JJ back shooting jumpers in practice!

[Admin]

I've had a feeling that we'd be looking more along the lines of 4 weeks or possibly less for JJ and hopefully this is a good sign that it will happen.

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2010/12/13/atlanta-hawks-joe-johnson-shoots-js/?cxntfid=blogs_hawks

Just 10 days after he had surgery to remove a loose body from his shooting elbow, Hawks guard Joe Johnson was making jump shots today at Hawks practice.

Johnson took some midrange jump shots near the end of the team’s practice. He said the first 10 attempts felt awkward because it had been so long since he got shots up.

“For the most part if was pain-free,” he said. “But we are taking it one day at a time. I may have a little soreness tomorrow. We are trying to get it as strong as possible.”

Johnson and the team said his activity today is not an indication that he will return sooner than the minimum four weeks announced when he had the procedure on Dec. 2. But coach Larry Drew took it as a sign that Johnson at least might be on the short end of the four to six week timetable.

“Heck yeah,” he said. “It was good to see him out there. I don’t know what the timetable is as far as his comeback. But I am very encouraged that he is able to be out there just to shoot. We will see how it goes as he continues his therapy.”

Johnson has been durable during his career and is reluctant to sit out games due to injury. The team wasn’t even aware of the seriousness of the elbow injury until the pain became too much for Johnson to ignore and he sought medical treatment.

But Johnson said sitting out might end up being the best thing for both him and the team in the long run. The Hawks have won five of seven games without Johnson, whose uncharacteristic shooting woes were in stark contrast to the accuracy of the rest of Atlanta’s regulars.

“Things happen in mysterious ways,” Johnson said. “This could be a blessing in disguise. It can help me feel better or give me a break, and let the guys go out there and figure things out [without him]. Who knows? So far, so good.”

The Hawks have managed to win without Johnson but Drew said he looks forward to getting him back healthy and productive. Johnson has generally fit in with Drew’s philosophy of sharing the ball and spreading around the scoring (he leads the team in assists per game) so if he can improve his shooting accuracy while maintaining that approach Atlanta’s offense should be enhanced.

“He has missed a lot of good looks, shots that he normally makes,” Drew said. “We are just hoping the problem was the elbow and we can get the ‘old Joe’ back.”

Johnson’s return also would allow Drew to cease the lineup shuffling that’s included using Marvin Williams at shooting guard. Drew has used Johnson to defend point guards, shooting guards and small forwards, and the recent addition of Damien Wilkins as a defensive specialist should help ease the burden on Johnson.

Johnson was struggling and the Hawks have managed without him but he is the team’s top dog and their longtime mainstay.

“I do like the fact that we are less predictable [without Johnson] but I also know that with Joe in the lineup, he is a go-to guy,” Drew said. “I know in most cases he is going to command a double team. It is just a matter of making the right play out of the double team which he has shown the willingness to do. His presence [is important]. I know when he is out there, I can see the body language of our players they swell with confidence with his presence.”

– Al Horford (hand), Mo Evans (knee) and Josh Powell (knee) missed portions of practice today. The Hawks said all are expected to play tomorrow at Detroit.

[lethalweapon3]

Mo Evans (knee)

"Hi, Jeff Gillooly? It's Lethal. Hey, listen..."

~lw3

[frosgrim]

My only concern is that JJ will push himself too hard. The Hawks need to sit on him to make sure he comes back fully healthy. An extra week of healing isn't going to sink the Hawks playoff chances. It may cost the team a position in the seeding, but that is better than having JJ miss another month because of a set back from coming back too quickly.

[mrhonline]

Subject: "JJ back shooting jumpers in practice!"

Did he hit any of them? :hush:

[AnthonyI11]

Did he hit any of them? :hush:

If you could read the first sentence says he was.

[exodus]

"Hi, Jeff Gillooly? It's Lethal. Hey, listen..."

~lw3

Haha seriously Mo has been garbage.

[Wretch]

Good news.

[niremetal]

My only concern is that JJ will push himself too hard. The Hawks need to sit on him to make sure he comes back fully healthy. An extra week of healing isn't going to sink the Hawks playoff chances. It may cost the team a position in the seeding, but that is better than having JJ miss another month because of a set back from coming back too quickly.

He didn't have any structural damage to his elbow - they just cleaned out the joint. I've had arthroscopies done before, and as I understand it the need for a recovery period after an arthroscopic procedure where you didn't "sew up" anything inside the body is simply because it's painful to move the joint around too much while the tissue around the incisions is healing. But you actually need to move the joint around somewhat starting a week or two after the procedure so that you don't end up with toughened scar tissue, which can affect range of motion and cause longer-term pain/discomfort depending on the location and thickness of the scar tissue. So unless there's something more to his injury than what's been reported, I don't think there's any way that coming back too quickly will cause long-term issues (although it would affect his short-term performance because he'd be playing through pain). Even if he wasn't shooting a basketball, I'd imagine he should be doing some physical therapy on his elbow by this point.

If there's a doctor around who is more familiar with this stuff, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the way I remember it being explained to me.

Edited December 14, 2010 by niremetal

[IHeartAtlanta]

Haha seriously Mo has been garbage.

and thats being nice....lol

[frosgrim]

He didn't have any structural damage to his elbow - they just cleaned out the joint. I've had arthroscopies done before, and as I understand it the need for a recovery period after an arthroscopic procedure where you didn't "sew up" anything inside the body is simply because it's painful to move the joint around too much while the tissue around the incisions is healing. But you actually need to move the joint around somewhat starting a week or two after the procedure so that you don't end up with toughened scar tissue, which can affect range of motion and cause longer-term pain/discomfort depending on the location and thickness of the scar tissue. So unless there's something more to his injury than what's been reported, I don't think there's any way that coming back too quickly will cause long-term issues (although it would affect his short-term performance because he'd be playing through pain). Even if he wasn't shooting a basketball, I'd imagine he should be doing some physical therapy on his elbow by this point.

If there's a doctor around who is more familiar with this stuff, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the way I remember it being explained to me.

Thanks Nire. That is a good point about it just being a cleaning procdure. Getting JJ back will be a boost for the club.