Kings just announced that Hassan Whiteside underwent successful knee surgery:
SACRAMENTO, CA —- Sacramento Kings’ center Hassan Whiteside underwent successful surgery this morning at the UC Davis Medical Center to repair a partially torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Dr. Richard Marder performed the surgery. Whiteside will miss four to six months of action and should be available by the start of the Kings’ 2011-12 Training Camp.
So Hassan Whiteside’s rookie campaign has ended with two minutes of play and two personal fouls.
It’s good to know the surgery was successful, but I have to wonder if the added muscle over such a short period of time was just too much for Hassan’s body frame to properly handle. According to him on Media Day, he put on 25 lbs of muscle during the summer. He looked jacked before the season started. But maybe it was way too much and a bad decision.
It’s not the same situation but you look at Greg Oden getting much bigger after his first knee surgery, putting on a lot of muscle and now his career is basically being eulogized before it really started. Now, Hassan has to come back from a big knee surgery. Hopefully, he tries to get lighter and smarter with his body so he can avoid season-ending surgeries like this.
According to Kings.com, last year’s rookie of the year and reigning T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam MVP, Tyreke Evans, will miss his chance to defend his crown due to a flair-up of Plantar Fasciitis that has plagued him all season. Evans missed back-to-back games against the Thunder and Mavericks on Tuesday and Wednesday, but there was still a glimmer of hope that his ailing left foot might be ready in time for Friday night’s exhibition game against his teammate DeMarcus Cousins.
In December, Evans mentioned having a procedure done to relieve the pain in his foot that would sideline the young star for a month or more. Shortly after that announcement, the pain became more bearable and Evans’ play improved dramatically. According to the Kings official media release, Tyreke will be meeting with his foot specialist, Dr. Richard Ferkel, in LA on Monday to have his left foot inspected again and go over some options. Hopefully the break in action during All-Star weekend will be enough to let Evans get treatment and be ready for the last 29 games of the season.
Steven Chea/CK
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s James Harden will replace Evans for the sophomore squad. The second year player out of Arizona State is averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds a game as the six man for the upstart Thunder.
That emphatic, “Yessssirrr!!” is vintage Jason Thompson. I spoke to Thompson following the Spurs game on Friday and he was itching to play and thought he would be ready to go tonight. Now we know for sure. Thompson missed the previous two games with a sprained right ankle. There is still no confirmation on whether Thompson or Dalembert will get the call to start alongside rookie DeMarcus Cousins.
When you cover a team that is 12-34, you often times have to look at the world a little differently. You look for silver linings and moral victories so you have something to write about that isn’t entirely negative and depressing. You can call me a glass half full guy or call me an optimist or even crazy, but I think the Kings are a better team because they lost to the Boston Celtics last night. I can’t say this about every loss this season and I wouldn’t even try, but when facing an opponent of this ilk, sometimes a good lesson is better than a win.
Before you open your bookmarks and click to another site, hear me out for a second.
Photo by Steven Chea
Coming into the game against the Celtics, I think we all knew that Kevin Garnett was going to bring something a little special for rookie DeMarcus Cousins. K-G might not be the player he was a few years back, but he still has a sharp tongue and a propensity for getting under the skin of his opponents. Basically, Kevin Garnett is the equivalent of a senior in high school who loves to throw freshmen in trash cans. He is the big man on campus.
Following the Kings’ win Saturday night against the New Orleans Hornets, I asked DeMarcus Cousins if he thought he was ready to weather 48 minutes of Kevin Garnett barking in his ear.
I’m going to take these few days to prepare for it. I know it’s going to be crazy.
In case you missed it, Kevin Garnett did get into Cousins’ head early, helping to hold the young big man to just three points in the first half, including this tense moment with 1:45 left in the second quarter.
Obviously, Cousins had enough. Enough of the grabbing, the talking, the chippy play and he said as much when he stood over a first ballot hall of famer laying on the ground. Here is what Cousins had to say about the physical play:
It’s all in the game, it’s nothing personal. That’s the Celtics and I’m standing my ground.
With this being the second game in row where we have seen DeMarcus Cousins step up to an NBA superstar, some people might start to get concerned about Cousins’ demeanor or penchant for getting into altercations. Those people need not worry.
Photo by Steven Chea
We are seeing the development of a leader. The Celtics came in with a plan to disrupt the Kings volatile young center, and in the end it was the Celtics who picked up the technical foul, not DeMarcus Cousins. More than that, Cousins sees this entire experience in a light that few thought he would. He gleaned something from the abuse, something he plans to install into his own game:
It’s the way they talk. They constantly talk. KG constantly talks. Rondo constantly talks.
Now I could stop the sound bite right there and no one would think twice. The Celtics talk? You’re damn right they do. But here is the rest of the quote:
They have each others’ backs all around the floor and that’s how you become a team. That’s how you become an elite team.
Cousins is right. Is it just me or did a 20-year-old rookie just avoid missing the forest through the trees?
When I asked Coach Westphal about Cousins’ post game comments after practice today, he was very excited:
That is one of the most pleasing things a coach can hear. Every coach wants the team to be verbal defensively because there are certain things, like if you are guarding the ball for example, that you can’t see behind you. You have no idea which way to force a guy or where the problems are without the talking. If your big player,particularly, can learn the value of that – however they learn it, you tell them, you work on it in practice, the guards scream at them when they get picked- to learn it from another team as well as all those other things, if it sinks in, it absolutely makes your team a better team.
Photo by Steven Chea
Cousins is a sponge. A 6′-11″, 280-pound sponge, but a sponge none the less. While everyone is concerned about what he will do next or how he will react to someone who gives him grief for 48 minutes, Cousins is busy absorbing information at the speed of light.
Westphal agrees, with one caveat:
“He is an intelligent person and he’s shown that he can learn lessons. Sometimes he learns them the hard way, but the fact that he learns is very encouraging.”
Sure, Cousins learns some of life’s (and basketball’s) lessons the hard way, but if he didn’t, the Kings would never have gotten him with the fifth pick in the draft.
In a season of struggles, there is a beacon that is beginning to shine brighter by the day. So while some fans are counting up all the losses and talking about what could have been, they should really be looking at these players and smiling about what will be.
In case you missed the previous post, Sacramento Kings’ reserve forward Darnell Jackson went down at center court right as halftime began last night against the Boston Celtics. After a battery of tests, the prognosis is Costochondritis, which, according to MayoClinic.com:
Costochondritis (kos-toe-KHON-dri-tis) is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone (sternum). It causes sharp pain in the costosternal joint — where your ribs and breastbone are joined by rubbery cartilage. Pain caused by costochondritis may mimic that of a heart attack or other heart conditions.
Darnell Jackson has been cleared for full participation going forward, including the Kings next game against San Antonio on Friday night.
Jackson wasn’t available to practice today because his medical testing ran into the practice schedule, but Coach Westphal had this to add:
It’s the last thing you want to see. Because Darnell had an incident earlier, I wasn’t as petrified because the assumption was that it was an occurrence of something that happened before that was not life threatening, but at the same time, that is serious stuff and you can’t help but be concerned.
We are very glad to hear that it is nothing serious.
As the Kings went to halftime, third year forward Darnell Jackson went down at half court clutching his chest. The official word from the Kings media staff is that Jackson is having shortness of breath and will not return.
If you don’t know the Darnell Jackson story, click here to read an interview I did with him during the pre-season. Needless to say, he has an amazing story and he is one of the real good guys of the NBA.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this is only a minor issue.
Late news from yesterday- Kings.com’s Nate Rose is reporting that starting power forward Jason Thompson is a no-go tonight against the Boston Celtics. Veteran Samuel Dalembert, who has had tremendous success over the last few games, will start in Thompson’s place.
Before the injury to Thompson, Coach Paul Westphal had started the line-up of Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih, Omri Casspi, Jason Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins five consecutive games. That stretch is the longest that any one group has started together the entire season.
Lost in the euphoria of the Kings big home victory against the New Orleans Hornets was an unfortunate right ankle injury to big man Jason Thompson. Following the game, I had an opportunity to chat with Thompson who was already wearing a protective boot to immobilize the injury.
JH: How long do you think you’re out for?
JT: I don’t know, I think it’s just day to day. Our next game is not until Tuesday, I’ve got treatment tomorrow and treatment on Monday so we’ll see.
JH: Did it swell up already?
JT: It’s hasn’t swollen up too much. It’s just really sore and when I put pressure on it, it hurts a lot. It’s my first ankle injury so I have to see how it goes.
JH: You’ve never done anything to your ankles before?
JT: I’ve never messed up either of my ankles. I’ve never had any type of injury or anything. I have to take it slow but hopefully it will heal sooner rather than later.
JH: You seem to be one of those guys who heals extremely fast.
JT: Yeah, knock on wood. I haven’t had too many injuries and when I do, I try to not go to fast, get a lot of treatment to make sure it’s good. I don’t want play the hero role and come back- it wasn’t needed. I tried to come back and it just wasn’t feeling right. I had to come out and we’ll see what happens the next couple of days.
Thompson is one of the Kings iron men, missing only a small handful of games over his two and a half year NBA career. Unfortunately, this particular injury comes after two very strong games by Kings back-up center Samuel Dalembert. I took this opportunity to ask Thompson about his role with the Kings and the cause and effect of Dalembert’s resent play.
JH: Dalembert has blown up lately and stolen a few minutes from you here and there lately. I know you want to play as much as possible but I watched you on the bench against the Lakers and you were jumping up and down with the rest of your teammates and really in to it. Is this a sign that you are growing through this process and learning to control your emotions a little bit?
JT: Yeah, I think it goes back to controlling what you can control. Obviously I’m happy for our team. I’m the biggest competitor you’ll ever meet and I have the passion to win. Sometimes my situation is better than it is today but when things are going good, you sacrifice things. It’s good to see us winning and hopefully we can continue this streak because we;ve got a really tough stretch at home against good teams.
Jason Thompson is a pro. As a young player, he is still finding his way in the league but one thing is for sure, he will do anything to get back on the floor. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
In other injury news, the Kings are still not ready to put a time frame on veteran Francisco Garcia and his injured calf. The original diagnosis was a few weeks. That time frame was re-iterated by Coach Paul Westphal again today, leaving the Kings without one of their best perimeter shooters for what might be an extended period of time.
After the screen was finally lifted today, allowing us media types to watch the action, there was a welcome sight. Sacramento Kings’ starting small forward Francisco Garcia was back on the practice floor, running full-court sets with the team. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. Lost in the action of play on the court, Garcia re-aggravated his left calf injury, but this time it’s more serious.
According to Coach Paul Westphal:
Francisco injured his calf again. I’m not sure if the curtain was open or not when that happened, but he’s going to be out for a while, probably more like weeks than days so it’s a setback for him and us.
Coach Westphal later went on the Grant Napear show and confirmed that Garcia had sprained his left calf, and indeed, he would be out for an extended period.
This is an unfortunate turn of events for the veteran wing. After missing most of last season due to a freak weight room injury, Garcia had not only stayed healthy, but solidified the starting line-up with his long range shooting and leadership.
Coach Westphal would not confirm who would take Garcia’s spot in the starting line-up, saying “I’ll have to think about it overnight. I’ll let you know.” When I asked him if the length of time of the injury recovery was the reason that he would have to re-think the current situation of Donté Greene starting the last two games for Garcia, Westphal added this:
“Yeah, I’m actually leaning toward starting Omri right now, but I have to think about it a little bit.”
Westphal again addressed this situation on the Grant Napear show this evening and he sounded much more certain that Omri Casspi, the second year pro from Israel, would become the new starter in Garcia’s absence. Casspi is averaging 8.9 points on 40% three point shooting and 4.2 rebounds a game in 23 minutes per game this season.
Without Evans, the Kings have started 0-3 on their six game, 11 day road trip back East. Although the Kings’ offense hasn’t exactly stumbled without their leading scorer (putting up 113.3 points per game), the defense has, allowing nearly 124 points a game over the three road losses.
In Evans’ absence, Coach Westphal has used Jermaine Taylor, Luther Head and Pooh Jeter. Before the left ankle injury, Evans, Udrih, Garcia, Thompson and Cousins had comprised the starting unit for four consecutive games, tying the longest streak of the season for one group of starters. Evans should slide right back into the line-up tonight in New York against a much improved Knicks team.
