HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Eric Oetter has been the Memphis Grizzlies Head of Sports Medicine since 2019, and he's been with the team since 2016, so he was with Dillon Brooks for his entire six-season run in Memphis.
"I miss him," Brooks said after the Rockets 117-104 win over Memphis on Wednesday. "He's been there throughout my whole career. And, you know, I can't wait to see him."
Oetter did not travel with the Grizzlies for Wednesday's game, and he did not make the trip when they visited Houston on November 22, so the two will be reunited when Brooks makes his return to Memphis on Friday, a game he's been looking forward to since the NBA schedule came out in August.
"I'm excited. I miss the (FedEx) Forum. I just can't wait to get out there and shoot on the court and see what it's all about."
Brooks admitted Friday's game will mean more than an average regular season game. The Grizzlies elected not to bring him back when he hit free agency last summer, freeing him up to sign a four-year, $86 million contract with the Rockets.
With Brooks having started every game, the Rockets are 12-9 through the first 21 games of the season, a seven game improvement over last season, and they are second in defensive rating, allowing 107.8 points per 100 possessions after finishing last season 29th with a 118.6 mark, which has the Rockets in position to end their three-year playoff drought.
"That's our goals," Dillon Brooks said. "It takes one game at a time, one day at a time. Keep practicing, keep working on our craft. We got things to clean up every single game, and get better at, but it's in everybody's mind, and you can see it."
