Dudley making incremental strides

Post #1 » by **mkwest** » Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:01 am

PLAYA VISTA – While dealing with right knee tendinitis for much of the season, Jared Dudley has operated at well below peak health.

However, after playing through pain and stiffness and utilizing as much downtime as possible for rest, Dudley says he is about “90 percent.”

“It’s hard to improve 100 percent when you’re playing,” Dudley said. “But it’s something that I can work through and definitely go. You’re hoping by the All-Star break you get those four or five days where you have nothing and you can focus on that.”

“For me, it’s how you move laterally defensively,” Dudley said when asked how the tendinitis affects him. “It’s how you shoot the ball sometimes. Some days you feel good and it’s not consistent every day. Sometimes it’s when you have those four games in five nights or the back-to-backs where a little bit more you need that rest.”

He said early in the season he considered asking for some time off, but felt obligated to play because of the absences of Matt Barnes and J.J. Redick, who both missed upwards of a month with injuries.

Eric Patten, Clippers.com

TheNewEra · Post #2 » by **TheNewEra** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:28 am

great he is feeling better and looking forward to increased play. We are going to need his scoring with Jamal and Matt struggling.

Neddy · Post #3 » by **Neddy** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:32 am

all i hear are excuses. hopefully he improves enough to be a positive factor comes playoff time.

Post #4 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:27 am

I'm sure that we'll be seeing a better Dudley more often than not.

Post #5 » by **og15** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:37 am

That's really good to hear. We have to give the guy props for playing through an injury that he probably shouldn't have been playing through if other players were actually healthy. He definitely did not look as mobile as previous seasons.

Now hopefully he performs a bit more consistently on both ends moving forward. I've seen other players really struggle with this injury, it is an annoying one. Hopefully the couple of days off isn't tricking him into thinking he is healthy though.

mj_shoefanatic · Post #6 » by **mj_shoefanatic** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 8:01 pm

Consistency is all I ask for. Glad he's striving to get it together.

Post #7 » by **og15** » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:03 pm

Dudley has hit at least 1 three in 6/7 games in Janaury. 2+ in 4/7 games.

Averages:
10.6 PPG / 2.6 RPG / 2.3 APG / 0.7 tov / 1.0 spg / 50% FG / 48.5% 3PT (2.3 3PM)

okpistolpete · Post #8 » by **okpistolpete** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:49 am

You know, one of the things that bothered me about the previous board I was on is that there rarely seemed to be a measured approach towards how our guys were playing. Guys were either the best in the league or the worst in the league. More often than not, including most recently with Dudley, I found myself furiously defending Clipper players because others were hating on them so much. I don't think Dudley is a stud, but also don't think he's terrible. Can't tell you all how refreshing it is to see a group of fans who see both sides of the coin.

And yeah, love how he's been shooting lately and am hopeful his lateral quickness will come back after the break.

okpistolpete · Post #9 » by **okpistolpete** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:53 am

og15 wrote:Dudley has hit at least 1 three in 6/7 games in Janaury. 2+ in 4/7 games.

Averages:
10.6 PPG / 2.6 RPG / 2.3 APG / 0.7 tov / 1.0 spg / 50% FG / 48.5% 3PT (2.3 3PM)

To add to this, Carmelo's the only SF with more 3's in January (17) than Dudley (16), and Melo has taken 6 more attempts.