“I don’t know if it’s hurting or it’s just all in my mind”, Butler said. “Didn’t have any times of setbacks, so as far as where he is right now he’s doing good”.
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Butler told reporters Saturday that he doesn’t think his knee will require surgery, according to the Chicago Tribune. I know that we have to win games.
“It’s not going to be as good right now as it was before”, Butler said. That’s the most disappointing part because I’m not the player I was.
Jimmy Butler could be in for a long offseason. Missing the postseason with the talent the team had at the start would be devastating, but even if the Bulls made a run to get in, they’d nearly certainly be crushed by either Cleveland or Toronto in the very first round. I don’t want to make anything worse.
That’s where the two-time All-Star is these days: Searching for answers.
“I don’t know”, Butler said.
He was averaging 22.4 points (46 percent from the field) and 5.2 rebounds per game before he went down, and since returning he was averaging 15.8 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting a dismal 39 percent from the field. Everybody’s in the National Basketball Association for a reason, but we’re playing against teams that are not playing for anything, and we’re just laying down. Butler isn’t sure at this point whether he will have more tests done on the knee in the summer. Injuries, a change in team chemistry and also change in coaching (Fred Hoiberg’s offensive oriented style greatly differs from Tom Thibodeau’s defensive oriented style) has the Bulls in limbo.
If the knee trouble continues to slow Butler down for the next three weeks, this could be seen as a total waste of a season. “But I think that gave him some reassurance was when he went down and saw Dr. Andrews and got a clean-belt of health that everything in there was OK structurally”. If you’re not up to it, if you can’t go then you don’t need to go.
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“But I mean at the end of the day you just got to with how you feel”. But that might be the best course of action given all that’s at stake with the best player on the roster.
