Nachbar undergoes operation for hernia By MICHAEL MURPHY Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle When the Rockets get back to work Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Southern California Pro Summer League, they will be short one body. Bostjan Nachbar, the 6-8 Slovenian small forward who was the 15th pick in last month's NBA draft, returned to Houston to undergo hernia surgery and will miss about three weeks. It was originally thought Nachbar, 21, who last year averaged 13.7 points for Italian power Benetton Treviso, had a strained groin. Further tests revealed the hernia. "It's really no big deal," said Rockets trainer Keith Jones, who is in Long Beach with the summer-league team. "When we first discovered (the hernia), we thought we could try and get him through the summer league. But it was really bothering him, so we just told him to forget it, to go home and get it taken care of. "He'll get the surgery done, sit out two or three weeks, and then he'll be ready to go. Like I said, it's really not that big a deal." On a more positive note, guard Steve Francis joined the team in Long Beach, although he will not play in the summer league. Francis, who underwent surgery on his right (shooting) shoulder to repair the labrum cartilage, has been working out with the Rockets' coaching staff and has been impressive. "Steve's been awesome, just awesome," Jones said. "He's been shooting the ball real well. The problem now is keeping him from overdoing it. I'm in the gym with him all the time -- `No, Steve, you can't do that. No, Steve, you can't do that, either. Yes, Steve, you can do that. Hey, Steve, how about we get back to that later?' "He fights it a little bit because he's so anxious to get back to playing, but he's really been great." Another bit of good news was having forward Maurice Taylor also show up, ready for serious workouts with the coaching staff. Taylor, who missed the 2001-02 season after tearing his right Achilles' tendon, appears recovered and has shed much of the excess weight he gained during his idle time. He checked in at 285 pounds. "Mo was great," Jones said. "He really looks good. He's been having some great workouts with the coaches. He's really moving well and running the floor well. We're not going to let him play, but so far he's really looking good." Forward Glen Rice, limited to 20 games last season because of a partially torn patellar tendon, is expected to join the workouts, as is center Kelvin Cato. The Rockets will play eight games between today and July 20 against the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers, twice playing the Lakers and the Heat. The Rockets' roster includes Eddie Griffin, Terence Morris, Oscar Torres, Jason Collier and Tierre Brown off last year's regular-season roster and free agents such as former Cy Creek star Ike Nwankwo and Venson Hamilton, a second-round pick by the Rockets in 1999.
Mo is down to 285 already? That is very good news. And BBM, it was quite a shock that there was no mention of all the offseason work Cato surely must have put in.
mo may prove me right about saying that he will start the season at 270, and end the season at his playing weight (260).
Cato will never go . . . he's also <i><b>expected</b></i> to rebound, and I think a precedent has been set.
Why does Venson Hamilton keep coming back with our team. He hasn't made it yet and with all the pf's he probably won't. He should just try with another team. If Dane Fife can pick where he wants, so can Venson Hamilton.
well it does suck, but on the other hand...YEAH THIS IS GREAT ALL OUR PLAYERS ARE COMING BACK!!! its like dragon ball z, everybody is getting beat up and Goku comes to the rescue. But instead Goku is the New and improved healthy players we are getting. WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! Its time for us to make somepost season noise BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!
This sucks,but there is some good news about it... 1.I saw an Interview on Fox with Boki, and he has already found the better half of American restraunts because the interview was in front of a.........hOOters! I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the orange RS and realizd it was a hOOters..lmao that was funny.. 2.Correct meif im wrong but doesnt a hernia come from working out with two heavy of weights.......thats a good sign.
Oh, forgot to add that during the interview they said he will sign I deal sometime this week. Its a three year deal with a team opton.
I'll I have to say is OOOOODDDDDD!!! Here we go again with an injury plagued year...Yeah I know it's just a hernia and crap like that, but it's just the first sign...Hell, Steve only had a headache! Very pissed, wanted to see Nachbar play this week, but now I get to watch the same stiffs as last year save Eddie Griffin (stiff that is). I just hope at least Tito is playing so I can see what type of player he can be.
I'm no surgeon, but I think Boki having a hernia is probably better than him having a bad groin. At least they can fix the hernia, whereas a pulled groin can linger all year
George Willams had hernia surgery this summer just a couple weeks before the Chicago draft camp and was still able to attend and play. Boki will be ok. os
Well guy's I hope that Boki makes a full recovery, and is ready to go for the preseason games, because I think that this guy is going to help our team more than Yao.
