Raptors anticipate Carroll’s return
RECOVERY ON TRACK
The Junkyard Dog may have lost some time to injury this year, but he has not lost his snarl.
Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll, the perimeter defender the team would love to have fully healthy and playing in rhythm a week from this weekend when they open the playoffs, was in a proper sweat after a little two-on-two post-practice extra work.
It was Carroll and Jason Thompson taking on the Brazilian duo of Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira.
And while the Brazilians appeared to be doing OK from the other side of the gym, Carroll had another opinion.
“We killed them,” Carroll said.
“That wasn’t even a matchup. I was talking to coach and telling him to go get (assistant coach and recently retired NBAer) Jerry Stackhouse. He would give me more competition.”
If that sounds harsh, don’t expect an apology from Carroll who is on a mission to get back in form in short order to be the difference- maker he can be come playoff time.
And based on everything head coach Dwane Casey said Monday regarding Carroll, he will be given every chance to do just that.
“If his body responds and he can go, then he is going to be out there because he is by far one of our best perimeter defenders.”
While t here is no set timetable for a return, the most likely scenario, and the one both Carroll and Casey seemed to be hinting at would see Carroll ramping things up over the next five days and then hopefully getting an increasing number of minutes over the final three games of the season.
“He’s coming,” Casey said. “I don’t know what the timetable is, but he is moving well. There is no obvious swelling. Again, I am not a doctor. I will leave that up to the medical people, but he is working. He went through practice today, but we will see what happens.”
But Casey has a plan of attack if all goes well.
“The last three or whatever games there are when he comes back we will use those as his test lab,” Casey said.
Those last three games will come against the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets, the final two on a back- to- back so minutes in one of them could be limited for Carroll. The other three games, which go Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, are all against playoffbound teams Charlotte, Atlanta, and Indiana, although Indiana could still lose its grip on a playoff spot if Chicago comes alive or the Pacers start to slip.
Carroll recognizes the chance for another setback is there, even if he feels he is past the worst of it. “It feels totally different,” Carroll said. “When I was working out before, I could feel the swelling when I was working out and now I don’t feel nothing so that’s a good sign.
“We just keep pushing it and hopefully, I keep playing two- on- two, three- on- three, four- on- four and coach is ready to put me in and call my number,” he said.