Denton: Magic-Suns Notes
By John Denton
November 4, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Vince Carter tried to laugh off his frustration, but the pain to his psyche was equal to that of his sprained left ankle.
The Orlando Magic star guard couldn’t play Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns, one night after re-injuring the ankle that has already cost him one missed game and part of another one.
Carter played at less than 100 percent in Detroit, but played well in spurts. But he re-injured the ankle early in the fourth period when he accidentally stepped on the foot of teammate Brandon Bass while trying to defend Pistons guard Will Bynum. Carter originally suffered the ankle injury when he stepped on the foot of New Jersey’s Devin Harris on a hard drive to the hoop.
Carter was upset that he re-injured his ankle after spending the previous three days rehabilitating it to get back on the court as soon as possible.
``That’s just the way it goes once you injure something I guess,’’ said Carter, who had 15 points and three 3-pointers Tuesday in Detroit, but he rarely got into the lane because of his lack of explosiveness. ``You get an injury, you start feeling better and comfortable out on the court and then something like that happens again.’’
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said athletic trainer Tom Smith informed him late in Tuesday’s game that Carter couldn’t re-enter. And that let Van Gundy know that he wouldn’t have his star guard Wednesday against the Suns.
Van Gundy is hopeful that Carter will make a quick recovery and be back on the floor by Friday’s home game against the Pistons.
``I don’t think we’re dealing with anything too serious or long term, but he went in and tweaked it again and so that’s not a good thing,’’ Van Gundy said. ``When he can go he can go.’’
FEELING FOR HIS FRIEND: Magic co-captains Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson are the best of friends and they usually lean on one another throughout the season for support. So it’s not surprising that Nelson feels Howard’s pain when it comes to the abuse that the All-Star center takes on the low block on a nightly basis. Howard has barked recently that he’s growing increasingly frustrated with opposing centers and power forwards taking especially hard shots at him to keep him from scoring down low. Howard was so frustrated with those tactics last Sunday in Toronto that he even got into it with close friend Chris Bosh, who had wrapped his arms around Howard to prevent a dunk.
Nelson said it’s easy to understand Howard’s frustration considering how many hits he takes a game.
``I know if he fouls somebody the same way that they foul him it’s going to be called every time,’’ Nelson said. ``Dwight takes a real beating down there and I know that it does take a toll on his body. I actually think he does a pretty good job of not reacting to it considering how often he gets hit.’’
HELP FROM HILL: When Nelson was struggling with the decision of whether or not to return to the court last spring for the NBA Finals following shoulder surgery, he reached out to someone who had plenty of experiences with comebacks – both successful and unsuccessful ones.
Nelson talked repeatedly last spring to former teammate Grant Hill, who had much of his seven years in Orlando wiped out because of serious complications from a broken bone in his left ankle.
Hill had his first four seasons in Orlando (2000-04) cut short by the ankle injury. He repeatedly tried coming back only to experience more pain in the joint. He talked Wednesday about how that injury robbed him of much of his confidence and he warned Nelson that the same might happen to him in The NBA Finals.
``Put that on the record, I told him not to play,’’ Hill said. ``Maybe I shouldn’t have (suggested that) because you don’t want to plant that seed in somebody before they’re going out to play. But you know, I’ve been out there when I wasn’t right. But even when you are right, it’s a process when you’ve missed so much time. You’re going to second guess your shoulder, your confidence and all of that. And then because you’re not at that level and everybody is at that level, then you start to lose your confidence.’’
Hill said he just wanted the best for Nelson, whom he still considers a close friend. As it turns out, Nelson didn’t play well in the Finals, shooting just 35 percent and struggling with his shot and his confidence. Hill just wanted him to know going in the challenges he faced coming back from such a serious injury.
``I was just trying to convey to Jameer that when you’re coming back from an injury, it’s best to start when everybody else starts,’’ Hill said. ``The only reason I told him that was because I just felt if something had happened to him and he got hurt I would have felt horrible if I hadn’t told him.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonNovember 4, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Vince Carter tried to laugh off his frustration, but the pain to his psyche was equal to that of his sprained left ankle.
The Orlando Magic star guard couldn’t play Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns, one night after re-injuring the ankle that has already cost him one missed game and part of another one.
Carter played at less than 100 percent in Detroit, but played well in spurts. But he re-injured the ankle early in the fourth period when he accidentally stepped on the foot of teammate Brandon Bass while trying to defend Pistons guard Will Bynum. Carter originally suffered the ankle injury when he stepped on the foot of New Jersey’s Devin Harris on a hard drive to the hoop.
Carter was upset that he re-injured his ankle after spending the previous three days rehabilitating it to get back on the court as soon as possible.
``That’s just the way it goes once you injure something I guess,’’ said Carter, who had 15 points and three 3-pointers Tuesday in Detroit, but he rarely got into the lane because of his lack of explosiveness. ``You get an injury, you start feeling better and comfortable out on the court and then something like that happens again.’’
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said athletic trainer Tom Smith informed him late in Tuesday’s game that Carter couldn’t re-enter. And that let Van Gundy know that he wouldn’t have his star guard Wednesday against the Suns.
Van Gundy is hopeful that Carter will make a quick recovery and be back on the floor by Friday’s home game against the Pistons.
``I don’t think we’re dealing with anything too serious or long term, but he went in and tweaked it again and so that’s not a good thing,’’ Van Gundy said. ``When he can go he can go.’’
FEELING FOR HIS FRIEND: Magic co-captains Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson are the best of friends and they usually lean on one another throughout the season for support. So it’s not surprising that Nelson feels Howard’s pain when it comes to the abuse that the All-Star center takes on the low block on a nightly basis. Howard has barked recently that he’s growing increasingly frustrated with opposing centers and power forwards taking especially hard shots at him to keep him from scoring down low. Howard was so frustrated with those tactics last Sunday in Toronto that he even got into it with close friend Chris Bosh, who had wrapped his arms around Howard to prevent a dunk.
Nelson said it’s easy to understand Howard’s frustration considering how many hits he takes a game.
``I know if he fouls somebody the same way that they foul him it’s going to be called every time,’’ Nelson said. ``Dwight takes a real beating down there and I know that it does take a toll on his body. I actually think he does a pretty good job of not reacting to it considering how often he gets hit.’’
HELP FROM HILL: When Nelson was struggling with the decision of whether or not to return to the court last spring for the NBA Finals following shoulder surgery, he reached out to someone who had plenty of experiences with comebacks – both successful and unsuccessful ones.
Nelson talked repeatedly last spring to former teammate Grant Hill, who had much of his seven years in Orlando wiped out because of serious complications from a broken bone in his left ankle.
Hill had his first four seasons in Orlando (2000-04) cut short by the ankle injury. He repeatedly tried coming back only to experience more pain in the joint. He talked Wednesday about how that injury robbed him of much of his confidence and he warned Nelson that the same might happen to him in The NBA Finals.
``Put that on the record, I told him not to play,’’ Hill said. ``Maybe I shouldn’t have (suggested that) because you don’t want to plant that seed in somebody before they’re going out to play. But you know, I’ve been out there when I wasn’t right. But even when you are right, it’s a process when you’ve missed so much time. You’re going to second guess your shoulder, your confidence and all of that. And then because you’re not at that level and everybody is at that level, then you start to lose your confidence.’’
Hill said he just wanted the best for Nelson, whom he still considers a close friend. As it turns out, Nelson didn’t play well in the Finals, shooting just 35 percent and struggling with his shot and his confidence. Hill just wanted him to know going in the challenges he faced coming back from such a serious injury.
``I was just trying to convey to Jameer that when you’re coming back from an injury, it’s best to start when everybody else starts,’’ Hill said. ``The only reason I told him that was because I just felt if something had happened to him and he got hurt I would have felt horrible if I hadn’t told him.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
