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Mon, Oct 5th 2009, 12:15
Yoga helps Augustin find his alley-oop
Ask D.J. Augustin what he did with his summer, and he stands on one leg, bending the other so that his lower extremities are shaped like the number 4.
“Hold that pose for three minutes,’‘ Augustin says. “It’s no joke. Sometimes your legs are just shaking.”
Yes, Augustin took up yoga as a means to avoid a recurrence of the abdominal strain that derailed his rookie season. Twisting himself Gumby-like had the desired effect; he says his core muscles are healthy again and stronger than ever.
That was easy to tell from Thursday’s Charlotte Bobcats practice. He has regained his explosion and change-of-direction. He made two spectacular passes during a 20-minute scrimmage – a one-handed bullet into the lane for a Nazr Mohammed layup and a 20-foot lob to Alexis Ajinca for an alley-oop dunk.
You didn’t see many of those plays from Augustin following his mid-January injury. He spent the second half of last season as essentially a jump-shooter
“I sat out like 10 games, and after that it slowed me down. I felt out-of-shape,’‘ Augustin recalled. “I couldn’t move after that. I was thinking about it a lot; I was scared to do things. I didn’t want to hurt it again, so it affected me mentally.’‘