Lakers Practice Report: 11/11/09

Naturally, there were quite a few questions directed Gasol’s way following his Wednesday cardio session on one of the team’s Precor machines that resembles a common elliptical device. As such, Gasol finished his workout, paused for 30 seconds to catch his breath, and then addressed a group of reporters curious about his troubled hamstring:

Q: On if he’s getting closer and closer to playing.
Gasol: That’s what we’re hoping for. Obviously every day that goes by should be a step closer to me being back out there. We’ve taken the right steps from the beginning until today (by) testing it out, going harder and getting closer to the intensity that I’d have to play (at). The muscle didn’t respond well to it, so it was just a way of it telling me that it’s still not healed and not ready to play. You just have to take a step back, go through the rehab again and take it a little slower.

Q: On if the injury is discouraging.
Gasol: It’s been discouraging, at times. There have been) pretty rough days. Just trying to stay positive, that’s the best way to do it even though it’s really hard to sit back and wait because you don’t have any certainty of when and how it’s going to heal. It’s been frustrating.

Q: On when he might practice again.
Gasol: Tomorrow I’m going to start running on the treadmill again. (We want) at least two days of running on the treadmill without pain, and then you can translate that to doing things on the court and increase the level of intensity. You can’t skip steps. I think I might have (done so) during the first part of the injury. You just can’t assume that the muscle is going to respond well because it’s feeling well during certain things, because it’s a tricky injury. The more people I talk to about it, the more that tell me that hamstrings are really dangerous, and that you have to be extra cautious.

Q: On if there is a risk to tear the muscle:
Gasol: I don’t think so. I don’t think there’s a risk to tear it but you can reinjure it and then it can become an issue for the whole year, and (cause) you to play at a lower level than your (normal) performance. So that’s something I don’t want to see happen either.

Q: On how the hamstring doesn’t hurt on the Precor machine but is different on the court.
Gasol: You increase the strides, the speed and intensity of it, and that’s when you start feeling the pain. If you go 50 or 60 percent, it doesn’t hurt, it’s normal. If you go 80 or 90 percent, that’s when you really feel it. When you put the muscle through more intensity, that’s when you find out if it’s healed or not.

Q: On if his rehab has taken a step backwards.
Gasol: It’s tough to say, because once you test it and you put the muscle to work extra hard, you don’t know how it’s going to react. You hope for the best, but sometimes it doesn’t go very well and you take a couple of steps backwards and you have to let it calm down and settle for a couple days, then restart the rehab.

Phil Jackson also added a thought during his presser:

Jackson: We always say let’s not put anything out there that’s futuristic, or we’ll just get disappointed. (Gasol) is very disappointed right now. Most hamstrings you actually see bleeding, or bruises or holes in the hamstring, but his has just been one of those things we (weren’t concerned with) that has turned into a month-long injury.