Jermaine Has Surgery

Danny just announced that Jermaine O'Neal was having swelling in the knee, even without much activity. So they reconsidered, and he had arthroscopic surgery today to clear out some cartilage and loose particles. Danny said it looked exactly as they expected, and they're hoping he'll be back to playing games in6-8 weeks. Then he said "Probably in early April."

Good luck to Jermaine.

Sam

I'm doubtful too Steve, but am rooting for the guy as I think he has worked hard and really appreciates being on a team like the Celtics with a shot at the title.

I'll throw my hat in on the side that says Jermaine is done.

Sorry to see it if so; good player whom we could use on that line.

Hi,
Unfortunately, I was right when not counting JON in any playoffs lineup. Too bad. Hopefully he covers and able to play next season.
Now, Mr. Erden, show what you can do for a few minutes.

AK

O'Neal will miss 6-8 weeks after surgery
Link|Comments (1)Posted by Julian Benbow, Globe Staff February 5, 2011 12:43 AM

After exhausting all his options, Jermaine O'Neal had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Friday and will miss 6-8 weeks.
After the Celtics 101-97 loss to the Mavericks, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters Jermaine O'Neal had surgery on his left knee and will miss 6-8 weeks. O'Neal had already missed 32 games because of knee issues. The timetable for recovery would mean O'Neal would return with two weeks in the season. In January, after consulting doctors in Miami and New York along with team doctors, O'Neal chose to sit out, hoping the knee would heal and he'd be able to return and play effectively, but the swelling never calmed down. "Even without activity," Ainge said, "the swelling was there and that’s when he decided to change the course of the game plan.”

He just has some arthritis and some loose particles in there and that was the reason Dr. McKeon wanted to go in there and clean it out. The surgery was performed by Brian McKeon, and it was exactly what he thought and he thought that was the best solution from the beginning. It just took Jermaine a little while to get on board with that. He was hoping that he could make it through the year without getting surgery.” "Whenever you have arthritis in your knee and there’s bone on bone there’s a long term issue there and this surgery was not anything to fix him long term.”


112288

NYCelt wrote:I'll throw my hat in on the side that says Jermaine is done.

Sorry to see it if so; good player whom we could use on that line.

Let me amend my earlier post.

Make that he's career done. Bone-on-bone? Finished, and it's too bad.

Still, if Davis can continue his momentum, and Shaq can give us a few productive late season and playoff minutes, especially on the boards, we look like we could hold our own against most front lines. Perk's recovery is key because once we reach the playoffs Semih and his shoulder are done until next year too.

Then again, I'm not adding anything new here. I'm just escaping while my son and his friend play football in the living room again.

Hi,
Once again, kudos to DA for a wise move of getting so many 5s.

AK

NYCelt wrote:

NYCelt wrote:I'll throw my hat in on the side that says Jermaine is done.

Sorry to see it if so; good player whom we could use on that line.

Let me amend my earlier post.

Make that he's career done. Bone-on-bone? Finished, and it's too bad.

Still, if Davis can continue his momentum, and Shaq can give us a few productive late season and playoff minutes, especially on the boards, we look like we could hold our own against most front lines. Perk's recovery is key because once we reach the playoffs Semih and his shoulder are done until next year too.

Then again, I'm not adding anything new here. I'm just escaping while my son and his friend play football in the living room again.

Bigger picture, JON's done. As far as bone-on-bone goes, Kobe's pretty close to that, if not there, and he's still playing hard. So, as far as JON getting us to the promised land by playing relatively limited minutes in the remaining games in in late April, May and June, it's still possible.

Professional athletes in every sports have to learn how to play in pain. Remember Kevin McHale playing on a broken foot against LA in the Finals? Well, this is JON's time.

bob

.

Bob,

Hope you're right.

I think he might make it back to play in the playoffs...not sure how much he can help, but if the swelling doesn't return and the pain isn't too bad, he might get a chance to contribute deep into the playoffs... that's a lot of ifs...but I hope for the best.

Jermaine wants so badly to play on a winning team, that I believe, if at all possible, he will try to make it back. I don't know just what he will be able to accomplish, but, there were a few games he played where he proved that he could be a factor on this team. I am not worried about points, it is his defense that I care about. Shot blocking and just being a presence in the middle is a real plus. Here is hoping that this guy can get it together and even give us 10 to 12 minutes a game in the middle during the playoffs. What a great thing that would be.

My husband has bone on bone in his back, lives daily in pain, and goes to work as a police mechanic. So......I have a little hope here

DA has repeatedly overpaid big guys with bad knees to come to Boston.

You would think by now that danny boy has learned his lesson.

Hope JON proves me wrong.

dboss

What is the rule if JON retires next year...do we get salary relief? Can we sign another big man?

112288

The Celtics Blog has an article saying that Miami is targeting Perk in the off season. I can't imagine Danny letting him go. Also, isn't all Miami can offer is the veteran's minimum? With those other three idiots eating up salary and Mike Miller getting a decent amount, what is left?

I am confused about all of this talk about the lockout. Who gets paid? No one?
The guys under contract? What is the advantage to letting Perk hit free agency? Why not sign him to a good extension now? I do know that letting him wait and play out the season is the logical thing with knee and all but
letting him hit the free agent market could prove to be dangerous. Is there someone out there like Chicago, who could use him?

sinus007 wrote:Unfortunately, I was right when not counting JON in any playoffs lineup.

NYCelt wrote: Make that he's career done. Bone-on-bone? Finished, and it's too bad.

dboss wrote:DA has repeatedly overpaid big guys with bad knees to come to Boston.
You would think by now that danny boy has learned his lesson.

Nice to see all the Monday Morning Quarterbacks and Medical Experts out in force.

JON only has to play a few meaningful minutes over the course of May and June to make this entire deal a success. If he is done that is too bad, but I cant help but think some of you guys would rather be right – than optimistic and give credit where credit is due.

DA has made a lot of deals since he took over, some have worked out, some have not. But bringing this team from irrelevant to contender with the signing of Ray Allen and KG give him a lifetime pass as far as I am concerned.

Mrkleen,
My opinion about JON was based on the trend he showed this year: he can not hit the ground running. He needs 2-3 games with meaningful minutes to bring his game to the adequate level. Therefore I'm not sure that Doc will go for it in the playoffs.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Mrkleen,
My opinion about JON was based on the trend he showed this year: he can not hit the ground running. He needs 2-3 games with meaningful minutes to bring his game to the adequate level. Therefore I'm not sure that Doc will go for it in the playoffs.

AK

Fair point. I just dont think any of us know what the future will hold. I would rather look at the glass as half full, but to each his own.

If J. O'Neal is back by the 1st week of April, he'll have the necessary time to get into reasonable game shape for 12-15 min. per game which would be helpful and might even be sufficient if Perk and Shaq are carrying more of the load at the 5 position-MD

Kleen,

I'm not picking on Danny at all; he's done a great job. I do agree with you.

You would need to look at my right knee to know the rest. I think Sam's seen it, but didn't think it was that pretty!

For the record I'm very much an optimist and I played defensive back, not quarterback. Games were on Friday nights, not Monday a.m.

I hope you are well.

Regards

NY

you know as well as I do that big men are a commodity that is in short supply and high demand in the NBA. The fact that DA has had some failures in his “mining” – speaks more to the fact that it is a volatile part of the business more than his acumen in selecting centers and power forwards.

If anyone wants to put forth a GM with a better record for picking from the big man scrap heap, do so. But I would be willing to bet my paycheck that DA is right in line with the league average of win some / lose some

mkleen

Yes I think the JON move was questionable by DA.

Think about it. We played them in the playoffs and JON was horrible. He was injured and has a history of injuries just like Shaq. Difference is that we got Shaq on the cheap but gave up 2 years at the MLE level for JON. I recall when DA made a move to sign Raef and also one where Theo was part of a multi player trade. Now we have the JON situation and all of these players came with the same warning signs and risks.

I do agree that if he can play well in 1 or 2 games and it helps the Celtics win that would be great but again the price is high. Consider that Both Perk and Baby are unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. There is a premium on quality big men so JON $6.2 million salary does not help and if he is not able to play then it is a huge loss.

The potential lockout further complicatesmatters but I tend to think Boston should really consider doing an extension for both baby and Perk now.

dboss

Even though JON hasn't worked out well, I still think he was a good pickup by Ainge. Here's my reasoning, based on how things were in the offseason:

-- Perk is out with a major knee injury, and you don't know what, if anything, you'll get from him this season. He's supposed to be back in February, so you can plan on him for a few minutes a game in the playoffs. Anything more than that is a bonus.

-- Davis is a capable backup for short stints.

-- In the regular season, you use Shaq, JON, and Erden for the majority of the minutes at center. Shaq and JON are question marks from an injury perspective, and Erden is a question mark because he's an NBA rookie. You hope that two of the three are available most of the time during the regular season.

-- In the playoffs, you plan on Shaq or JON being available for 20-25 minutes a game. (You don't plan on rookie Erden for anything significant in the playoffs.) If you get both Shaq and JON, great, but considering their injury history, you need insurance by having both.

-- In the playoffs, you use 20-25 minutes from Shaq/JON and split the rest of the time between Perk and Davis.

The point is that you know Shaq or JON going out with an injury is a distinct possibility, so you set up your roster to allow for that by having both. If both are available, fabulous; if one is available, fine; if both are out, that's a risk you take. But you need to have that full complement of options to absorb the loss of Shaq or JON for an extended period.

You don't know how things actually play out, but all things considered, I think picking up JON was a good move when considered in the overall plan of covering the center spot over the course of the season and the playoffs. At this point, you've got Perk back playing sooner and better than I expected, and for all we know, JON might be back for the playoffs and able to contribute a few minutes, even if only to keep Shaq's minutes down. It was apparent from the beginning that every option to play center had risk, but by carrying so many center options on the roster, Ainge minimized the overall risk to the team. Considering the options he had available, I think Ainge did a good job, even with the knowledge that JON is now lost for months.

Outside

dboss wrote:mkleen

Yes I think the JON move was questionable by DA.

Think about it. We played them in the playoffs and JON was horrible. He was injured and has a history of injuries just like Shaq. Difference is that we got Shaq on the cheap but gave up 2 years at the MLE level for JON. I recall when DA made a move to sign Raef and also one where Theo was part of a multi player trade. Now we have the JON situation and all of these players came with the same warning signs and risks.

At the point that they signed JON, there was little left on the market for back up centers….and Danny had no idea how Semih would pan out. Playing revisionist history with the deal now is easy to do – and trying to compare a MLE deal to sure up a championship caliber team, with a deal from years ago when he was trying to dump a 15 million dollar contract for Antoine Walker – is not only apples and oranges, but sounds a lot like sour grapes to me.

Happen to remember what DA helped to facilitate in 2008?

dboss wrote:I do agree that if he can play well in 1 or 2 games and it helps the Celtics win that would be great but again the price is high. Consider that Both Perk and Baby are unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. There is a premium on quality big men so JON $6.2 million salary does not help and if he is not able to play then it is a huge loss.

The potential lockout further complicatesmatters but I tend to think Boston should really consider doing an extension for both baby and Perk now.
dboss

With the Celtics ownership clearly willing to eclipse the luxury tax and both Perk and Baby being eligible for the “Larry Bird exception”, I don’t see how the JON situation has any bearing on them.

The cost for JON was high….so is the case with EVERY marginal big man signing. That is how it goes with every GM in the league.

I am still not ready to give up on him. He wants to be a part of this special team.

Now, as far as Quis is concerned, nothing would shock me there either