Stephen Curry’s Ankle: The Saga Continues

Since we last discussed the State of the Warriors, things have gotten a lot less Golden.

Against the Portland Trail Blazers last Friday, a decidedly unwelcome (but not unfamiliar) sight assaulted our eyes and struck at our hearts. Stephen Curry came up limping in the second quarter. The play was somewhat unusual, but not quite strange enough to justify the “freakish” label many are assigning it.

Depending on whose portrait of events you prefer, Portland’s Wes Matthews rolled up, kicked or stepped on Curry’s obviously unsound right ankle. Obviously still structurally unsound, the ankle buckled and rolled over. Curry immediately went into his familiar ankle-injury kata. You know the one. It includes a couple of quick hops on the good (a relative terms since both of Curry’s ankles have betrayed him) ankle, a low crouch and a game effort to jog off the pain.

But because everyone who’s been watching Curry for the last two years is intimately familiar with the details of his post-ankle-turn dance, we all knew what was happening. So did Mark Jackson.

Naturally, Curry’s coach put the kibosh on his return, despite Curry’s best attempts to persuade him he was fit to return.

Supposedly, it’s minor and supposedly he’d be able to play if this weren’t the preseason. Whatever.

With Curry, there’s no such thing as a minor ankle injury. They’re all major. When you’ve got a chronic condition that knocks you out of huge chunks of seasons, its recurrence simply cannot be significant.

The Double Ankle Exam

During Saturday’s practice, Dr. Richard Ferkel, the fine medicine man who opened up and (hopefully) fixed the ankles of both Steph Curry and Andrew Bogut, examined both of his patients.

And…gave us almost nothing.

Basically, neither player will play for the rest of the preseason. Curry should be able to give things a go for the season opener and Bogut might be ready. That’s just about where we’ve been all along. One positive takeaway is that Dr. Ferkel could have ruled Bogut out. He didn’t.

Basketball Games

Even though Curry’s injury reminded us that these preseason games are meaningless in the grand scheme, it’s still worth noting a few trends as the regular season approaches.

First, the Warriors are very obviously trying to win every game they play. So far, they’ve failed in that effort just once—against the Denver Nuggets, a first-class outfit to whom the Warriors really should lose. Otherwise, the Warriors are winning (they beat the Kings and Blazers) by giving heavy minutes to their rotation players and keeping the Kent Bazemores and Jeremy Tylers on the bench.

Draymond’s Debut

Draymond Green has finally gotten off the trainer’s table and onto the court. And naturally, he did some Draymond Green things when he got a few minutes last week. Generally, he played intelligently, hustled, rebounded well at his position and continued to reinforce the notion that he belongs in the NBA even though he has no position.

He’s a lock to be a fan favorite.

Looking Ahead

The Warriors have two more preseason contests: tonight against the Clippers and Tuesday against the Suns. Some of the bloom’s off the preseason rose, given that neither Curry nor Bogut will see the floor. But the Clipper game looks to be a nice test, to the extent that a game that means nothing can be such a thing.

The Suns are horrible, and with the two teams slated to open the regular season eight days after their preseason tilt, don’t look for either squad to tip their hand from a strategic standpoint.

Steve Dykes-US

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

The headline is not a typo. It’s a clever (my own adjective) pun I’ve devised to name what I hope will be a recurring Monday column here at BMH. The plan will be to provide a synopsis of the week that was, what’s ahead and how we should feel about the state of the team. The winds of change in the NBA are capricious, so a regular check-up on the squad, such as this, will help us all keep our bearings on the season. Join me, won’t you?

Last week, the Warriors notched a pair of preseason victories over the Utah Jazz and Israeli professional team Maccabi Haifa. In the former, Harrison Barnes displayed a nasty little post-up game that nobody knew he had, Festus Ezeli buried any possibility of Andris Biedrins ever seeing the floor by playing well and Stephen Curry made his 2012-13 debut. In the latter, Barnes eared his first preseason start and responded with 20 efficient points. Ezeli had an awesome game and Curry posted a double-double in 22 minutes. Those three have been the most interesting players so far—the rookies because of their development and Curry because of his recovery.

Also exciting from last week: the rookies got hazed! Ezeli stole the show during the Warriors’ annual open practice tradition by knocking out an excellent rendition of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” in front of the 5,000 fans who attended.

Looking ahead, the Warriors have a meeting with the Denver Nuggets tonight, Sacramento on Wednesday and the Blazers on Friday. Watch for coach Mark Jackson to continue to juggle the lineup in an effort to figure out what to do with the position battle between Barnes and Brandon Rush. Other than that, the rotation appears set and the rest of the preseason will be about avoiding injury, getting in shape and (hopefully) getting Andrew Bogut on the floor.

For the big Aussie, there’s still a firm “no contact allowed” rule in place and he’s not playing any five-on-five yet. That could change any day, depending on how his ankle continues to respond to workouts which are increasing in intensity and duration during practice.

Overall, things are looking promising in Warriorland, with Bogut’s injury remaining the only source of real trepidation. Stay tuned to for progress reports on that front.