More Injuries for Nets, Horner Called Up

As if the Nets didn’t have enough injuries already, they suffered two more last night in the victory over Indiana. Two Williams’s, Shelden and Jordan, went down and will not play on Friday in Golden State. Shelden was poked in the eye by Tyler Hansbrough in the first half and did not return. Jordan was hit in the head by Roy Hibbert and left the game with concussion-like symptoms. Shelden’s injury seems more serious than Jordan’s, and Shelden will be reevaluated on April 5th. Jordan might play later on in the 4-game road trip.

Shelden was the only Net that had played every game this season, which is not what we would have expected at all going into the year. It is sad to see him go, but in the long run, the Nets don’t care because I don’t think that Shelden is a big part of their future and they don’t need to develop him. However, he plays with heart and hustle every night, and I can only say that for a select few Nets.

The J-Will injury is much worse than the Shelden injury for Nets fans. Jordan was finally beginning to develop and he has looked like an NBA player over the last week or two. He has gotten more aggressive, and he is a better offensive player than Shelden, Petro, and maybe even The Hump (though that is a stretch). I hope he only misses a game or two and comes back healthy.

Because of these two injuries, along with Brook Lopez, the Nets are down to Johan Petro at the center position. And Petro will have no backup. The Nets announced last night that Dennis Horner would be called up from the Springfield Armor to replace Jerry Smith, who went back down to the Armor. Horner is a forward, but he really cannot play center at only 6’9” 230 pounds. The other Nets power forward, Kris Humphries, also has never really played center in the NBA. Until either Shelden or Jordan come back, the Nets will have to play without a center for much of the game.

Also, the Nets are now down to only 1 Williams, when at one point this year they had 4: Deron, Shelden, Jordan, and Shawne. In one game against the Raptors, all four were on the court at the same time. Only Deron remains, and he could be next.

The Nets really couldn’t have been less lucky with injuries this year and this is the most injured team I have ever seen. Let’s recap the Nets injuries of this year. The first injury of the year was Brook Lopez, who suffered a foot injury in the preseason. After coming back and playing 5 games, he sprained his ankle and may not come back this year. The next injury was Nets starting small forward Damion James. After starting the first seven games of the year, Damion broke his foot and is out for the year. Next up was Marshon Brooks, who sprained his ankle and broke his toe which caused him to miss a good amount of games. Then there were two injuries which turned into a trade. Mehmet Okur had back spasms and never returned and is now out for the season. I’m glad because he was terrible. Shawne Williams broke his foot and is out for the season. Both Mehmet and Shawne were traded to Portland for Gerald Wallace. Early in the season when the Nets needed help at small forward, they signed Keith Bogans, who played 5 games and then was out for the season with a broken foot. This is getting very comical. More recently, Jordan Farmar has been having groin problems and has only played a few games since the trade deadline and may be out for the season. And then last night were the Shelden and Jordan injuries.

All signs point to Deron Williams being the next Net to be injured. If I had a crystal ball, I would say that he will get injured on the road trip and not return this season. It is not going to be a bad injury at all, and if the Nets were in a playoff race, he probably wouldn’t even miss a game. But he really hates playing for this team, playing at the Prudential Center, and being on one of the worst teams in the NBA. We may be seeing Deron wearing a Nets uniform for the last time.