11/18/2008 - 14:07
Looking for a Rhythm, but Not Looking There
by Tyson Chandler

Our personnel is a little different this year and it's like we're still trying to find our rhythm. We're a little too stagnant and predictable, and that's something we're adjusting right now. We come down the court, the ball stays on one side, and if we don't accomplish anything, it's pretty much one-on-one, just trying to get a shot off.

Eddy Curry, wise man about all matters birth-related (Getty Images).

So, we'll adjust that. Coach has some things planned for us. We still have to get out and run, though. That's our identity, and I think we went away from that. Regardless of what we've got planned, we've got to run. We run so much in practice, we've got to run in the games.

Defensively, I think we're getting better and better, game by game. We're improving, but what happens is when guys are feeling good offensively, they're feeling better defensively, for whatever reason. It shouldn't be that way, but that's the way it is. And since we've been a little off offensively, it's been creeping over to the defensive side.

It's just one of those things where we really just have to find a rhythm. Once we do that, we'll be fine. But it's so early in the season. And we've got a good team. We understand that it's a learning process. We've had some tough losses and it's just like, "OK, let's continue to get better now."

I thought I played better in the last game. I felt more a lot more comfortable and I was playing a lot harder. I felt like since I came back from my injury, I've been a little off. I've been really off. Now, I'm getting back to 100 percent.

TOO MUCH FREE TIME
I talked to my wife before the Houston game, and she was asking me how I was feeling. She said, "I know you're going through a lot right now, with Sacha and I not being there. You're used to being in a routine and you're such a routine-oriented person. I can tell it's bothering you a little bit." And she said basically to have fun out there.

I'm always in such a routine. I come home, play with my daughter, talk to my wife, this and that. It's like my peace. It keeps basketball separated. And I haven't had that crutch. So I've been going crazy in my own mind, over-analyzing instead of just going out, playing hard and playing free.

But the last game I just said I'm going to play hard every single possession, take it possession by possession, stop thinking and worrying and just have fun.

I think I got a little bit caught up in things not being the same at home and it kind of poured over on to the court.

Without my family, I've had to get creative with the hobbies. I'm doing a lot of drawing and I went fishing yesterday. So, I've been picking up on all different things to try and keep myself busy. Normally, it's my family that takes up my time, and that time is just there now with nothing to do.

I've been drawing for a while and I really enjoy it. I'll draw cartoons or anything in my imagination.

BASS UPDATE
The bass is still winning at this point. I can't figure him out. But I went and got an instructor, and we went out and fished yesterday. I caught some red fish and some black drum fish. But that's totally different, and I told the guy, "Man, I've got some bass in my backyard, but I can't catch 'em."

He charters his boat a few times a week, so he's like, "Call me during the week when you have some free time, and we'll go out on the canal and we'll bass fish."

So, I'm going to go out and he's going to show me all the techniques to fish. And then I'll come back to my backyard and I'm gonna get that bass' butt. I'm gonna have everything for him. It will probably cost me about $1200, but it's going to be worth it.

I've fished all my life, but I've never been bass fishing, except for sea bass on the ocean. I've fished for catfish, barracuda, sea bass, salmon... but I've never fished for bass. You've got to know how to catch certain fish. And this bass has been kicking my butt, but I've got something for him. I'm going to learn every little technique and I'm gonna throw the whole shebang at him.

Fishing for different kinds of fish is like science. You've got to know what they like, what they eat and things to grab their attention. So if you're out there catfishing and there are bass in the water, they're not playing. Certain things grab their attention and that's why they bite. You've got to know that.

HERE COMES BABY TYSON
My baby will be born in seven days if everything goes as planned. He could come at any time now, but I'm hoping not.

I just realized what the schedule is, because I was talking to my wife and my mom about it. We fly out to L.A. Sunday and I'll have dinner with my family. We play the Clippers on Monday. After the game, I drive back to my mom's house where my family is staying and I'll probably get there around 12:30 in the morning.

And then we have to be at the hospital by 5 a.m., so we have to leave the house by four. When we get to the hospital, they'll start inducing, and the doctor thinks it'll take 9-12 hours. Then, hopefully we'll have the baby in the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday. Wednesday, the team takes off to go to Denver and depending on how things go, I'm probably going to meet them in Denver on Thursday, the day of the game, because I've got to make sure everything's OK before I take off.

Thursday, I'll play and then we have a back-to-back. We go from Denver to Portland, so I'll play in Portland on Friday and then we fly home. Since it's such a long flight from Portland to New Orleans, we won't get home until about 6 a.m.

That's gonna be tough. When my wife was talking about it, I asked her to stop, because I didn't want to think about it anymore.

My daughter Sacha was induced too, and it's a slow process. It's not like a regular birth where you go into labor, wait a while and then go the hospital. They've got to start the whole process there.

I'm just hoping that there's a bed for me as well, so I can hopefully get some sleep, but I'll probably be too excited and nervous.

DEALING WITH THE PAIN
As a man, you feel so helpless in the delivery room. Your wife is going through pain and you always want to protect your wife and your family, but when she's going through that, you can't do anything. You're sick to your stomach watching her go through the pain. And you're constantly telling yourself, "Coach her. Help her out."

It's the most helpless feeling ever. You've got to watch your wife go through the pain and you can't do anything.

She wanted to have Sacha naturally, without an epidural, because her mom had all of her children naturally and my wife wanted to do the same thing. But she had back labor all through the night and it never stopped. They started inducing when we got to the hospital, and she still wanted to have the baby naturally. But the doctor and the midwife told her that she needed to have the epidural, because her hip was starting to shift from all the pain.

Finally, when she got the epidural, she felt so much better. And I told her that this time, she's definitely getting the epidural. I don't want her trying to be Superwoman. If it was me, they wouldn't have to ask me. I would have a doctor at the house with the needle ready for whenever I went into labor.

NO TIME FOR THE R.
With Sacha, my wife had me make a CD with all these calming songs on it. It had this song "Closer to My Dreams" on it and she wanted that on replay, because she had always dreamed of her baby coming. That song was her motivation, but it just kept playing over and over and over.

I had my iPod and my iPod dock there and I started switching to some other slow songs, a little India Arie, a little Maxwell, some Jill Scott, just soft stuff. But I guess I had it on shuffle and somehow, it clicked to some sex song by R. Kelly! I clicked it again, but it went to another R. Kelly song, "Half on a Baby!"

And my wife was screaming, "Turn that off!" She was screaming at me to get out. She started going crazy because the song was absolutely ridiculous. She almost kicked me out of the delivery room, but she saw that I was about to cry. My mom was consoling me, my wife was kind of looking at me from the corner of her eye and I worked my way back to the top of the bed. But afterwards, we were dying laughing.

EDDY'S ADVICE
So, I'm not controlling the iPod this time, and I'm going to stay at the top of the bed. I'm not going past the sheet. I made that mistake last time and I almost passed out.

Eddy Curry had a baby before me and he came to me a couple of weeks before my wife was due and sat me down.

He says, "Tyson."

I'm like, "Yeah?"

"Do me a favor." He's all serious, and Eddy's never serious. He's always joking around.

I'm like, "Yeah?"

He says, "Don't look."

I'm like, "What are you talking about?"

He says, "Don't look. But you're stupid. You're gonna look."

I'm like, "Eddy, what are you talking about?"

He says, "Don't go down there and look. But you're stupid. You're gonna get curious and you're gonna go down there and look."

I started laughing, because I finally figured out what he was talking about, and I'm like, "Eddy, man I'm not gonna look."

He says, "I'm not playing, Tyson. Don't look. It'll mess you up for a while!"

I'm like, "Eddy, I'm not gonna look."

He kept going on and on. "Tyson, don't look."

I'm like, "Eddy, shut up! Enough! I'm not gonna look."

"Alright."

So the day comes and Sacha's godmother is there with us and the doctor. Sacha's godmother is down at the other end, helping hold my wife's legs and I'm up at her head. The whole time, everything's going fine and they're like, "Oh, we can see the baby's hair!"

And here I go and get curious and take a peak. I almost passed out.

It took me close to a year to get over that.

So, this time around, my wife first tried to get me to record it, and I'm like "Absolutely not."

"Are you going to watch the baby come out this time?"

"Absolutely not."

"I'm going to stay at the top of the bed. You can squeeze or scratch me as much as you want to. I'm going to be your support system and your coach up top. But I promise you I'm not going to the other end."

So to all you future daddies-to-be, take Eddy Curry's advice: Don't get curious!

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