The Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz 102-88 Saturday night, but, unfortunately, they suffered a loss in that game as well. An MRI revealed that backup center Jermaine O’Neal suffered a bruised right knee and a minor strain in his right groin during the game. This season, O’Neal has averaged 5.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. Although O’Neal’s stat line this season doesn’t look overly impressive, he’s contributed to this Warriors team in many ways.
On the court, he’s been impressive defensively. He has the ability to grab rebounds, block shots, and alter shots. Off the court, he’s provided the Warriors with veteran leadership and added some valuable experience to the bench.
In his 17 seasons in the NBA, O’Neal has made it to the playoffs in 13 of those seasons. This might be his last year in the NBA, so he wants to make sure he makes it to the postseason again this year. His knowledge of the game and playoff experience will be invaluable to the Warriors this season.
O’Neal has set a great example for the younger players on this team with his toughness and work ethic. Many Warriors players, including Klay Thompson, admire his toughness. Thompson expressed this to Rusty Simmons and the San Francisco Chronicle after the Warriors’ win against the Jazz.
“I know he’ll bounce back,” shooting guard Klay Thompson said of O’Neal. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met.”
Stephen Curry also expressed to Simmons the same admiration of O’Neal’s toughness.
“He’s been banged up on a couple of plays early in the season, and it doesn’t take much time for him to recover,” Curry said. “When he stayed down, you knew it was something more serious. Thankfully, the preliminary reports say he’ll be OK sooner than later.”
Initially, O’Neal’s injury looked much more serious. O’Neal’s knee buckled on him on a non-contact play away from the ball. Thankfully to the Warriors and their fans, O’Neal’s injury isn’t as serious as they initially thought it was. Mark Jackson expressed his relief to Simmons.
“This is a team that is very close, and we have a bunch of guys with a lot of faith,” Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to go through some stuff, but we’re going to trust God all the way through. It’s important that we got great news, and we keep it moving.”
So, how will the Warriors make up for O’Neal’s absence? Many players will have to step up to fill the void at backup center. Coach Jackson has said that Marreese Speights will be the backup center as long as O’Neal is out and that Draymond Green will then move into the backup power forward role. Speights played 11 minutes tonight and contributed two points, and Green played 16 minutes and had seven points. Jackson played these two together tonight against the Jazz, but he also went small at times and played Harrison Barnes at power forward and David Lee or Green at center.
Jackson might also call upon rookie Ognjen Kuzmic, depending on matchups and other factors. Kuzmic played two minutes in tonight against the Jazz.
The Warriors also signed center Dewayne Dedmon from the Santa Cruz Warriors. Dedmon played in training camp with the Warriors, and for much of the preseason, it looked like he would earn the last spot on the Warriors’ roster. However, he was ultimately waived after averaging 3.4 points, four rebounds, and one block in five preseason games. With the Santa Cruz Warriors, he averaged 13.5 points and 12 rebounds per game. Dedmon made his NBA debut tonight against the Jazz and played two minutes.
O’Neal is officially listed as day-to-day, so hopefully for the Warriors, he won’t be out too long. In his absence, many different players will have to step up for the Warriors.
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