Despite his team just coming off a nice victory over the Bulls, Flip Saunders was blunt when responding to the first query of Monday night’s post-game press conference.
After the win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night when Wizard coach Flip Saunders stood at the podium andwas greeted with the million dollar question:
“Josh Howard update?,” began a voice from the media corps.
“Knee. Know more tomorrow,” he followed. “I’m sure he’ll be out for a little bit,” the coach trailed off as he surveyed the room for the next question.
It’s hard to tell what Saunders really knew about what had been called a sprained left knee at that exact moment, judgment is usually withheld until an MRI is procured. But his demeanor regarding the subject spoke of a grim outlook, as if the worst was expected, as if the post-game diagnosis divulged a strong possibility that it was more than a sprain.
The injury turned out to be much worse than a sprain. As you probably know by now, Howard will be out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Wizards Insider reports that Saunders found out the final and official verdict about a half-hour into this morning’s practice.
When I first heard the news via Twitter, I was shocked … in a state of disbelief.
Did this really just happen to the Wizards, much less to a guy essentially playing for an NBA contract?
Flip Saunders said, “I’m numb to everything at this point.”
I’m not.
Numbness only comes after jumping into a tub of ice and staying there for a while. It’s not like I’m constantly sitting sub-zero water. If that were case, I’d be long dead by now. No, my Washington Wizards fandom keeps being doused with freezing water just when I think I’m close to being able to dry off.
This makes me think back to what Flip Saunders said in late Dec.:
“Don’t ever think it can’t get any worse, because it can.””
Yeah, so you know the ‘Things Could Always Be Worse’ motto … ?(something I’ve often lived by in life.)
So, when one of the newest Wizards, who happens to be one of the team’s three best players, goes out for the season, you gotta say, “Well, at least the Wizards aren’t dealing with ….”
Aw screw it. I’m not going to say.
