Talking practice in Miami

I was going to pen a recap of today's practice here in Miami, but it looks like Mike Barrett and Jason Quick pretty much have that covered.

So rather than rehash was others have said (Oden dunked, Roy, Przybilla and Aldridge sat out) I thought I'd let the players speak for themselves.

NATE MCMILLAN

On Greg Oden's status for Wednesday's game against Miami
"We want him to play. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. I’ll talk to Jay and talk to Greg and hopefully he can give us a few minutes tomorrow."

On the advice he's given to Oden
"I think he needs to just get to the floor. I tell him, just play. You know what you can do out on the floor. Go have some fun and play. Enjoy it. Don’t think about everyone else’s expectations. What do you want? What do you want to become? Just go have some fun.

"Today was a good sign to see him back out there working and running with the team and able to go through the practice. It was a short, quick practice, but it was hard. I wanted to do enough to get him up and down the floor."

On Brandon Roy's injury and his status for Wednesday
"I think Brandon will be ready to go. We’ve got another day. We’ve got a day. We’ll see. I know he was hurting last night. For him to ask to come out of that game -- and basically I was need him just to throws the ball inbounds -- I knew it was pretty painful. Backs are funny things."


GREG ODEN

On returning to practice
"It felt good just to be able to get out there. When we first started it wasn’t looking to good. I got my shot blocked about twice. We lost the game because Shav blocked my shot."

On whether he'll play on Wednesday against Miami
"It depends on how it feels tomorrow. We’ll check to see how it feels when I wake up in the morning. I’m hoping that it feels good. "

On what the pain in his foot feels like
"It’s just like a real sharp pain in the bottom of my foot. Plantar facitis is what they seem think."

On whether he's lost weight
"I have no idea to be honest with you."

BRANDON ROY

On his back injury
"It’s better. I did treatment this morning, did some stuff here. It’s kind of a slow process, but I just want to get to where I can run up and down tomorrow. I should be able to play."

On his status for Wednesday's game against Miami
"I think there’s a good chance. I would say I’m hopeful. It’s just one of those where if the game were today, no, I couldn’t play. So I’m hoping. I’m going to get a massage today and treatment tonight and the same thing in the morning so hopefully I’ll be able to play.

"It’s kind of wait and see. If the game was today, I’d be like, no way. I would feel bad, but I couldn’t play tonight. It’s just a funny feeling. It’s spasms right here in my lower back. It’s really tight. I would say I’m hopeful to play tomorrow. I continue to do treatment. A big sign will be how it feels at shootaround tomorrow morning. It’s pretty weird."

On how the injury occured
"Just went up to try and slap the ball from behind Jameer Nelson and I just landed on my heels flat-footed. Pain went straight up my back right after I did it."

On how Greg Oden looked during practice
"I thought he did well today. I think it’s always between the ears with him. I think if he wants to be aggressive and dominate, I think he can do that. He did that today. We’re going to keep pushing him to get back out there and have confidence in himself."