Come on Mr. Henderson

[The1Bluedevil]

Gerald time to get out of your funk

[I_am_a_Blue_Devil]

You can add Taylor to that list. Man he has really been sturggling as of late.

[IUGrad03]

Gerald is injured (wrist) and it sounds like he will be dealing with that problem for the rest of the season. Coach said he really gutted it out for the whole game.

[Ben63]

He single handedly carried us through the Pitt game and has had only a few great games since then.

TK is signifficant against insignifficant teams

[Ignatius07]

Gerald is injured (wrist) and it sounds like he will be dealing with that problem for the rest of the season. Coach said he really gutted it out for the whole game.

That's unfortunate to hear. I thought he played a good second half against UNC (that was post-wrist injury) and decently against BC. He just wasn't aggressive at all. I wonder what the extent of his injury is. A healthy and aggressive Henderson could be the difference between an Elite 8 and a Final Four, I think.

[jdc75]

Does anyone know the nature of his wrist injury? I hope it is something that he can play through and will not affect his game significantly for the rest of this season.

[Dukebacker]

Some of his shots just didn't fall tonight and he wasn't too aggressive towards the basket and im sure it was because of Gist and Osby.

He did go up for a big slam and was fouled. Im sure everything is fine. It just wasn't his night.

[Bob Green]

Gerald time to get out of your funk

I completely disagree with your assumption that Gerald is in a funk. There is more to the game than scoring points. GH had 7 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and only 1 turnover in the game. That is a significant contribution, especially considering he is playing hurt.

[gofurman]

Some of his shots just didn't fall tonight and he wasn't too aggressive towards the basket and im sure it was because of Gist and Osby.

He did go up for a big slam and was fouled. Im sure everything is fine. It just wasn't his night.


I HOPE that is the case because K said " that he will likely have a sore wrist the rest of the season and it may not be 100%. " - he has not been the same since that bandage has been on :(.

It's the "some of his shots just didn't fall" that concerns me - aggressiveness is probably not related to the wrist...FG% may be. Anyone really know here?

[The1Bluedevil]

I had no idea the wrist was/is this big on an issue. I have a hard time believing K would play Gerald 28 minutes if the issue was that bad. Henderson is a scorer thats what Duke needs him to do. As much as I love this team, if Gerald is having 8, 9 and 2 point games Duke will be watchin the Final 4 with us.

[wisteria]

I thought Gerald was absolutely huge on the defensive end in some possessions. One possession, we had a turn-over or something, 2 terps raced down the court and G was the only one that just zipped down to the paint and altered a layup. And he didn't foul on that move. It was a play full of heart.

[loran16]

Gerald's drop in production comes right with the last 3 games, ,where he hurt his wrist vs carolina. This is not surprising.

If he heals fast, he'll get better fast. And he's able to play with the other wrist, but he's not at 100% , and that will affect us.

[DukeDevilDeb]

I thought Gerald was absolutely huge on the defensive end in some possessions. One possession, we had a turn-over or something, 2 terps raced down the court and G was the only one that just zipped down to the paint and altered a layup. And he didn't foul on that move. It was a play full of heart.

Guys, Gerald had a huge game. I wish people could let up on his points and watch what else he does. What about DeMarcus? Those were very quiet points tonight... he didn't play particularly well on the offensive end... are you ready to ask him to get out of his funk?

Kyle, Greg, and Jon were huge... and Lance played a beautiful game without scoring. These players are doing a really good job, and they were especially good in the first half tonight.

Go Duke!

[jimsumner]

Henderson definitely is still bothered by his wrist. It hurts to catch passes and his shot is affected.

Still, he had 7 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, 1 turnover, and some pretty solid D; check out the shooting % for the Maryland wings. Doesn't seem like a funk to me.

[dukemsu]

G is growing as a player-he had impact tonight without scoring, as indicated by various others above. Really becoming a strong end-to-end force on both sides of the ball.

What's worrying me are the two other frosh-Taylor and Nolan seem out of it. Going to need them the rest of the way. Taylor in particular seems to really be struggling.

Let's hope K (or their teammates) can jump-start them.

dukemsu

[gofurman]

Guys, Gerald had a huge game. I wish people could let up on his points and watch what else he does. What about DeMarcus? Those were very quiet points tonight... he didn't play particularly well on the offensive end... are you ready to ask him to get out of his funk?

Kyle, Greg, and Jon were huge... and Lance played a beautiful game without scoring. These players are doing a really good job, and they were especially good in the first half tonight.

Go Duke!

No one is arguing that Gerrald didn't have a great impact on the game - I fully agree his defense and intensity were very nice!.

* The thing is you can do that with a bum wrist (defense, rebounds, etc). It is your shooting that often 'slumps' with a bad wrist and that seems to have had a direct coorelation with when the bandage appeared. We need his defense, rebounding and OFFENSE TOO ! That is why the concern. One game - no worries...it is that it is three or so games, all since the bandage...

As someone said elsewhere, the more O options you have, the better - and G is definitely one of the options we need in March.

Anyone know is it just 'banged up' or is their any real damage?

[Jumbo]

I had no idea the wrist was/is this big on an issue. I have a hard time believing K would play Gerald 28 minutes if the issue was that bad. Henderson is a scorer thats what Duke needs him to do. As much as I love this team, if Gerald is having 8, 9 and 2 point games Duke will be watchin the Final 4 with us.

You're adding nothing to the discussion by continually criticizing Henderson with absolutely no knowledge of his injury situation. You might want to find a new topic upon which to fixate after a 12-point win.

[dukeENG2003]

I talked to G's dad at the BC game, and asked him, "How bad is the wrist?", and he just shook his head and said, "It's bad man". Not sure whether he was just annoyed to have a crazy asking him questions about his son or what, but it wasn't the most encouraging interaction.

[dukegirlinsc]

I completely disagree with your assumption that Gerald is in a funk. There is more to the game than scoring points. GH had 7 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and only 1 turnover in the game. That is a significant contribution, especially considering he is playing hurt.

I agree. His defense sometimes gets overlooked, which is understandable to some, but not me. Just because he's not scoring 15+ points every game doesn't mean he's in a funk.

[dukegirlinsc]

I talked to G's dad at the BC game, and asked him, "How bad is the wrist?", and he just shook his head and said, "It's bad man". Not sure whether he was just annoyed to have a crazy asking him questions about his son or what, but it wasn't the most encouraging interaction.

yikes.:(

[SMO]

I completely disagree with your assumption that Gerald is in a funk. There is more to the game than scoring points. GH had 7 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists, and only 1 turnover in the game. That is a significant contribution, especially considering he is playing hurt.

Exactly...the beauty of this team is that they have so many complete players! We need guys to grab boards, play great D, and set others up when the circumstances of the game eliminate their own scoring opportunities.

[topps coach]

I find it hard to believe that anyone would criticize a kid who is playing thru a injury. It is obvious that the wrist is pretty bad because he is not even looking for his jumper. I for one admire hisguts for finding other ways to contribute to the teams success. This is just one of the many reasonsthat this is becoming one of my favorite teams of all time

[Dukiedevil]

I find it hard to believe that anyone would criticize a kid who is playing thru a injury. It is obvious that the wrist is pretty bad because he is not even looking for his jumper. I for one admire hisguts for finding other ways to contribute to the teams success. This is just one of the many reasonsthat this is becoming one of my favorite teams of all time

I thougt he played great as well. There were several defensive sequences where I was impressed by how well he switched on defense and he made several nice passes. There was one he got to Lance Thomas (somehow) for a wide open dunk that he ended up missing. It was a WOW pass and I was very impressed. This injury might make him a better player in the long run by making him focus on the other parts of his game, but it does suck that we don't get to see that beautiful step-back jumper.

[ice-9]

What is the nature of the wrist injury? Is it something that Henderson just has to let rest and heal over time, or is it something that requires surgery?

Watching the game today and the way the Twerps sealed drives to the hoop, I kept wondering "Why doesn't GH just do his patented drive, stop, jump shot move?" Now I know why... GH is a great player even if he doesn't contribute many points, but of course I would rather have him 100%.

[Classof06]

Yes, Gerald's in a bit of a funk right now. But last night against Maryland he showed me something. Besides not being in his usual offensive rhythm, he grabbed 7 boards, had 3 assists and had 5 steals. To me, that is beautiful; it's a kid knowing he's not on his offensive game but contributing in other ways.

Gerald will come back around, I have no doubts about that. But I love the way he's playing hard and still making an impact. That really shouldn't go unnoticed.

[3rd Dukie]

Some of his shots just didn't fall tonight and he wasn't too aggressive towards the basket and im sure it was because of Gist and Osby.

He did go up for a big slam and was fouled. Im sure everything is fine. It just wasn't his night.

If you are so sure that everything is fine, would you please explain Coach K's remarks? What are you, the team Dr.? The guy is injured. Why don't people get that?

[dkbaseball]

TK is signifficant against insignifficant teams

Because he doesn't get significant minutes now against significant teams. He was one of the two leading scorers against Wisconsin (currently 20-4), and broke the game open with a couple of sick threes. I thought he played great in all phases of the game in the first half against FSU, keeping us in it when the starters couldn't buy a bucket, but for whatever reason he's seen very little of the floor ever since. The guy is a weapon, and I don't think that weapon should be stored away on the shelf for future seasons. I don't want him coming into the game thinking he has to hit his first shot or he's getting yanked immediately. Right now, his only role is giving Kyle a blow for a minute in the first half, and I think it should be expanded.

Check that: He's hardly seen the floor since the first half against Virginia Tech, when he also had a significant impact.

[SMO]

Because he doesn't get significant minutes now against significant teams. He was one of the two leading scorers against Wisconsin (currently 20-4), and broke the game open with a couple of sick threes. I thought he played great in all phases of the game in the first half against FSU, keeping us in it when the starters couldn't buy a bucket, but for whatever reason he's seen very little of the floor ever since. The guy is a weapon, and I don't think that weapon should be stored away on the shelf for future seasons. I don't want him coming into the game thinking he has to hit his first shot or he's getting yanked immediately. Right now, his only role is giving Kyle a blow for a minute in the first half, and I think it should be expanded.

Check that: He's hardly seen the floor since the first half against Virginia Tech, when he also had a significant impact.

First it was Marty, but he's hurt so now it's King. So who would we complain about not playing enough if TK was hurt? Zoubek? Perhaps this needs its own thread.

[Devilsfan]

Seems like there's too much coaching (pressure) from daddy. Don't know this as a fact, just seems like it. He a great kid but I wish his dad would skip a few games and we could see if there's any difference.

[ugadevil]

Seems like there's too much coaching (pressure) from daddy. Don't know this as a fact, just seems like it. He a great kid but I wish his dad would skip a few games and we could see if there's any difference.

What? How does it "seem like it"?

[Troublemaker]

Anyone know/remember how G originally injured it? That might be able to shed some light on the nature of the injury. Thanks.

[Highlander]

Right now, [King's] only role is giving Kyle a blow for a minute in the first half, and I think it should be expanded...

He's hardly seen the floor since the first half against Virginia Tech, when he also had a significant impact.

King had 14 minutes against VT, 14 against State, and 9 against Miami. His minutes do go down when we play good teams, because whenever he gets into the game, our opponents go right at him offensively, because he's a weak defender. Last night was no different. On the defensive end Gist beat him for 2 or 3 straight rebounds before King had to foul him to keep him from shooting. He also missed a 3 and had a layup blocked. In the second half where it was a one possession game with less than 10 minutes to go, K opted to leave Singler in rather than play TK. For the record, Singler had a career high in points, dominated his man, and was our MVP of the game. I'd say that was a good decision.

Don't get me wrong. I think TK is lightening in a bottle when he's on, and a great tool to have on the bench for the right circumstances. However, he's only a threat on offense from deep right now, and right now those shots aren't going. Since State, he's a combined 3-15 from the field.

He is, however, a very hard worker (as evidenced by his willingess to work after Maui and subsequent good games), and someone who has practically unlimited range. He will need to develop a few more moves/shots and work on his defense before I'll be comfortable seeing him in a tight game late, but I think he's going to get there, hopefully at just the right time this year. He also needs to get his shot back, and I look for him to get going in one of our next few winnable games.

BTW, did anyone else catch the video blog on Dukeblueplanet.com where Kyle Singler said their nickname for TK was "Icy/Hot"? That's awesome...

[Devil07]

G's situation reminds me somewhat of Paulus last year. In retrospect a lot of the criticism aimed at Paulus seems unfair given what he was playing through. I think G falls into the same category. I have no idea the seriousness of his injury, but I have a feeling that when the season ends it will come out that he played through something significant. Frankly, I feel that we should be applauding him for finding ways to contribute when he's not able to perform up to his abilities because of a physical ailment. What more can you ask from a player?

[jma4life]

I hope this does not to be similar to the Dockery injury. I still maintain that had Dockery not injured the wrist and thus, had he continued his outstanding play (he was averaging around 13 at that point and was flat out balling since the Va Tech game) Duke makes the final four. You throw in a healthy Demarcus and that team's season would have been very different.

I just hope I don't look back at this season and say the same thing with respect to G. Against certain teams, he brings an element that really only Demarcus can also add. When the shots aren't falling, it's nice to have a guy who can get to the rim virtually at will and who can finish with the best of em.

[jimsumner]

"Seems like there's too much coaching (pressure) from daddy. Don't know this as a fact, just seems like it."

I am unaware of any evidence that supports this view.

[gofurman]

I hope this does not to be similar to the Dockery injury. I still maintain that had Dockery not injured the wrist and thus, had he continued his outstanding play (he was averaging around 13 at that point and was flat out balling since the Va Tech game) Duke makes the final four. You throw in a healthy Demarcus and that team's season would have been very different.

I just hope I don't look back at this season and say the same thing with respect to G. Against certain teams, he brings an element that really only Demarcus can also add. When the shots aren't falling, it's nice to have a guy who can get to the rim virtually at will and who can finish with the best of em.

Exactly - does anyone know the extent of the injury or how it happened? Usually someone here knows this but all we seem to have so far is that his wrist is indeed hurt...