The Injuries Begin….

Posted by Brian Robb on Oct 4, 2010 100289 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F10%2F04%2Fthe-injuries-begin%2FThe+Injuries+Begin....2010-10-04+19%3A54%3A55Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D10028

Training camp has come and gone, as the hometown crew returned to their regular practice facility in Waltham today to practice. with the C’s preseason debut against Philadelphia approaching rapidly on Wednesday night. Our man Chris Forsberg from ESPNBoston was at the scene where 17 invitees still remain after Tony Gaffney was waived over the weekend, allowing him to accept a lucrative offer to play in Turkey.

We kick things off though in our report with the news that the C’s have suffered their first injury of the season. So if you had Jermaine O’Neal in your Celtic injury pool, well done! The good news courtesy of Mr. Forsberg, is the hamstring injury does not sound serious at all:

 Jermaine said he tweaked it at the end of practice Friday after collecting a rebound over Shaquille O’Neal. “I boxed him out, got the rebound, and I went to turn and run up the court, that’s when I felt a little burning sensation. If it was serious, I wouldn’t be able to walk around and do the stuff that I’m doing. We’re just making sure that I’m ready on Oct. 26.” Celtics coach Doc Rivers indicated he’ll likely sit Jermaine O’Neal all week (which would mean both exhibition games) to allow ample time for recovery, but O’Neal called the injury, “minor.”

So it begins. Nothing to get concerned about obviously, but this is when you start to appreciate the masterpiece of a roster Danny Ainge pieced together this offseason with limited resources. Because having depth is one thing, but have it with a bunch of thirty-somethings all over the roster is a different animal.

Doc, especially with the big men can be more cautious than ever, with the knowledge that even at the third string, there are two guys that should be capable of holding their own for 10-15 minutes in a regular season game in Semi Erden and Luke Harangody.

Obviously we won’t know for sure until the season starts just how much those guys can hang, if at all but the odds are in their favor. So when the nagging injuries pop up all over the place this year, expect the C’s training staff to nip it in the bud before it has a chance to develop into something more serious.

Back to today’s report though: Delonte West was also out due to back spasms: (Forsberg)

“Delonte will be back soon,” said Rivers. “Maybe tomorrow or maybe a couple more days.”

With West out for the first ten games of the regular season anyway, his minutes will be up for grabs intitally, giving guys like Von Wafer or Mario West if he somehow makes this roster a chance to earn some playing time.

Many reporters have insisted that Wafer is still on the bubble to make this roster, yet I am hesitant to believe Wafer is in extreme danger. When West is out, this bench unit will need shooting and that is the biggest ability Von can bring to the table, especially when’s he out there with a guy like Marquis Daniels at the 3 who really can’t stretch the floor effectively past 16-18 feet.

The word is Wafer has yet to find his shot this past week, but we’ve still got 3-4 weeks along with 8 preseason games for that development to take place. Meanwhile, his competition, Mario West is a terrific defender but lacks the outside shot. In order for West to make this squad, he not only needs to impress, he needs Wafer to fail. I don’t see it happening.

Keep it right here at CelticsHub as we will be reporting live from practice tomorrow in Waltham as the team prepares for it’s preseason opener Wednesday night.