03/16/2010 - 09:05
Feeling Like Myself
by Tyson Chandler

This is the best I've felt all year. I can move around and I'm just able to be myself out there without thinking about everything, thinking about every move that I'm trying to make or every cut that I make. Now I'm just able to play.

Going up to the doctor definitely helped because he looked at everything, took every test and then gave me the OK that I'm going to be fine out there. When you have pain in certain areas and you try to play, you're always afraid that you're going to hurt something even more. For him to give me that stamp, it definitely helped. It helps me focus and I can just let everything go.

At this point though, it just feels a lot better. It’s hard to just blank it out of your mind when it's there as a constant reminder. But now, mechanically, I'm moving so much better, I'm not having the same pain anymore. I can be myself out there.

Ty tips in a shot over Dwight Howard during Charlotte's 96-89 win in Orlando (Getty Images).

I came back to the team on March 5th and we beat the Lakers that night. Since then, we've won our last six games.  But I wouldn't say I've been the difference. I'm just trying to do my part. It's not all about me. The team has been playing incredible. But it does make a difference when you have all the guys healthy on the floor at the same time.

As a team we have great chemistry. We're starting to get used to each other now that I'm back healthy. My teammates have had the opportunity to adapt to me a little better than before. It's really been a team effort. There are a lot of guys with a lot of character on this team. Guys are playing their part. Obviously Gerald and Stephen have been playing incredible this year.

Getting hot down the stretch here is very important for a young team. When I say a young team, I mean a young franchise like ours. Going into the playoffs, you really want to be rolling and have confidence. You never know what team you're going to face. Once the playoffs start, it's just a 16-team race to the Finals.

Some people may downplay it, but your seeding in the playoffs is very important. As of this moment, we're the sixth seed. But we have a chance to get as high as the fifth seed. For a young franchise, the better seeding you can get, obviously the better it is for you. We're shooting for that right now.

Guys with playoff experience, like myself, get a little bit more vocal this time of year. We understand what it takes to get to the playoffs and then what it takes to continue. It's a big difference in the playoffs and I'm trying to bring that experience from my time in New Orleans to this team.

THE BEST OFFENSE…
Defense is definitely the key to this team. We're not necessarily a unit that has a superstar scorer that's going to command double teams night in and night out. Jack is that for us.

But we have to pride ourselves on defense and playing as a unit on both ends. I think when we're together defensively, we're pretty much doing to the same thing on the other end. Offense will take care of itself. We have to pride ourselves on being scrappy on that end.

Our defense gets a lot of credit now, but there's still a lot of stuff about our team that goes unnoticed, like how Raymond Felton plays defensively every night. There is also a solid group of guys bringing a spark off the bench and the addition of Theo Ratliff has been incredible for us. Our success has just been a combination of the entire team starting to come together.

COME ONE, COME ALL
We've had a lot of players coming in here throughout the year, but we've adjusted very well. I think it's just a testament to the coaching staff and the guys that are already here. We're getting guys in and allowing them to come in running. Everybody that has come in has had an immediate impact.

I don't think it takes much to fit in here because we're all so welcoming. This is a young franchise and it's a franchise that's just eager to win. Whenever we feel like we get a guy that can help us win, we're ecstatic about it. When guys first come in here, they know we're going to run sets that they know already. The guys we've been getting are vets, so everybody already kind of knows the same sets around the league.

Tyson holds off two Minnesota players for Gerald Wallace (Getty Images).

Our team is very deep right now. The addition of Theo definitely helps us with the bigs. Obviously Stephen earlier in the year and now Larry Hughes, we're getting a lot of good guard-play all around as well. We're definitely deep and we have a nice bench now.

Tyrus Thomas has been a big addition for us coming in here at the trade deadline. He's a rebounder. He brings athleticism and that's huge for us. He's still such a young player with such a promising future. It's great, not only for this team now, but for the future of this franchise.

Tyrus and I have a lot to relate to because I was in the same situation as him when I came out of Chicago and I was able to turn my career around. I've had some success and I have a promising future as well. I just try to encourage him all the time and try to share some of the knowledge that I've gained over the years.

THE PICK AND ROLL
It's my job to get my guys extra shots, so I've been hitting the glass hard and getting shots at the rim.

We've also been playing with and utilizing the pick and roll a lot, now that I'm healthy. Guys are starting to be able to get used to playing with me and throwing me the ball. That's definitely helped.

To me the pick and roll is the most dangerous play in the game. It gives you a quick advantage, if it's run correctly. I haven't been able to be out there working on it with the point guards throughout the year. I'm just getting healthy now and running with the guys.

It's starting to open up the floor a lot more. If you run the pick and roll correctly, it's almost guaranteed to get a good shot for someone, every time. When you run the pick and roll you want to have a finisher. It's really crucial to have a finisher. You also want to have a shooter, somebody that can make the decision to shoot it or pass it to that finisher in the post.

It adds a completely different dimension to the game and our offense. We can get some good shots, some easy shots, rather than everything being so forced.

WE LIKE MIKE
I want to congratulate the Bobcats' new owner, Michael Jordan.

I really think it's incredible, first of all, for an athlete in general, a player, to be able to have that type of success to buy a franchise. That's just incredible to me.

Michael Jordan, Bobcats owner, and Tyson celebrating during a game in January (Getty Images).

For it to be arguably the greatest player of all time, that's great for us. He's been involved a lot. He's been at practices and games. It's big for us that he can share his wisdom with us whenever he's here. Just his presence with our team in general is amazing.

You know Michael's passion for winning, so you know he's going to try to put quality guys on the floor night in and night out to give his team the best chance to win. With that in mind, you know Charlotte has a promising future.

He's definitely a hands on owner. I think he's too passionate to be hands off. He comes in to talk to us, but he picks his spots well when he talks to guys.

NOTHING LIKE A SON'S SMILE
You never really know how different it is to have a baby boy until you see him.

A close friend of mine, my homeboy, the world knows him as the rapper "Game," he told me about it when he had his son Harlem. When my wife had my daughter Sacha, I was so excited and he told me "when you have your first son, your world is going to change."

I was like "I have my daughter. I love her to death man. Just having a child is just beautiful." He said: "I get that. But when you have your son, there's nothing like seeing a little you running around the house." I'm not going to say I didn’t believe him but I just said "ok."

But it's definitely a difference coming home and seeing your son. It's just that proud feeling of having a boy, him looking up at you and admiring you. Even when he's rough, I just laugh at those things because I see so much of me in him. My boy told me, and it is true.

Obviously I love my children equally, but there's a definitely a difference between having a boy and having a girl. Not only that, but my boy gets into a lot more trouble than my daughter.

My daughter is still not feeling how rough he is. She asks me every day "When is the rough baby going back?" and "When is mommy going to have another girl?"

He got his first haircut recently, but I think he hates my friend, the barber. He was looking at him crazy the whole time he was coming at him with the clippers.

My son is a handful. Parents can relate to this because we have to create barriers because we have stairs in our house. So we create barriers all through the house for him to not get up. But he's constantly finding ways to get around all of our barriers. I don't know how he does it. He's constantly getting caught and brought back to the play area but it doesn't stop him.

He's into his toys and he's got a little Nerf ball that he dunks and stuff like that. He plays with that, but it doesn't really matter to him. He'll climb on a box. You buy him the expensive toy and he plays with the box. He's just rough. It doesn't matter what it is and he looks at you and he tests you. He doesn't test me, he knows better. But my wife, he stares at her and then tries to touch something.

We're just trying to keep our eyes on him at all times.