Draymond Green Injury: Could Practice This Week, Hopeful For Sunday

Feb 02 4:01p by Dave Ryan

Michigan State all-everything forward Draymond Green is no longer using crutches to move around, and remains optimistic that he'll be ready for his team's big showdown with rival Michigan on Sunday. Head coach Tom Izzo still isn't sure how many minutes his senior leader can play even if he's healthy enough to give it a go, but is entirely hopeful that he'll have his 6'8" big man back on the practice court in the next day or two.

Green's mother says her son has been able to put "some pressure" on his knee, but there's still quite a bit of swelling. Of course, considering this might be the final time Green ever gets to play Michigan, and seeing as how the Breslin Center would be utter pandemonium if he was out there on the court gutting through pain, it's hard to imagine any level of knee swelling will keep him from rehabbing like crazy in order to convince everyone he's healthy enough to play.

A sprained knee is still a pretty serious injury in a sport where explosiveness and athleticism are paramount, and anyone who watched Draymond go down on Tuesday saw a kid in a great deal of physical pain. As much of a shame as it would be for Green to sit out, rushing him back too early and allowing him to 'tough it out' might have serious consequences.

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