03/01/2010 - 11:50
TC Gets Good News on Foot Front
by Devon Jeffreys

A visit to his foot specialist in New York yielded good news for Charlotte Bobcats center Tyson Chandler.

The Charlotte Observer reported that Tyson's foot will not require further surgery, as Rick Bonnell writes:

"The doctor, who operated on Chandler last spring, said he didn't see a need for further surgery or for Chandler to sit out an extended period of time. Chandler has played just three games since Christmas, due to various left foot and ankle ailments.

Since there was no expectation Chandler could play Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies, Chandler flew home to Charlotte from New York."

Tyson was back at practice on Sunday and spoke about his visit to New York afterward, as quoted on Bobcats Break:

"They checked everything," TC said. "Now it's just about getting through the soreness part and pushing it a little more every day."

No. 6 is not expected to be in the lineup when the Bobcats host the Mavericks at Time Warner Cable Arena tonight and Ty said there is no timetable for his return.

"I just know that it was good news that I can start preparing to play again," he said. "That was what I wanted to hear, so like I said, that's good news."

In his three February games before returning to the shelf, TC played a sum total of 39:25 (nearly one full game) and in that time, he scored nine points and pull down 12 rebounds. But Ty said he never truly felt comfortable physically or mentally. The mental taxation of playing with an injury proved to be the hardest part:

"It's hard to play out there when you think you might mess something up," Tyson said. "It definitely put my mind at ease, going to see the doctor and having him go over everything and check everything. He let me know that everything is healing, but I'm going to have some soreness right now."

For the season, No. 6 is averaging 6.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in 24.4 minutes per game, just more than half of a full game on average.

Ty said never getting into a rhythm and dealing with various ailments hurt his early productivity, but he's ready to get back on the floor and help the Bobcats to the first playoff berth in team history.

"This has been my toughest year ever," he said. "Being on the floor, your mind wants to do a lot of things, but when you're hurt out there you just can't do certain things. It's going to feel good to get back, work my way back and finally start to feel healthy like myself again for once."

NEXT UP
The Bobcats face the toughest part of their schedule to date this week.

They host the red-hot Dallas Mavericks, winners of six-straight on Monday night, then travel north to Beantown where they'll take on the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

Tonight's game tips off at 7 p.m. EST and can be seen on Fox Sports Carolinas. Wednesday's game tips at 7:30 EST and is also on Fox Sports Carolinas.

Charlotte then returns home for a Friday night showdown with the NBA World Champion Los Angeles Lakers. The inter-conference matchup begins at 7 p.m. EST and can be seen on SportSouth.

RELATED STORIES
Bobcats Practice Report 2/28/10 (Bobcats Break, February 28, 2010)
http://www.bobcatsbreak.com/?p=1846
Relatively good news on Chandler (Charlotte Observer, February 26, 2010)
http://blogs.charlotte.com/inside_the_nba/2010/02/relatively-good-news-o...