http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/10974173p-11891503c.html
Another injury for the Kings
Center Greg Ostertag will be out 4-6 weeks after breaking his right hand.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 4, 2004
Usually, a new player on an NBA team can fit in by making free throws at the end of practice. Misses result in team-wide running, while made free throws eliminate the suicide drills.
However, these are the Kings, and to really fit in, you get hurt. Of course, that's a tongue-in-cheek analysis, but veteran center Greg Ostertag had been a very durable player with the Utah Jazz.
After one day of practice with the Kings, Ostertag couldn't navigate his way around his new area digs Saturday night, tripped, put his right hand down for support and came up with a third broken metacarpal bone. He went to an area hospital emergency room Saturday night after talking to trainer Pete Youngman.
Sunday, Ostertag was examined by team physician Dr. Richard Marder, X-rayed at UC Davis and then had a cast placed on his hand.
Kings coach Rick Adelman received a call from Youngman on Sunday morning.
"I knew it wasn't good news because Pete never calls early in the morning unless there is something wrong," Adelman said. "(Ostertag) is supposed to be out anywhere from four to six weeks. It was just a freakish thing."
Actually, it would be freakish if it occurred to a player on pretty much every other team. However, these are the Kings, who, for the life of them, seemingly cannot find a way to stay healthy.
"I was walking into practice," Kings power forward Chris Webber said, "and (Ostertag) showed me his hand. He just looked at me and laughed. It doesn't surprise me.
"I just said, 'Welcome to the Kings Show!' "
During the past five seasons with the Jazz, Ostertag, 31, never missed more than eight games in one season, and sat out only one in three of those seasons.
Last season, Ostertag missed only two games because of injury. He missed one more because of a league suspension and another as a result of a coach's decision.
Adelman said he hopes Ostertag will be ready to start the season with the team but acknowledged the center's absence will afford more playing time in scrimmages as well as the exhibition season for free-agent 7-foot centers Anwar Ferguson of Houston and Adam Parada of UC Irvine. Parada played with Sacramento's summer league team in Long Beach.
"We'll have to look around," the coach said, "but I was hoping to try and get the second unit time playing together, and now we're looking at playing a lot of young guys with Darius (Songaila). I like Adam.
"He really plays hard. He competes. He does a lot of the little things that you need. He'll run the floor, sets screens and is very physical trying to play people, and he's a little bit more familiar with the stuff we're doing. He rebounds, and I really like the way he competes."
Ferguson also has displayed nice athleticism and a soft mid-range during the first two days of practice. Listed at 200 pounds, Ferguson had better be athletic if he is to have success banging inside with the big boys.
Notes - Guard Courtney Alexander suffered a strained left thigh and is listed as day-to-day.
* Kings small forward Peja Stojakovic will host the inaugural "GettaCue - A Billiards Experience" tournament tonight at the Tsakopoulous Library Galleria (9th and I streets) from 6 to 11 p.m. The tournament will benefit the UC Davis Cancer Center for breast and ovarian cancer research and the Peja Stojakovic Children's Foundation for the new Telemedicine program through UC Davis Med Center and the Belgrade Children's Hospital.
For more information, call Andiamo Sports at (916) 438-2929 or go to
www.gettacue.com.
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