Jermaine tweets he will be back before the end of the reg. season

[JudsonMerrill]

I don't have a ton of faith in J. O'Neal (fair or not, it sure seems like he's the anti-McHale: won't play through ANY discomfort) but I do have a lot of faith in the Boston Celtics as a company. They seem to have one of the best medical and training staffs and seem very good at managing and developing their talent. (They're not always forthright about it, but they do seem good at it.) Some franchises are better organizations than others and I stack the Celtics right up there with San Antonio and (ugh) the Lakers.

Just because Miami could never get O'Neal healthy doesn't mean Bryan Doo and co. can't. I think two months to just build up the strength in his legs and get his confidence in his knees back seems like the perfect prescription for the man. It might not work, but I won't be shocked if he turns up in March and can give the team a solid 20 minutes.

I know everyone has reason not to trust what the Celtics say about their players' health, but in this case the organization's actions speak for themselves. Ainge believes both O'Neals can come back and help. They might not, but he thinks they can. The Perkins trade is shocking proof of that. I'm inclined to believe along with him.

[Jon]

Let's keep in mind that he's 31.  The notion that he can bounce back from midseason surgery is not an impossibility.  

he is the oldest 31 yr old i have ever seen

Maybe.  And it's very likely too much to expect him to ever be what he was a few years ago.  But I don't see any reason he couldn't be as good as he was last year, which is really more than we really need.  

People love to write athletes off, but they can bounce back.  I remember last year when KG was cooked because he was 33 and came out of high school.  I also remember Elton Brand being labeled as done.  

Both statements ended up completely false.  

JO looked great in last yrs postseason

dude is done....and im not one to write people off often.
i hated the signing in the offseason and stand by those initial feelings now

He also averaged 13 points and 7 boards on the season.  

The playoffs were 5 games where he was playing on a team that viewed him as the second option.  

It'll be a lot different coming off the bench.  

I also don't get this "zero faith" in JO bit.  People act like he's been on the team for years and consistently disappointed us.  The fact of the matter is that the team continued to believe that he could recover without surgery and waited too long.  They probably should've given him surgery in October.  There's no reason to think that he can't come back and play 15-20 mpg, play some defense and grab some rebounds.  

those 5 games are the only ones that matter.  he could average 20 and 10 for all i care.  what i saw in the post season last year, preseason this year, and his limited play this season tells me all i need to know.

not to mention the guy is coming back from an injury. u used writing kg off as an example....it took kg a good year/year and a half to play at a high level following his injury. 

i like ur optimism and hope im wrong and that JO can come in and do great things....but my mind is made up, toast! hated the signing then, hate it even more now bc i feel my feelings were validated.

Three points:

1) I'm not guaranteeing anything.  I'm not saying that KG's comeback is any sort of guarantee about JO.  All I'm saying is that it's possible he comes back.  But to me, saying that JO will totally bounce back is just as ludicrous as saying he's shot.  My biggest problem is the absolutes being tosses around here.  People act like they are his personal physicians and actually know what's going on. 

2) As far as the KG comparison, you're right, it took him a year and a half to get back to 100%, which would be a problem if we were asking JO to be the JO of old.  However, all we're asking him to do is come back for 15-20 mpg, hit some open shots, grab some boards, and play some D.  And KG could do those things a lot earlier than a year and half. 

3) That's the same reason why the playoffs don't matter from last year.  JO was an enormous disappointment as Miami's starting center and second option.  However, had he done that as our backup center last year, there would've been no problem and he would've had ample opportunity to bounce back in later rounds. 

[LooseCannon]

  JO had a bad knee in the playoffs last year. Expecting him to come to the team in good shape might be a bit of a stretch. And Delonte's also been injured (or suspended) since he got here. His support comes from his previous stint on the team.

Actually, he had an ankle injury.  (Well, I suppose he's always had a bad knee, but that wasn't the problem.)  Which makes it annoying when people claim his knee problems are a continuation of what he suffered at the end of last season and the playoffs.

I do think Jermaine O'Neal is more willing to play through pain in the playoffs than in the regular season.

[Drucci]

It doesn't mean anything but A. Sherrod Blakely thinks JO will come back during the month of March, which would be earlier than the expected return date.

Per Twitter :

JO has been primarily in Boston. He's doing some work on the court now which means he'll probably suit up sometime in March.