Kurt Thomas out of game

[AmareFan]

with hyper extended elbow....MRI scheduled for Tuesday....let's all hope he is OK....say a prayer or two.

 

[Louis]

If he's out for an extended period of time I think we can all feel comfortable that Pat Burke has been showing signs of being a solid backup PF/C who can play tough defense and rebound the ball.

 

[S_Nash]

 

[AmareFan]

If he's out for an extended period of time I think we can all feel comfortable that Pat Burke has been showing signs of being a solid backup PF/C who can play tough defense and rebound the ball.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

LOL @ Louie!

Here's our big injury that's been waiting to happen...ugh.

 

[mjb21aztd]

Well we have been pretty lucky to stay injury free so far hopefully Thomas is ok and its nothing serious we need him

 

[az1965]

If he's out for an extended period of time I think we can all feel comfortable that Pat Burke has been showing signs of being a solid backup PF/C who can play tough defense and rebound the ball.

... and also make the crowd roll on the ground laughing!

 

[mribnik]

It didn't look so bad to me. Hopefully he won't be out for long.

 

[krispydude]

he did shoot the 2 ft's after the he got hurt so i dont think it was too serious. definitely some concern though. he's been playing great while amare sits.

 

[dbUNIT16]

I guess Jermaine Jones will see some playing time if KT is out... maybe Banks as well, I'm guessing it'd be a combination of the two, I don't think D'Antoni is comfortable giving either of them significant minutes.

 

[jbeecham]

Well if KT has to miss any games, they can activate Marks and give him a chance. My guess is that they'll play smaller like they did when KT was injured last year and you'll see more of Diaw at C.

 

[Forrestham]

If we have to depend on Burke we are in trouble. I would give Marks a chance for a few minutes. Thomas has played excellent in his role off the bench. If we are shooitng for a title, I think we look at Banks for Mcdyess or Ely. Having an extra body off the bench will be imptant come playoff time. I would be willing to part with the lowest of the 3 picks if needed.

 

[dodie53]

if KT goes down for a long time, will a trade come?

 

[Divide Et Impera]

I'll tell you what, if KT is down for any significant amount of time, we gotta trade for a C.

Ely is an option, but there are some minor players out there who could come in and give us 10-12 minutes of legitimate effort. How about Andre Blatche or Etan Thomas (who I would REEEALLY like on this team)? What of the prospect of acquiring Nazr Mohammed? Of course, there is the oft-mentioned Dan Gadzuric.

In a dream world, how sweet would it be to pick up Tyrus Thomas or Andris Biedrins?

 

[HooverDam]

I guess Jermaine Jones

JUMAINE, just FYI

 

[asudevil83]

I'll tell you what, if KT is down for any significant amount of time, we gotta trade for a C.

Ely is an option, but there are some minor players out there who could come in and give us 10-12 minutes of legitimate effort. How about Andre Blatche or Etan Thomas (who I would REEEALLY like on this team)? What of the prospect of acquiring Nazr Mohammed? Of course, there is the oft-mentioned Dan Gadzuric.

In a dream world, how sweet would it be to pick up Tyrus Thomas or Andris Biedrins?

i think the best we can hope for would probably be Ely. the rest of the names on this list have bloated contracts that are last more than a couple of years. that's probably not something the suns are looking at for a temporary fix especially with the LT as a major concern.

if anything, i expect us to just ride it out for a few weeks....letting Jumaine and James step up for some decent minutes.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Blatche is very young and probably attainable. I don't know Etan's contract status, but he'd be a beast here! I was under the impression that Mohammed and Gadzuric were making around $5M/year, which means they are attainable with Banks plus an expiring contract....

 

[elindholm]

Ely is useless. Charlotte isn't using him and the trade market for him is very soft -- that should tell you a lot.

Etan Thomas would be great if he could stay healthy, which he can't. No point filling an injury vacancy with a guy who's about to be injured.

Mohammed is usually good for about two months with each new team before he goes back into his shell, so if the Suns are going to trade for him, they need to wait a while.

Gadzuric would be a great fit, in my opinion, but his contract is huge and I don't see the Bucks giving him up anyway. The minimum they'd consider would probably be Banks, James Jones, and the Cleveland pick.

The Suns will just play more small ball if Thomas is out. That's not necessarily a good idea, but it's what they'll do.

 

[SactownSunsFan]

As jbeecham mentioned, they'll likely move a lot of Diaw's minutes to Center behind Amare, move some of Marion's minutes to PF, and have the Jones' and/or Jalen Rose pick up the minutes at SF.

 

[jbeecham]

Thomas Suffers Injury to Left Elbow After Fall

By Jerry Brown
East Valley Tribune
Jan. 16, 2007

All season, the Suns had managed to sidestep the injury bug that has infected almost every other NBA team, missing only 10 man-games to the sick bay over the first 36 games.

But center Kurt Thomas couldn’t sidestep Memphis’ Dahntay Jones with three minutes left in the first quarter of Monday’s 137-122 win over the Grizzlies. He suffered a left elbow injury attempting to break his fall, breaking the Suns’ run of good fortune health-wise.

Thomas left the game a minute later when the elbow quickly began to swell and he could be out indefinitely — several weeks at the least — if ligament or nerve damage is found.

“He has a pretty good amount of swelling in the medial aspect (inside) of his elbow,” Suns head trainer Aaron Nelson said.

Thomas will fly back to Phoenix today for an MRI exam with team physician Dr. Tom Carter, who will look for any damage to the flexor mass, the ulnar collateral ligament and the surrounding nerve tissue — which will determine how long Thomas is out.

"I was going for a layup and (Jones) was underneath me and I tried to break my fall,” said Thomas, who had his left arm in a sling after the game. “I didn’t know how bad it was, but after I shot the free throws going up and down the court I felt it starting to swell. I knew I had to come out of the game and get some ice on it."

Thomas missed the final 29 games of the regular season and all but one playoff game last year due to a stress fracture in his right foot. He is a mainstay for the Suns defensively and had been shooting the ball well of late (9-for-13 over the past four games).

“That hurts a lot,” guard Steve Nash said. “Kurt was playing great and looking great. He’s going to be an important piece for us, especially in the playoffs. We hope it’s not too bad and he can make a recovery in plenty of time for the playoffs.”

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/tribune_070116.html

 

[Louis]

KT may not contribute a lot statistically, but he is a solid player to have on the court and in the locker room for the Suns.

Any time he misses will hurt the Suns.

Especially he misses a lot of time considering their first 3 games in Feb. are against SA, Utah, and Denver.

 

[Mainstreet]

Hopefully Kurt will have a successful recovery, especially prior to the playoffs. I think his greatest contribution will come in the playoffs when the game slows down. Also as everyone knows the Suns were without KT the latter part of last season as well as Amare (practically all season) and they made it to the WCF.

Do I want another big man? Probably more than many and I would consider all reasonable options trying to include Banks in such a trade.

As a trial balloon, I would like to slide Jumaine Jones into the 8th spot with the rest of the regulars and see if he can step up his game as sort of a TT type player. In other words I would like to see Jumaine play without the other end of the bench players.

 

[elindholm]

There's no word that Thomas is actually hurt yet, right? Aren't we still waiting on the MRI results?

 

[SactownSunsFan]

There's no word that Thomas is actually hurt yet, right? Aren't we still waiting on the MRI results?

Even if it's nothing serious, I'd bet he'll still miss at least the next two games.

 

[Mainstreet]

There's no word that Thomas is actually hurt yet, right? Aren't we still waiting on the MRI results?

Your right. I haven't heard anything yet. I guess just the thought of KT getting an MRI (which I think is smart), worries most of the fans.