Ohio Chatter DEV

osu99

no return date set at this point but it's not good.

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/probable_starters.html

f you Big Baby Davis!

hoops23

Yeah, we figured this is what was going to happen seeing as how they sent him to Maryland for a second opinion.. The estimate is 6-8 weeks.

Benny The Jet

Obviously this hurts...but on the bright side, only 21 days til Z gets back, this month's schedule is very favorable, and if it's 6 weeks he'll be back right for the beginning of the playoffs and well rested.

osu99

hopefully he makes it back and is good shape for Orlando in the Conference Finals. hopefully.

hoops23

Thankfully, it's his thumb and not a leg or anything, so he'll be able to stay in game shape by running. I don't think he'll miss the playoffs because of this injury, but his role may be a little more limited to just basic defense and rebounding.

skank

This should solve some playing time problems for Brown. At least for a while.

krazie45

It's not like Shaq takes jump shots, so this isn't a huge injury in regards to effecting his play. Hopefully the big man has Evan Turner-like healing abilities

hoops23

krazie45 wrote: It's not like Shaq takes jump shots, so this isn't a huge injury in regards to effecting his play. Hopefully the big man has Evan Turner-like healing abilities

This is true, but the thing I worry about is when Shaq catches the ball or is posting up, people like to swipe at his arms/hands.. This is why the injury happened in the first place. There is always an issue with re-injuring it in a situation like that.

However, this shows how great the depth will be for the Cavs. Look at how big that Powe signing is now. He's a dude that can legitimately guard a guy like Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol as well.. Plus we still have Z coming back.

Lovejoy1984

Hopefully Shaq takes advantage of this being a hand injury, and continues to "practice with the team", by that I mean, continue to participate, and make sure to keep his cardio up. We don't need a fat, lazy shaq coming back for the stretch run.

purple_rein

I wonder how much extra anaesthesia it takes to put Shaq under.

SportsAndLady

Shit

IggyPride00

This really hurts in the sense that the desired starting 5 (moe/AP/Lebron/Jamison/Shaq) will have had all of like 2 games together before the playoffs. Shaq won't be back before the playoffs if 6-8 weeks is correct, and he is a hard guy to integrate back into the team as we saw in the beginning of the season.

By then the team will have adjusted to life with Jamison, but will then be in a position with no silly season time to integrate Shaq into that rotation.

It is not the end of the world, but hardly ideal at this point.

Sage

The Charlotte Bobcats and their athletic frontcourt is patiently waiting for them Cavaliers!!! (GOTTA MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THO!!!)

hoops23

Sage wrote: The Charlotte Bobcats and their athletic frontcourt is patiently waiting for them Cavaliers!!! (GOTTA MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THO!!!)

lol omg srsly?

Footwedge

LTrain23 wrote:
Sage wrote: The Charlotte Bobcats and their athletic frontcourt is patiently waiting for them Cavaliers!!! (GOTTA MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THO!!!)
lol omg srsly?

What's so funny with his reply? After all, they obviously "match up" better than us. Wasn't that your Orlando argument?

LTrain...get your thought processing in order.

hoops23

Footwedge wrote:
LTrain23 wrote:
Sage wrote: The Charlotte Bobcats and their athletic frontcourt is patiently waiting for them Cavaliers!!! (GOTTA MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THO!!!)
lol omg srsly?
What's so funny with his reply? After all, they obviously "match up" better than us. Wasn't that your Orlando argument?

LTrain...get your thought processing in order.

Neat.

I don't think Charlotte and Orlando can be compared. I don't think Charlotte is a mismatch and I don't think Orlando is any longer either.. The Cavs have looked pretty disinterested against Charlotte this season and IF Charlotte makes the postseason, I don't think the Cavs will have that same look.

Also, Charlottes road record is woeful.

hoops23

Cavs still counting on Shaq for super battle
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

They brought Shaquille O’Neal(notes) to the Cleveland Cavaliers to manipulate his obsessive grudge – Dwight Howard(notes) – and thumb surgery shouldn’t stop him. The rest of the job, the Cavaliers can do without Shaq. Privately, scouts will tell you the Cavs sometimes are sleeker and sharper without him. Nevertheless, the truth has stayed unchanged: LeBron James(notes) needs Shaq to reach Kobe Bryant(notes) and the Lakers.

The Cavs still need Superman to get them through Superman.

“It doesn’t hurt them, except for guarding Dwight Howard one-on-one in the post,” one Eastern Conference scout said Sunday night. “Otherwise, I guess we’ll just see him in May.”

See you in May, Shaq. O’Neal has surgery on his right thumb Monday, and a source close to him told Yahoo! Sports he’ll be out six to eight weeks. Boston’s Glen Davis(notes) delivered a harsh hit on Thursday, and down went Shaq for the rest of the regular season. LeBron is delivering the most brilliant ball of his life, Mo Williams(notes) is making shots, Antawn Jamison(notes) is fitting fine and Anderson Varejao(notes) is playing his peskiest. Rest assured, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) will be back on March 22.

This is where the commitment of Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert comes into play, where his willingness to employ the highest payroll in the NBA absorbs the blow of losing O’Neal. He made the deal for Jamison, signed a rehabilitating Leon Powe(notes) in the summer to play these final months. These Cavs never have been so deep, never surrounded James with so much talent, so much versatility.

For all the doubts about the trade for Shaq, give him this: He has gone out of his way to fit seamlessly into the Cavs. He came to camp in shape and never wavered. He never has grumbled about shots, never challenged the power structure that begins and ends with LeBron. Yes, O’Neal wants that fifth title to separate himself from Tim Duncan(notes). Most of all, he wants it to go through Howard – a young star whom he believes has stolen his act – and the Lakers, whom he never, ever wanted to leave.

The Cavs gave O’Neal this shot, and he has made the most of it. To start the season, the Cavs had the natural struggle of incorporating O’Neal into the lineup. He no longer is a dominant player, but he still commands that everyone on the floor – his teammates and opponents – account for him. It took time, but the greatness and will of James gets everything to work together. The bigger test will come when Shaq returns to the floor in the playoffs, and Cleveland has to work him back into the lineup, back into shape.

Boston is fading fast as a legitimate Eastern Conference force, and the Cavs don’t need Shaq for the speed and athleticism of the Atlanta Hawks. They just remember they won 66 games a season ago, and Howard destroyed Ilgauskas in the conference finals. With all those shooters surrounding him, double-teaming Howard is a doomed proposition. Rest assured, Cleveland-Orlando is the conference final and Shaq still could have a full playoff series to prepare a path to Howard.

So far, the Cavs have won four out of five games against Orlando and the Lakers. So far, so good. All along, Shaq has insisted he wanted to play a part in keeping James in Cleveland, and he has done everything asked of him. Now, his job is to stay in shape, stay vigilant and give the Cavs the month of ball they’re paying him $20 million to deliver.

See you for the Superman championships.

See you in May, Shaq.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-shaqplayoffs022810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

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