Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 18, 2002

As feared, Tom Gugliotta's season is over with the Suns.

Dr. Tom Carter, the Suns orthopedic surgeon, examined Gugliotta on Sunday and viewed a magnetic resonance imaging exam taken in Atlanta, confirming that Gugliotta has a stress fracture in the cuboid bone of his right foot, according to trainer Aaron Nelson.

"Googs won't return this season," Nelson said. "It's a separate injury from the stress reaction he had in the same foot, and the recovery takes four to six weeks."

The cuboid is a small bone on the outside of the foot, behind the fourth and fifth metatarsal bones.

Nelson said Gugliotta would be treated as he was for the stress reaction injury, which was in the fifth metatarsal.

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"The X-rays taken in Miami didn't show the injury, but the MRI that was done in Atlanta did."

Gugliotta was placed on the injured list earlier this season when he experienced tendinitis in his left quadriceps tendon above his surgically reconstructed left knee. There was atrophy in the muscle, and during his rehabilitation for that injury the stress reaction developed in his right foot.

He missed 15 games in total because of those injuries.

Suns coach Frank Johnson said Saturday in Charlotte that the club would likely activate guard Joe Crispin, who has been sidelined because of tendinitis in his knee, from the injured list if Gugliotta's injury became serious.

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