The calendar flip to 2015 came with some good new for the Toronto Raptors: DeMar DeRozan was back on the practice floor for the first time in more than a month.
DeRozan injured his right groin against Dallas on November 28. Since then, he has been rehabbing the tear quite cautiously. But Thursday’s return to practice provided the veteran guard with some optimism for the new year.
“Every single day I feel that much better,” said DeRozan. “I’m doing full basketball workouts and everything with no problem.”
DeRozan has missed exactly half of Toronto’s 32 games, but in his absence the club has continued to play well – going 11-5 without their all-star shooting guard – and they have continued to turn heads around the Association. However, teammate Amir Johnson believes the Raptors have still missed DeRozan at both end of the floor.
“We need everybody at full health to make this push,” said Johnson. “He’s one of our leaders. He reads the floor well. He definitely helps us, big-time, offensively and defensively.”
| Raptors With DeRozan | Raptors Without DeRozan | |
| Record | 13-3 | 11-5 |
| Points For | 107.6 | 108.6 |
| Points Allowed | 97.0 | 103.3 |
| Assists | 19.6 | 22.1 |
| Team FT Attempts | 29.4 | 22.4 |
There still is no timeline for DeRozan’s return; he joked about suiting up on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors. But that’s not going to happen. And it would seem like a safe bet to assume Dwane Casey and his training/medical staff will keep DeRozan out of the lineup against Phoenix on Sunday night as well.
However, after facing the Suns, the Raptors will have three full days off before hosting Charlotte on January 8. Would a full week of practice – January 1-8 – be enough time to get DeRozan back on the floor?
“Everybody will know when everybody will know,” joked DeRozan.
What is no laughing matter is his desire to simply play. He is tired of watching on the sidelines.
“It’s just hard,” said DeRozan. “My competitive mindset … makes this frustrating.”
All of this is new to the California kid as well. Prior to this groin injury, DeRozan had missed only 11 games – total – in his career. Thus, sitting out of 16-straight has been a major mental adjustment. But he admits that he has taken the time to watch and learn about his teammates and the approach of the Raptors overall.
“I always knew were a resilient team,” he said. “We can fight through anything. It’s great to see when my teammates come in after a game and they tell me: ‘We can’t wait ’til you get back’ but to me it just seems like they’re holding it down [just fine].”
DeRozan isn’t sure if anymore testing will have to be done before he officially returns to action. But with six straight games at home on the horizon (January 8-18) it seems safe to say that he’s close — barring any setbacks.
“If it was up to me I would have tried to play last week,” he said. “But the team has a great thing going on. So I don’t want to feel like I have to rush back. When I get back I want to be sure I’m even better than I was before I got hurt.”