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By John DentonNov. 11, 2014
TORONTO – Past the point of worrying about taking contact to his face, Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo said the only thing standing between him and a return to action is shaking the rust off his game.
Oladipo, the runner-up in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting, has yet to play for the Magic this season because of a sprained knee ligament and a fracture just below his right eye. Oladipo hurt his knee on the fourth day of training camp, knocking him out of the first seven games of the preseason. Then, just as Oladipo was set to return to the final preseason game, he took an accidental elbow to the face and needed surgery to repair the fracture.
Oladipo has been practicing with the Magic the last four days while wearing a protective mask. He said that while his conditioning is getting close to where it was when he reported to camp in exceptional shape, his ball-handling, jump shot and timing are still coming around.
``It’s just trying to get a rhythm back. Slowly but surely it’s coming back. But really I think it’s just all in my mind,’’ said Oladipo, who averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game last season. ``I’ve just got to go play as hard as I can and let the game come to me. If I do that, I think I’ll be all right.’’
Oladipo practiced with the team on Monday and worked Tuesday morning with the team and then again individually before the game in Toronto. His plan is to work out before Wednesday’s game in New York and then again Thursday while the rest of the team is off. There is no definitive timetable on Oladipo’s return, but he’s itching to return. And he’s just fine with playing in the mask even though it feels quite uncomfortable.
``I think the biggest thing is the sweat because all of it just kind of drips down and it’s nasty,’’ Oladipo said with a laugh. ``I don’t think it’s that bad with the vision because it’s wider around the eyes so that I can see better. It’s just something that I have to get used to.’’
Magic coach Jacque Vaughn has tried to bring Oladipo along slowly as he works his way back into full-contact work. He said that the fiery guard has shown no hesitation to withstanding hits, but he is still working his way back into form after being sidelined for six weeks.
``A little rusty and he’s getting used to the mask that he’s having to wear,’’ Vaughn said. ``That’s a comfort issue within itself, whether it’s what you see peripherally or the sweat in the mask. We’ll continue to let him play some and get him some extra work on the side. Everything becomes rusty – your ballhandling, your feet and everything – when you’ve been out as long as he has. So we’ll continue to try and dust some of that rust off.’’
CANADIAN CLUB: Traveling to Toronto for Tuesday’s game brought back faint childhood memories of being north of the border for Magic rookie Elfrid Payton, whose father, Elfrid Sr., was a star defensive end in the Canadian Football League for years.
Elfrid Sr. played in 189 games for seven teams in the CFL from 1991-2004. In 1995, just a year after Elfrid Jr.’s birth, Payton Sr. led the Baltimore CFLers to the Grey Cup title while registering 18 sacks. That squad is still the only American-based team to ever win a Grey Cup. Elfrid Sr. finished his career with 154 sacks, the second most in league history. He was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in 2010.
``I saw him play a few games in Canada, here (in Toronto) and Montreal,’’ Payton said. ``I was much younger though.’’
Payton had at least seven assists in the first four games of his career, equaling a NBA record done only before by Oscar Robertson (1960) and John Wall (2010). Through his first seven games, Payton is playing 30.2 minutes a game and is averaging 8 points, 6.4 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.57 steals. He said he considers himself fortunate to be a part of a Magic franchise that is building and allows him to play through his ups and downs as a rookie.
``It’s a blessing and as much as I can take advantage of this opportunity, that’s what I’m trying to do,’’ said Payton, who got his eighth straight start on Tuesday night.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE: Magic power forward Andrew Nicholson, a native of suburban Toronto in Mississauga, returned home on Monday and was able to take some of his teammates to a favorite Jamaican restaurant in the area.
Nicholson expected to have about a dozen friends and family at the game, even though he was unlikely to play on Tuesday night. After being a fixture in the regular rotation much of the past two seasons, Nicholson came into Tuesday having played in just two games and for only seven minutes.
He said that despite the lack of playing time, he’s tried to keep himself ready with extra work on the side and postgame conditioning sessions when he doesn’t get into games.
``I’m in great shape and I’m still doing my thing to stay ready,’’ said Nicholson, who worked over the summer to try and regain his touch on low-post moves. ``I’m going back to what I’ve done in the past and now I’ve just got to wait until I’m called, I guess. I’m just trying to get myself better in every aspect – lift more and run more – and I look at it as an opportunity to get myself better, really.’’
Vaughn said he’s talked extensively to Nicholson about keeping himself ready, so that he doesn’t have to work to get ready if needed because of injuries or struggles to other players.
``It’s the ultimate test of being a professional. We’ve had conversations about him staying in great shape so that when his number is called you are ready to go. You almost want to be in better shape than when you came into camp – that’s his challenge. He has other examples around him – like Willie Green the other night. To have yourself ready, you can really have your number called any night.’’
ETC: Vaughn said it’s a tremendous luxury to have veterans such as Luke Ridnour and Green on the Magic bench this season. Ridnour, who is in his 12th NBA season, had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes in Sunday’s game when Payton struggled. Green, who is also in his 12th season, hit four of his eight shots and scored eight points in Sunday’s loss at Brooklyn. Vaughn said that having players with several years of experience was by design. ``That’s something that we had hoped for, having guys like that on our roster,’’ Vaughn said. ``Being on the road, and in a tough game, those guys helped us be in a position where we’re up two with six minutes to go because of their efforts.’’ … Tuesday’s game in Toronto started a stretch of games that is considered the most grueling throughout the NBA’s marathon schedule. The Magic play four games in five nights – in Toronto on Tuesday, in New York on Wednesday, at home against Milwaukee on Friday and in Washington on Saturday. Those four games will make up the second and third of 17 back-to-back sets of games this season for the Magic. … Orlando shooting guard Evan Fournier, whose strong start has come in part because of his ability to finish at the rim, wants the rest of the league to know that he’s 6-foot-7 and not 6-6 as he was mistakenly listed in the past. Said Fournier: ``I’m glad people say I’m 6-7 now because I’m not 6-6. I think the first preseason game was in Miami and they said, `Six-six, from Paris,’ and I said, `Awww c’mon, I’m 6-7.’’’