Radamnovic, Luke Walton, and even Farmar, and Ariza available. 

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