Sean May barely got a chance to play for the Charlotte Bobcats before a knee injury cut short his rookie season. By the time it was over, he was reduced to practices and a sideline seat during games.
Consider it a redshirt year for a player eager to apply lessons learned.
``When you have a long injury, people move on and forget what you can do,'' May said. ``But that's part of the reason I was so excited about coming to training camp and being able to showcase what I can do.''
May looks healthy this week as the Bobcats train at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, following up on a successful run with the team's summer-league team. The six-foot-nine forward lost about 15 pounds and is down to about 260.
May played just 23 games last year, averaging 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17.3 minutes. He had surgery on his right knee before the season, then had another operation in January in which torn cartilage was trimmed. May didn't return to the lineup.
It was just one in a line of injuries to the frontcourt. Former rookie of the year Emeka Okafor played only 26 games because of a twice-sprained ankle; 6-10 forward Melvin Ely missed 25 games because of injury or illness; and 6-11 centre Jake Voskuhl missed 30 games with knee and ankle injuries. All of which forced 6-7 small forward Gerald Wallace to see some time at power forward.
Bernie Bickerstaff, Charlotte's coach and general manager, knows the team can't have too many big men. He just hopes he doesn't have to prove that theory again.
``I think what we feel is we're kind of comfortable because if it's a problem, it's a pleasant problem,'' he said. ``It's something where we've just got to figure out the best way to utilize the size we have.''
May's health could be key. The former North Carolina star who led the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship in 2005 provides bulk and rebounding. He also has a soft touch around the basket and on the wing, which he put on display during the team's workouts at Trask Coliseum.
May figures one of the biggest steps in his recovery came when he averaged 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in five games with the Bobcats' summer-league team.
``It's more mental,'' he said. ``You've got to test it, come down wrong and see when you come down on it what happens. The summer league was for that, all mental to see how I'd react to it.''
Now he's eager to face better talent, beginning with next week's exhibition opener against Orlando leading to the season opener against Indiana on Nov. 1.
``I always try to take positives out of negative situations in anything I'm in,'' he said, referring to his layoff. ``So now this year when I play, I'm technically still a rookie until Nov. 1. But hopefully I won't play like a rookie.''
