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Kenny Anderson Healthy For A Change
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
Anderson healthy, hopeful
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 10/07/99
WALTHAM - Kenny Anderson is staying
away from black cats, ladders, and
anything else that might be construed as
bad luck. Who can blame him? In his mind,
that embodiment of good will, the
leprechaun, has even turned on him.
Injuries were a small part of Anderson's
resume when he arrived in Boston during
the 1997-98 season. Almost instantly, they
became a constant.
''The leprechaun wasn't good for me,'' he
said.
There was the left knee bone bruise after
an encouraging start following his
acquisition from Toronto. Last year, there
was a strained right hamstring. In both
seasons, the injuries came at the end of
the year.
Only once before, when he fractured his
wrist in his second season, has an injury
sidelined Anderson for any significant
period of time. He's determined to make
this season as ailment-free as possible,
while recognizing there are things he
simply cannot control.
Toward that end, Anderson worked with a
trainer over the summer in Atlanta, a man
whose specialty is track and field. He
lifted weights and did sprints. But the
main area of concentration was, as
Anderson put it yesterday, ''My bones. I
worked on my bones so they won't break
down. I know I'm never going to be this
huge, physical specimen. I just have to
work on my bones. That's all I did.''
He's convinced that if he can simply stay
on the court, he and the Celtics will
benefit. In his first stretch with Boston,
there was a notable improvement in both
the team's performance and that of Antoine
Walker when Anderson was running the show.
Last year, the team started to play better
until he and Walker both went down with
injuries.
In the last two years, Anderson has
averaged 12.2 points a game, 3 below his
career average. He did, however, shoot a
career-high 45 percent from the field last
season and led the team in assists and
free-throw percentage. The knock on him
has always been his defense and, since his
arrival here, his durability. One has to
be fit to play Pitino Ball. In addition to
the injury, Anderson also suffered the
indignity of being left home from a game
for disciplinary reasons.
''I let a lot of distractions last year
affect me,'' he said. ''Being mature, I
shouldn't have let that happen. I was a
little disappointed in myself. A lot of
people were playing under pressure last
year because of the lockout. There was so
much going on. This year, I'm going in
with a clean slate. I think everyone is.
''I'm feeling much better now than last
year, when it was a real rush,'' he went
on. ''And you can see coach and the staff
are more relaxed because they have more
time to put things in. With a young team,
it's real important to take your time. We
have a lot of talent to really work with
instead of rushing into things. It's good
for everyone.''
Anderson said the last time he was in such
good shape was after signing with Portland
as a free agent. Perhaps not
coincidentally, he played in all 82 games
and enjoyed one of his most productive
seasons, leading the Blazers in scoring,
assists, and steals while averaging more
than 37 minutes a game.
But differences with coach Mike Dunleavy -
and the availability of Damon Stoudamire -
conspired to send him packing. He says now
he feels he's in an ideal system for his
game, adding, ''I don't think anyone is
disappointed in my play. If you put me in
a great environment, I'll blossom. But I
have to stay healthy.''
That, of course, is the issue. Is he the
relatively durable point guard who rarely
was hurt in his first six years, or is he
the fragile and injury-prone player we've
seen the last 1 1/2? Can the two injuries
in Boston be traced to simple bad luck or
something else? All Anderson knows is the
Celtics still haven't seen him as he'd
like to be seen, not for any meaningful
period of time.
''I've just kept getting injured since
I've been in Boston,'' he said. ''I don't
know why. It's five games here, then I go
down. It's three games there, then I go
down. I can't have that. I understand that
sometimes you have no control, but I have
to prepare myself not to break down. I
gotta be out on the court.''
This story ran on page F01 of the Boston
Globe on 10/07/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.