This is from the East Valley Tribune:
Penny: Knee pain is gone
BY MIKE TULUMELLO
TRIBUNE
He's not quite claiming to be a "new man," but Penny Hardaway is talking like he's been given a new, improved left knee.
"I can bend my knee without any pain," a problem for him during his three seasons with the Suns, he said.
He credits a minor operation in April that removed scar tissue and removed a loose piece of cartilage from the knee.
The bottom line: Hardaway says he'll be ready to go in plenty of time for the start of the Suns' training camp on Oct. 1 in Flagstaff.
"That's a done deal," he says. "I'll be ready way before training camp starts."
Even so, he doesn't plan on engaging in any basketball activity until the middle or end of August. Until then, he wants to stick with his exercise regimen — leg lifts, pool work, running — designed to enhance the range of motion in the surgically repaired knee. The surgery was performed by Richard Steadman, a well-known knee specialist, on April 22 in Vail, Colo.
Hardaway visited Steadman during a late-season Suns road trip to Denver "to see what was prohibiting me from bending my leg normally," he said. So they decided on an operation.
"A cleanup, not a major surgery," Hardaway says.
The Suns guard says he's had a problem with range of motion in the knee dating back to his days in Orlando.
Here's one reason he sounds so hopeful these days: The one time he worked with a therapist on improving the knee's range of motion he responded with back-to-back 40-point games in the playoffs for Orlando vs. Miami.
But since his complicated "microfracture" operation in May 1999 as a member of the Suns, Hardaway says he's been concentrating on strengthening the knee.
"I was trying to get stronger. I left out the motion part."
Of course, Hardaway's talk of better days ahead has been heard before.
Last summer, coming off a season in which he'd played only four games because his knee was slow to respond to the microfracture surgery, he played in summer leagues and took part in Michael Jordan's preparation for a return to the NBA.
Then, Hardaway talked like his troubles might be behind him. But he made it through only one day of training camp before taking off for Canada to receive treatment from a special type of Ultrasound machine.
He started the season strong, playing well for the first month or so. Then his performance level dropped markedly.
Late in the season, he said he had purposely deferred to Shawn Marion and Stephon Marbury, allowing the two younger players to grow into their leading roles. He called this decision a "huge mistake" that ended up hurting his own game.
But the feeling within the Suns was that Hardaway had little choice, that his shaky play dictated a subordinate role.
Hardaway now says that as the season wore on, he would start out a game feeling OK, but that later in games, "I would get more sore."
Even with these troubles, Hardaway was leaping higher at the end of last season than at any time since he joined the Suns. Yet he still played erratically. Hardaway acknowledges he's been a disappointment with the Suns.
"It's embarrassing to me what's happened the past three years. I've never given the fans or the organization the chance to see the real Penny Hardaway."
And that's why he knows he must do more than talk a good game in mid-summer.
"I feel so much better that I can't describe it. But I have to show it.
"There will be questions because of the past. I just have to play the best I can."
Looks like Penny (and the Suns) are in full spin mode, trying to get him traded before the season.
Penny: Knee pain is gone
BY MIKE TULUMELLO
TRIBUNE
He's not quite claiming to be a "new man," but Penny Hardaway is talking like he's been given a new, improved left knee.
"I can bend my knee without any pain," a problem for him during his three seasons with the Suns, he said.
He credits a minor operation in April that removed scar tissue and removed a loose piece of cartilage from the knee.
The bottom line: Hardaway says he'll be ready to go in plenty of time for the start of the Suns' training camp on Oct. 1 in Flagstaff.
"That's a done deal," he says. "I'll be ready way before training camp starts."
Even so, he doesn't plan on engaging in any basketball activity until the middle or end of August. Until then, he wants to stick with his exercise regimen — leg lifts, pool work, running — designed to enhance the range of motion in the surgically repaired knee. The surgery was performed by Richard Steadman, a well-known knee specialist, on April 22 in Vail, Colo.
Hardaway visited Steadman during a late-season Suns road trip to Denver "to see what was prohibiting me from bending my leg normally," he said. So they decided on an operation.
"A cleanup, not a major surgery," Hardaway says.
The Suns guard says he's had a problem with range of motion in the knee dating back to his days in Orlando.
Here's one reason he sounds so hopeful these days: The one time he worked with a therapist on improving the knee's range of motion he responded with back-to-back 40-point games in the playoffs for Orlando vs. Miami.
But since his complicated "microfracture" operation in May 1999 as a member of the Suns, Hardaway says he's been concentrating on strengthening the knee.
"I was trying to get stronger. I left out the motion part."
Of course, Hardaway's talk of better days ahead has been heard before.
Last summer, coming off a season in which he'd played only four games because his knee was slow to respond to the microfracture surgery, he played in summer leagues and took part in Michael Jordan's preparation for a return to the NBA.
Then, Hardaway talked like his troubles might be behind him. But he made it through only one day of training camp before taking off for Canada to receive treatment from a special type of Ultrasound machine.
He started the season strong, playing well for the first month or so. Then his performance level dropped markedly.
Late in the season, he said he had purposely deferred to Shawn Marion and Stephon Marbury, allowing the two younger players to grow into their leading roles. He called this decision a "huge mistake" that ended up hurting his own game.
But the feeling within the Suns was that Hardaway had little choice, that his shaky play dictated a subordinate role.
Hardaway now says that as the season wore on, he would start out a game feeling OK, but that later in games, "I would get more sore."
Even with these troubles, Hardaway was leaping higher at the end of last season than at any time since he joined the Suns. Yet he still played erratically. Hardaway acknowledges he's been a disappointment with the Suns.
"It's embarrassing to me what's happened the past three years. I've never given the fans or the organization the chance to see the real Penny Hardaway."
And that's why he knows he must do more than talk a good game in mid-summer.
"I feel so much better that I can't describe it. But I have to show it.
"There will be questions because of the past. I just have to play the best I can."
Looks like Penny (and the Suns) are in full spin mode, trying to get him traded before the season.
