As the Chicago Bulls are finally gaining momentum heading to the second half of the 2023-24 season, they couldn't be more happy to receive promising news about Torrey Craig.
In pregame of the Bulls’ Friday eventual loss against the Golden State Warriors, coach Billy Donovan revealed that Craig got permission from team doctors to start some light activity in the wake of his foot injury recovery.
“They want him to ramp up activity as pain tolerates,” Donovan said. “So that would include doing some running on the treadmill. He can probably do some very light shooting. But a lot of it is how he responds to that with the injury.
“It’s a unique injury with what he’s dealing with, and they’re trying to be very cautious because it sounds like it’s the kind of injury that if you don’t handle it correctly or he pushes too hard too much, he could set himself back a little bit, and we don’t want to do that.”
Torrey’s previous injury progress
Craig sustained an acute sprain of his right plantar fascia back in mid-December. The injury is considerably tricky. He is required to take a four-week immobilization period before he can begin rehab, which will require an additional four to six weeks.
Amid this, Torrey expressed confidence that he could make an earlier comeback and beat the 8-10 week timetable that was set upon in his recovery.
"Being injured sucks, but I'm just going to take it one day at a time. Usually, my body heals pretty fast so I don't think the accurate time was . . . I think I'll be back a little bit earlier than that," Craig said back in December. "But we'll see.”
The Bulls continue to miss TC’s hustle
Before being shelved, Craig played 27 games in which he averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 boards as the Bulls’ trustworthy defensive wing.
As Craig went down, the Bulls got inflicted in terms of their hustle, defense, and on-court leadership. The veteran has been a hard worker under the glass, averaging 1.9 offensive rebounds per game that stands as a Top-3 throughout the team.
“That’s the one thing [Craig has] really impacted, and I think if you look at our offensive rebounding since he’s been out, it’s taken a dip,” Donovan said. “Not to say it’s all him. Collectively, we could all do a better job.
“He gets you a couple extra possessions, and at this level, it’s so tight that they do make a difference. Having him on the bench has been good, so I feel like the leadership with his voice is there, and we haven’t lost that.”
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