Watching the recent struggles of the Toronto Raptors is especially tough on injured forward Jorge Garbajosa, who can do little more than agonize from the sidelines.
He came to the NBA as an undrafted, unknown and unproven 29-year-old rookie. But the impact that Jorge Garbajosa had on the Raptors season in 2006-07 was one of the reasons they were able to unfurl an Atlantic Division championship banner on the final night of that campaign.
However, Garbo now sits on the sideline almost a forgotten man after surgery to repair his left leg following a dreadful injury suffered last March 27th in Boston. Garbajosa's toughness and attitude is exactly what is missing from the current edition of the Raptors and is one of the reasons they have had difficulty since the all-star break.
There are pictures in the media room at the Air Canada Centre of many of the Raptor players. Most of them are action poses that would make great posters in an avid fan's bedroom. But while some of them have players running, dribbling or shooting, the depiction of Garbo shows him doing what he does best. He is almost prone as he dives for a loose ball, demonstrating what a little elbow grease can do for a team.
In games during their recently completed west coast trip some Raptors played timidly and tentatively and it is eating Garbo up that he is powerless to offer any kind of assistance.
"You sit in the locker room and you feel like you want to help," Garbjosa said after watching the team's recent streak of losses. "I can't play now so I talk with the guys. I talk with my teammates to try and be useful."
After his teammates leave the floor following pre-game warm-ups and head back to the locker room for final instructions, Garbo stays out on the floor and moves very gingerly, lofting shots toward the hoop. He mimics game movements, faking right then going left but at a much slower and deliberate pace than normal game speed.
"The only thing I can't do now is have hard impact on the floor with my foot," said Garbajosa. "I can (work) on the elliptical machine, treadmill, bike or even take shots. The only thing is not to have a lot of hard impact with the floor. The important thing right now is that I don't have any pain."
It is extremely unlikely that Garbajosa will be back this season but he quickly rebuffed the idea that he would definitely not suit up. It's all part of the attitude that saw Garbajosa forego the surgery that was initially recommended last yea. He wants nothing more than to get back on the court as quickly as he can.
"I can't give you an exact day when I'll be back but I'm working to get back as soon as possible," he said when I mentioned playoffs and the possibility of playing this season.
"I want to be useful for the team as soon as I can. The doctors, trainers, coaches and myself, we don't want to rush, we don't want to try and gain a day or two but if we can, why not?
"We're working hard every day with the strength coach and physiotherapists to come back as soon as possible. Why not this year? It's going to be tough, it's going to be difficult and I don't want to put a date on it but I'm going to try."
The Spanish National Team will starting its training camp during the first week of July in hopes of winning a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics but Garbo bristles at the suggestion that he is thinking ahead only to the summer.
"The summer is too far away and I'm not thinking about it now," Garbajosa said, shaking his head.
"Everybody knows I love to play with my national team and for my country but right now I don't care about Beijing. I'm a Raptor player, even during the summer I'm a Raptor too and I want to be useful for this team and feel like I'm part of this team again and the only way I can do that is by playing."
No question the Raptors need some fixing right now. Key players like T.J. Ford and Andrea Bargnani are trying to find consistency in their respective games but the one guy that people forget was a major contributor last season is Garbajosa. He is working hard to get healthy and his heart is certainly with the team. If they could find some of his hustle, toughness and attitude they would surely be able to come up with more wins.
