Figuring Out Jermaine O’Neal’s “Procedure”

Posted by Brian Robb on Nov 9, 2010 104814 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F11%2F09%2Ffiguring-out-jermaine-oneals-procedure%2FFiguring+Out+Jermaine+O%27Neal%27s+%22Procedure%222010-11-10+00%3A45%3A18Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D10481

Jermaine O’Neal left in the second half of the team’s loss in Dallas last night after shooting 1-of-6 in the first half of action. A sore left knee was the cause of the absence, the same knee that O’Neal told CSNNE.com he had a procedure on Sunday, after the win against the Thunder:  

O’Neal told CSNNE.com following Boston’s 92-83 win over Oklahoma City that he recently had a “minor procedure” performed on the knee.

“It’s just one of those situations, you’re going to be banged up,” O’Neal said.

Even after the procedure, O’Neal said the knee is still in a lot of pain.

“That’s why I’m looking forward to just making it through this next game,” O’Neal told CSNNE.com. “After Dallas, we got a few days in between before we play Miami [on Thursday]. That’ll do my knee a lot of good.”

Needless to say, it was a bit confusing then to see this quote in The Boston Herald  today from Steve Bulpett with Danny Ainge showing a bit of, shall we say confusion about O’Neal reported “procedure.”

“I don’t know what he means,” general manager Danny Ainge said. “He gets treatment on his knee, but a procedure? I don’t know anything about that. I don’t know what he’s referring to. I don’t know if he means he got a shot or something.”

O’Neal said last night he didn’t want to get specific.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “Some guys milk it, but I just go out and play. If I’m out on the court, then I’m OK.”

Now I’m not going to go ahead and make too many judgements here, and try to make a mountain out of what might not even be a molehill. This situation though baffles me a bit. The C’s have had players go through certain types of procedures before without trying to make the information become public knowledge until later. No need to let everyone, including your opponents know more about an injury than is necessary. Paul Pierce last year comes to mind with his knee infection that caused him to have his knee drained a couple more times then we knew about.

So is it safe to say Jermaine let something slip here that Danny doesn’t want to get out there? My guess is as good as yours at this point. Still Ainge’s quotes are a bit perplexing, since they do not really go to bat for Jermaine. Could that be done on purpose? I’m not going to go there.  Given the fact that Kendrick Perkins is not due back for another three months, the fragileness of Jermaine’s and Shaq’s status worries me. How the C’s manage both these guys going forward will be something to keep and eye on. We should know more tomorrow once Doc comments on Jermaine’s status going forward.

For now though, be happy the C’s have built one of the deepest 15-man rosters in team history. They are going to need all of those bodies at one point or another.