Gasol's foot woes just won't go away More tests are planned for Grizzlies' star forward By Ronald Tillery Contact March 1, 2005 Pau Gasol could rejoice if today loomed as his most important day of the week. But this is just another dreary Tuesday for the Grizzlies' 7-foot forward. He won't return to action this afternoon against the Golden State Warriors, or anytime this week for that matter. So the day Gasol anticipates is Wednesday when he'll visit team doctors for a weekly MRI, X-ray and other examinations that determine the status of his injured left foot. And only those medical pictures of his foot can change Gasol's frame of mind. When asked if it is possible that he won't play again this season, the Spaniard raised both eyebrows and gave the notion some credence. "I would think that there is a chance," Gasol said. "I just thought that I'd be able to play a lot sooner. Now, everything is very much undecided so I really don't know what to expect anymore. I try to be as positive as I can. Hopefully, everything heals but I don't see that happening anytime soon." Team officials were optimistic Monday about Stromile Swift, upgrading the forward from out indefinitely to day-to-day. Swift still wears a therapeutic boot on his left foot because of a sprained ankle. Although Swift must be cleared to practice, the team is hopeful he will be able to play next week sometime during a four-game West Coast road trip. That's why Swift wasn't placed on the injured list when forward James Posey returned to action last week. The Griz are making more cautious judgments regarding Gasol, and won't allow their franchise player to return at the risk of long-term complications. Their reasons are obvious. Gasol agreed to a six-year, $86 million contract extension (maximum allowed) just before the start of training camp. That, plus the nature of Gasol's injury, makes for deliberate decisions. There essentially is a hairline fracture in Gasol's foot and avoiding a clean break is the main objective. Doctors saw little-to-no progress after the first two weeks, and have only allowed Gasol to lift weights and swim since January when he went on the injured list. Perhaps no one understands the seriousness of this situation more than Griz coach Mike Fratello. While coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Fratello experienced the difficulties of a 7-footer in this condition. Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was diagnosed with a season-ending fracture of the navicular bone in his left foot during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season -- Fratello's last as head coach. Ilgauskas missed all but five games that season. Following a healing process, Ilgauskas then sat out the entire 1999-2000 campaign because of two surgeries on the foot. He played 24 games in 2000-01 and was diagnosed with a new fracture of a bone in his left foot. Ilgauskas had season-ending surgery in February 2001. Gasol and the doctors want to avoid surgery but that can only happen if test results eventually show that the bone in Gasol's foot has completely healed. "That's what we would like to see," Gasol said. "But we haven't seen that yet. It's a tough spot to heal. Sometimes it heals by itself. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you have to put a screw in it and you have to go through the surgery thing. We're going to have to make a decision or take a risk. I'm sure we'll decide something on what's best for the big picture. "I hope I don't miss the rest of the season. I hope in a couple of days I get good news that it's improved and they want me to start practicing again. Or at least, if it's not completely healed, maybe we can get back to practice and see how it feels. It never hurt me. It was never painful. We'll see what we do. It's up in the air. It's a tough call, and it's very frustrating because I don't even know what's going on and when to expect to be back. People ask me all the time and I wish I knew. That's just how it is." At least until the Wednesday verdict. -- Ronald Tillery: 529-2353 --

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