NBA News 2012: Ricky Rubio's return too vital 'to rush'

Ricky Rubio of Spain at Eurobasket 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ricky Rubio's return to the Minnesota Timberwolves is coming. His rehabilitation from reconstructive left knee surgery is on schedule. He's just not sure exactly when the process will be complete.

"I'm trying to do as much things as I can do. They have to stop me sometimes because I want to do more. Sometimes it's bad for my knee to do more," Rubio said Thursday at the team's practice facility.

He could be playing in games by December. Or maybe not until January. Just as long as he doesn't try to come back too soon and risk re-injury or be too rusty.

"I don't want to say a time because I don't want to rush it. I just want to be ready when I'm ready," he said.

Rubio started running three weeks ago, at about 6 mph on a treadmill. Jumping is still prohibited, so his shooting is essentially limited to the free-throw line for the next few months. Agility work will come in three or four weeks. He's at that point in the anterior cruciate ligament recovery when patience becomes even more difficult to maintain. Missing the end of last season was tough enough. Then he had to skip the Olympics for his native Spain. Now he has to continue to watch while the work on the court goes on without him.

"You always have doubts and think about how you're going to come back. You just have to trust. I'm doing my best to be ready to be as strong as I can. I can't do more. I just want to be back soon as possible, but healthy as possible, too," Rubio said. "You feel how lucky you are when you're playing. So I'm going to be blessed when I come back and play."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8432896/minnesota-timberwolves-ricky-rubio-says-track-rush-return

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NBA News 2012: Can Brandon Roy return to form?

Brandon Roy - Pregame (Photo credit: benefit1970)

Brandon Roy’s comeback was one of the biggest surprises of the summer, and when the Minnesota Timberwolves begin their season in November, all eyes will be on the former All-Star to see what he can do at this point in his career.

Will he return to form and become the go-to scorer that Minnesota has been missing? Or will his injuries limit him and make him a shell of his former self? Roy believes he can still be an impact player for the Timberwolves, and he doesn’t think his knees will hold him back.

“Honestly, right now and all summer long, I’ve been preparing to not have to take a step back with my game,” Roy told NBA TV. “I’ll be honest, some of the lift isn’t what it used to be, but my explosiveness, my explosiveness to get to the basket is good. More than anything, I think I’m a lot smarter of a basketball player.

“The NBA season is long and my body isn’t what it used to be. Right now I feel great. Me and coach (Rick) Adelman are going to sit down before the season and communicate throughout the year about how I’m feeling and what’s the best way to get the most out of me. I feel great. Right now, there’s nothing holding me back. I can go out there and play as much as I like.”

http://www.hoopsworld.com/can-brandon-roy-return-to-form/

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NBA News 2012: Roy: 'So far I haven't had any setbacks'

English: Brandon Roy playing with the Portland Trail Blazers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Brandon Roy had just wrapped up a lengthy workout with a spirited game of five-on-five and gathered with several of his new Minnesota Timberwolves teammates near halfcourt.

''Let's run it back,'' Roy said, with several others agreeing. ''One more.''

That's when Wolves assistant Shawn Respert stepped in, waving his arms and telling everyone that they were done for the day. A little more than two weeks away from the beginning of training camp, Roy's chronic knees are feeling great. And it's up to the Timberwolves coaching and medical staff to try to keep it that way.

''This is the best I've felt in a long time,'' Roy said Thursday. ''The reason why I say that is I'm able to improve. I'm able to come in the gym and work on my game and get better. Where I felt that the last couple years in Portland I was just doing my best to maintain.

''That's the biggest thing I'm excited about is I'm in the gym, I'm working hard and coach has to tell me to stop playing instead of me saying, 'OK that's enough. I'm feeling my knees.'''

That's going to be the balancing act the Wolves perform with Roy, in training camp and in all likelihood for much of this season. The former Portland Trail Blazers All-Star had his contract cleared with the amnesty clause before last season, and he abruptly retired because of knee issues that derailed a brilliant young career.

After sitting out last season, Roy's knees felt good enough for him to come back. With the Timberwolves in search of a veteran presence at shooting guard for one of the youngest teams in the league, they signed Roy to a two-year deal and now are working to get him prepared for the grind of camp and the long NBA season.

Roy has been in town since the start of September to make sure his son could start school here on time, and he's taken advantage of the early arrival to throw himself into workouts and establish a new routine aimed at minimizing the pain in his knees.

''I set a plan for myself going into the season and so far I haven't had any setbacks,'' Roy said.

Roy has been working primarily with Respert and David Adelman, as well as the strength and conditioning staff to get ready, and the coaches see Roy's approach as a breath of fresh air for a team that had too many young players who didn't know what it takes to be successful in the NBA.

''We know we had a situation here last season where it was really difficult for guys to be self-starters,'' Respert said.

The team jettisoned Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph and Darko Milicic in the offseason, bringing in Roy, Chase Budinger and Andrei Kirilenko to try to inject a little more maturity and professionalism into a young team with a core of Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic.


''With Brandon it's just a healthy attitude where he wants to see how much he can push himself to that limit before we have to shut him down and be smart about it,'' Respert said. ''He's been spectacular so far as far as the mentality, his toughness, his willingness to do what we ask him to do and still find that little bit of room to do a little bit more.''

He spends about 30 minutes before each workout going through exercises to get ready, and he said he's lifting more weights than ever, as well.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/wolves-roy-far-havent-had-214544258--nba.html

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NBA News 2012: Heat sign former Knick Harrellson

English: Kentucky Wildcats center Josh Harrellson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Josh Harrellson tweeted a few weeks back that he was headed to Miami, hopefully for the entire season. What the former Knick big man was heading to in reality was a one-week tryout with the team.

That tryout went well enough for him to get another one — this time at training camp.

The Knicks have inked Harrellson to a non-guaranteed contract, the team announced (hat tip to Ira Winderman). That means Harrellson comes to training camp but he has to earn his way onto the roster. Harrellson, Mickell Gladness and Jarvis Varnado will be fighting to make the roster, but of that group Harrellson should be the frontrunner. Joel Anthony is a lock to make the roster and Dexter Pittman has a guaranteed contract, but that doesn’t rule out a disappointed Heat buying him out.

Harrellson, the former Kentucky player, looked pretty solid for a rookie for the Knicks last season but was pushed out in a numbers game there.

Harrellson should be the frontrunner to make the roster because he provides the kind of versatility in positions that Erik Spoelstra likes in his offense — he shot 33.9 percent from three but has the bulk to body guys on the low block (on both ends of the floor). It was the amount of bulk that first made the Heat cautious — they wanted Harrellson to work on his conditioning — but he seems to have made some stride there.

How many minutes Harrellson can get remains to be seen, the Heat are going small with this year with a lot of Chris Bosh at the five and Anthony behind him. But it’s a roster spot and a job.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/17/heat-sign-former-knick-harrellson-to-non-guaranteed-deal/

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NBA News 2012: Beasley is working out with… Norm Nixon?

Wizards v/s Timberwolves 03/05/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Michael Beasley has been getting ready for what he wants to be a redemption season. After struggling at every stop to live up to expectations or be efficient in his scoring, he is going to a Suns team that will need his points.

Every player says they are working out hard right now to be ready for training camp, and by all accounts Beasley had. But this note from Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic caught my eye.

Beasley has been working out with his mentor and personal trainer, former NBA guard Norm Nixon, in Los Angeles. Some onlookers have said that Beasley was the recent star of some traditional summer pro pickup games at UCLA.

Norm Nixon? He was the former Lakers point guard pushed aside so some guy named Magic Johnson could have the rock more, but he was a two time All-Star, two-time World Champ with the Lakers and most recently one of the studio show analysts for Clippers games (the other team he played for in the NBA).

Nixon was very professional as a ball player, and apparently he has taken Beasley under his wing, Coro reported earlier this summer.

It would not be the image of Beasley taking a stretching exercise class at Nixon’s Debbie Allen Dance Academy this morning in Los Angeles. His missteps are scenes far removed from how Nixon has become like a father to Beasley in the past year, taking him to his first plays, working him out and arranging trips they will take together to England and China.

It’s an interesting plan, to give Beasley structure and expose him to ideas, then see if he grows and matures. The question has never been Beasley’s talent, it was his passion and work ethic.

It’s that talent that makes Beasley a good gamble for the Suns (even at three years, $18 million total). But if he really matures under Nixon, that would be a steal.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/17/beasley-is-working-out-with-norm-nixon-interesting/

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NBA News 2012: Is Rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Healthy?

Michael Gilchrist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Many of you have expressed curiosity about Charlotte Bobcats rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s health, after he sat out all but one summer-league game in Las Vegas with a sore knee.

If Saturday is any indication, he’s just fine.

After initially indicating he would not play in Kentucky’s charity game (it’s still unclear why he said that to Kentucky media), Kidd-Gilchrist was pretty impressive Saturday: 32 points on 15-of-32 shooting from the field.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/is-rookie-michael-kidd-gilchrist-healthy/

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