Bone spur on knee Alvin’s latest setback

Recovery pushed even further back Mitchell has no plans to use him

PHILADELPHIA— If it’s not one thing it’s another for veteran Raptor Alvin Williams, who now has a painful bone spur on his surgically repaired right knee. The 31- year- old saw noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday and while the news was good about his recovery from microfracture surgery, the presence of a bone spur means more pain for the 6foot- 5 guard. The trouble is, Williams hasn’t had a chance this season to see if he can manage the pain, as he has for most of his career.

“ I really haven’t had the minutes or the number of games to see if my knee will respond to it,” he said yesterday. “ That’s what I was hoping to see up to this point. I haven’t seen that this far, I haven’t played that many minutes.

“ I know I can play six, 10 minutes ( a game). But as far as 20, 25, 30 minutes and then come back the next day and play, I’m not sure.

“ I’m not sure if my bone spur will affect that or not.” And it’s not as if he’s going to get a chance any time soon. Coach Sam Mitchell originally thought Williams would need a month to get healthy after going on the inactive list last week, and even with the good report about his recovery from the operation, Williams isn’t in Mitchell’s plans right now.

“ From watching him in practice and watching him move, no,” Mitchell said.

Williams warned that when he comes back, fans shouldn’t expect things to suddenly improve.

“ We’ve had more losing seasons since I’ve been here than winning seasons, so I’m not the saviour,” he said.