原文出自nola.com http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1103266705303920.xml Davis' therapy moves slowly Hornets guard takes caution this time Friday, December 17, 2004 By Jimmy Smith Staff writer The conversation lasted 42 seconds. Five weeks after pulling up lame against the Atlanta Hawks, and 14 losses later, Hornets guard Baron Davis remains out of action with an inflamed disc in his lower back. And he remains as evasive talking about his condition as he can be elusive on the basketball court when healthy. How are you? "I ain't ready to answer no questions," Davis said Wednesday night after leaving the New Orleans Arena floor where he worked up a good deal of perspiration while shooting baskets before the Hornets broke their 11-game losing streak with a win over Golden State. "I'm in therapy." Understand you're working with Mackie Shilstone. How's that going? "It's going pretty good. Mackie's OK." Are you still in pain? "Nuh-uh." How has it been mentally with the team struggling? "It's tough. I can't do too much about it. Just try to keep working and try to get back." Because of that, might you have a tendency to try rush back? "Not at all," he said, ducking into the sanctuary of a closed lockerroom. "I learned my lesson last time." So just how close is Davis, the Hornets' maximum-money point guard who this season earns $11.3 million, to getting back in the game? Shilstone, who for the past 14 days has worked with Davis as part of the Ochsner Center for Performance Enhancement program, said Thursday he believes Davis is close. "He's got to go back and get into practice next," Shilstone said. "That would be my recommendation. I think that could happen next week." Next week, however, the Hornets, who host Southwest Division rival San Antonio tonight, play three games on the West Coast, starting Sunday in Sacramento, followed by back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday and Wednesday. The earliest the Hornets are scheduled to return to the Alario Center practice facility is Thursday. Hornets coach Byron Scott said Wednesday night that he is hesitant to hurry Davis back into the fray. But the coach acknowledged that, of the five players currently on the team's injured list, Davis is probably the closest to being activated. "I played this game; I know what it is to be hurt," Scott said. "I know how it is to come back too soon. I know our guys want to play, but I've got to see for my own eyes. The one thing I don't want to do is rush one of them and lose them for another three or four weeks. Or longer." Timing could favor a move soon. With injured point guard Alex Garcia (torn left anterior cruciate ligament) eligible to be placed on the injured list following tonight's game, a Davis-for-Garcia swap could be made without the need to seek another exemption from the league. Shilstone, who has worked with Davis as a supplement to the therapy administered by Hornets team physican Deryk Jones, said his two weeks of 90-minute daily sessions have taken place alternately on the track, as well as at a fitness center. Workouts on the basketball court have started just recently, he said. "A basketball floor can be very unforgiving," Shilstone said. "You want to make sure you have a player ready for the repetitive pounding he'll experience in a game. "It takes a little time, and it's not something you want to rush. It's all about performance management. For Baron, now the next transition will be practice, in my opinion. When they think he's ready to play from a practice point of view, the Hornets will make that decision." In his first three NBA seasons, Davis did not miss a regular -season game. But near the end of his third season, and just before he signed the $84 million maximum-money contract extension the summer the team moved from Charlotte to New Orleans, Davis experienced back problems. Davis put the aches behind him, however, well enough to record back-to-back triple-doubles in the Hornets' 2002 playoff series victory over the Orlando Magic. He arrived in New Orleans armed with the largest contract in franchise history. But in the Hornets' two-plus seasons in the Big Easy, Davis has missed 63 regular season games because of injuries. He has not had a triple-double in New Orleans. --

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