Sight Beyond Sight

Posted by Rob Mahoney on March 4, 2010 under News | 2 Comments to Read

In the third quarter of last night’s game, Corey Brewer’s elbow became better acquainted with Jason Terry’s face. It was an incidental play that couldn’t be classified as a cheap shot or anything even more sinister, but it did take JET to the ground and gave trainer Casey Smith quite a challenge in stopping the bleeding. But Terry finished the game, helped to ice a win despite some pain and an eye that was slowly being swollen shut.

But this morning, we have a more precise diagnosis of exactly what ailed Terry in the third and fourth quarters last night: a broken orbital bone. According to the team, JET will undergo surgery tomorrow, but there’s no official timetable for his return as of yet.

Hedo Turkoglu suffered a similar injury earlier this season, but only missed two games with a fractured, non-displaced orbital bone. That said, Hedo’s injury wasn’t serious enough that it required surgery, meaning Terry’s could be significantly more serious. But having said that said, JET, when asked how long he might be sidelined, responded “Not long.” So we have a point of comparison, even if it’s one that could be fundamentally different due to magnitude, a prognosis from a hopeful patient, and no official timetable from a team that won’t release further details until Terry’s surgery tomorrow at the very least. Gotta love the wealth of information in the modern age, right?

Terry will certainly be missing some time, though, even if the exact length is undetermined at this point. Rodrigue Beaubois, J.J. Barea, DeShawn Stevenson, and Von Wafer are all candidates to see an increase in opportunity, but also don’t count out the option of Carlisle bumping the minutes of Caron Butler and Shawn Marion. Each could see a slight uptick both in terms of their overall minutes and their minutes on the floor together, as no JET at the 2 could mean more of Butler. Beaubois is the clear fan favorite to leap into Terry’s role, and he’d appear to have a leg up after his big night against the Wolves. But if Roddy doesn’t see an increase in minutes over JET’s absence, it wouldn’t be the first time that Carlisle has surprised.