Giles And Tatum Injuries

[hallcity]

The last we heard was that Giles would be back in mid-November and Tatum would be back in less than two weeks, which would mean that Tatum MIGHT be back for the Augustana exhibition game tomorrow and should definitely be back for the Marist game next week. Is there any further word on these injuries? I'm eager to see these two players.

[Ichabod Drain]

The last we heard was that Giles would be back in mid-November and Tatum would be back in less than two weeks, which would mean that Tatum MIGHT be back for the Augustana exhibition game tomorrow and should definitely be back for the Marist game next week. Is there any further word on these injuries? I'm eager to see these two players.

Doubt Tatum will be back tomorrow as it will only be 10 days since the injury and they wouldn't risk anything for an exhibition game. I don't believe it was every actually stated that Giles would be back in mid-November. Duke plays these things very close to vest.

[COYS]

Doubt Tatum will be back tomorrow as it will only be 10 days since the injury and they wouldn't risk anything for an exhibition game. I don't believe it was every actually stated that Giles would be back in mid-November. Duke plays these things very close to vest.

If I'm not mistaken, the official report on Harry was that he would be out six weeks but there was uncertainty as to whether that meant he wouldn't be able to participate in basketball activities for six weeks or if he we would be able to play after six weeks. The theory that has him capable of playing after six weeks is the source of the mid November return date. The other theory would not have him back until later when he is back in game shape.

[Ichabod Drain]

If I'm not mistaken, the official report on Harry was that he would be out six weeks but there was uncertainty as to whether that meant he wouldn't be able to participate in basketball activities for six weeks or if he we would be able to play after six weeks. The theory that has him capable of playing after six weeks is the source of the mid November return date. The other theory would not have him back until later when he is back in game shape.

The way I read it was that the recovery for his surgery at the beginning of October was 6 weeks. But he wasn't even cleared for full practice before that surgery. Maybe he could have been but Duke knew he was going to have the clean up surgery and just held him out. I have no idea and I don't suspect we will know much more until Harry is very close to stepping back on the court.

[UrinalCake]

Agree with ichabod, six weeks was "typical" recovery time for the type of procedure that Giles had, but even before the surgery he wasn't practicing 5 on 5. He was doing some 5-on-0 drills but no contact. K said during ACC Media Day that he's not approaching it as getting Giles BACK, because he's never really "had" Giles. It's more like he's incorporating Giles for the first time. He has never had a full-contact practice with the team, so even if he is 100% recovered from the latest surgery after six weeks it's still going to be a while longer before he can practice fully, and then a little longer after that before he can play in a real game. As far as when he'll be 100% the player that we see in his YouTube mix tapes with all that explosiveness, my opinion is that it would be January at the earliest.

As for Tatum, I think if he's healed from his ankle sprain then he'll play tomorrow. I don't think you hold him about just because it's an exhibition. You treat it almost like a practice, and want to get him as many reps as possible.

[sagegrouse]

The last we heard was that Giles would be back in mid-November and Tatum would be back in less than two weeks, which would mean that Tatum MIGHT be back for the Augustana exhibition game tomorrow and should definitely be back for the Marist game next week. Is there any further word on these injuries? I'm eager to see these two players.

I have no information, but I have been down this road with Duke hoops before on Kyrie, Ryan Kelly and Amile. Candor and accuracy have not been hallmarks of communication. Therefore, I ain't buying stories on an early return for Harry Giles. My "minutes" table had Giles at 12 MPG, based on an entire season -- out a part of the season and limited availability when he returns. I would love to be wrong, but I note that one of Laura Keeley's departing tweets was something to the effect that she was beginning to sense that Giles would not be exceeding ten minutes per game. Again, I would love for Laura and me to be wrong.

[mo.st.dukie]

According to K, the knee scope Giles had will actually help when he returns and he will be better than he would have had he not had the scope. He's now about a year removed from the most recent knee injury. Many athletes with that injury have been able to return to playing in less than a year. And just because he hadn't participated in full contact practices before the scope does not mean he was completely out of shape and/or a long ways away from being capable of playing a game. My guess is, when he is ready to play he won't get or need a bunch of team practices before getting into a game.

Of course the same is true for Tatum, probably even moreso. He should be able to hit the ground running as soon as he's cleared to play.

[jimsumner]

There was never an expectation that Tatum would play in either exhibition game.

[MNBlueDevil4]

While on the injury topic, what are thoughts on resting Allen, Jones, and Jefferson for the final exhibition? Let the 'vets' rest and get the younger players acclimated to Cameron.

[ChillinDuke]

While on the injury topic, what are thoughts on resting Allen, Jones, and Jefferson for the final exhibition? Let the 'vets' rest and get the younger players acclimated to Cameron.

Speaking broadly for the Board, I think consensus thoughts are "not going to happen."

- Chillin

[Highlander]

While on the injury topic, what are thoughts on resting Allen, Jones, and Jefferson for the final exhibition? Let the 'vets' rest and get the younger players acclimated to Cameron.

I don't think resting our veteran players in the second game of the year makes a whole lot of sense. Team needs to get used to playing together and off each other. Start to figure out rotations. Can't do that whilst on the bench.

They've played all of 1 exhibition game so far, and that was over a week ago. I doubt they need or want to rest. They want to go against someone other than their teammates.

[MNBlueDevil4]

I don't think resting our veteran players in the second game of the year makes a whole lot of sense. Team needs to get used to playing together and off each other. Start to figure out rotations. Can't do that whilst on the bench.

They've played all of 1 exhibition game so far, and that was over a week ago. I doubt they need or want to rest. They want to go against someone other than their teammates.



I agree. I was just thinking from more of a standpoint of avoiding any unnecessary injury in an exhibition, rather than from a stamina aspect.

[DukieInBrasil]

There was never an expectation that Tatum would play in either exhibition game.

Is he expected to play in the season opener?

[UrinalCake]

I don't think resting our veteran players in the second game of the year makes a whole lot of sense. Team needs to get used to playing together and off each other. Start to figure out rotations. Can't do that whilst on the bench.

They've played all of 1 exhibition game so far, and that was over a week ago. I doubt they need or want to rest. They want to go against someone other than their teammates.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I totally agree. I mean why even have the exhibition games if you're not going to play your guys because you're worried they'll get hurt? The players are just as likely to get hurt during practice, which they do every day for a couple hours. I understand not wanting players to get hurt, but everything that the team does is a step towards the ultimate goal of winning a title, and holding players out or having them play tentatively because they're worried about getting hurt is not the approach to take IMO.

[jimsumner]

Is he expected to play in the season opener?

My best guess is yes. Might know more tomorrow night.

[NSDukeFan]

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I totally agree. I mean why even have the exhibition games if you're not going to play your guys because you're worried they'll get hurt? The players are just as likely to get hurt during practice, which they do every day for a couple hours. I understand not wanting players to get hurt, but everything that the team does is a step towards the ultimate goal of winning a title, and holding players out or having them play tentatively because they're worried about getting hurt is not the approach to take IMO.

Why would that be an unpopular opinion?

[richardjackson199]

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I totally agree. I mean why even have the exhibition games if you're not going to play your guys because you're worried they'll get hurt? The players are just as likely to get hurt during practice, which they do every day for a couple hours. I understand not wanting players to get hurt, but everything that the team does is a step towards the ultimate goal of winning a title, and holding players out or having them play tentatively because they're worried about getting hurt is not the approach to take IMO.

Agreed 100%. For this team to optimize its potential, we need to focus on playing our best which means playing hard Duke basketball. Injuries suck worse than anything in our game (except the cheating heels). But injuries are sometimes part of the game, and if they happen hopefully this team has the depth to step up and get it done. They did this in 2001 when Boozer went down.

If we could prevent all injuries and still play our best, of course that would be ideal. But we can't - injuries are too random and unpredictable. We need to control the controllables, and make the best of the situation if uncontrollables happen (injuries). We can control effort and developing a team who plays hard, swarming, dominating, and winning Duke basketball. That should be our focus. Worrying about trying to minimize injury is not only futile, it would undermine our development into the best team we can be.

To win a national championship we will need some breaks to go our way. Just my 2 cents, but I agree that our best chance of making this happen is not worrying about injury. We need to learn and practice to play the way we want to play in March/April.

[ChillinDuke]

Agreed 100%. For this team to optimize its potential, we need to focus on playing our best which means playing hard Duke basketball. Injuries suck worse than anything in our game (except the cheating heels). But injuries are sometimes part of the game, and if they happen hopefully this team has the depth to step up and get it done. They did this in 2001 when Boozer went down.

If we could prevent all injuries and still play our best, of course that would be ideal. But we can't - injuries are too random and unpredictable. We need to control the controllables, and make the best of the situation if uncontrollables happen (injuries). We can control effort and developing a team who plays hard, swarming, dominating, and winning Duke basketball. That should be our focus. Worrying about trying to minimize injury is not only futile, it would undermine our development into the best team we can be.

To win a national championship we will need some breaks to go our way. Just my 2 cents, but I agree that our best chance of making this happen is not worrying about injury. We need to learn and practice to play the way we want to play in March/April.

I agree with just about everything in this post. Very, very well said.

And it goes hand in hand with my belief that "Health" should never be on a Phase post. You just can't control it, so why consider it? I don't put "breathing" at the top of my to-do list in the morning. (But I know this is a losing battle.) (The Phase posts, not the breathing.)

- Chillin

[Spanarkel]

I agree with just about everything in this post. Very, very well said.

And it goes hand in hand with my belief that "Health" should never be on a Phase post. You just can't control it, so why consider it?

- Chillin



You can't control "health," but it can obviously sway the outcome, as can officiating/a player "going off"(Derrick Williams' 25 points in first half vs. UA in '11 NCAAs)/tournament seeding/etc. I personally like considering factors that can influence the outcome of Duke games.

[ChillinDuke]

You can't control "health," but it can obviously sway the outcome, as can officiating/a player "going off"(Derrick Williams' 25 points in first half vs. UA in '11 NCAAs)/tournament seeding/etc. I personally like considering factors that can influence the outcome of Duke games.

Well there's clearly two schools of thought on this. And one school is "winning" and will continue. :rolleyes:

Health is important when people are injured - e.g. when will Harry Giles return and what will it do to Duke's gameplan? When people are healthy, it seems to me a useless exercise to wonder if the team will remain healthy? What could we possibly predict and/or watch for regarding a healthy team? Wondering about how officials will call new rules, how a defense will improve, how a certain span of games will play out, how a team will react to a certain scheme or pressurized situation - those all are interesting and debatable concepts.

I see a clearly different nuance when dealing with "health" as it relates to a team with no injuries.

I'll run for cover now and stop talking about this.

- Chillin