Artest out till All Star Break

[sook]

http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/m ... 3/13228508

Artest could be out until All-Star break
Posted on: January 27, 2009 5:25 pm
Score: 91
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No surprise here: More injury woes for the Houston Rockets.

A day after center Yao Ming's bruised right knee kept him from rejoining Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest for a rare appearance together against the Knicks, Artest told CBSSports.com Tuesday that his injured right ankle probably will knock him out of the lineup again. For how long, nobody knows. But Artest, speaking by cell phone from Houston, said one possibility that doctors, trainers, and coaches might consider is shutting him down until after the All-Star break to give his bone bruise a chance to heal for the playoff push.

"I think that’s something that probably the trainers and coaches will think about," Artest said. "They pretty much told me that when I get better, whenever I feel right, that I would pretty much get the OK. They know I want to play, so it’s not a thing where they're saying, 'Hurry back, get ready.' I thought I was ready to come back for the long haul. I guess we got one victory out of it."

Artest, bothered by the sore ankle all season, missed nine of 10 games -- including seven straight -- in an effort to get the ankle to calm down so he can finish the season. The move coincided with the Rockets shutting McGrady down for six games to get his conditioning back and rest his troublesome left knee. Both returned for back-to-back road games against Detroit and New York Sunday and Monday, but Artest said his ankle was so sore against the Knicks that he considered sitting out the second half. He shot 4-for-19, including 1-for-10 on three-pointers.

"I tested it for a couple of days and I thought I'd be Superman," Artest said. "But you never know with these things, especially when it’s a bone bruise. I never had a bone bruise. This is the first time I've gone through this, so it takes some time getting used to. I guess there will be a point in time where you just have to deal with the pain if you can minimize it for that stretch run and see how far it can take you then. We’re just trying to see how long this pain is going to actually last."

Artest will test the ankle at shootaround Wednesday, but described his chances of playing against Philadelphia at home as "pretty slim." Doctors have told him surgery won't be necessary, but he'll have to be re-evaluated on a daily basis to see how long he needs to rest. Given that his recent seven-game absence spanned two weeks, a similar timetable would push him against the All-Star break. Houston's last game before the break is Feb. 11 at home against Sacramento.

The Rockets have struggled with injuries all season, but nonetheless are 10 games over .500 (28-18) heading into a stretch of playing 10 of the next 12 games at home. They've had Yao, McGrady and Artest healthy for only 22 games this season, and also have dealt with injuries to Shane Battier and Rafer Alston -- who called out his teammates as "selfish" and "lazy" after Monday night's loss.

"We’re a coinfident team," Artest said. "Actually, everybody’s really upbeat. It’s not a thing where guys aren’t feeling confident. It's just a shame that I haven't had a chance to show Houston what I can be. Hopefully I can rest and get healthy and show the city of Houston what they've got."

[sook]

btw, i think its odd he's out till "All star break", i smell a trade in the works

[TMU]

Yeah, Artest will be on and off throughout the rest of the season. I think he will go under the knife in the coming off-season.

We'll miss Artest, but hopefully the rest of the team can play the way they've played last season.

[jzmagik]

You can't trade him if he's injured.. If anything, we'll be stuck with Artest for the rest of the season now.

[BaYBaller]

I hope he at least gets some practice with the team in. Maybe not full contract but at least running through the sets and stuff.

[Guy986]

You can't trade him if he's injured.. If anything, we'll be stuck with Artest for the rest of the season now.

You dont really know if he's REALLY injured. He may not be 100% percent but that ankle injury is unlikely to sideline someone like him for 3 weeks. He said he was close to 95% in that detriot game.

[Iggyemu]

To be quite honest..this isn't a big loss with the emergence of Wafer. If we have McGrady, Battier, Yao...with Wafer off the bench I think we'll be just fine. And IMO Artest should take all the time he needs to get that ankle healed up. We'll need him come playoff time.

[langer]

To be quite and quite honest, I think Ron is the only one who can lead us to win any series in play off.
I doubt that Morey would do any big trade before this season over. But, if we really really have to trade someone, I rather them to trade TMAC than Ron for thousands of reason.

Man, if we did trade TMAC to piston last summer, this team would be leading in the west this season.

[Jaykoolzboy]

It would be really depressed if we don't have Von "the Won" Wafer, hey we can see more Wafer now. Ron must be healthy in the playoff time. Now, if Wafer somehow got injured, then we'll talk .

[MaxRider]

is this some type of experiment to see how we will do without Artest?
if okay then trade him by trade deadline?

[YoungMoney23]

even if we do trade Ron, what decent value will we get in return? We wont be able to solve our point guard woes unless people still want to bring in Hinrich but even thats a long shot and if they bring in Marion I will have lost all faith in the front office

[MaxRider]

even if we do trade Ron, what decent value will we get in return? We wont be able to solve our point guard woes unless people still want to bring in Hinrich but even thats a long shot and if they bring in Marion I will have lost all faith in the front office

trade Artest back to Sacramento for BJax

[moofs]

To be quite and quite honest, I think Ron is the only one who can lead us to win any series in play off.

trade Artest back to Sacramento for BJax

Man, if we did trade TMAC to piston last summer, this team would be leading in the west this season.

Depending on who, but not unpossibly.

[HTown4Life]

Houston- "where stars come to get injured"

[tha_rock220]

He needs to sit until he's completely healthy or at least kind of close.

[aznkillabeezZz]

At least it'll decrease his value, and we might get him for cheap next season.

[realfung]

Why don't the Rockets trade their big 3 for 2 major guys?
Like David Lee + Wade.

[moofs]

Wow.

Cue Ribalding for that one. Please. I'm not capable of providing the appropriate degree of surly response.

[TMU]

Why don't the Rockets trade their big 3 for 2 major guys?
Like David Lee + Wade.

I'm not sure, but it makes me appreciate guys like John Weisbrod and Chris Wallace.

[Iggyemu]

Why don't the Rockets trade their big 3 for 2 major guys?
Like David Lee + Wade.

You just referred to David like as "major guy". Are you drunk?