3/16/2005 06:32:00 PM|||Shep|||Yahoo! Sports - NBA - Jermaine O'Neal: "Mar 16 O'Neal continues to have significant swelling in his sprained right shoulder, and Pacers team doctors have yet to decide if the forward will require surgery to repair the damage. As a result, Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle has indicated that there is a chance O'Neal could miss the rest of the season. He has been sidelined since suffering the injury when he was fouled by Denver's Francisco Elson on March 3.
Advice: O'Neal will be evaluated regularily to track his progress. Dale Davis and Austin Croshere will continue to split the majority of the power-forward minutes in his absence. For the season, O'Neal is averaging 24.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.1 blocked shots and 2.0 assists in 41 games."
Fantasy Impact
Obviously, this is a huge blow to JON owners. Any season ending injury is bad for fantasy owners, but 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks are going to be hard to replace. If you're not in a keeper league, keep a close eye on the situation... and be prepared to drop him if anything more definitive comes out. He's worth an IL spot if you've got one, just in case he does happen to come back for a few games. As it says above, Austin Croshere and Dale Davis are the main beneficiaries in Indiana. Jeff Foster might also get a bump in minutes.
On to...
Houston Rockets forward Juwan Howard will be sidelined for at least four weeks after spraining his right knee during a collision with a teammate against Golden State on Monday night.
Fantasy Impact
Howard is not nearly the player that O'Neal is, and owners shouldn't hesitate to drop him. He had just started producing, but the results seem a lot more definitive than those for O'Neal. In the mean time, Scott Padgett and Dikembe Mutombo will probably see most of his 26 minutes - if you're looking for someone to pick up...
|||111099436143284413|||End of season for Juwan Howard, possibly Jermaine O'Neal too