By DANNY O'NEIL SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
For the past month Vladimir Radmanovic's shooting woes have been written off as the result of a wrist injury he suffered Feb. 13.
Turns out the problem was further down in the foundation. Radmanovic was diagnosed yesterday with a stress fracture in his right fibula, one of two bones in the lower leg. He will be out the next four to six weeks, which means he could miss the rest of the regular season.
Radmanovic was placed in a cast yesterday, which he will wear for two weeks. He was put on the injured list and rookie Damien Wilkins was activated. The conclusion was reached yesterday after analysis of a bone scan Radmanovic underwent on Thursday. Radmanovic said he wasn't prepared for the prognosis of missing the next month.
"You don't have a reaction," Radmanovic said. "You have silence for a certain period. A lot of things running through your mind."
Ronald Murray will become part of the Sonics' nine-man rotation in Radmanovic's absence. Murray scored eight points in the first half of last night's game against Orlando.
Radmanovic said he doesn't remember a specific incident that caused the pain in his leg, but he said it has worsened over the past 10 games or so.
"Honestly, I don't remember that I did anything," he said. "I just started feeling pain. I thought it was tender or some muscle (strain). I kept playing with it. It was getting worse."
The same could be said for his shooting. He had scored fewer than 10 points in the previous seven games. His field-goal percentage in those games was 28.6 (18-for-63) and his 3-point percentage was 18.2 (6-for-33)
Filling Radmanovic's spot in the rotation is one thing, but the Sonics don't have anyone who can replicate his role. He was coach Nate McMillan's wild card, often the first substitute off the bench to replace center Jerome James. Paired with Rashard Lewis, the Sonics had a pair of 6-foot-10 forwards with 3-point range while Reggie Evans or Danny Fortson or Nick Collison held down the middle.
It allowed the Sonics to create a mismatch. Either Radmanovic was being defended by a power forward, who wasn't accustomed to playing defense on the perimeter, or he was matched up against a smaller player.
McMillan said he wasn't sure how he would change the team's style of play with Radmanovic out.
"I'm laying in bed today and I'm thinking about that," McMillan said. "Do you slow it down? I've got to come up with a rotation and a style for the second unit."
That improvisation was made even tougher against Orlando last night because the Sonics were missing both Fortson (ankle sprain) and James (hip contusion).
Collison started at center in place of James, but was called for two personal fouls in the first six minutes and had to be replaced by Vitaly Potapenko, the first player off Seattle's bench. Antonio Daniels was the next substitute and then Murray.
"Then you are really small as far as size and rebounding," McMillan said.
The only consolation is that the stress fracture didn't reach a breaking point.
"The good side is I didn't keep playing and risk breaking the bone and having surgery," Radmanovic said.
The Sonics have been largely free of injuries this season. The only player in the 10-man rotation who has missed more than three games because of injury is Murray, who was out for a month with a strained quadriceps.
"We've been fortunate and somewhat lucky to go this far without a major injury like this," McMillan said. "Injuries are always a key to a team's success. We've been lucky to only have nagging injuries where guys could play through them."
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