Foye’s Knee Shows Marked Improvement

Foye Audio

Randy Foye's bone scan on his knee showed marked improvement Monday morning, meaning that the Wolves guard can fully ramp up non-contact practice activities.

"They showed us the results of the last test four weeks ago and the test (Monday), and you can clearly see that it's healed up," said Foye. "They just said work your way back in slowly but surely, and gave me the go ahead to start doing dummy stuff today with the team."

"(The doctors and training staff) want to look at him for a week here, probably, (with) non-contact stuff," said head coach Randy Wittman. "Running, shooting, jumping, sprinting, all that stuff to see if there is any reaction or pain."

We heard much more from Foye, Wittman, McHale and Antoine Walker on Monday afternoon:

Wolves Guard Randy Foye
Q: On how his day went:
Foye: Well, I got up at about 6:30 a.m., and I prayed a little bit, just hoping that everything (would go) okay when I went to get my bone scan. So I went to get my bone scan first, which takes about ten minutes, and (got it done). Gregg Farnam, the head trainer, was with me. After that, I went to get an MRI, (and Farnam) was with me again. Then we waited for (team physician Dr. David Fischer) to come down and read us the results. They showed us the last test from four weeks ago, and they showed us the test from today and you can clearly see that it's healed up. They just said, "Work your way back in slowly but surely," and they gave me the go ahead to start doing dummy stuff with the team today ... (The doctor said) that it's coming along good, and I can start working my way in through the dummy stuff, and to me that was a start.

Q: On how he felt after Monday's workout:
Foye: I feel good. I ran up and down in the beginning, and when they went live I sat out and started shooting and jumping around and stuff, doing a couple of drills on my own, and it felt good.

Q: On if he notices a big difference in how he feels:
Foye: Oh yeah, I noticed a big difference six weeks ago, but they were telling me to take my time and rest. It was injured when I was in Turkey playing, and I'll tell you the truth, when I went to go step like this (steps to his right), I couldn't even put pressure on my leg. I was using my right leg for everything. Like, if you watched me drive, I could only explode going to my left, because I was pushing off my right foot. I never really took it to the basket at all when we played Boston on TV, or (in Milwaukee). I hit big free throws at the end, but I could never take it to the basket because every time I did, and planted, it felt like somebody hit me in the leg with a sledgehammer. But now, when I get out there and am running up and down, I go up and jump and am touching the rim, and that's my first time jumping in a while. So I'm like, "Man, this injury must be healed."

Q: On the balance between coming back right away to help a losing team, and not pushing himself.
Foye: One of the biggest things that (Kevin McHale) wanted me to understand is that he's not pressuring me, or anyone, to come back. He said, "Don't rush. Just keep working hard, keep strengthening your legs and get back when you can." So that's what I'm trying to do now. I'm not in a rush. I'm just going to make sure I'm all right first. Then once I come back I can worry about helping the team.

Q: On his goal to come back:
Foye: I can't really say. It depends. If I can go out there and go through full contact and play in practice, and not feel pain afterwards, then I'll be all right. Then I'll know when I'm coming back.

Q: On wanting to play right now:
Foye: Even when I started getting better, and it was hurting as much as it did in Turkey and England, I still wanted to get out there. I thought I'd just wrap it up, or put a whole bunch of IcyHot on. But at the same time, they held me out, and it was for the (greater) good. Not just for the team, but for me. If I would have been out there at 70 percent, it wouldn't be helping us at all.

Q: On having to be careful with contact:
Foye: They're not just going to throw me back out there, because if somebody bangs against me and I try to plant and re-injure it, then it's back to square one.

Q: On having to watch a struggling team:
Foye: It's been really tough on me, because these are my teammates, and obviously I want to go out there and battle with them. It's tough when you're injured and you know that you can help, and you're just watching from the sideline. I know that as a player, and the player that I am and want to be, I know I could get out there and help them. But to see them lose so many close games, it's just tough on me. It's tough for me to try and say something to someone when they get tired in a drill, and they're looking at me like, 'You're still on the sideline, you have your energy. I'm here busting my butt trying to get back on defense.' That's why on the sideline, I try to hold me tongue, because I don't want to give them the wrong impression.

Wolves Head Coach Randy Wittman:
Q: On Foye's status:
Wittman: It's going to be a slow process. He did dummy stuff today. Right now it's amped up to being able to be do stuff on the floor. We're not throwing him right into contact. He's got to get his cardio and stuff going and see how his first reaction is to running up and down the floor.

It's a clear OK to start (the process). We're not just going to throw him in there. (We) want to look at him for a week probably with non-contact stuff, running, shooting, jumping, sprinting, to see if there's any reaction or pain, and then we go from there. So, good news.

Q: On the best-case scenario with Foye:
Wittman: I can't give you that, because I don't know. We have to go from him doing this stuff out here with no contact, to contact, to where he is with cardiovascular (progress). We can't rush him out there when he's not in good shape. He's going to hurt himself if we do that. I wish I had the powers and abilities to foresee the future and give you, "In 17 days, he'll be fine." But I can't.

Q: On what this team needs from Foye the most:
Wittman: A little bit of everything. Coming off playing last year, the confidence you gained from playing as a rookie as much as he did. I thought his confidence was very high, and we need that exuded out on the floor. We need guys playing with confidence, guys that believe in themselves as well as their teammates. He gives us the ability of another guy that attacks the basket and getting to the free-throw line, and the fourth quarter ... He proved last year that he can play in the fourth quarter.

Q: On if Foye's return will be a boost to the team:
Wittman: It's a boost to me, anyway. I can't speak for (the team), you guys can ask them that question. But it's been positive. We were all a little (upset) with the (previous) scan that he had, that it wasn't very good. But the scans have all been progressing. This one was vastly different from the one we had four weeks ago, showing the healing process. It's like a broken arm. You're always going to see healing going on, it's just a matter of progressing without pain. That's the next step. We'll get the pounding on the hardwood and see if there's any pain.

Q: On how key Foye is to the team's success:
Wittman: Let me tell you, this isn't all going to fall on (Foye's) shoulders. Because he shows up isn't going to change everything. He has the ability to help change it, and it's going to take a little while ... When you sit out in the rain as much as he has, you might get a little rust on you.

Wolves VP of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale:
Q: On the Wolves having other issues than Foye's knee:
McHale: Until he comes back and plays, we have other issues we have to take care of. Right now, the issue is guys getting beaten down and losing their competitive edge. You can't do that. You can do a lot of stuff, but you can't not compete ... I understand that it's human nature to go through periods when you get down, but those guys have to fight their way out of that.

Q: On taking their time with Foye:
McHale: Having Randy back will help, but he won't be ready for a while. We have to make sure now, with him, that since we're struggling, that the desire to put him out there before he's ready is strong, but we can't do that. It's not fair to him. Also, there are very few guys out there in the NBA playing good right now that haven't played since October 8th.

Q: On Foye's character:
McHale: It's been hard, but he's handled it great. When things like that happen at his age, there is some soul-searching that goes on. I'll tell you, I've been impressed with him through a lot of conversations, and his maturity level, where he's looked for help and how he's handled things a lot more than I'll ever share with people. He's made a lot of progress in his life, personally, that's been very exciting for me.

I've always felt that he was a special kid. From the first time I sat down and heard his story from watching him play many times, bringing him in during the draft and saying, "This kid is a special kid in a lot of different ways."

Wolves Forward Antoine Walker
Q: On dealing with the injury:
Walker: I think for him, it's been tough. He's a young guy that wants to be on the court. But he has to think about longevity. We're not fighting to get into the playoffs right now ... We're struggling. Yes, that needs to change, but his health right now is the most important thing. My advice to him is to come back 100 percent. If he comes back 100 percent, plays the last several games, he'll be good.

Q: On what Walker told Foye:
Walker: Yeah, I told him there is no need to rush back. If he rushes back, he can prolong the injury heading into next season. It's important for him to take his time.