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http://www2.sportsnet.ca/blogs/paul_jon ... he_road_2/

John Lucas was working extensively with T.J. Ford was at Raptor practice Sunday and was quite vociferous in overseeing a three-way one on one game between T.J. Ford, Juan Dixon and Darrick Martin at the conclusion of practice. It was a simulated game as players received a pass from Lucas at the top of the key and had no more than two or three dribbles to get their shot off to try and score a bucket.

It was one on one with the rotation being play offence, play defence and then a rest. The "rest" wasn't very long as the game was very intense and extremely competitive. T.J. Ford looked good. He seemed to be in good basketball shape and there was no holding back. Lucas has proclaimed T.J. ready and now sees it as just a matter of practice and fine tuning before Ford returns to the line up.

It was interesting that Ford did say he considered retirement for a short time immediately after being taken from the floor on a stretcher in Atlanta. Lucas restated that he has told Ford that he has to be willing to start over should something happen again...

Prediction: He comes off the bench to play spotty minutes against the Clippers on Friday. A standing ovation would be nice.

*Cue Gonna Fly Now from Rocky*

Well, hopefully he can provide some rest for Jose, while keeping the group on the floor productive.

It'll be great to see TJ back in uniform.

So John Lucas is w/ T.J. Ford in Toronto? Did the Raptors hire John Lucas? Interesting....but good hear that Ford is doing well.

Mr.Raptorsingh wrote:So John Lucas is w/ T.J. Ford in Toronto? Did the Raptors hire John Lucas? Interesting....but good hear that Ford is doing well.

Well, I heard he's a great "neck specialist".

Great news. Hopefully he'll take it slowly and not rush back into things. He could be our X-factor now.

I can't wait for TJ to come back. He's the toughest player on this team.
We need you baby !!!!

John Lucas is the man.

It was interesting that Ford did say he considered retirement for a short time immediately after being taken from the floor on a stretcher in Atlanta. Lucas restated that he has told Ford that he has to be willing to start over should something happen again...

It's good to hear that he's back!

It

Awesome! PG tandem is back in shape.

Great news! Welcome back TJ!

WIth TJ's return, our second unit will come back to life. Depends on his confidence and how ready he is to get back in the game, he might even start in couple of night (after All Star weekend).
Regardless, with the way Jose has played TJ will not feel bad for not starting for a while. I can see Sam starting/playing them minutes based on each night match ups & performance.
What a luxury to have 2 great PGs! Things can only improve from now on.

Any news on Garbo?

PapeSowish wrote:John Lucas is the man.

Best sig ever.

maybe Lucas will heal Garbo's leg up and run his physio as well?

i mean, i am all happy that TJ's doing well an very excited that he's returning.

that being said, i've been wondering the following for some time now:

-who is paying Lucas?
-what certification or training does he have to 'prepare' Ford?
-why are the Raps listening to the Word of Lucas when it comes to Ford's return date?

it just seems so strange. and yes, i know Lucas has been through a lot yadda yadda...but i would think a professional certified (read: insured) trainer would be behind Ford's return.

I'm guessing Apollo Creed isn't available to train Ford...

awesome

Can't wait for Tj to come back so we can start hating on him again

Can't believe this thread only barely reached 2 pages.

To answer Yogi's question

1.I think TJ's paying John Lucas, or he might not be paying him at all since Lucas is like a father figure to him.

2.He's a coach, I think all coaches know something about conditioning

3. Lucas knows a lot about TJ's history with back problems.

I expect a huge standing ovation for TJ's return. The guy's a warrior, fighting through all of that and returning to the basketball court.

Smitch will bring him in slowly. If TJ's play is outstanding, he might start contributing earlier than expected.

I'm guessing TJ will be back on Friday vs. the Clippers. Really excited about him finally returning to our team. We miss him.

I'm pretty excited to see Ford back. For the next little while at least though I'm going to cringe every time he hits the deck.

Rhettmatic wrote:I'm pretty excited to see Ford back. For the next little while at least though I'm going to cringe every time he hits the deck.

some of you guys take basketball a bit too seriously..

cringe?.. nah.. i won't cringe.. it's just basketball..

rdtx2005 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



some of you guys take basketball a bit too seriously..

cringe?.. nah.. i won't cringe.. it's just basketball..

really? I know Ford is tough, and I know there's no increased risk of serious injury. But I think cringing is a fair reaction to seeing a small player with a couple serious injuries in his past go down hard to the floor.

It's not like I said I'd weep or anything.

rdtx2005 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



some of you guys take basketball a bit too seriously..

cringe?.. nah.. i won't cringe.. it's just basketball..

For everyone but TJ it may be just basketball. For him every hit means potentially another spinal column bruise, temporary paralysis, and the end of his career.

I