Author: katadmin

Did Manu play in the playoffs with a broken arm?

Manu Ginobili’s elbow injury appears to be more extensive than might have first been reported.

Ginobili told the Argentine website Noticiasmdq.com that he sustained a, the long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. The injury occurred in the final game of the regular season on April 13 when he was trapped in a collision between Tim Duncan and Phoenix’s Grant Hill.

The Spurs originally announced that Ginobili sustained a sprained elbow. He missed the first game of the playoffs and then played the remaining five games with the injury in the six-game series loss to Memphis. He averaged a team-leading 20.6 points per game against the Grizzlies despite playing with a balky brace. 

Here’s ().

“Last Wednesday, the medical staff of San Antonio I had the last MRI,” Ginobili said. “The liquid has been absorbed and small fracture in the humerus is welded at 85 percent. I have to be doing nothing for 3 weeks and then begin slowly.”

If Ginobili in fact played with a broken arm, there’s no wonder that Gregg Popovich was so adamant in compared to Rajon Rondo’s comeback from a hyperextended elbow for Boston against Miami.

What about it Spurs Nation?

Is Popovich’s blast at Rondo a little more understandable now if in fact Ginobili did play against the Grizzlies with a broken arm?

Could Grizzlies be headed for shakeup after stunning playoff run?

The Memphis Grizzlies stunned the NBA by making an unexpected surge through the Western Division playoffs.

The Grizzlies had never won a playoff game before this season. And despite not having second-leading scorer Rudy Gay, Coach Lionel Hollins’ team knocked out West top seed San Antonio before falling to Oklahoma City in seven games.

The Grizzlies missed Gay’s perimeter shooting in both series, but there is speculation around the league that the Grizzlies might let him go after their success without him in the playoffs. Particularly with the emergence of Shane Battier and Tony Allen’s defensive skills, the Grizzlies might have a replacement for Gay on their roster already.  

Gay, 25, has about $68 million left on his max contract over the next four years. Memphis awarded Zach Randolph a monster new $71 million contract at the start of the series with the Spurs. Rapidly improving center Marc Gasol’s expiring contract is next and there is thought that Memphis owner Michael Heisley might not be willing to sign all three players.  

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that Gay .

Since the new NBA season won’t officially begin until July 1, Gay’s 2010-11 salary would apply until then. His $13.6 million salary would fit under the Cavaliers’ trade exception, but he likely would command much more than just that trade exception.

While Gay’s future destination will command much attention with Memphis fans after their suprising run, Battier had an interesting tweet after the end of the Oklahoma City game that thanked fans for their support.

Maxwell has harsh assessment of Shaq’s eroding physical skills

Boston analyst Cedric Maxwell didn’t have much good to say about Shaquille O’Neal’s return to the lineup in Game 3 of the Celtics’ playoff series with Miami.

O’Neal has been hobbled with an injured calf since he was hurt in early April. And when he returned to action Saturday, the 39-year-old Neal hobbled like he was too heavy and too old, according to Maxwell. O’Neal produced two points, an assist and a steal in eight plodding minutes.

“He looks bad. If he was a horse, they would take him out right now and he’d be glue tomorrow,” Maxwell said on . “He can’t run and physically he’s limping on that leg. Here’s a tremendous athlete who’s played all his career and has not had these kind of problems. 

“At the end of the day if you have a bald spot on one of your tires your car isn’t going to run right. And that’s a bald spot on the tire for him. Essentially, he looks like he’s got one of those walking boots on when you break your toe.”  

Yes, that’s the same Cedric Maxwell who used to wave the towel for everything Boston back in the day.

Now, he’s too busy snapping it on O’Neal’s hobbling and heavy frame as the Celtics prepare for Monday’s game against the Heat.