Shaq Out Indefinitely; Won’t Play Tomorrow

Shaq out indefinitely; won’t play tomorrow
By Herald staff
Saturday, April 16, 2011 - Updated 42 minutes ago

Shaquille O’Neal has been ruled out of Sunday night’s playoff opener against New York, and will remain out indefinitely until the pain in his right calf and Achilles tendon subsides.

The Celtics [team stats] center was unable to continue this morning’s workout after only a brief attempt to run in front of team physician Dr. Brian McKeon and team president Danny Ainge.

Here’s the initial statement from McKeon:

“This guy has been working his tail off - he’s worked so, so hard. Today we put him in a trial pre-game workout and it failed. It didn’t work. So we’re going to get back to work tomorrow and keep doing what we’re doing. Hopefully it will work soon.

“He’s actually made a progression every day. But the blood supply in his leg is so poor that it just takes time. I told Danny and the coaches that in the last 20 years this is one area of medicine where we have made no progress, because it just takes time.

“It’s the whole Achilles/calf construct.”

Ainge says he is holding out hope for a Shaq return, if not in this series then the next.

“He’s been making progress,” said the Celtics president of basketball operations. “We tried to get him out there to simulate a game situation as much as we could and he’s not ready. We don’t know when he will play, but he won’t play in tomorrow’s game.”

112288

PS

All I can say to you now Danny ........You rolled snake eyes.........Thanks for the gamble!

The Celtics will not need Shaq to beat the Knicks. Complete non story.

No crystal ball needed to see this coming.

It's OK though. We don't need Shaq. Addition by subtraction because he hurts us against the Knicks, Heat or Bulls.

We're better off with Jermaine and Krstic.

Sorry MrKleen, I didn't see your post and essentially said the same thing. Wrote my comment earlier, came back and sent it.

You said it better anyway.

112288

Snake eye huh?


Guess we might just as well quit and go home. I'd love to have that said to PP KG RA RR and Doc.

beat

I agree with the posters so far. Not a big deal OTHER than the fact that the combination of a sore achilles and a pulled calf muscle seem to be having a profound effect on him.

We need him for a minimum of 16 games (fo, fo, fo, fo) and a maximum of 28. I honestly never considered he'd be available for anywhere near 28 once his injuries started to become recurring. The question is how many victories will he be available for and will they be enough?

I think we're good for the first 4. After that, we'll probably be facing Miami and it'd be nice to have him on the floor to deal with Z's height.

bob

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Why do we want an old slow banged up center against the teams we're going to have to face? Limited mobility, limited defense. A three second violation waiting to happen.

Sportswriters need to fill space...

We do not need Shaq to beat NY.

Time for Jermaine and kristic to earn their paychecks.

Dboss

I don't know guys, the best I saw the Celtics play all year, by far, was when Shaq was starting.

Can we win without him? Yes

Are our chances of banner #18 better with a semi-healthy Shaq? I think significantly.

Did the Achilles just flame up, or was it originally combined with the calf strain? Just like the KG saga of a couple of years ago, the team officials are NOT being honest with the fans regarding the nature of the injury. Shaq looked fine early season, but to rely on his health over the long haul considering his age and weight was sheer folly by the Celtic brain trust. TOO late to sign 'Sheed now!

MD.

MDCelticsFan wrote:Did the Achilles just flame up, or was it originally combined with the calf strain? Just like the KG saga of a couple of years ago, the team officials are NOT being honest with the fans regarding the nature of the injury. Shaq looked fine early season, but to rely on his health over the long haul considering his age and weight was sheer folly by the Celtic brain trust. TOO late to sign 'Sheed now!

MD.

the team officials are NOT being honest with the fans regarding the nature of the injury.

Your kidding............. they have NO obligation to us any moe than the rest of the league to say anything. I would not expect them to report any more than they wish too. Lets us speculate here and bash the heck out of them and everyone else here.

beat

Not only don't the Celtics owe us the truth, they are obligated to confused, addle and otherwise befuddle the other team's coaching staff by making it harder for them to scout and prepare.

bob

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The cure for Shaq's calf and achilles problems is a healthy Jermaine O"Neil.