Trying to Get Right

Hayward, Patterson rehabbing and working out amid lockout.

by Chris Haynes / @ChrisBHaynes

With the unknown of when players and owners will come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, two youngsters are using this extra time to rehab and improve on their overall game.

The Jazz’s Gordon Hayward and Rockets’ Patrick Patterson have been working out and rehabilitating at the St. Vincent Sports Performance complex in Indianapolis.

For over 20 years, SVSP has specialized in sports specific training programs and this summer you’ll find players such as Greg Oden, Mario Chalmers and Carl Landry rehabbing and working out there.

“I’m here working on my basketball skills, lifting and speed,” Hayward said. “I’m not rehabbing anything, but anytime that I’ve had a sprained ankle or anything like that from workouts or Pro-Am games, SVSP has been great about healing that up.”

Patterson finds himself in Indiana for a different set of circumstances. He had surgery on his right ankle back in August to treat bone spurs that he’s been playing through over the last couple of years. SVSP has been his primary source for rehabilitation.

“I’m starting to gain back strength and mobility in my ankle. I had a couple bone spurs removed and SVSP has been great about nursing me back to health and getting me to 100 percent,” said Patterson. “I’m doing something here every day to help me get my ankle strength back.”

Both players are coming off of a season where they felt they could have contributed more, but lack of experience and playing time derailed them.

Patterson, who’s backing up Luis Scola, played sparingly throughout the season and Hayward started off slow, but finished the season off with promise.

“For me, it was difficult,” said Hayward. “We had our coach who was there for 20-some years resign, and then our All-Star point guard got traded. We went from third in the West to not even making the Playoffs. I’d have some games where I’d do really well, then others where I wouldn’t get dressed or play at all. It was a hard season, but definitely a lot of fun.”

“It was frustrating for me too,” said Patterson. “When I first got to Houston, I got sent down to the D-League. I was there for maybe a month and a half. I felt that I should have been up on the team. I earned a spot back and worked my way into the rotation. Pretty much the whole time we were fighting for a Playoff spot. We finished ninth, but just overall frustrating from the stand point of not being able to do what I wanted to do, or contribute as much as I wanted to.”

The lockout reached a new level of optimism this week as many expected a deal to be completed by this weekend. But, once again, sides broke off Friday night without word of when the next meeting would be scheduled. Though this is upsetting and troubling to the fans, it’s also troubling to some of the players. Especially Patterson.

“We are just sitting on the bench per say, and the only thing we can do is watch other people handle it,” said Patterson. “We can listen and talk about it, and get feedback about what’s going on. We can give our input so our voices can be heard, but there isn’t much that we can do from our standpoint. It’s frustrating, and myself, I’m disappointed, and hopefully something can be resolved here soon.”

In the meantime, both players are in good hands at the SVSP complex. Both admitted that it’s good to be able to work out at the facility that much longer so they’re prepared for their sophomore season.

The problem is that Patterson doesn’t know where he will play his sophomore season.

“If worst comes to worst, depending on how long the lockout last or if we don’t have a season, I may pursue the option or availability of going overseas and playing elsewhere,” said Patterson. “Hopefully it doesn’t have to come to that.”

Hayward has chosen to take alternate route.

“It’s better for me to stay here and improve as a player,” said Hayward. “Just wouldn’t have been a smart idea for me to go overseas. Their economy is worse that ours is, they don’t even have that many spots. Again, I don’t think anyone knows when the lockout is going to end. I’ve just decided staying here and getting better as a player is what I wanted to do.”