And unlike the falling of Orthanc of Isengard and Minas Morgul of Mordor, this is not a good thing. Pelicans’ Center Omer Asik is set to miss 3 weeks with a right calf strain, becoming the second Pelican Center who signed a multi-year deal this summer to get injured this preseason. Obviously this is not a good thing, but like Ajinca, Omer is not set to miss much time. Missing weeks of preseason while trying to learn a new system is not ideal, but Omer should be good to go for the beginning of the season. The towers will rise again, unlike evil, which was finally destroyed for good.

Like everyone else on the team, Omer has praised new coach Darren Erman for his know-how and claims the defense is much more of a focus this year. He was quoted on media saying the Pelicans “should be top 10 at least” in defense this year, and why not? While playing Houston’s uptempo style, Omer was considered one of the best defensive bigs in the game, and at 29 years old, there is no reason he can’t get back to that form. Last season Omer struggled at times, but averaged 7.3pts and 9.8rebs in 26 minutes per game and was one of the best rebounders in the league.

This injury does open up more practice for small-ball, something that Pelicans fans will likely see more of this year. It also opens up more time for perfect teammate, savy vet, professional entertainer Kendrick Perkins, the 3rd Center to sign with the team this summer, who had some great moments in Oklahoma City the past couple years such as these:

He finished the season in Cleveland last year, and tho he only played 17 games, he was able to put up amazing highlights like this one:

We can only hope to see more of the same through the rest of the Preseason schedule.

Get Well Soon Omer!

One Comment