RealGM

This sucks. Hopefully it's very minor.

http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_m ... njury.html

Time for Thabeet to start dropping those 15 15 and 5 games

oh god. Just what I was worried about. Hopefully he gets back very soon.

Serious, but better than expect word from examination:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... st-result/

Grade 2 sprain is kinda serious. Doesn't sound to severe which make it a good thing. There is a 50/50 chance he might play or not in the opener vs. the Hawks. Gasol should have a speedy recovery.

Should rest him until the Lakers game

Ouch - you may well be right MayoIs

http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_m ... hawks.html

What a way to ruin an otherwise great preseason.

Against Atlanta I'm thinking maybe Darrell Arthur should start since he can more or less stay with Josh Smith on the defensive end, Horford is really a PF playing center so Z-Bo won't be overpowered either on the defensive end. Another thing they could do to matchup better is to slide Gay to the 4 spot but if they do start Thabeet I think he'll do fine. As for Marc's return date I think Nov. 3rd against the Warriors so he doesn't come back and immediately play a back to back.

MayoisMemphis wrote:Against Atlanta I'm thinking maybe Darrell Arthur should start since he can more or less stay with Josh Smith on the defensive end, Horford is really a PF playing center so Z-Bo won't be overpowered either on the defensive end. Another thing they could do to matchup better is to slide Gay to the 4 spot but if they do start Thabeet I think he'll do fine. As for Marc's return date I think Nov. 3rd against the Warriors so he doesn't come back and immediately play a back to back.

Yeah, I think a Randolph/Arthur/Gay frontcourt could work pretty well against Atlanta.
All in all, this injury really sucks, but at least we'll get a chance to see how our bench stacks up against some pretty decent squads early on.
Anyone know if Tony Allen generally does a nice job on Joe Johnson or what?

Can't say for sure. With TA's history on defense he should be able to harass JJ into a bad shooting night.

idk about the impact of TA on this team. Our entire team defense needs to improve, and adding one lockdown defender does not really help this goal entirely. It's a step in the right direction, but our entire squad needs to buy in.

As for the 2nd degree ankle sprain: that is really a difficult thing. It took me a while to recover, but professional athletes probably can play on it. So, I am not too worried as long as it does not become a recurring concern. We should rest him until he feels that he is back to normal.