Ice Gel Injury Report: Cam Gliddon

Sharpshooter Cam Gliddon is progressing strongly from off-season hip surgery and is a chance to feature in the latter stages of the NBL Blitz. 

Gliddon injured his hip in the back half of last season and bravely played through pain for the remainder of the regular season and finals before going under the knife in July.

The former Boomer is expected to start at shooting guard in NBL22 as part of a dynamic Phoenix line-up featuring Xavier Munford, Ryan Broekhoff, Mitch Creek and Zhou Qi.

Gliddon is the only member of the team training away from the main group in what’s been a pre-season of good health for the squad.

“It’s going well,” Gliddon said.

(Gliddon should return just in time for season start)

“Every day is a test to see how far I can push it. I can’t do anything wrong with it now, it’s just a matter of building up my stamina, conditioning, and hip health.

“I’m in week 12 of a 16-week rehab and I want to hit that week 16 with all restrictions off to join the boys for the full session.”

Gliddon says he expects the hip to feel better than ever once he returns to the floor.

“It hindered me a lot towards the end of last season, I just couldn’t move the way I wanted to laterally and in straight lines,” he said.

“When it fully heals, I’ll have more range and be able to add more strength and power to it, so it will be Cam Gliddon 2.0.”

The NBL Blitz tournament will run over a fortnight, starting November 13.

South East Melbourne will then host the first regular season NBL game in Melbourne for NBL22 on December 4 against Illawarra at John Cain Arena.

Gliddon says the high level of competitiveness at training has primed the team for a strong season.

“We’re tracking well,” he said. “The stuff I’ve watched and the things the coaches and players have spoken about suggests we’re miles ahead of where we were at this stage last year with the system and also the competitiveness.

“It will put us in good stead for the season start because the more we can compete now, the more we can become familiar with each other.

“We’re looking forward to that start date for sure.”

Chinese star Zhou Qi is currently quarantine in Melbourne before joining pre-season training.

The club still has one roster spot to fill plus potential development players.

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Phoenix Media (29/10/2021)