Remember when Sam Smith said that Richard Hamilton "could play again in a week or two" after the shooting guard was discovered to have torn the plantar fascia in his left foot on Saturday? Well, it appears that Dr. Sam was pretty far off with that one week possibility, as Hamilton revealed on Friday that doctors told him he could miss a month (via the Chicago Tribune):

"They said four weeks," Hamilton said before the Bulls' morning shootaround at a local high school. "But they said I could probably come back before that. Everybody's body is different."

Considering it's Hamilton we're talking about here, I would expect him to miss close to if not all four of those weeks. Just look at what happened last year with his groin and shoulder injuries. The guy missed a ton of time after getting bumped on a screen.

The Bulls play Hamilton's former team the Pistons tonight, and of course, Rip is deeply saddened to be missing the game. I fully expected him to try and play tonight, only to re-injure the foot and miss another month:

"This is a game I got on my calendar," he said. "This is the one game you mark before the season even starts, saying I can't wait. To be injured is frustrating."

With Hamilton out of the lineup for the time being, the Bulls will have to hope Marco Belinelli has more games like he did on Wednesday against the Cavaliers. While his 2-of-8 from three-point land leaves a lot to be desired, it's hard to complain about the 23 points. I certainly don't expect that every night, but it's nice to see The Italian Stallion get some much needed confidence.

Oh, and one more thing, just what in the hell is wrong with Fred Tedeschi? The dude cleared Hamilton to play on an injury that now could cost him a month. I don't care if Rip barely had to move. He should not have been out there at all. I'm pretty sure we could write a rather lengthy novel based on Fred's clearing faux pas.