Carlos Boozer removes cast, looks forward to rehab
Even though Carlos Boozer has yet to grace the court for his new squad this season, the Chicago Bulls power forward took a major step towards his recovery. Boozer, who broke his right pinkie last month after tripping over a bag, had his cast removed on Tuesday,
and looks forward to beginning the rehabilitation process.
Despite the setback, the big man remains optimistic about what the future might hold. “A great step in the right direction,” Boozer said of the cast’s removal after Wednesday’s practice. “I got the pins out [Tuesday]. I got the cast off. I’m in a splint now,
doing some hand [exercises] to get my range of motion back, my wrist range of motion back.”
And, even if Boozer’s major focus for the immediate future will be primarily on his strength and conditioning, he anticipates getting back into game shape in the coming weeks. “I got cleared to do a lot of running,” he said. “I can’t dribble, catch, shoot [or]
carry anything yet, but those days are soon, coming up on me, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Neither Boozer, who left the Utah Jazz as a free agent to sign with the Bulls this past off-season, nor the Chicago medical staff has a definitive timetable on the two-time all-star’s return to the line-up. That's primarily because the ninth-year player out
of Duke University still has to have the stitches removed from his injured finger next week.
Still, a bevy of the Bulls, including point guard and Chicago native Derrick Rose, seemed excited about the positive impact and energy a player of Boozer’s calibre will eventually bring with his return.
“We really don’t know [how we’ll be with him]. We could be even better, we could be a real good team,” Rose said. “He’s always talking. I remember playing against him, and he was always telling [Utah guard Deron Williams] what was going on, especially on the
defensive end and with that type of player on the floor he could definitely help us with the guards, it’s easier for us to run our coverage on defence.”
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