Sydney Kings' boom recruit Josh Childress will have until the last minute to prove his fitness before his side's Boxing Day home clash with the New Zealand Breakers.
Kings coach Damian Cotter cast doubt on whether Childress would be fit, preferring a conservative approach to avoid risking further damage to his strained hamstring. "I think it's going to be pretty tough for him to play," Cotter said.
Childress said it would be a wait-and-see approach, although he was cautiously optimistic about his chances of playing. "I've been doing some workouts and it feels OK," he said. "It's gotten better every single day."
But with just two months until the play-offs, Childress remained conscious of risking a longer-term injury.
"Hamstrings are the worst – they're very temperamental," he said. "One wrong move and you could possibly do some major damage, so we've got to make sure I've allowed it to heal."
The injury occurred during the Kings' win against Perth Wildcats last Thursday and caused Childress to miss the narrow loss to Melbourne United on Sunday.
Cotter said Childress had carried the injury into the last quarter of the Perth game, hosing down suggestions the injury came from Childress' celebrations after hitting the match-winning shot.
"The fact is he spoke to me half way through the fourth [quarter] about it being tight," Cotter said.
There were mixed feelings after the loss to Melbourne, Cotter said, but he expected the team to bounce back against the Breakers, who sit one game clear atop the ladder.
"New Zealand are such a good rebounding, physical team and have to make sure that, collectively, we're taking care of that part of the game," he said.
Childress attended the team's optional shooting session on Christmas Day in an attempt to prove his fitness before Friday's game.
Cotter was optimistic for the rest of the season with finals approaching. "Going forward we've got a lot to be confident about," he said. "We've played some really good basketball the last three or four weeks."
Childress, who trained lightly this week, described Sydney as a "great place to live" and said he was open to extending his contract beyond this season. "We're discussing that now … it's an option for me," Childress said.
"It's definitely a place that I could see myself staying [at], but I'll have to discuss that with my agent and the team and see if we can work something out."
Childress said he was enjoying the Australian summer over the Christmas period. "I'll have to get used to everything shutting down for two weeks, but other than that I'm all right," he said.
