Tag Archives: Kyrie Irving Injury

Monday Musings

BDN Monday Musings – Irving, Plums, Peach Jam, Pro Am, Football Approaching — and More

I took this picture of Coach K upon his return with the first Gold his team earned. Let's hope he can do it again and BDN will once again greet him at the RDI Airport.

There is always a lot happening around Duke athletics, and this coming week is no different.  BDN Monday Musings takes a look around  in our latest group of tidbits.

Kyrie Irving injured again

Kyrie Irving suffered an untimely injury when, during a Cavaliers practice, he hit his hand out of frustration -- breaking a bone in the hand -- and will now be out of action until the start of training camp.  Irving is, of course, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year who most recently was a member of USA Basketball's NBA Select Team.  Here is more on his injury.  BDN wishes him a speedy recovery.  For the record, according to BDN's recruiting analyst who was recently in Las Vegas watching Team USA's preparations, Kyrie's play was as good as any guard in the USA camp.

The Nike Peach Jam is upon us

One of the more popular stops on the AAU circuit is the Nike Peach Jam, which is held in North Augusta, SC, just minutes from the site of the Masters golf tournament.  This event provides coaches with one of their last opportunities to scout the Nike kids.  Only the top teams qualify for the tournament, which ultimately crowns the best team on the "Swoosh" circuit.  In fact, the importance of the event caused several players to back out of the Nike Hoops Summit this past weekend.

Several key Duke prospects will participate in the Peach Jam, and BDN will be there to bring you all the action.  Our most recent offering for premium members is a very interesting interview with big man Jahlil Okafor, who stated on record how bad his team wanted to win it.   The Nike Peach Jam was one of the first events that Blue Devil Nation covered, and it's always one of my personal favorites.  BDN has now been around for ten years and our message board is celebrating its 5th anniversary this season.  Want more great coverage?  Join today!

Team USA preps and also entertains the troops

What an exciting summer it is for Duke fans, as they get to see coach Mike Krzyzewski try to mold another gold medal-winning national team.  During yesterday's practice several members of our military and their families got to watch their heroes work out at the National Guard Armory in Washington, D.C.   “They humble us. I mean they do so much for our country and represent our flag,” said Timberwolves and Team USA forward Kevin Love.  “We just go out there and play basketball. So they are the reason we have our freedom.”  Team USA will take on Brazil today; here is the team's entire schedule through theLondon Olympics.

Duke Football

Just 47 days remain until the Duke football team kicks it off against Florida International in Wallace Wade Stadium on September 1st at 7:00 EST.  There is no update on Blair Holliday, who was recently injured in a horrific boating accident.  Please keep his family and Blair in your prayers. But Duke Football will have to suck it up and prepare to start practice, where they will undoubtedly be hampered by the loss of Holliday at wideout, where he was slated to start.  In fact, this is the position that will be watched most closely in the pre-season by media and coaches alike.

The ACC Kickoff happens in Greensboro this coming Sunday.  This event marks the unofficial media start to the season, as coaches and players meet and the pre-season projected standings and All-ACC teams are released.  BDN will be there as always to bring you full coverage, including the comments of Duke Coach David Cutcliffe.

Elton Brand

In a move designed to shed $18 million from their payroll, Elton Brand was released by the Philadelphia 76ers.  But Brand was quickly picked up and signed by the Dallas Mavericks, who outbid the rest of the league for his services.

 

My man, Rick Crank is a heck of a photographer and we'll see more of his work soon.

Mason Plumlee named to Honor Court

Mason Plumlee was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 2011-12 Honors Court today. The Honors Court awards the talents and gifts that these men possess off the court and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom.  Plumlee, a double major in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology, also received CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America honors last season. On the court, he was named third team All-ACC while averaging 11.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Plumlee also shot 57.2% from the floor and finished the year with 12 double-doubles and a school record 60 dunks.

North Carolina Pro-Am

The N.C. Pro-Am has kicked into high gear on the campus of N.C. Central University, and more Duke players could be participating in the event this week, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  There really hasn't been enough play thus far to warrant us passing on our opinions of the players we've seen, but that will change in the coming weeks.  There are several interviews from the event up on the site already, and even more for members on the message board.

Miles Plumlee is a hit

Miles Plumlee was named to the NBA's Orlando summer league's First Team.  Check out his video from Dime Magazine.

Syracuse is set to join the ACC

It's official!  Syracuse will join the ACC in July of 2013.  Check out this link.

Duke Basketball, Duke Football

BDN’s Monday Musings – Sweat, Cheerleaders, Irving, Smith, Stats, Duke Football and more sweat

And our cheerleader of the week is a member of the Dancing Devils who filled in for the cheerleaders last evening and did an admirable job. If we had a team shot, I would have selected all of them. Lance King Images for BDN

Welcome to another edition of BDN's Monday Musings where we talk of random happenings around Duke Athletics.  It was fun to see the students start to come back in force in Cameron last evening and props to the dance team lasses for filling in for the cheerleaders and doing an admirable job.  On to today's chatter -

Anytime you get an ACC win, it's sweet and Duke moved to 2-0 in conference with last evenings 71-64 win over a pesky Maryland team.  When the Terps come to town, you will always hear "Sweat Gary Sweat," from the Cameron Crazies but last evening, a few Blue Devil fans were sweating along with him, as Duke found themselves trailing by as many as 6 points at home.  But the team itself never seemed too worried, or should I say the staff never fretted, from my vantage on press row. Duke has been in these games before and with 883 wins, this is not Coach Krzyzewski's first rodeo.

For the first time since his toe injury, the media didn't question Coach K on Kyrie Irving's status in the post game press conference.  And last night seemed like the first time the focus turned to the team on the court and that is probably a good thing.  As crazy as it sounds, Irving's toe gets more hits than Duke Basketball itself of late, just ask many of the ACC bloggers who speak of his status on a regular basis, like my pal  Brett Friedlander who writes an ACC Insider column for Star News in Wilmington.  Of course, there was a Seth Davis tweet last night alluding to some sort of breaking news he would share on the "toe' a bit later.  Does he have the "real" scoop?  If he does, he is in rare air, for the real deal is protected like Fort Knox and not the type of fodder which might leak.  Irving has avoided surgery and his mystery injury to be named later seems to be on the mend.  Maybe we are blindly positive, but we think Irving returns to the court down the road.  If I am wrong, I am wrong, but my hunches are usually accurate.  As for the getting into shape questions ... I will take Iriving at 80% any day, eh?

copyright LKI

Taking a look at Atlantic Coast Conference stats, you'll see that Nolan Smith leads the league in scoring and assists.  Yep, he's the current heads on favorite to win ACC Player of the Year, but we have a long ways to go. Kyle Singler moved ahead of Jordan Williams into third place in scoring last evening as well.  It is also worth noting that Duke scores ten more points a game than any other conference team.

Duke's next contest is indeed a "trap game."  Florida State is coming off a road loss to but they are 1-1 overall and tough when they play at home.  The Seminoles are long and athletic and they struggle at times scoring the ball, but they get pumped up when Duke comes to town, especially when they're the defending national champions and number one ranked team in America.  At 15-0 and atop the polls, Duke will get every team's best shot. 

Duke had two prospects at last nights game, one being junior Alex Murphy a wing forward who is ranked in most top ten lists for his class.  Jabari Parker, a 2013 budding front court player.  For more on Duke Basketball Recruiting, join BDN Premium for the latest.

The odds on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy next season in college football will be Stanford's Andrew Luck.  It's rare that a possible first pick in the NFL Draft opts to return.  Duke Football will take on the Cardinal next season in Wallace Wade Stadium, so you will get a chance to see him go up against Sean Renfree and the Blue Devils.  As for Luck, turning down 5o million with a new agreement being reached on rookie salaries going into place the following year, this situation  is something he might consider revisiting.  Meanwhile the struggling Carolina Panthers await and one has to think San Francisco may negotiate a trade with Jim Harbaugh at the helm.

Check out the Duke Blue Devils Women's Basketball team, which is ranked #3 in the nation!  Coach P's gals have avoided nobody with a tough early season schedule yet they remain undefeated.  Duke is still a work in progress as the entire team is getting minutes thus far.  Of those players, many are very young and that bodes well in the future as does a stellar class coming in to join them next season.  That said, all I have left to say is Jasmine Thomas is a gamer, worthy of the name Ms. Clutch.

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Duke Basketball

Irving has Right Foot Placed in Hard Cast


DURHAM, N.C. - Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced that freshman Kyrie Irving had his right foot placed in a hard cast on Friday. The Duke medical staff elected to immobilize the foot during this stage of the recovery process to completely rest the area and allow for optimal healing.

Irving remains out indefinitely and no timetable has been set for his return.

The Blue Devils return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 11 against Saint Louis at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will tip off at noon with CBS televising the contest.

Duke Basketball

BDN Post Game – Duke rips Bradley, Krzyzewski talks game and Irving’s injury

Lance Images

The Duke Blue Devils pushed their record to 9-0 with a 83-48 drubbing of Bradley despite the fact they are missing starting point guard Kyrie Irving.  After the game Coach Krzyzewski said the injury was serious and he would see specialist this weekend.

Andre Dawkins was smoking hot

The soft spoken Andre Dawkins' play screamed on the court this evening as he dropped a career high 28 points and nailed 8 of 14 three point shot attempts.  He was just one shy of the record set by Shane Battier.  It was also Dawkins' first career start at Duke.  His 14 attempts from three were the sixth most in Duke history.

Mile Plumlee goes 7 for 7 from the field

Duke got Miles Plumlee going tonight as the Duke big didn't miss a shot going 7 for 7 from the floor tonight.  He pulled down 4 rebounds as well but his brother Mason led the team with 7.  One of the things Duke wanted to do in the December games was to get Miles going and tonights game went a long ways towards that goal.  Miles earned his second start of the year.

Duke bench solid

The Duke bench outscored their opponent 20 to 5 but in fairness the Braves have had some serious injuries.  Josh Hairston got some burn and threw down 4 points and Seth Curry added the same.  Duke also hope to get Curry going during the December games but he did have 4 assists and 4 rebounds both career highs.

Nolans Smith dishes 10 dimes

Nolan Smith was 0-8 from the floor and 0-4 from the three point stripe but his 10 assists were huge and he was a big reason for getting Miles Plumlee going inside.  Smith's shot was off for sure, but he ran the team well and Duke dished out 22 assists to Bradley's 10.  Look for Smith to go off against St. Louis on the offensive end this Saturday.

Dual PG's to one PG

In the post game Krzyzewski mentioned that he had gone from having two point guards to having one and that effects their game plan.  If Irving's injury keeps him pout for long, Smith will turn into a pure point guard but let's cross that bridge when more results are in.  Duke should grow as a team in Irving's absence.

Lance King Images

Panic will ensue

After Kyrzyewski's comments which you will hear in their entirety below, he mentioned that Irving's injury was serious and that he'd see the best of the best to evaluate his toe injury.  Keep in mind that Krzyzewski is going to take precautions with any player who has huge earning potential in the NBA even more-so than normal where he always watches out for his kids.  Expect widespread panic once the morning editions of newspapers hit but it'd be wise to sit back and not think the absolute worst.  Krzyzewski did say he could be out for the year but we'll take a wait and see approach and I, for one, am optimistic he'll be back in the new year.  Call it a hunch. Meanwhile, Duke has three games they should win left on the December schedule.

Coach K's Post Game Press Conference - Just press play -