Spring Break
The Daily OrangeRautins caps recovery with Team Canada appearance
By Tyler Dunne
Posted: 8/27/08, 12:05 AM EST Section: Sports
"I think the schedule became so intense, it was a lot of stress on his leg early, and that's where that third stage would have come into play," Leo Rautins said. "The key with Andy is that we couldn't push it over the top this early, so we were very careful."
Through camp with the Canadian Senior Team, Rautins' practice regimen mirrored a vigilant baseball pitch count. Three straight days, take the fourth off. Bend, but don't break. And during the games, his dad reacted with a conservative short leash.
Rautins tore his ACL playing for Team Canada one year ago at the FIBA Americas Championship. Nevertheless, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim never discouraged Andy from playing for his dad this summer. As Leo said, a torn ACL can happen in an "Archbold or Manley pick-up game." Still, this summer was much different than the 2007 Pan American Games, where Rautins devoured minutes and scored 13.4 points per game.
Only this time, Andy just played briefly at the start of qualifier games and sat the rest of the way whenever his knee tightened.
Canada lost to Slovenia (86-70), edged Korea (79-77) and fell big to Croatia (83-62), fresh with Philadelphia 76ers center Samuel Dalembert getting dismissed in-between. More important for Andy, though, no concerning ill-effects of last summer's ripped ligaments flared up.
"I've been around him long enough that I knew his threshold by the way he plays or what he tries to do," Leo Rautins said. "The contribution we could get at that earlier point was worth it."
Dust collected a bit above his name on the scoresheet, but playing for Team Canada, this summer, did provide a promising reflection of one full offseason packed with daily urgency.
Immediately after last year's injury, Leo told Andy the season-ending injury could be the best thing for him.
The heart-to-heart hit home.
Nowadays, the guy known as "King of the Junk Food" by his father, reads fitness magazines religiously, never misses a day lifting and rarely puts unhealthy food in his body.
Through camp with the Canadian Senior Team, Rautins' practice regimen mirrored a vigilant baseball pitch count. Three straight days, take the fourth off. Bend, but don't break. And during the games, his dad reacted with a conservative short leash.
Rautins tore his ACL playing for Team Canada one year ago at the FIBA Americas Championship. Nevertheless, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim never discouraged Andy from playing for his dad this summer. As Leo said, a torn ACL can happen in an "Archbold or Manley pick-up game." Still, this summer was much different than the 2007 Pan American Games, where Rautins devoured minutes and scored 13.4 points per game.
Only this time, Andy just played briefly at the start of qualifier games and sat the rest of the way whenever his knee tightened.
Canada lost to Slovenia (86-70), edged Korea (79-77) and fell big to Croatia (83-62), fresh with Philadelphia 76ers center Samuel Dalembert getting dismissed in-between. More important for Andy, though, no concerning ill-effects of last summer's ripped ligaments flared up.
"I've been around him long enough that I knew his threshold by the way he plays or what he tries to do," Leo Rautins said. "The contribution we could get at that earlier point was worth it."
Dust collected a bit above his name on the scoresheet, but playing for Team Canada, this summer, did provide a promising reflection of one full offseason packed with daily urgency.
Immediately after last year's injury, Leo told Andy the season-ending injury could be the best thing for him.
The heart-to-heart hit home.
Nowadays, the guy known as "King of the Junk Food" by his father, reads fitness magazines religiously, never misses a day lifting and rarely puts unhealthy food in his body.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Laurie B
Laurie Bieri
posted 8/27/08 @ 5:29 PM EST
Great article Tyler! It's good to read about a positive comeback after an athletic injury. Good luck to Andy Rautins for a successful season.
Marc LeVine
posted 8/28/08 @ 12:35 PM EST
Let's just hope Rautins return and his new found higher level of play athleticism can make us quickly forget Dante Green's abrupt departure. May he and the returning D-man help get us back to the basketball promised land in 2008/09. (Continued…)
NJ 'Cuse Fan
posted 9/05/08 @ 10:10 AM EST
Not for nothing, I met the dude, and he's a jerk. Basketball-wise, he still has poor defensive tendencies, and makes some bad decisions as a point. But he most likely will be coming off the bench to hit jumpshots, so hopefully he can help. (Continued…)
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