Zoubek's foot again...

[Salty Breezes]

I'm just waiting for a piece of news that actually surprises Jumbo...

[greybeard]

I do not mean this to sound sarcastic, but could these foot-woes account for some of Zoubek's traveling problems? By that, I mean was the pain in his foot causing him to do things he would not otherwise do?

This is a serious inquiry?

[freedevil]

This is a serious inquiry?

Yeah, it's serious. Anyone who has foot pain knows that when you put lots of pressure on it (pushing off in a move to the basket) that you want to take pressure off it as soon as possible. Is he taking pressure off his foot before he puts the ball on the floor because of pain or because of an inability to simply remember to dribble?

Sorry to offend your sensibilities greybeard.

[BlueintheFace]

I'm just waiting for a piece of news that actually surprises Jumbo...

Well, we'd all be suspicious if for once Jumbo acted surprised or actually admitted to being wrong in any regard. At least we know it's actually him and not an impostor. haha

[RepoMan]

Yeah, it's serious. Anyone who has foot pain knows that when you put lots of pressure on it (pushing off in a move to the basket) that you want to take pressure off it as soon as possible. Is he taking pressure off his foot before he puts the ball on the floor because of pain or because of an inability to simply remember to dribble?

Sorry to offend your sensibilities greybeard.

Wait a minute . . . I think I here Greybeard's Ode to the Foot. It should be here any minute now.

[SilkyJ]

Yeah, it's serious. Anyone who has foot pain knows that when you put lots of pressure on it (pushing off in a move to the basket) that you want to take pressure off it as soon as possible. Is he taking pressure off his foot before he puts the ball on the floor because of pain or because of an inability to simply remember to dribble?

Sorry to offend your sensibilities greybeard.

As repoman suggests above, I think greybeard actually agrees with you and thinks the answer to your question is "yes"

Also, (as repoman kinda suggests above), be prepared to be bombarded with a diatribe containing 100 different medical terms you've never heard before.

Well, we'd all be suspicious if for once Jumbo acted surprised or actually admitted to being wrong in any regard. At least we know it's actually him and not an impostor. haha

I'd be careful guys. This kinda stuff is often considering to be "attacking another poster."

[MChambers]

Yeah, it's serious. Anyone who has foot pain knows that when you put lots of pressure on it (pushing off in a move to the basket) that you want to take pressure off it as soon as possible. Is he taking pressure off his foot before he puts the ball on the floor because of pain or because of an inability to simply remember to dribble?

Sorry to offend your sensibilities greybeard.

I think Greybeard means that of course it affected Zoubek's footwork, increasing his propensity to travel.

[dukelion]

I was surprised when he actually returned from the reaggrevation in mid-season.

If he had pain in his foot he hid it well and means once alleviated he'll that much more mobile.

[Jumbo]

Well, we'd all be suspicious if for once Jumbo acted surprised or actually admitted to being wrong in any regard. At least we know it's actually him and not an impostor. haha

Does this work for you? If not, I can happily find you more examples.

I distinctly apologize for knowing that Zoubek's foot was still hurt and would probably require surgery. Clearly, I should have been releasing information that the coaching staff wasn't making public. Geez.

[-jk]

Does this work for you? If not, I can happily find you more examples.

I distinctly apologize for knowing that Zoubek's foot was still hurt and would probably require surgery. Clearly, I should have been releasing information that the coaching staff wasn't making public. Geez.

Maybe Jumbo's in the Duke sports information department! Not a journalist at all! He's just using DBR for his own (nefarious) purposes! Yeah, that's it!

-jk

[greybeard]

Yeah, it's serious. Anyone who has foot pain knows that when you put lots of pressure on it (pushing off in a move to the basket) that you want to take pressure off it as soon as possible. Is he taking pressure off his foot before he puts the ball on the floor because of pain or because of an inability to simply remember to dribble?

Sorry to offend your sensibilities greybeard.

You miss my meaning, freedevil. I have been saying since the injury first occured that there was no way that Zoubek could "recover" and play anywhere up to normal this season. It was apparent to me once the season began that my prediction was unfortunately correct and I said so repeatedly.

Made precisely the same points about Paulus' foot injury and enruing performance his sophomore year.

The make believe world of it's-all-better when it comes to injuries of this sort that plays out on DBR time and again is terribly disappointing. Injuries to the feet at least do not work that way, ever.

What was to me maddening was that people on this board would criticize Zoubek for his poor footwork or some such when his difficulties were clearly the result of a seriously troubled foot. Before his injury, Zoubek displayed great footwork and vision in beating people to ideal scoring space only to be made to wait for a pass that came way to late after the defender had time to recover and was drapped all over him. He always displayed some balance/stability issues, but none that would have kept him from being a quite effective pivot, in my opinion. Those issues, however, I have to believe were the cause of the injury to his foot.

Should his foot heal well, as we all hope, Zoubek should do significant training with regard to balance issues, and with regard to gaining a better understanding of the use of his hips and torso and arms to support himself in standing and movement. Ultimately, that will lead to his having new choices about how to best use his feet in a healthy way, that will also be even more effective.

Or he can try the old ways some more and see if the results after surgery are different, but only after he improves his strength and explosiveness to make those old ways "safer." That option seems certain to be the path that the trainers and doctors will be advocating. Sadly to me it is also the one that Zoubek will likely take.

[CDu]

Before his injury, Zoubek displayed great footwork and vision in beating people to ideal scoring space only to be made to wait for a pass that came way to late after the defender had time to recover and was drapped all over him.

Disagree with you on this one. The Zoubek I remember pre-injury looked just as travel-prone and lost as he did at times post-injury. If anything, he's looked substantially LESS likely to travel and MORE likely to be in the right spot since returning from the second injury.

I also don't really buy the argument that it's his teammates' fault for Zoubek's struggles. I think it has always been an issue of his poor balance and lack of strength/stability that have been his problem to this point (foot injuries aside).

Hopefully he can rebound from this, but I have a bad feeling with regard to a guy his size who has had multiple foot injuries in such a short time span.

[Bob Green]

I also don't really buy the argument that it's his teammates' fault for Zoubek's struggles. I think it has always been an issue of his poor balance and lack of strength/stability that have been his problem to this point (foot injuries aside).

I agree with Greybeard. Over the past couple of years, Duke's perimeter players have struggled with delivering the ball inside at the appropriate time. I am not saying that Zoubek hasn't struggled but he could benefit immensely from better passing.

[wumhenry]

Well, we'd all be suspicious if for once Jumbo acted surprised or actually admitted to being wrong in any regard. At least we know it's actually him and not an impostor. haha

Not a stupid imposter, anyway.

[freedevil]

You miss my meaning, freedevil. I have been saying since the injury first occured that there was no way that Zoubek could "recover" and play anywhere up to normal this season. It was apparent to me once the season began that my prediction was unfortunately correct and I said so repeatedly.

My bad. Silly internet.

[BlueintheFace]

Does this work for you? If not, I can happily find you more examples.

I distinctly apologize for knowing that Zoubek's foot was still hurt and would probably require surgery. Clearly, I should have been releasing information that the coaching staff wasn't making public. Geez.

Easy Jumbo, just a little teasing for the old veteran... No malicious intent here.

[CDu]

I agree with Greybeard. Over the past couple of years, Duke's perimeter players have struggled with delivering the ball inside at the appropriate time. I am not saying that Zoubek hasn't struggled but he could benefit immensely from better passing.

I'm not saying that Duke's perimeter players aren't faultless. I'm just saying that I think it's disingenuous to suggest that Zoubek was constantly (even regularly) getting fantastic position and getting denied the ball. He may have occasionally gotten good position, but he also had trouble MAINTAINING good position (due to lack of balance/strength/stability).

There are very few players who can identify and execute an immediate entry pass to a guy who can't establish and maintain good position. With Zoubek, if you didn't see him at the EXACT moment he got good position, the moment was gone. What more seasoned post players do is learn to get good post position and MAINTAIN it, allowing teammates time to get them the ball. Zoubek unfortunately hasn't been physically ready to do that yet. That's the main reason why you don't see many successful entry passes to him - not the failure of his teammates.

Hopefully, Zoubek recovers on schedule and is able to gain a summer of good experience and preparation. If he can improve his strength, balance, and stability in the post, then maybe he'll be able to maintain that good position long enough to allow teammates to get him the ball. And maybe he can improve his post moves to provide more spaces on the floor from which he can be an effective post scorer.

[MChambers]

Yea, and when's that gonna be?

Gee, Silky, my subject line was "look on the bright side". So I'm trying to be optimistic. You might give it a shot.

Also, if I read the news correctly, he didn't reinjure the foot. Instead, the surgery is just to relieve some discomfort.

I understand what you are saying about big men and foot troubles. Remember Bowie and Walton (although I'd be happy if Zoubs got to those levels)? But didn't Boozer break his foot twice? He turned out okay, I think.

[billy]

From a surgeon's perspective, too little info released on GoDuke.com for us to jump to any sort of meaningful conclusions. On the positive side: maybe he had an irritating screw removed (although prob not, usually wouldn't put you out as much as 12 weeks) or some overgrown bone or scar tissue removed. On the negative side: maybe his bone has never healed and he needed a "revision" surgery with bone graft and bone stimulator etc and we don't know if it will heal or not...

I believe an earlier poster noted that it's not generally a good sign to have 3 surgeries for the same injury (I fully agree, by the way). For what it's worth, the surgeon who did BZ's surgery is the same guy who did Grant Hill's last surgery prior to his returning to play from his litany of prior surgeries.

As far as why the surgery now and not earlier, I believe that a similar situation existed with Paulus last year with his toe. You can either finish playing the season with likely no further injury and have surgery afterward or stop playing during the season and have surgery at that time. Candace Parker (sp?) is a current example of the latter - she'll have surgery to stabilize her shoulder soon after tonight's finals. I believe that Paulus took the latter approach last year and turned out ok this year, recovery wise.

[geraldsneighbor]

They just had a long season. A month off isn't the worst thing. Two months will set him back a bit but its good we can get this thing put behind us. Hopefully Zoub will enter the non-conference season 100%. After all, alot of the improving you can do is in the non-conference schedule. Zoub and LT will push eachother through the rehab time. Putting 15 lbs on anyway sitting around wouldn't be awful even if its fat.