Felton Spencer tried to stay focused on the game as he was announced as a starter by PA man Dan Roberts Wednesday night, but he couldn't. He got a bigger cheer from the Delta Center crowd than Karl Malone or John Stockton.
"After a year, it was a great feeling. I tried to be serious, but I had to smile," Spencer said following a 20-minute workout in his first game back since twice tearing his left Achilles tendon, the first time back in mid-January."That was nice," Spencer said of the cheers. "It's good to be appeciated and wanted."
Heavy interest by the fans in getting him back over the past 10 months "was a big help to me" during rehabilitation efforts that brought him back earlier than his own deadline (December) and much earlier than preseason speculation that would have brought him back as late as mid-January.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan made the decision to start Spencer late Tuesday, telling the Jazz PR staff he might as well find out right away how well rehabbed Spencer is.
When reporters crowded around Sloan for postgame comments and asked immediately about Spencer being back, Sloan deadpanned, "I didn't see him."
Clearly Sloan appreciated the return of the Spencer personna. "We've missed his enthusiasm. He's an enthusiastic player," Sloan said.
Sloan added that having him in the huddle again made him realize just how big Spencer is physically at 7-foot, 265 pounds.
(Spencer promised he wouldn't eat much today so he'd stay in shape.)
Forward David Benoit noticed that extra size, too. "Just his big body. Just his presence," Benoit said about having him back. "He takes up a lot of space, and teams have to respect that.
"I'm happy to see him. It's been a long time," said Benoit.
Guard Chris Morris, new to the Jazz, hadn't played with Spencer before. "I'd rather have him as my teammate rather than the enemy," said Morris, adding that Spencer set "an emotional tone" to the game, an easy 116-95 Jazz win.
Morris said he didn't know how Spencer would have rated his performance, but, "To me, it looked like he was well over 100 percent."
Spencer reported "no pain at all or soreness" from the outing just one day after he returned to full practice.
He was 2-for-5 from the field and missed four of nine free throws, but he also grabbed six rebounds playing nine minutes of the first quarter and nearly all of the third. His shooting, he said, could use some work, and he rated his return a C- in skillwork. "The strength was very good," he said. "I didn't have any problem; I was able to push on it."
Spencer seemed to start a little gingerly, though in his own mind he was going at full speed from the beginning. Soon he was cutting and wheeling and pushing with the big boys from the Sacramento Kings, who hacked him every time he tried to shoot.
His one day of practice with teammate Antoine Carr beating on him got him ready for what Sacramento could offer, he said.
Spencer said team orthopedist Dr. Lyle Mason had told him he'd be OK if he got well warmed up, so he went extra long in the pregame. Mike Shimensky wasn't all that sure, so the Jazz trainer retaped Spencer prior to the game, Spencer said, amused at the precaution.
But after sitting the last part of the first quarter and all of the second, Spencer did recall wishing he had an exercise bike to warm up again. He said he did some stretching and was happy to find that returning to the lineup wasn't difficult.
But, said Sloan, "I'm anxious to see where he'll be (sore or stiff) the next couple of days."