<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The motivation is most visible on the right side of his face. Tarence Kinsey's right eye area is black and blue. The bottom eyelid remains flipped inward. Kinsey's eyelashes touch the eyeball. Still recovering from a broken eye socket, Kinsey knows he should be having a second, much-needed operation today. Instead, he'll play against the Chicago Bulls in a preseason game, hoping to continue to correct the team's vision regarding him. Kinsey, mind you, can see straight. There is a simple fact of life that extends far behind professional sports. It is most fitting when someone is in competition to earn a roster spot: Out of sight, out of mind. "Once you get hurt, you get lost in the drift and get left behind," said Kinsey, who was injured by an inadvertent elbow from Alexander Johnson during a summer workout. "The coaches don't know how well I play. They know I can play defense from this summer. ... I said no (to surgery) because I don't want to only be judged by what I did in summer league." Kinsey's emergence from the team's crowded infirmary earlier than expected impressed Griz coach Mike Fratello. "He's a tough kid," Fratello said. "He certainly has a mental toughness. The doctors wanted to be careful and he should be back having another surgery. But he wants to make an impression on the court." In two games, Kinsey's worn a protective face mask and excelled in different ways. He gathered three steals and made 4 of 9 shots for 10 points last Friday in his preseason debut against Miami. Kinsey struggled offensively the next night at Orlando, misfiring on 9 of 12 shots. He worked hard on the glass, though, and finished with eight rebounds to go with eight points. What the statistics don't show is Kinsey's impressive grasp of the game. "He's got a real nice balance on both ends of the floor," Fratello said. "He takes pride in stopping people. He could be an interesting defender down the road. And he's shooting the ball better. It's something he's worked on." The Grizzlies' final roster spot comes down to Kinsey, a rookie out of South Carolina, and Junior Harrington, a guard with two years of NBA experience. </div> Source
