Q and A with injured Indiana Fever guard Katie Douglas
ISL editor Cliff Brunt spoke with injured Indiana Fever guard Katie Douglas Tuesday night at the Fever Bowling Tournament.
Douglas has missed most of the season with a bulging disc in her back, and the defending WNBA champions have missed her. By most measures, the former Purdue star is one of the best players in league history. She entered this season ranked ninth in WNBA history in scoring (5,082 points), fourth in steals (586) and fifth in 3-point goals (656). She averaged 16.5 points per game last season, and averaged 17.5 in the two games she played this season.
Though Douglas still faces uncertainty, she expects to return this season. She was ready and willing to talk at the bowling tournament, an annual event that benefits the Be YOUnique Fund, a grant fund of the Pacers Foundation that assists organizations that serve young women and girls.
Here are the best quotes from the 1-on-1 interview.
Q: “Do you want to stand or do you want to sit?”
A: “Standing is much more comfortable.”
Q: “Describe your injury and how it affects you.”
A: “I have a bulging disc. It hit the nerve, so we’re trying to get it calmed down because if it goes down your leg, it makes things extremely uncomfortable. It’s the most discomfort I’ve had, probably in my whole life, so it’s extremely painful and uncomfortable at all times. So we’re just trying to settle that down, the inflammation out of the disc, in and around the nerve calmed down so I can build up and get into more impact and high intense activity.”
Q: “Does it hurt more at some times than others?”
A: “It depends on what I’m doing. It’s kind of a nagging, nagging thing. But it definitely is getting better.”
Q: “Any timetable on when you might be able to play?”
A: “I’m not a doctor, so I don’t want to speculate. I’m just adhering to the advice from the trainers and the doctors from the Fever and just letting them kind of dictate my rehab and my dates and stuff, so I really don’t know.”
Q: “What are you able to do right now?”
A: “What am I able to do? Tough question. There’s a lot of healing that needs to take place. I do rehab, I strengthen my core, but as far as impact and stuff, I’m not able to do anything like that. It’s pretty boring. It’s really kind of monotonous every day, but as far as what I can do, I haven’t ran yet, I haven’t jogged, so I’m working. I’m building to get to that point, hopefully soon.”
Q: “What are you seeing with the team out there?”
A: “I think I see them coming together as a unit. At the beginning, when I was there for those two games, I think it was kind of like a transition period between winning a championship, integrating new players and just kind of getting back into the groove. We hit a rough spot and we definitely didn’t look our best. But now that we’ve had time and a lot of practice and a lot of repetitions within practice and in the games and a lot of reps that the girls are starting to find our identity, and that cohesion is starting to take place.”
Q: “Your thoughts on Shavonte Zellous? She’s one of the top scorers in the WNBA now.”
A: “She’s kind of used last year’s playoffs as a springboard into this season. I think she’s definitely stepped into a major role, a major piece to the puzzle. I think she’s done a tremendous job of stepping up and asserting herself offensively, being at times the No. 1, No. 2 option out there for us. We need her to continue to feel that comfort.”
Q: “Given what you’ve seen from the team so far, what do you expect when you return? The team’s goals haven’t changed, have they?”
A: “I don’t think that you go from a championship team and then say that you’re just trying to fight your way into the playoffs. We’re the defending champs, and I don’t think that a championship is anything out of the question for us, it’s a case of we need to get our players back healthy, and we need to be playing our best when it matters the most. I think a championship is our No. 1 goal and the only goal here for the Fever.”
