The Kyrie Irving Toe Rehab Vigil

[moonpie23]

This could all add up to another year of Kyrie at Duke. IMHO.

it would be a sad day in chapel hole....for sure...

[flyingdutchdevil]

This is 100% true but I think we are speaking of a kid who loves to play basketball, loves his teammates and loves Duke. He is a competitve guy and wants to be out on the floor to win. Kyrie knows he is going to the NBA and the NBA will be there for him whenever he decides. Duke is only there for a few years in his life. Duke is now and he knows there is a chance to win a NC. Noone can ever take that away from you. LeBron has not won a championship, I bet there are days in his life he wished he went to college and won a championship. Especially after he saw how great Coach K is.

I have a slight issue with that. Just ask McRoberts. Wait wait - I'm not saying that Kyrie is like McRoberts. What I am saying is that there are always circumstances in which the NBA will not be a guarantee the next year. After McBob's freshman year, he was a top-5, if not top-10 pick. After his sophomore year, he was a 2nd rounder who took 3-4 years to get established in the league with minimum salary. What if Kyrie's injury is more serious than doctor's initially thought and getting at 100% takes longer than a year? What if, and God forbid, Kyrie gets injured again? There are a lot of what ifs, both injury and personal issues, that can prevent any player from making the NBA a guarantee. Everyone wants what is best for Kyrie. Turning down millions of dollars to play college basketball is one hell of a difficult decision, especially if you are guaranteed that you are a top 5 pick THIS YEAR. Just look at Luol - despite loving Duke and wanting to graduate, he made the decision that was in the best interest of himself and his family.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I a) do believe that Kyrie will play again this year and b) that he'll come back next year. Completely a gut feeling.

And his is coming from the guy who thought that Luol, Henderson, Shelden, Singler, and McBob would leave after their respective breakout years (ie, I'm really pesimistic about players, both Duke and non-Duke, staying around).

[Bluedevil114]

I have a slight issue with that. Just ask McRoberts. Wait wait - I'm not saying that Kyrie is like McRoberts. What I am saying is that there are always circumstances in which the NBA will not be a guarantee the next year. After McBob's freshman year, he was a top-5, if not top-10 pick. After his sophomore year, he was a 2nd rounder who took 3-4 years to get established in the league with minimum salary. What if Kyrie's injury is more serious than doctor's initially thought and getting at 100% takes longer than a year? What if, and God forbid, Kyrie gets injured again? There are a lot of what ifs, both injury and personal issues, that can prevent any player from making the NBA a guarantee. Everyone wants what is best for Kyrie. Turning down millions of dollars to play college basketball is one hell of a difficult decision, especially if you are guaranteed that you are a top 5 pick THIS YEAR. Just look at Luol - despite loving Duke and wanting to graduate, he made the decision that was in the best interest of himself and his family.

My post was based on if Kyrie can play because he is toe is healed and rehab goes great. I am saying if it is up to Kyrie I feel he will play again for Duke.

Luol's situation was a lot different. Loul owed a lot of money to people back home. One being Manute Bol. McRoberts is no Kyrie Irving. McRoberts played with seniors JJ Redick and Shelden Williams along with Dockery/Melchioni. McRoberts did not have the impact Kyrie has had at Duke. McRoberts was lost in that offense and was not even the third option. Kyrie is playing with seniors Kyle and Nolan but he was given the ball game one and most of the time was option one.

[oldnavy]

Good arguments can be made for both sides and I would venture that even KI doesn't know what he is going to do right now.

The one thing I do know is that this young man has totally invested himself into this team despite his injury. His passion and excitement from the sidelines is amazing to watch. He is the ultimate team mate and despite what he decides to do after this year, he will always be a true member of the Duke family.

Now, my gut tells me that he will be back. Why.... I have no idea, but watching him have so much fun with his team mates while he is not contributing anything ON the court just makes me think that he would spend one more year so that he could get the full effect of being a part of something that he enjoys so much and only happens once in a life time.

Of course if money is the primary motivator then he would be foolish to stay at Duke next year.... it really depends on what KI wants out of life, and again I bet at this moment right now he isn't sure himself.

[flyingdutchdevil]

My post was based on if Kyrie can play because he is toe is healed and rehab goes great. I am saying if it is up to Kyrie I feel he will play again for Duke.

Luol's situation was a lot different. Loul owed a lot of money to people back home. One being Manute Bol. McRoberts is no Kyrie Irving. McRoberts played with seniors JJ Redick and Shelden Williams along with Dockery/Melchioni. McRoberts did not have the impact Kyrie has had at Duke. McRoberts was lost in that offense and was not even the third option. Kyrie is playing with seniors Kyle and Nolan but he was given the ball game one and most of the time was option one.

I know Kyrie isn't McBob (said that earlier too), but their situations are similar in that by the end of their freshman seasons, they will be probably top 5 NBA picks and will have to make an impossible decision. My point is that the NBA is never a guarantee and that choosing between millions (John Wall is making $4.2m from salary alone this year) and your school, no matter how much you love you coach and teammates, is crazy difficult. Call me shallow and materialistic, but I'm pretty sure I'm not in the minority this with.

[Bluedevil114]

I know Kyrie isn't McBob (said that earlier too), but their situations are similar in that by the end of their freshman seasons, they will be probably top 5 NBA picks and will have to make an impossible decision. My point is that the NBA is never a guarantee and that choosing between millions (John Wall is making $4.2m from salary alone this year) and your school, no matter how much you love you coach and teammates, is crazy difficult. Call me shallow and materialistic, but I'm pretty sure I'm not in the minority this with.

You are not in the minority since it is only my opinion and have no inside information. As fans we would love to see Kyrie again in a Duke uniform and as a business manager I have to be realistic and go with what is in the best interest of Kyrie and his family. McBob was never injured and really never had that bond with his teammates so again their situations I believe are totally different. Do not underestimate the impact of Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler coming back for another year may play on Kyrie's decision along with the guys coming in next season.

You may be right but that Duke North Carolina game may have been another chance to re-recruit Kyrie for another season at Duke. Then there is the looming lockout. Lots of factors will be in the play in his decision to play this season and next.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Do not underestimate the impact of Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler coming back for another year may play on Kyrie's decision along with the guys coming in next season.

You may be right but that Duke North Carolina game may have been another chance to re-recruit Kyrie for another season at Duke. Then there is the looming lockout. Lots of factors will be in the play in his decision to play this season and next.

Couldn't agree more with you. There are so many variables for either decision. Right now, it's pure speculation (obviously) and I too think that Kyrie will be back (see post above). But I would not be surprised nor disappointed in either way and will, obviously, wish Kyrie the best in which ever direction he goes.

[RelativeWays]

The biggest difference between McRoberts and Kyrie is Josh got exposed a bit his sophomore year due to his reluctance to want to be the primary scorer on the team. His jump shot was awful and there were questions about his attitude. Fortunately he's aquitted himself fairly well in the league, but even if he had gone after the freshman, he'd be fighting for the second contract, which would be less of a sure thing. McRoberts would have helped himself considerably by coming back his junior year and improving those things, but he had no intention of returning regardless of how the 07 campaign went.

Kyrie is different, scouts have been sold on him in his first 8 games, there doesn't seem to any deficiency he can hide being the starting PG for Duke so there isn't anything to expose on him. Doesn't mean he can't have a bad game but he has all the tools and abilities scouts want. So Irving cannot play himself out of the lotto, but there is the injury issue. He didn't have injury issues from high school. The toe injury has been determined as more of a complicated injury as opposed to severe. Its not believed to be chronic or recurring. In the event that it does come back then Irving could reinjure it at a draft workout just as likely as a college game. Other injuries are just likely to happen to him as anyone else at any time. Can't really let that be a factor, since situations like Robbie Hummels are very rare.

I don't think Irving has family obligations to worry about. While having well to do parents doesn't prevent you from going early, having a poor family certainly increases the likelihood that you leave. Depending on what happens now, I think Irving DEFINITELY leaves if he comes back and is able to get this team to the final four at least. Anything else, I think he may want one more year to be a kd with teammates he loves. Besides, there is not a huge precedent for PGs to leave after just one year. Paul stayed two, Lawson stayed 3. Teague went after one and is nowhere to be found.

[Duke76]

wouldn't that help to decide to stay...stars were doing that a while back...is that still plausible...in case he gets hurt next yr

[Gewebe14]

There is the one difference between McBob and Kyrie -- Kyrie was the best player in the country and the best finisher at the rim I've seen in a while. McBob was never THAT impressive here (relatively speaking of course.)

[CDu]

There is the one difference between McBob and Kyrie -- Kyrie was the best player in the country and the best finisher at the rim I've seen in a while. McBob was never THAT impressive here (relatively speaking of course.)

There are lots of differences between the two. One's a PG, one's a PF. Honestly, aside from being both highly-touted recruits, there are almost no similarities between the two.

[MChambers]

I have a slight issue with that. Just ask McRoberts. Wait wait - I'm not saying that Kyrie is like McRoberts. What I am saying is that there are always circumstances in which the NBA will not be a guarantee the next year. After McBob's freshman year, he was a top-5, if not top-10 pick. After his sophomore year, he was a 2nd rounder who took 3-4 years to get established in the league with minimum salary. What if Kyrie's injury is more serious than doctor's initially thought and getting at 100% takes longer than a year? What if, and God forbid, Kyrie gets injured again? There are a lot of what ifs, both injury and personal issues, that can prevent any player from making the NBA a guarantee. Everyone wants what is best for Kyrie. Turning down millions of dollars to play college basketball is one hell of a difficult decision, especially if you are guaranteed that you are a top 5 pick THIS YEAR. Just look at Luol - despite loving Duke and wanting to graduate, he made the decision that was in the best interest of himself and his family.

As far as the idea that the injury is more serious than initially thought, I can certainly argue that Kyrie would be better off staying at Duke. Probably easier to rehab and be a college student than to have a guaranteed contract from a miserable NBA team and disappoint the fans by being unable to play.

Again, however, it comes to down to incredibly personal factors. As far as money goes, he'll be fine, I think, and may be far more than that.

[swood1000]

There's a lot of money to be made in salary as a high draft pick. However, there may be at least as much to be made through product endorsements, which depends on his star power. If he stays at Duke he'll be on national television twice a week as a star on a winning team in front of enthusiastic audiences. People will tune in to marvel at the Kyrie/Austin dynamic duo. He'll be constantly idealized as the team player who spurned lucre for the love of the game and for the love of his team. Would all that add to his star power more than playing for the Cavaliers for one season, and is it worth the gamble?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of the worst losing streak in professional-sports history and certainly in the running for worst NBA team ever. Who knew last year's dismal New Jersey Nets could be passed so quickly? http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/p...urn=nba-319975

Maybe he would be able to bring the Cavs out of it, but maybe it would be like jumping into quicksand. Somebody familiar with sports marketing would certainly have a better feel for this than I do.

[CDu]

There's a lot of money to be made in salary as a high draft pick. However, there may be at least as much to be made through product endorsements, which depends on his star power. If he stays at Duke he'll be on national television twice a week as a star on a winning team in front of enthusiastic audiences. People will tune in to marvel at the Kyrie/Austin dynamic duo. He'll be constantly idealized as the team player who spurned lucre for the love of the game and for the love of his team. Would all that add to his star power more than playing for the Cavaliers for one season, and is it worth the gamble?

Maybe he would be able to bring the Cavs out of it, but maybe it would be like jumping into quicksand. Somebody familiar with sports marketing would certainly have a better feel for this than I do.

Well, there's no reason to assume he'd be any less likely to end up with the Cavs if he stayed for a year, either...

Given the low probability of landing with any particular team in any draft year (isn't it something like 1/3 or 1/4 chance that the worst team gets the #1 pick?), I don't think he should make the decision based on the possibility of ending up in Cleveland.

[BD80]

... Maybe he would be able to bring the Cavs out of it, but maybe it would be like jumping into quicksand. Somebody familiar with sports marketing would certainly have a better feel for this than I do.

He'd have to be a better GM than LBJ and his posse were.

[toooskies]

Don't knock the Cavs too hard-- while the loss of Lebron was significant, their play early in the season signaled that they were somewhere in the mediocre range. But their two best players (Mo Williams and Varejao) have been hurt, which led to the slide. A top 3 pick and both of those players back could get the Cavs back to the playoffs fairly quickly...

But the Cavs are more desperate for a wing or big man, and so they'd probably go with Sullinger-- plus the OSU connection would be a marketing benefit.

[Kedsy]

Teague went after one and is nowhere to be found.

Actually, Teague played two years at Wake Forest. I think the precedent you're looking for is John Wall, Tyreke Evans, and Derrick Rose, who all did well in the League from the get-go. Just because they didn't play in the ACC doesn't mean they didn't set a trend.

[UrinalCake]

If he came back this year and absolutely stunk, I don't think many NBA people would write him off. People realize he's coming off an injury. And there's still plenty of workouts that he'd be put through before any team would draft him.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I've said since November that the only way we see Kyrie next year is with an NBA lockout, but that was before the injury. I'd certainly love to see him come back, and I've ALWAYS been in the "there's more than money" camp for players and coaches turning down the "greener pastures" (K and the Lakers, Cut and Tennessee, and I was right about both of those predictions!), but if Kyrie had stayed healthy I couldn't see him staying a second year at Duke. Now, I have no clue. I love Kyrie and how invested he is in Duke and his teammates, and however the season works out and whatever he decides, I'll root for him forever. I am sticking with my previous prediction of him returning to the court later this month for us. Sorry I missed the free dinners at the Angus Barn, but that wasn't my expectation to begin with.

For those of you who are wondering if he's shooting or not, he was shooting the week before he got the cast off. Now I realize that's not the same thing since the cast was protecting and supporting the foot, but I suspect as soon as he was able to stand without support/aid, he was under the basket and flipping in layups, and perhaps shooting foul shots. You may notice my use of the past tense in that sentence as we are a full week post cast removal. Go back to the other thread and read my original supposition of rehab and I expect he's doing a bit more than that now; that foot should be regaining motion and strength every day, and the soreness is getting worked out and lessening every day.