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Authored by Bobby Jackson - 30th January, 2007 - 9:31 pm
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Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans
The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
A Melo Behind The Superstars
Carmelo Anthony has never been one of the league's most efficient offensive players.
A Melo Behind The Superstars
Carmelo Anthony has never been one of the league's most efficient offensive players.
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Anyone who has seen me play throughout my career probably understands that even though I may give up 5 to 6 inches on the people I match up with off the bench each night, I will never back down to anyone, including my own body.
When I am on the court, my mindset is to not retreat but to attack, so its hard for me to protect an injury because I am usually battling the opposing team?s top backcourt player when I enter the game. I have made my living on hounding the Kobe Bryant?s of the world despite giving up 6 to even 7 inches to them.
I pride myself on defense because I feel being a great defensive player is not all based on physical ability. Defense is a mental game, and those who know how to use it, usually find themselves on the NBA All-Defensive team. While I have not achieved that status yet, I do accept the challenge of guarding anyone my coach Byron Scott ask me to guard.
Last Saturday night, we were able to pull out a 94-83 win at home against the Utah Jazz who entered the game with a record of 29-15 and in first place of the Northwest Division. For most of the game, I had to chase Jazz starting point guard Deron Williams around, and despite him scoring 27 points, I thought for the most part I turned him into a scorer instead of a distributor, which is how the Jazz and Williams can really beat a team up.
Beating a team like the Jazz at home not only shows that when we play our game, we can compete with most of the top teams in the NBA, but do so playing our tempo of basketball. The Jazz are one of the best half-court teams in the NBA. They make very few mental errors and execute their offense and defensive rotations better than any team in the NBA. Much of the Jazz success can be directly contributed to their head coach Jerry Sloan.
While I know the NBA season is more of a marathon instead of a sprint, it feels like we need to pick up our pace heading into the mid-way part of our season. With our record sitting at 18-25, we are on the outside of the Western Conference playoff race. We have now won two games in the row and can hopefully stretch our streak to three tonight at home against the Portland Trailblazers.
Compared to the Phoenix Suns ? 17 game-winning streak, our little 2 game streak seems like nothing, but considering what we have had to endure this season, it may signify that we are finally turning the corner on our season. We have lost a lot of players to injury this season. Walking into our training room, you get the feeling that it?s a full-blown team meeting because 10 or 12 guys are in their receiving treatment for various ailments.
Desmond Mason, Jannero Pargo and Rasual Butler are the only players on our team to appear in all 43 games we have had this season. Forwards Peja Stojakovic and David West have been limited to only 13 games a piece so far this year, while me and fellow point guard Chris Paul have combined to miss a total of 35 games. Not to take anything away from guys like who have stepped in to replace us, when you lose the type of guys we have lost, it?s very difficult to replace them for extended periods of time, which we have attempted to do. Its almost like you getting one cut on one arm, and as soon as you put a band-aid on it to stop the bleeding, you get a cut on your other arm and must take the band-aid from your original cut and put it on the most recent one, after while all the cuts bleed a little at a time, and I feel that?s what?s happening to us.
When I signed with the Hornets in the off-season, I did so because I thought the club was not only the best fit for what I bring to the table off the bench, but they had an up and coming team with playoffs written all over them. Not only did the Hornets sign me this off-season, they also brought in my former Sacramento Kings teammate Peja Stojakovic and former Chicago Bulls big man Tyson Chandler.
With guys like Paul, and West already in place, we fully expected to be well over .500 at this point of the season, but due to injuries, we have not been able to accomplish that goal. I have missed a lot of games over the course of the past three seasons, and really trained my body this summer to handle a full 82 game schedule this year, but on Nov.28th in a game against the Raptors I injured myself going after a loose ball.
Initial X-Rays I took after the game confirmed that I cracked one of my ribs, so I spent the entire month of December on the injured list. While I did the best I could to maintain the conditioning level that I had at the time of the injury, it is very hard to simulate game speed and game conditioning by running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike. The fact that it hurt to sneeze and laugh didn?t help either as every time I would get winded, I could feel pain in my rib cage.
But after watching my team struggle the entire month of December, I felt an urgency to get back on the court and give my teammates a boast any way I could. So despite not being 100% pain free, I returned to the court in early January. My first game back was against the Detroit Pistons , who despite losing Ben Wallace still have one of the most formable teams in the Eastern Conference.
As usual, I entered the game in the middle of first quarter but the first time I got bumped trying to stay close to Pistons guard Richard Hamilton, I knew I was not going to be very effective with the pain I was feeling in my ribs. I ended up only playing 10 minutes of the game, and even though I did go 3-5 from the field for 7 points, I felt like I came back before I was ready to.
I am like most professional athletes, very hard headed when it comes to fighting injury to come back and help your team. When you miss a lot of games and see your teammates struggle, you feel obligated to at least try to play through the pain, but anyone who has suffered a rib injury can tell you that simple breathing hard can feel like someone is stabbing you with a knife. After being bumped a couple of times I turned to our trainer and told him there was no way I could continue. As a result, we were blown out 92-68, and I felt bad because I was adding to an already growing number of games missed by some of our key players.
Not only would not only be able to help my team, but I would have to start the healing process all over. I didn?t know one rib could cause this much pain, and after having an MRI done instead of an X-Ray, I was told that not only did I still have one cracked rib, but I had 4 additional cracked ribs as well. The initial X-Ray I took in November failed to show the additional 4 damaged ribs, but the MRI revealed them. While I was disappointed about having sit out another three to four weeks, It was nice to know that it wasn?t one rib causing me so much pain, it was five.
So here we sit with a two game winning streak and hosting the Trailblazers tonight. Portland has the type of team that can sneak up on you, if you allow them to stay in the game early and build confidence.
Zack Randolph is a monster inside but with Tyson and David on the floor together we should be able to make Randolph fight for everything he gets. He put 42 on the Grizzles on Saturday, including nailing the game winning three pointer with 38 seconds left in the game. To me that is the true measure of a star player in this league. To be a star in this league you have to prove yourself with the game on the line and the chips stacked against you. Our last game against the Blazers we held Randolph to only 12 points on 4 of 11 shooting. We won 102-86, and if we can come out with the same type of energy we had the last time we played them, there is a good chance we can extend our winning streak to three.
While I don?t believe in ?must-win? games in the middle of the season, I think it is very important to us to finish our 5 game home stand undefeated. We have already knocked off the Jazz and the Kings, and will need to do the same against the Blazers tonight (Editor Note: New Orleans won 103-91), Sixers on Wednesday, and Timberwolves on Friday.
With me returning to the line up, as well as David West, we should sneak up on a few teams who may look at our record and think they can run over us. Second year point guard and former rookie of the year Chris Paul will also be returning to our line-up after missing the entire month of January with a high ankle injury. His return will allow us to get out on the break and run. When Paul has the ball in his hands, all you have to do as a teammate is run the floor and he will find you right in your sweet spot. The boy knows exactly where we like to score at on the floor. For our highlight reel playmakers such as Desmond Mason, Rasual Butler and David West, Paul?s return assures their return to the late night sports center highlight reel.
While Paul is a game time decision tonight, I have seen him practice the last couple of days and he is going at full speed and doesn?t look to be hampered by his ankle. However, I would rather him sit a couple of extra games now, than miss a month or two later in the season due to coming back to soon. If anyone should know, I should, and believe Chris is sick of me telling him so. With a healthy West and Paul, and my Ribs finally done, we can concentrate on securing a playoff spot the rest of the season. Its starts tonight, so keep your eye out for us the second half of the season. |
