Gil's knee

by finkad01 on Nov 7, 2007 3:38 PM EST

Editor's Note: Bumped from the diaries, so everyone can discuss this. Personally, a part of me is thinking everything's okay, but there's another voice shouting out "Rememeber MJ's comeback." There are a lot of eerie parallels; the overwork, the lack of communication between player and coach, etc. Gil's not MJ, so that makes me more hopeful, but I'm waiting to see Gil in action before judging him.

Also, see jvflail's diary and DarrellWalkerFan's comment. -PM.

Just saw this article on ESPN.com. Does anyone know what this means? Is having a knee drained serious/does it show that his knee is not healing properly? Obviously the fact that he is missing practice is not a good thing and will not help him find his shot any sooner. It just appears that it could be a very long season for the Wizards if this is bad news. I just hope that I'm overreacting and that he will be fine and the Wiz will recover from a slow start.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.

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Gil's knee

This is just my interpretation, but I've had arthroscopic surgery on my meniscus as well. Gil's off-season surgery repaired the "padding cartilage" between his femur, tibia, and fibula, but the stress of NBA-level basketball is causing those bones to grind against each other. To stop this grinding, the knee fills with fluid. Sometimes, draining works, the knee gets used to the new situation, and the irritation goes away. Other times, more surgery is needed. We'll know it's bad news if we hear reports that he is going in for another MRI. As it is, the news of Gil being 1-17 from 3 and looking totally uncomfortable is bad enough.

by jvflail on Nov 7, 2007 4:43 PM EST reply actions

I found this

http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/kneegeeks/7056030401.html

I'm not a doctor, so I have no idea what it's saying but if you can understand it, more power to you.

Bullets Forever: Your place for the very latest in Wizards news and PhD-level analysis.

by Jake Whitacre on Nov 7, 2007 5:41 PM EST reply actions

Damn MRIs

Damn jvflail....

Looks like you were too right for your own good.

David Aldridge reported that he spoke with Gil after the game and he IS going to get an MRI on the knee.

This does not look good, not even sure if he'll play tonight against the Nugs.

Thing is...they were all saying the he was pain free, but it was just stiff. What does that mean?

truthaboutit.net

truthaboutit

by Kyle Weidie on Nov 9, 2007 1:54 AM EST reply actions

It could be nothing...or...

Why couldn't I be right about the stock market instead?

Here's my take, and again: I'm no doctor...

Gil's knee is filling with fluid for a reason. Since he's already gone through rehab, I don't buy the "normal post-surgical recovery schedule" excuse. His knee was fine when he rode his bike through the city and was parachute-running at a local high-school. His knee started bothering him the moment he began to play competitive basketball this year. Nor do I buy Gilbert's "I wasn't icing it correctly" excuse. The man is the cornerstone of the franchise. He probably has 8 different people checking on him every 5 minutes to make sure he's icing his knee correctly.

So, this is my guess and my worst fear: The meniscus repair didn't hold. A meniscus tear basically means you've ripped up the padding cartilage in your knee that protects your major leg bones from grinding against each other. Surgeons repair the tear by going in with arthroscopic surgery and sewing the cartilage back into place. Now, I don't know if the repair didn't hold 5%, 50%, or at all. Maybe it's fine and I'm just flat wrong. What I do know is that once you tear your meniscus, it's never 100% again and in a grinding sport like basketball, the sewing can break very easily and the padding can rip up again. If that's happened, we're looking at more surgery and a lay-off of a month or 2. It's not a season-ender, because surgeons normally remove the entire meniscus after the 2nd rip up. This means the recovery time is shorter, but Gil will have some serious knee tendenitis later in life.

Unfortunately, we're at the mercy of the stupid MRI.

by jvflail on Nov 9, 2007 12:02 PM EST up reply actions