Gasol Redux: Foot Fracture

Look who showed up at the party:

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Feb 22 The timetable for Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol is uncertain, but the team knows he will not return to action this week, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. The injury had been classified as a sprained foot, then a sore foot, and last week X-rays revealed a thin fracture. Memphis head coach Mike Fratello was quoted as saying, "If he misses a total of six, seven or eight weeks and comes back healthy and give us a lot for the stretch run, then that's very important."

Views: The problem with coach Fratello's statement is it doesn't help fantasy owners who were planning on relying on Gasol's expected production this season. With Gasol and Stromile Swift out indefinitely, this clearly makes the Grizzlies grasp on the seventh seed in the Western conference, as fragile as, well, an ankle or foot in the Memphis locker room. Fantasy owners should continue to leave Gasol inactive until further notice.

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There's Fanball for you. Apparently, Fanball missed out on the "plantar fasciitis" classification, which was the most recent.

I told you on January 25 that something was very wrong with Pau Gasol's foot, and it was more than the Grizzlies were letting on (or, as it turns out, knew).

Foot problems are a big topic of discussion on this blog; if you've read them, you'll know that foot fracture is one of the differential diagnoses for plantar fasciitis. Yeah, on this one, it looks like the docs missed that little, um, fracture in the middle of Pau's foot.

They probably have reason to be sheepish, as he's probably been "rehabbing" his broken foot as though he had plantar fasciitis. Something tells me that if the X-ray had been recogized as positive the first time out, Pau would have spent a lot more time in an immobile boot.

Pau's been on the IL now for more than a month. I'd be shocked if he were back before another month has come and gone. Actually, I'd be surprised, knowing what I do now, if he weren't out longer.

I don't think you can realistically expect Gasol to come back at any point this regular season and be quite the player he was before the injury. It's going to take some time. Maybe I'm wrong, though. Gasol owners, cross your fingers.

SPIN

If only the spin were that easy. I told you to pick up Stromile Swift when Gasol first went out, and he's been good. Problem is, Stromile just went out with a major foot injury being described right now as a severe sprain.

For what it's worth, Stromile says the pain is so bad that "he can't even think about playing basketball" right now. Ouch. See, Stromile, that's the problem. Thinking... it shouldn't hurt. We have to remember here that Stromile Swift's alma mater, LSU, famous for its student athletes, is the same place that produced Shaquille "Big Aristotle" O'Neal, who is a serious idiot and has never seemed to care.

Keep an eye on Battier's (can they go any higher?!) and Lorenzen Wright's minutes. With no one to share minutes with in the frontcourt, he could be a great points and rebounds guy and a definite double-double candidate.