[MeirToTheWise]

Raja Bell Listed As Day-To-Day

This is from the Suns' Reporter's Notebook.

Raja Bell Listed As Day-To-Day
Posted: March 20, 2008

Suns guard Raja Bell is doing better than expected after spraining his ankle with 2:57 left in the third quarter of the Suns' road win over the Sonics on Wednesday.

According to Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson, Bell has minimal swelling and will be listed day-to-day. He is considered doubtful for Saturday.

Bell crumpled to the court after hitting his sixth 3-pointer when Seattle's Kevin Durant ran out on Bell during the shot and Bell's right foot landed on top of Durant's foot. X-rays were negative and his sprain has been diagnosed as mild to moderate sprain.

The First-Team All-NBA Defensive Team guard is averaging 12.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game this season.

[Aylwin]

Even though we'd want him to guard McGrady, I think we can handle the Rockets without him. I'd rather that he rest.

[All Net]

I believe he wont play the next couple of games... prolly playing against the Celtics imo.

[MeirToTheWise]

Here's an update:

Bell To Sit Out Game With Ankle Injury

By Jerry Brown
eastvalleytribune.com,
March 20, 2008

Raja Bell will miss Saturday’s game against Houston after spraining his right ankle late in the third quarter of Wednesday’s win over the Seattle SuperSonics.

Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni said Bell won’t play against the Rockets and that Leandro Barbosa will start in his place.

Gordan Giricek, who missed the Seattle game with a quadriceps contusion suffered in a collision with Portland’s James Jones on Tuesday, is expected to be back for the Rockets game although that won’t be set in stone until he can get through practice today.

Suns head trainer Aaron Nelson said he was encouraged by the minimal swelling of Bell’s ankle after the long flight from Seattle Wednesday night, and with the range of motion it showed during Thursday’s treatment session.

Bell will be listed as day-today after the Rockets game, but his availability for the opener of a four-game road trip Monday in Detroit or for Wednesday in Boston is undetermined.

Bell sprained the same ankle on Nov. 9 in Miami when he landed on the foot of then-Miami center Shaquille O’Neal. He missed three games with the ankle injury and two more a week later due to back spasms that may have been related to an imbalance caused by the sprain.

But Nelson said this sprain doesn’t look as bad initially.

“When he sprained it the first time, his ankle blew up during a 30-minute flight from Miami to Orlando after the game,” Nelson said. “This time, we flew three hours and the ankle reacted much better. We’re going to be cautious, but the range of motion and the strength will tell us where we stand.”

The injury is particularly frustrating to Bell because he was clicking on both ends of the floor. He hit all six of his 3-pointers against the Sonics and had at least three bombs in four of the last six games.

On defense, he had been on a streak of shutting or slowing down opposing scorers ranging from San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili to Golden State’s Monta Ellis, Sacramento’s Kevin Martin, Portland’s Brandon Roy and Seattle’s Kevin Durant.

“Raja knows that when he got hurt he was rolling and he can keep that in his mind.” D’Antoni said. “We want to get him back as soon as possible, but we want him right and ready to go when he does. He’s a huge part of our team both on the floor and mentally.”

Bell was in good spirits after the game and said he’s hoping to stay in the groove.

“My shot is really feeling good right now and the best part of (Wednesday) was I was able to get up under Durant a little bit and I was excited about the job I was doing,” he said. “It’s a tough break and not something you want to have happen, but I don’t think it’s going to be too bad.”

[MeirToTheWise]

Decided to change the name of the thread title to "Raja Bell Current Injury Thread" since I figured there will be a slew of articles for each game he misses, so instead of making a new thread for each one I could just put them here ^_^

Well... That's what I would say if I had the capabilities to do so. Hence, I'll just wait until Diss sees this so he can change it with his mighty mod powers, lol ^_^

[MeirToTheWise]

Time for an update ^_^

Bell 'Optimistic'

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 22, 2008 10:37 PM

Suns guard Raja Bell did not dress for Saturday's game because of the right ankle he sprained Wednesday but is hopeful to practice today and return to game action on this week's road trip.

"It feels better than I thought it was going to initially so that's really good," Bell said. "I'm excited. I'm very optimistic. I'd like to get a practice under my belt to gauge it better.

"You don't want to come back and make it something that lingers. Last time, I had an ankle (in November) and I came back and it triggered my back. I want to avoid that. In a situation like (Saturday's) game where it feels pretty good, I think it's in my best interest to not go out there and run around with a limp. I'll wait it out and give it those two days before Detroit and hopefully be ready to play on the trip."

[MeirToTheWise]

Bell Update

Bell Update

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 23, 2008 08:30 PM

Suns guard Raja Bell, who missed Saturday's game because of a right-ankle sprain, participated in three-on-three play at Sunday's practice. His playing status was upgraded to questionable for Monday's game by Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson.

"He looked pretty good," D'Antoni said. "He moved pretty well."

A determination on Bell will be made after this morning's shootaround. If he can't go, Barbosa would start again.

Let's see what happens. I really don't want him to rush back too soon and end up hurting the ankle even more or somewhere else on his body by overcompensating >_>