Sitting out irks Wall, Cousins
HOUSTON — After two years waiting and working and waiting some more, John Wall was finally going to be back on the basketball court for an NBA game.
He got in a workout. He reported to Toyota Center for shootaround. He was hours from what would have been his first game with the Houston Rockets, his first since surgeries to remove bone spurs and repair an Achilles tendon, his first since he was traded from the team that had made him the first pick of a draft and the face of a franchise.
Then, he was ordered back to waiting again when he and teammates Eric Gordon and Demarcus Cousins, who had been waiting nearly as long, were ordered by NBA’S health and safety protocols to a week in quarantine.
The Rockets’ scheduled opener Dec. 23 was postponed when they did not have enough players to compete. The Rockets that were left lost in Portland and Denver. Wall stayed home and stewed.
“I was mad. I was hot,” Wall said. “I ain’t going to cap. I was hot. I was hot.”
By Wednesday, a week after the season opener that was not, Wall, Cousins and Gordon were back at practice, their first in more than a week. The Rockets will face the Kings — who come in at 3-1 with a pair of wins against the Nuggets team that routed the Rockets on Monday — forced to make up for lost time and games and still feeling the frustration that came from another disappointment and distraction for a team that had battled through a relentless run of turmoil.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Wall said. “All I did was get a haircut in my apartment. And one of the teammates tested positive and the next four or five tests I had all came back negative. So, I was like ‘Oh, it wasme and three people can’t get a haircut.’ I’d rather get a haircut in my apartment than be in a barbershop somewhere where random people are coming in constantly. Even the barber tested negative. That was a frustrating thing.”
Cousins, who wordlessly expressed his frustration with an angry emoji, chose to leave it at that.
“Oh, I was excited,” he deadpanned. “I loved it. I was glad to stay home. Nah man, I think you all saw my Tweet.”
The Rockets, however, need to move on as much as they need the reinforcements returning to their rotation. Guard Ben Mclemore will remain out at least through the weekend, Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. The more immediate concern will be with what Gordon, Wall and Cousins can bring after being permitted to do so little work for a week.
“It’s tough in general to be sitting around for seven days, no type of activity,” Cousins said. “It’s tough for any person, but especially for a professional athlete, sitting at home for seven days straight then jumping back in a fullspeed practice or game.
There’s not a lot of positive on that side. We maneuvered through the BS, make the best of it you can.”
Wall said he ran stairs and rode a stationary bicycle, doing enough that he pledged the time out would not be a setback.
“Not me the way I’m locked in, the way I’ve been preparing myself for this comeback for two years,” Wall said. “Nothing’s going to set meback. I was able to get some work in on the low and do the things I needed to do. I’m prepared. I’m locked in.”
Still, he allowed it remains to be seen how well he will shoot, having not been able to replicate that in his apartment for a week. Everything else, he said, will come.
“At the end of the day, that’s not how I determine my game,” Wall said. “I can get rebounds. I can get assists. I can lock people up on the other end of the floor. I can get steals. My game’s not predicated on just scoring.”
The Rockets, last in defensive rating and points allowed, second-to-last in opposing field-goal percentage and opposing 3point percentage, could use that help. But the defensive issues in the twogame start to the season were in part considered the result of playing so short-handed and against high-powered opponents.
Rather than discouraged, Wall and Cousins saw potential even in the losses.
“Obviously, we were short some pieces,” Cousins said. “That played a huge role in the results of the game. Just the effort and fight from the guys and the no-excuse attitude, I loved it.
“I think we’re absolutely a threat. I believe other teams know that. Obviously, it’s a narrative around our team right now that’s gaining all the attention, which is fine. But as far as us playing the game of basketball and competing on the floor, I think we can compete in the West. We’ll continue to fly under the radar and we’ll show up when need be.”
The time of need has arrived quickly, but this time most of the Rockets will be permitted to show up for home opener, 2.0.
“I already knew we had a special lot of talent over here,” Wall said. “We just have to have everybody together at once.”