andrew bogut injury update (Photo: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports)
Once again, Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut remains sidelined. He had injured his shoulder five games ago against the Utah Jazz.
That means Jermaine O’Neal gets the start. But is he fully recovered?
“I look at it as 29 games left in my career,” O’Neal told LetsGoWarriors and other media after practice yesterday, “That’s all I know that’s guaranteed right now. Whatever I’ve got to do in these 29 games, is what I’ve got to do. There was a purpose of me sitting out the last two games, so teams respect it.
“I’m going to give whatever I got, I gotta be wheeled off after 29 games, then I gotta be wheeled off. It’s about winning, that’s what it’s about. Again, I didn’t come back for any individual goals, I didn’t come back to make more money, I didn’t come back for anything outside of competing for a championship,” O’Neal added, “I guarantee you I’m going to give 110% of what I got. I’m not worried about my hand. I’m not gonna be on time restriction. Obviously, we don’t have Bogut right now, so I gotta play as long as this team needs me to play.”
Here’s a round-up of the injury to Bogut:
Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
Bogut had a cortisone injection last week to relieve pain from what he said was a bone bruise in his left shoulder. But his condition worsened into what he described to KNBR as a “horrendous feeling” after a flare reaction to the cortisone caused him to wake up at 3 a.m. last Thursday morning.
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“My whole left shoulder was completely locked up,” Bogut said on his weekly show on KNBR. “I literally couldn’t move my arm. I had to grab my left arm with my right arm to put it anywhere.
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“From what I’ve read, they actually say a bonus of this is that people that have this reaction, the cortisone works much better for long-term, which I guess is kind of the booby prize. I definitely would have liked the other way around, just the shot to have worked like it was supposed to.”
And before that, Leung posted this report:
Bogut received a cortisone shot Wednesday in an attempt to treat the inflammation and now is suffering from a cortisone flare reaction — a rare side effect from the injection that can be painful — according to the team.
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“It’s frustrating, but he’s still recovering, and we’re going to miss him absolutely,” coach Mark Jackson said. “Hopefully, this isn’t something that is prolonged.”
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Tweeted Bogut: “7-8% of ppl have a bad reaction to cortisone, good to know im one of those lucky few! #horrible.”
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Bogut was unable to practice Monday, and Jackson said he wasn’t sure if the 7-footer would be able to play in the Warriors’ first game after the break, Wednesday at Sacramento.
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The team’s top rebounder and defender, Bogut has missed the Warriors’ past four games because of what he said was a bone bruise suffered during a win at Utah on Jan. 31. Up until Feb. 6, he had not missed a game to injury this season after ankle and back injuries cost him 50 games last season.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:
He almost certainly won’t be back for Thursday night’s game against the Rockets at Oracle Arena.
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“We can’t really put a timeline on it,” coach Mark Jackson said after the Wednesday morning shootaround at Sleep Train Arena. “He’ll continue to get treatment and we’ll continue to monitor him. And when he’s ready to go, he’ll be back in lineup and we look forward to it.
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“But right now, it’s about getting him healthy and whole.”
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
“With him possibly not in, it takes a big part of who we are and what we do out of the equation,” Jackson said. “Dealing with a guy, like DeMarcus (Cousins), who is a big-time player and having an outstanding year, it creates some problems. Then, you go to Jermaine (O’Neal), who is just coming back, so it’s going to be a lot of fun. But at the end of the day, we understand that nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and we’ve got to go take care of business.”
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O’Neal, who is recovering from right wrist surgery, is expected to play Wednesday after missing the two games prior to the All-Star break, and power forward David Lee, who has been bothered by left shoulder and hip pains for several weeks, is also expected to play for the Warriors.
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They’ll need as many healthy big bodies as possible, having to deal with Cousins and, one day later, Houston’s Dwight Howard. The 6-foot-11, 23-year-old Kings big man leads the team in scoring and rebounding, has nine 30-point games, 34 double-doubles and is one of three players in the league averaging at least 22 points and 11 rebounds.
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“He’s one of the most talented guys at the 5 spot in the league – if not the most talented,” Lee said.
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O’Neal added: “He’s a very difficult cover, a guy who can go both ways and a guy who can shoot the ball or put the ball on the floor. You’ve got to be ready to accept the challenge, but that’s what we get paid for. You’ve got to take in personally and try to slow the guy down. I think he’s the type of player who is almost impossible to stop, because he does so many things very well, but we have to make everything he does a tough shot, a tough rebound, a tough whatever.”
And Poole had this to say about Bogut’s impact to the Warriors’ second half of the season:
If Bogut doesn’t recover soon, the Warriors’ postseason odds take a massive hit insofar as his health, more than any other existing issue, will dictate whether they’re jockeying for seeding or battling to get into the playoffs.
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“It’s very important for us to have him healthy and whole,” Jacksons said after practice Tuesday. “Right now, he’s still recovering.”
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