Eye surgery sidelines Unicaja's Santiago six weeks
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Unicaja's bid to reach its first Final Four will be made be without center Daniel Santiago, who will be out six weeks, starting with tonight's do-or-die playoff game against Winterthur FC Barcelona, following emergency surgery this morning for a detached retina. Santiago, the Euroleague MVP for March, not to mention his team's top rebounder and second-best scorer, flew to Barcelona for the emergency operation on his right eye following day-long tests on Wednesday that confirmed the diagnosis. Santiago, who wears protective goggles when playing, started experiencing blurred vision after Game 2 of the series with Barcelona, last Thursday. He played a weekend Spanish League game, but upon returning to Malaga complained of worsening symptoms on Monday. The initial diagnosis of retinal detatchment in his right eye was confirmed in day-long tests on Wednesday. While Barcelona flew to Malaga for the game, Santiago went the opposite direction to be operated upon urgently in Spain's top eye hospital on Thursday morning. Doctor's said afterward that he will not be able to play basketball for between six and eight weeks. Win or lose against Barcelona on Thursday, Santiago's absence will hurt Unicaja, for whom he is the main inside threat on offense and defense. He has averaged 11.9 points and 4.9 rebounds this season, but upped those numbers considerable as Unicaja won its Top 16 group to reach its first-ever playoff series, the furthest the team has ever gone in Euroleague competition. he was named the Euroleague MVP for March based on having averaged 15 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1.6 assists while making an incredible 80.6% of his two-pointers in the highest-pressure games of the season until then.
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Euroleague.net
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