No pain: Collins tells Nets he's ready to go
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
Just in time for the regular season, the Nets are feeling whole again.
Jason Collins went through an entire scrimmage yesterday without getting any negative feedback from his right knee, and after three weeks of rest and rehab, he reiterated that he's ready to play in tomorrow night's season opener against Milwaukee.
"Nothing in this world is a given, but at this point in time, I'm definitely preparing to play Wednesday," said the team's starting power forward, who had his knee scoped in June.
"It felt like a normal knee. Two weeks ago, it didn't. It feels a lot better. I can do everything that I need to do out there on the court. It isn't exactly 100 percent yet. But I think I can go out there and be effective."
He also received unanimously positive feedback, even though Lawrence Frank was a bit delirious: "He was dunking, reverse dunking, tip dunks . . ." the coach said.
Actually, Collins does very little of that, but the Nets have missed his defensive presence all preseason. Frank is still uncommitted to pushing the fifth-year pro back into the lineup, however, before he is certain his body can take it. Just the same, Collins' teammates liked what they saw.
"He actually hit some shots," Vince Carter said. "He says he's going to play. That's what he told me. But he did look good today. Same Twin, to me."
"He played just like Twin always plays: He helped on defense, knocked down the open jump shot," Jason Kidd added. "He's the anchor of the defense, so it's good to see him back out there."