Royce White – Fight or Flight

It’s a big day tomorrow for Royce White. The former Iowa State and Minnesota Forward is waiting, with bated breath, to find out where he will land in tomorrow’s NBA draft.

During last week’s pre-draft combine, the 270 pound Forward told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz,

“I’ve just got to be 100 percent honest in the interviews and everywhere this week and in the process. It’s hard to keep up with the lies, and it’s harder with anxiety. It’s a stress-booster. I’ve got to be 100 percent honest.”

Apparently White has an anxiety disorder that includes obsessive-compulsive disorder and a fear flying. With millions of dollars on the line, you have to give White some credit for manning-up and being willing to talk about his diagnosis. While most people in White’s situation would stay quiet until at least after the check was cut, White has chosen to be the voice of an often underground medical condition that frequently gets labeled as a character flaw, as opposed to a true health diagnoses. Royce White wants to make it very clear that it’s not impacting his play. He is hoping that by being completely forthcoming, others that are suffering from the same symptoms, will get help sooner. He also apparently believes in the team executives to take the high-road on this one.

Unfortunately, in a situation like the NBA draft, which will occur on June 28, 2012, teams are often scared off by anything that raises the mildest of red flags. There are a lot of guys coming out of college that have good stats, but Royce should still statistically go in the 1st round. There is rumor that there’s a Savior deal at pick number 21 with the Boston Celtics. That sounds like a pretty good opportunity in the long run, even if it doesn’t pay off financially, short-term.

Like every other professional sports organization, the NBA has a bottom dollar. They’re constantly weighing their risk/return ratio and anything that tips the scale into the red is going to be heavily scrutinized. It would be a real shame if his talented player, who has successfully flown all during his college career, would be passed over for a player of lesser talent, based on honesty. Flying is a necessity in the professional sports business and Royce White knows that. He hasn’t said he wouldn’t fly– only that he has a fear of flying. Any front office should know that there are well-developed programs in place to deal with the issue of frightful flying. In the long run, it would be a lot less expensive–for whoever ultimately drafts White–to engage him in some intensive flight psychotherapy than to take a complete pass. What Royce White can bring to a team, in terms of returns, seem to far outweigh any downside of drafting him.

To be fair, White has had some scuffles in the past, at the high school and early college level, but that seems to have been dealt with properly. There was a high school expulsion, in addition to a shoplifting conviction and theft investigation during his brief stay in Minnesota. These factors, no doubt, are being lumped together with White’s documented anxiety disorder.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow in Newark. Given that Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a true mental health diagnosis, just as a torn ACL or other musculoskeletal issue would be, I wouldn’t necessarily expect the professional teams to overlook the situation completely. They wouldn’t overlook a bad knee and I don’t imagine they’ll look past a mental health disorder either. Let’s just hope, that if it does come down to anything lower than the Boston Celtic’s 21st pick, that Royce White will have brought some honest awareness to the dark underbelly of mental illness.

Wow… That seems like such a dirty statement for a guy that’s just afraid to fly.

Posted on June 27, 2012 by admin in Basketball, Professional Basketball Leave a comment

It Was All Gone In A “Linstant” for Jeremy

Dominating notoriety, lucrative endorsements and back to back Sports Illustrated covers served to make the sting in Jeremy Lin’s knee that much more painful. Lin, the zero to sixty point guard for the New York Knicks, is being sent back to the pine after a brief stop in the operating room.

The timing could have been worse. He could have required the meniscus surgery early in the year. Had that happened, it is quite likely that the majority of casual NBA fans might never have even heard of Jeremy Lin.

“If this was done very early in the year, obviously … I don’t know where my career would be. I could be, would be definitely without a job and probably fighting for a summer league spot,” Lin said. “But having said that, this happening now hurts just as much, because all the players, we really put our heart and souls into the team and into the season, and to not be there when it really matters most is hard.”

Then again, the timing could have been better. With momentum and public interest behind them, not in small part to Lin, the Knicks will have to reevaluate their game plan. The injury comes on the heals of the loss of Amare Stoudemire, who is out for up to four weeks with a back injury. This leaves the Knicks with the delema of how to put points on the board with their second and third-leading scorers most likely out for the rest of the season.

It’s not a career ending injury. It’s a chronic, small tear that happened at some point in the past. New York coach Mike Woodson has gone on record stating that he won’t be shopping for guards, so he obviously understands that point. That is very good news for the initially un-drafted Harvard graduate.

“We’ve got to go on, but he’s a big piece of our puzzle and what we’ve been doing as of late. All is not bad — we have three veteran point guards sitting over there — but we’ve just got to make do until he’s able to get back in uniform,” Woodson said. “But it is a big blow. He was starting to come as a player and it’s not a career-ending injury. Plenty of people play with meniscus problems. He’ll bounce back. We will anxiously await for him to get better.”

Lin has been playing with the injury for quite some time but had a recent flair of the problem against Detroit last Saturday. Lin left the game in the third quarter and did not return. He took part in a shootaround during this past week and had a re-evaluation at the end of this past week. His knee was no longer edematous, but the pain persisted. At that point, the decision was made to pursue a surgical treatment.

This radiographic image represents an example of a torn meniscus and is not meant to represent the injury sustained by Jeremy Lin

A meniscal tear can be career-ending, but that is not the way the majority of these injuries play out in the professional arena. The meniscal tear in Lin’s knee is reported to be chronic and mild. That being the case, the actual surgery should take less than 30 minutes. In addition to the surgical repair of the meniscus, the surgeon will most certainly spend a few minutes getting an internal view of Lin’s knee. Due to the chronic nature of the injury, the surgeon will be looking for additional pathology that may have developed due to the inflammation from the initial tear. When it’s all said and done, this will hopefully be just a blip on Jeremy Lin’s career radar.

Whatever the outcome, it has been an exciting and unexpected ride for Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks and NBA basketball fans everywhere.

Posted on April 2, 2012 by admin in Basketball, Professional Basketball Leave a comment

It’s Groundhog Day for the Tar Heels

Is it just me or does it feel like Groundhog Day for the North Carolina Tar Heels? Way back in 1984, with North Carolina heavily favored to win the national championship, a point guard with a broken wrist helped to derail the pursuit. Eerily similar circumstances, to those of point guard Kendall Marshall, produced a non-dominant fracture to the wrist of then guard Kenny Smith. Few would question the fact that North Carolina’s team is made up of stars this year. However, you might have a hard time convincing me that the 2012 team stacks up in superior fashion next to 1984′s loaded team, which included Michael Jordan Sam Perkins. They couldn’t get it done in 1984 and that leads me to wonder if it is possible in 2012.

Kendall Marshall’s fracture, over the weekend, involved the scaphoid bone of his right wrist.

The scaphoid bone is located on the thumb side of the wrist and is said to resemble a cashew. Nearly 60% of all wrist fractures involve the scaphoid bone. The angle at which contact is made, during the injury, determines where on the scaphoid bone, the fracture occurs. The majority of fractures occur in the middle or lower portion of the bone.

Kendall Marshall had a surgical stabilization of the scaphoid bone in his right wrist on Monday and let everyone know, today, that his cast had been removed.

Radiographic Image of a Scaphoid Repair. Disclaimer: Not meant to represent the surgical repair of Kendall Marshall

Fortunately, with Marshall being a lefty, the injury and subsequent surgery involves the non-shooting hand. North Carolina hasn’t ruled him out to play in St. Louis, but no one really expects him to be able to play in the Midwest regional semi-finals, on Friday. Factor in the fact that Dexter Strickland, the number 2 ball handler for the Tar Heels, was lost to a knee injury in January, and it makes most people who put the Tar Heels victorious have to fight the urge to send their brackets up in flames.

The media is making a big deal about the fact that Marshal tweeted he got his cast off. That’s truly secondary to the fact that Marshall required a surgical stabilization. There is no doubt that he is still sporting a soft, removable splint. It’s possible that Marshall’s orthopedic surgeon could put him in a bubble split, which would allow him to play this weekend. It is unlikely, however, that he could create the same chemistry of play we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the guard.

“I have no idea,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said when asked specifically about the chances of Marshall playing.

“I’m being truthful with you. If he comes running in here now and says ‘God I can play’ I’ll say ‘Well, let’s talk about this.’

I think they’ll do more than just talk. I can see Williams jumping for joy. Then again, how much faith can you put in a college player who is competing on the biggest stage of his collegiate career? What he thinks he is capable of and what he is really capable of are, most likely, two completely different things.

Time will tell if we see Kendall Marshall in the Tar Heel’s game on Friday. I’m on team “there’s no way, North Carolina can win the national championship without Marshall”. Then again…my bracket has Kentucky in the center position.

Posted on March 21, 2012 by admin in Basketball, Collegiate Basketball Leave a comment

Hey D-Wade, how are the injuries healing?

Courtesy of Getty Images

So much is being said about Dwayne Wade being severely injury prone. He’s never played a full number of regular-season games. This has never happened in his career. As of this day, there are 9 games that the Heat has played without the assistance of Wade. With a heavy schedule of 13 games in 21 days during the first 3 weeks of April, it’s only natural to wonder if Wade will be able to contribute what the team needs from him. The Heat can’t grab that top seed without Dwayne Wade. When you consider the numerous lumps and bumps Dwayne has taken, in addition to ongoing headaches and ankle sprains, you have to wonder if the playoffs will be in the cards for the Heat.

Wade’s injury status has more to do with the hard-core slashing type of game the baller plays. You mix in some bad timing and luck, you get a bad foot-plant and an even worse landing and there goes your game. A slashing game equates to an injury-prone game. But, if Dwayne Wade played a different type of game, Dwayne Wade wouldn’t be the player that he is. One needs to factor in the contribution Wade makes when he’s in the game. Lots of NBA players stay injury free, but their contributions pale in comparison to D-Wade. You have to take this guy as he is, and be delighted when he plays at full steam. Typically wade’s contribution is enough to put a “W” in the Heat’s score column.

I myself am not so sure that the amount of injuries Wayne has sustained, up to this point, are that far outside the realm of normalcy. Over the last 4 seasons, Wayne missed an average of five games. Kobe and LeBron missed an average of three. Sure, five is a higher number than 3, but is that enough to make a significant difference in the outcome of who wins and who loses, at the end of the season? Now I agree that if Dwayne Wade isn’t healthy, come playoff time, the Heat will most likely get swept in the 2nd round. But that’s a long way off.

All the conversation seems like nothing more than crafted drama to me. Everyone says Wayne is injury prone and that this year it will be the Heat’s demise. I say let’s prove that Duane Wade’s injured playing time equals less than a full-time contribution, in the grand scheme of things. Let’s have this conversation at the end of the season. Let’s see if it makes a difference to the bottom line. If not, it’s just a lot of noise. Dwayne Wade is a superstar. He plays like a superstar. He will continue to play like a superstar. Everybody gets injured when they play the type of game Wade plays. It’s rough and rugged and it’s just his game.

Posted on March 7, 2012 by admin in Basketball, Professional Basketball Leave a comment