| | (Editor's note: Mateen Cleaves addresses his injury, courtesy of the MSUSpartans.com. For more information on the Spartans, visit Michigan State's
official athletic site.)
Q: How are your spirits?
A: It was tough at first, but after the surgery I've been
pretty good. It's been tough to sit back, but the guys
have kept my spirits up. My mom has come down and
Tone (Antonio Smith) came down today, so that's a
good face to see. I've been feeling pretty good now.
Q: What are you doing for treatment?
A: I have a bone stimulator that I keep on my foot which is supposed to
speed up the process. They told me six to 10 weeks. I
don't want to say back in six and then I'm back in
nine and I'm getting mad.
Q: Are you anxious to get back?
A: Me personally, I
would probably try to rush it being that I want to get
back out there and play and do whatever I can to help
the team. But Coach Izzo has told me we are not
going to jeopardize anything as far as your future
plans. So he said we are going to wait until it's right.
We are not going to put you out there if you're not all
the way strong yet. Coach already told me that we are
going to wait. I'm ready to play now with one leg, but
coach told me we aren't going to jeopardize anything
and wait until everything is all healed.
Q: Do you know how it happened?
A: Nothing really ever
happened. I never turned it. I never stepped on
anyone's foot. I never came down wrong. I was
playing and at first I thought it was the shoes so I told
our trainer, T Mack (Tom Mackowiak) that the shoes aren't supporting my feet,
so I need to try some new shoes. So I went to the equipment guy and got new
shoes. After that I was working out and I still was sore. I guess what got me in
trouble this time was my tolerance for pain. I have a good tolerance for pain.
We always tease guys that talk about injury so I kept it to myself. At one point it
was so sore after practice that they held me out of the second practice on
Sunday. They said we should go to the doctor just for precautionary reason,
there's probably nothing wrong, were just going to go to make sure there's
nothing there. We went there and got the x-rays and there it was: they saw the
fracture. That was hard for me because I was thinking they would say it's a
bruise and you just have to sit out a couple of days. Once it came back as a
fracture, right away they were talking surgery and it all was coming pretty fast.
As far as bothering me, it was probably just a day or two. It was sore, but it
wasn't really bothering me. I knew my foot was sore, but I was thinking it was
because I hadn't played that hard in consecutive days like that. It just gradually
came on. When it really started hurting, that's when they set me out of practice.
Q: What was your initial reaction to the injury?
A: It's tough. The first thing you
say is why me. I was playing with a lot of confidence and had a lot of
confidence in the way I was shooting the ball. I think I was playing the best
basketball since I'd been here. I think I had a good summer of workouts. Then
the first thing you say is why me. All I want to do is play basketball, go to school
and get a degree. Why do I keep getting hurt. It was tough on me, but the
support I have from my coaches and teammates and my family. My mom has
been down here and already cooked for me two days. I don't know if that's a
good thing or a bad thing. I'm always going to eat her food and her good
cooking, but my brothers, sisters and team support and the people around here
who are supporting me are helping me through this.
Q: What did you tell David Thomas?
A: The main thing I wanted to tell Dave was
that at first he had a role where he could come off the bench. Now you are out
there. Now you are the top gun. Now all eyes are on you. Everyone is looking
at you to call the plays. Everyone is looking at you to be a leader. It's nothing
that he can't do. Dave can be a leader and he is a leader. I'm not worried about
it. I just told Dave that you are the leader and you have to run the show. That's
something he accepted. He's going to surprise a lot of people. A lot of people
are trying to put him down and don't think he can do the job, but I'm 100% sure
that he can do the job and carry this team.
Q: Do you think this is something that can make the team even stronger?
A: Definitely. I guess some people are dropping us in the rankings, but we don't
really get caught up in looking at the rankings. That is motivation. We are not a
one-man team here. We've never been. Everybody has played a role. That's
why we won, because everybody took on a role to play. That's just an extra
goal for the guys to go out and play hard and prove a lot of these people wrong.
They are going to surprise a lot of people, I know. I'm just going to sit back and
enjoy it and act like a psychic like I knew it was going to happen all the time.
These guys are going to shock a lot of people because they work so hard and
they play together. My job is I'm just going to have to come back and get in the
mix. That's going to be the hard thing for me, because they are going to be
rolling. I'm just going to have to come in and find a place where I can fit in.
Q: What's the hardest part about the crutches?
A: The toughest thing is just
getting used to wearing crutches. I never really had to wear crutches. I sprained
my ankle before, but never had to wear them for more than two weeks. I'm
tired of them all ready, going to class and going up stairs. It's tough because I
get tired, but it's nothing I can't deal with. I just have to deal with it.
Q: What have you been told about recovery time?
A: Right now, I guess in
anywhere from 4-6 weeks I can get out of the cast and off the crutches. If it's
good in four weeks and strong and back healthy, I'll probably get start back
walking and trying to rehabilitate it. Right now with this cast, they are going to
change it. Right now, it's just a hard cast. In two weeks they are going to
change it and give a rubber cast so I can do workouts in the pool and keep me
conditioning up.
Q: What did you say to the team?
A: My main thing to the team was at first, I
didn't want any guys to feel sorry for me, to put their head down and throw the
season away. Which I knew they wouldn't do, but I wanted to make sure none
of the guys felt sorry for me. My thing was I didn't sit down and think of a
speech. I just went in and spoke from the heart. I just told the guys, now you
have to step it up and play. You can't sulk on my injury. I'm going to be allright.
I'm going to make it through it. You guys have to go out there and play. Before
people started dropping us and making expectations for us when I was hurt, I
told them what was going to happen. People are going to start putting you down
and not think that you can do it, but you can do it. My thing is that I just talk
from the heart. I just want the guys to go out there and work and give 110%
everyday. Don't say stuff's not going right because Mateen's not here. I just
talk from the heart when I talk to the guys.
Q: Did this injury make you think that you should have gone to the NBA?
A: I didn't think about that one bit. Matter of fact, this is the first time I heard that.
No, I don't regret that at all. I could have gone pro and done this in the pros.
Like I said, God does stuff for a reason and I'm just happy to be here. What
really makes me happy is that after I realized I had a fracture, the support I got
from the people here. I'm not going through this by myself. Everybody is helping
me through this. With the support I've gotten from my family, my coaches and
my players makes me feel that much better that I stayed one more year.
Q: You have a big smile on your face. Why is that?
A: That's just me. I'm happy about life and happy to be living here, just to be here at Michigan State. I'm only
a couple of credits away from getting my degree. The coaches and my family
and friends have helped me through this so much and keeping me up. I got
down at first, but everybody's been keeping me up. When Antonio walked
through my door today and I saw his face and the way he acts, it just brings a
smile to you. A lot of people have been helping me through this. I'm not going to
sit around and sulk. I'm a guy that likes to be happy and smile a lot and I'm
going to keep on smiling.
Q: What do you think of your new role as an assistant coach?
A: Right now, I'm an assistant coach. I'm just working on scouting the other team and getting used
to watching a lot of film and helping the guys out. I joke with some of the
assistant coaches all the time and tell them that when they get a head job, be
looking for me to come up as an assistant coach. I hope some Coach Heath,
Garland and Gregory will be watching me so when I come back and give them
my resume, that they'll look at it. I want to coach anyway. I'm going to do
whatever I can to help the team. It's not like I'm not going to show up at
practice. Right now, I'll get a chance to see what the coaches go through
because I'm going to be in there watching film and trying to help guys get better
with their game.
Q: Talk about your talk with Coach Izzo when you got the news?
A: It was laugh, cry, laugh, cry. Coach will say some stuff that's touching. The first thing
he told me was that You know I love you and I'm going to help get you
through this. Before he could get that out, I busted out crying. I knew that, but
it touched me. Coach probably won't take credit for this, but the stuff he does
off the court, that's the kind of stuff that makes me proud to be a part of
Michigan State right now. He held me like my mother or father would do. He
got behind me and hugged me when I was crying and he had tears coming
down too. He told me that he was going to help me through it. I would do
anything for him. If I could play right now on this, I would. He goes out and the
support he has for you on and off the court makes you feel good to be a part of
the program you built.
This happened in his office, and I knew I was going to cry as soon as I talked to
him because there's something about him. I know he cares so much about me
and the thing about it is that I feel bad about getting hurt, because when he was
building the schedule up last year, he asked me Mo, I have so-and-so on the
phone, do you think we can play them in that short of a period. And I'm telling
coach to schedule them all. We want to play them all. I was real motivated by
the schedule. I got hurt and I had a feeling inside of me that I was a letdown to
the guys because I had a big part of the schedule and I'm going to miss some of
them. He told me don't worry about it and that he was going to be by my side
the whole time.
Q: Do you know what caused this injury?
A: Right now, we don't know. Some say
it comes from a lot of continuous stress on the foot. It's common in basketball
players with the constant banging and constant moving. Right now, they don't
know and are going through test to find out what happened.
Q: What can you do now for conditioning?
A: I think it's going to be a week
before I start riding the bike. I'm going to be in shape. I'm not worried about
conditioning coming back. We have a great trainer, Tom Mackowiak, and I
know he's going to have me in good shape when I come back. I know I'm
going to have to get back in basketball shape, but I don't think my conditioning is
going to be a problem.
Q: Are you worried about this affecting your shooting?
A: I'm not really worried
about my shooting, because when I hurt my back and my foot I still was
struggling with the fundamentals of my shot. One thing I have now is the
fundamentals and my rhythm. So I'm not really worried about my shooting.
When you names like Peterson, Chappell, Bell, Hutson that can score so easily
and score a lot of points, I'm not really worried about my shooting. My job is to
go out there and play defense and make sure I can get the ball in scoring
position. Right now I think I have good fundamentals on my shot so I'm not
worried about my shooting.
Q: Who do you think will assume the leadership role while you are out?
A: I told the seniors in a meeting that I'm putting pressure on you. A lot of guys like
Morris have been doing a good job of helping lead the team. A.J. Granger has
also done a good job. Last year we lost Antonio and guys had to step up. It's
going to take a collective effort from everybody. One or two guys can't do it.
The whole team is going to have to do it.
Q: You are using a bone stimulator in treatment?
A: Yes, it speeds up the healing
process. You put it on top of your cast. You are supposed to wear it 10 hours a
day. The first think I asked was if you wear it too much, can it hurt. The trainer
said to make sure that I wear it 10 hours a day and I said that's one thing you
don't have to worry about. I'm going to get those 10 hours in. I'll wear it to
class or when I'm sitting around home.
It's flexible and wraps around the cast with a battery that allows me to have it
on while I'm out of the house.
Q: Do you also see this as an opportunity to take advantage of some of the
guys' hospitality?
A: Right now, I'm bugging everybody. Guys are probably
screening their calls like if that's Mateen, I'm not here. I really get Morris
because that's my roommate. I sit back and tell him to go in the kitchen and get
me some chicken or get me something to drink. I've been having Morris running
crazy around the house. My mom has also helped me out. I do call the guys and
tell them to bring me stuff. | |
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