[小胖] Davis' therapy moves slowly
原文出自nola.com
http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1103266705303920.xml
Davis' therapy moves slowly
Hornets guard takes caution this time
Friday, December 17, 2004
By Jimmy Smith
Staff writer
The conversation lasted 42 seconds.
Five weeks after pulling up lame against the Atlanta Hawks,
and 14 losses later, Hornets guard Baron Davis remains out
of action with an inflamed disc in his lower back. And he
remains as evasive talking about his condition as he can be
elusive on the basketball court when healthy.
How are you?
"I ain't ready to answer no questions," Davis said Wednesday
night after leaving the New Orleans Arena floor where he
worked up a good deal of perspiration while shooting baskets
before the Hornets broke their 11-game losing streak with a
win over Golden State. "I'm in therapy."
Understand you're working with Mackie Shilstone. How's that
going?
"It's going pretty good. Mackie's OK."
Are you still in pain?
"Nuh-uh."
How has it been mentally with the team struggling?
"It's tough. I can't do too much about it. Just try to keep
working and try to get back."
Because of that, might you have a tendency to try rush back?
"Not at all," he said, ducking into the sanctuary of a closed
lockerroom. "I learned my lesson last time."
So just how close is Davis, the Hornets' maximum-money point
guard who this season earns $11.3 million, to getting back in
the game?
Shilstone, who for the past 14 days has worked with Davis as
part of the Ochsner Center for Performance Enhancement program,
said Thursday he believes Davis is close.
"He's got to go back and get into practice next," Shilstone
said. "That would be my recommendation. I think that could
happen next week."
Next week, however, the Hornets, who host Southwest Division
rival San Antonio tonight, play three games on the West Coast,
starting Sunday in Sacramento, followed by back-to-back games
against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers on
Tuesday and Wednesday.
The earliest the Hornets are scheduled to return to the Alario
Center practice facility is Thursday.
Hornets coach Byron Scott said Wednesday night that he is
hesitant to hurry Davis back into the fray. But the coach
acknowledged that, of the five players currently on the
team's injured list, Davis is probably the closest to being
activated.
"I played this game; I know what it is to be hurt," Scott
said. "I know how it is to come back too soon. I know our
guys want to play, but I've got to see for my own eyes. The
one thing I don't want to do is rush one of them and lose
them for another three or four weeks. Or longer."
Timing could favor a move soon. With injured point guard Alex
Garcia (torn left anterior cruciate ligament) eligible to be
placed on the injured list following tonight's game, a
Davis-for-Garcia swap could be made without the need to seek
another exemption from the league.
Shilstone, who has worked with Davis as a supplement to the
therapy administered by Hornets team physican Deryk Jones,
said his two weeks of 90-minute daily sessions have taken
place alternately on the track, as well as at a fitness center.
Workouts on the basketball court have started just recently,
he said.
"A basketball floor can be very unforgiving," Shilstone said.
"You want to make sure you have a player ready for the
repetitive pounding he'll experience in a game.
"It takes a little time, and it's not something you want to
rush. It's all about performance management. For Baron, now
the next transition will be practice, in my opinion. When they
think he's ready to play from a practice point of view, the
Hornets will make that decision."
In his first three NBA seasons, Davis did not miss a regular
-season game. But near the end of his third season, and just
before he signed the $84 million maximum-money contract
extension the summer the team moved from Charlotte to New
Orleans, Davis experienced back problems. Davis put the aches
behind him, however, well enough to record back-to-back
triple-doubles in the Hornets' 2002 playoff series victory
over the Orlando Magic.
He arrived in New Orleans armed with the largest contract in
franchise history. But in the Hornets' two-plus seasons in
the Big Easy, Davis has missed 63 regular season games because
of injuries. He has not had a triple-double in New Orleans.
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