<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>LOS ANGELES - Pau Gasol sounded disappointed Wednesday night. Forced to sit out his seventh straight game with a sprained left ankle, he was hoping to make his return Friday night at home against Memphis, his former team that traded him. But the swelling in the ankle came back again, spoiling those plans. "I'm still chilling," Gasol said. "Still trying to get it right. Still trying to get rid of the pain. I took a couple of steps backwards. We decided to give it a little more time." Coach Phil Jackson is looking at Gasol playing next Wednesday against the Trail Blazers. "We were hopeful for maybe Sunday, but we'll just let time take its course," Jackson said.</div> Gasol Out Another Week?
I'm glad it doesn't appear to be anything serious. I trust him to come back since he's been rather solid the majority of his career.
Is anyone surprised? Our medical staff is never right with these predictions. Bynum was expected back in the 8 week time frame, he still isn't back. Ariza was expected back in 8 weeks, and look how far that has been pushed back. So the lesson? Don't trust this medical staff. They are never right.
Gasol is one of those guys that doesn't come back unless hes 100%, I wouldn't put that on the medical staff.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 27 2008, 01:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Is anyone surprised? Our medical staff is never right with these predictions. Bynum was expected back in the 8 week time frame, he still isn't back. Ariza was expected back in 8 weeks, and look how far that has been pushed back. So the lesson? Don't trust this medical staff. They are never right.</div> Very stupid post, Brian. Bynum was expected back in a MINIMUM of 8 weeks. The projections for him were 8-15 weeks. Ariza was given 8 weeks, but was pushed back because his bone didn't heal right. Is that the staff's fault? Gasol said it felt like a two week sprain, and that's what this is pushing.
Trust me, I've been there with the frustration, but the training staff is one thing I'll never blame..they can't predict how someone's heals. Another person I rarely blame is Phil...I hate when Laker fans blame him for losses. He isn't out there playing and executing the plays. The only thing I'll blame him for are his wacky substitution patterns and sometimes his lack of calling a TO.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ Mar 27 2008, 06:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Trust me, I've been there with the frustration, but the training staff is one thing I'll never blame..they can't predict how someone's heals. Another person I rarely blame is Phil...I hate when Laker fans blame him for losses. He isn't out there playing and executing the plays. The only thing I'll blame him for are his wacky substitution patterns and sometimes his lack of calling a TO.</div> That's basically the only reason why people blame Phil
Gasol needs to get back as soon as possible. Losing back-to-back home losses against two mediocre opponents has shown that teams are taking advantage of the lack of interior defensive size that he brings. Gosh, eight games has seemed like an eternity. With the way this injury has been ongoing, it seems like he may miss the entire season. And that defeinitely won't go well as we've fighting for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
As long as he's back here soon enough, I don't mind. If we start losing too much ground though, I might get concerned. As it is though, we're only a game out of first place, which can be made up pretty quickly.
