Commentary: Roy expects to be back on court, but for how long? Friday, December 08, 2006 BRIAN HENDRICKSON Columbian staff writerAdvertisement The true test starts tomorrow. That's when Portland Trail Blazers rookie Brandon Roy will start determining if his injured heel will let him return to the team. Twice he's given it time to rest. But he hasn't given the heel a true stress test since Nov. 10, when he took himself out of a game against New Orleans after the pain came roaring back. He did his time in an orthopedic boot to let the area recover. He's warmed up this week with bike riding exercises, swimming and even a little bit of shooting. But none of that tells Roy with certainty whether his injured heel will cooperate and allow him to finish the season pain free. That comes tomorrow. Roy at that time will start running on a treadmill and move up to sprints. If that goes well, he said he expects to practice on Thursday and return to the court against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. That's the plan if everything goes smoothly. But that's where Roy starts hesitating. This injury hasn't cooperated so far with optimistic projections. It has been persistent, and it won't be going away on its own. A piece of Roy's ankle bone, the talus, is overgrown. The extra piece has started pinching a muscle in the heel, which leads to pain and inflammation. The bone won't grow shorter without surgery to shave down the overgrown area. The hope is that the recent period of rest will reduce the inflammation enough so that the bone will stop irritating the muscle, and thus allow Roy to finish out the season. So that now becomes the question: After nearly a week of light rehab, has the rest worked? "I can feel a difference," Roy said. "I can tell that there's something that may have to be fixed in the summer." He can tell something may have to be fixed? That's not the answer you like to hear after nearly four weeks of rest. Maybe, "No pain yet. Feels great!" That would suggest progress and generate optimism. But to already know something may have to be fixed ... Roy is pressed further. How can he tell? "I can still feel it when I shoot, when I go up on my toes," Roy said. "I can feel a little pinch." He gives a nervous laugh, knowing the answer he gave holds an ominous tone. He can't be sure, he says, if it's just a mental block, or if it's still the same problem waiting to get irritated when he starts his heavy workouts this weekend. There's only one way to find out. Roy says he's giving it "one more time to go hard," and see where he stands. He would like to recover enough that finishing the season before having surgery won't be an unreasonable goal. He's played on this heel his whole life without a problem. Certainly he should be able to for another four months. And if the pain returns like it did before? It's a picture Roy prefers not to consider. But his efforts seem to have exhausted everything except surgery. He tried resting for several days after the pain grew too intense to continue playing, then was placed in an orthopedic boot when pain forced him out of a second game. Every time Roy has believed he can take a non-invasive approach to healing the injury, his heel proves him wrong. He was supposed to be in the boot for 7 to 14 days. It dragged on for three weeks. He was supposed to join the Blazers on their six-game road trip. Instead, he's riding a bike and working in a therapy pool in Portland. Now he expects to play against Los Angeles next week. Will the heel finally cooperate? Roy tries to be optimistic. But he stops short of certainty. "I want to get out there and play," Roy said. "I want to test it. I want to know if I can play." On Saturday, he'll start getting the answer. --

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