Gordon back in the running
Rockets guard Eric Gordon traveled with the team for the first time since his Nov. 13 knee surgery having begun oncourt running on Monday, the next phase of his rehabilitation.
Gordon said the original projection of a return to games at around Christmas remains in play, though it is too soon to be more definitive. The plan is to gradually increase his workload and back off as necessary, making it difficult to be specific about a timetable.
At this point, however, he has done enough this week to already feel the benefits of the arthroscopic surgery to remove debris.
“Oh, for sure,” Gordon said. “Before, I was dealing with pain every day. It just got worse as the season started. I was trying to get through it. I was more worried about what I was doing than focusing on the game and just playing the game. I can tell it’s better. By the time I get back here soon, all I’ll worry about is playing. It will be a big relief for sure.
“I got to get the conditioning part and strengthen my leg. Everything is heading in the right direction. I just have to continue what I’ve been doing.”
Gordon had averaged a career-worst 10.9 points on 30.9 percent shooting before an MRI showed the injury that he said had him “off balance” on the floor in addition to the daily pain.
Magic coach is a D’Antoni disciple
When Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni spent the start of the 2013-14 season out of coaching, he was not far removed. He spent much of training camp that season with Magic coach
Steve Clifford, then the Charlotte coach, with Clifford describing himself as enthusiastically taking notes of everything D’Antoni offered.
“He’s so smart,” said Clifford, who was a Rockets assistant under Jeff Van
Gundy. “I’d say I learned so much from him. Besides working for him, one year in Charlotte when he was out, he came to training camp for like three days and in between practices at night we would just sit and talk. I never had a training camp with him because he came to the Lakers like 10 games in, so man I still have my notes.
“The other thing about him — and this is one of the parts of coaching and people don’t talk enough about it — when Mike D’Antoni says, `That guy is a good player,’ then he’s a good player. He just knows. You’ll play somebody and you watch film the next morning and he’ll just say, ` Jonathan Isaac is going to be really good’ and then two years later, he’s really good. Stan (Van Gundy )is like that. They could watch young players, they know who they like and they always seemed like they were right.”
D’Antoni would not describe himself as excessively influential and said he does not see anything too specific that Clifford might have taken from their time together then or when Clifford was his assistant with the Lakers.
“We all run the same stuff, more or less,” D’Antoni said. “We all steal from everybody.”
He did, however, praise Clifford’s coaching and clearly valued their friendship.
“Above all, he’s a great person and it’s fun to be around him,” D’Antoni said. “He was doing most of the defense in LA. It was great. He’s a good coach. Wherever he’s been he’s done a great job. You can’t get a better person than him. Players are lucky to play for him.”
Asked what Clifford wrote that fall in Charlotte, D’Antoni said, “He was writing down, ‘Get good players.’ ”