Deron wants to play on

The injury reports on Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams are getting better by the day. Initial reports had the star point guard missing four to six weeks of action due to a sprained ankle suffered on October 18th. That would put Williams out of action for the first two, maybe three, weeks of the regular season. Due to quick healing ankle the Salt Lake Tribune says there is now a slim chance he could be ready for Opening Night. Pretty impressive for someone who was in a walking boot just the other day.

If the initial diagnosis of 4 to 6 weeks this most of been a pretty serious ankle injury. Of course till you hear that he’s almost ready to go in just 10 days, but let me tell you the reports do make this sound very serious. Jazz officials told the Salt Lake Tribune that the ankle was so swollen after the injury that his toes even turned yellow. Now I’ve had plenty of sprained ankles before and I’ve never seen this, so for someone to hurt the ankle that bad, that is just insane. Makes you wonder if there is any other damage. The Jazz did just that, and sent Williams for an MRI on the ankle but everything came back clean.

Through hard work thou and some dedication in the training room, Williams is on a remarkable pace in his recovery. He was already seen at today’s (Thursday) pregame shoot around wearing an air cast and sneakers, instead of the walking boot. Jazz officials have said that Deron has been so dedicated he wakes up in the middle of the night to get extra treatment on the ankle. That’s pretty hard core right there. “I’m going to see how it feels every day, keep getting treatment and play as soon as possible, as soon as it feels great,” Williams said. “It still hurts, I’m just trying to get there as fast as possible. It’s better for me to walk on it, put pressure on it right now.”

So who starts for the Jazz should Williams not make it back in time for the opener. That duty would go to Ronnie Price. Price is actually starting tonight for the Jazz in their final preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Price averaged just under 10 minutes a game last season scoring 3.7 points and 1.3 assist a game. So basically he’s a young guy with potential but not someone the Jazz want running the floor while they have big hopes for this season. Price even knows to get to where they want to be Deron has to be healthy, and say’s all the right things about it.

“He’s not going to be out for a long time,” Price said, “so people don’t get used to not seeing Deron in a jersey because his will and desire to get back and to be on the floor is probably stronger than anybody else’s that you can think of … So all we’re going to do is keep motivating him and encouraging him that we’re going to try to win without him and when he gets back, he can just lead us to the championship.”

Having his replacement say such strong things about him, tells me Deron is definitely working hard to get healthy and should be back on the court a lot sooner then anyone thinks. It’s a good thing for the Jazz and their fans.

Speaking of the fans does anyone have their NBA tickets yet? The young guys that have come in over the past couple years are definitely adding a new level of excitement to the game. If you’re a fan you definitely want to do what you can to get to an NBA game this season.

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Tags: NBA, Utah Jazz