Amile Jefferson will not play again in 2015-16 season, seeks medical hardship

[Ichabod Drain]

KAzE, while I agree with you about Marshall, he is going to need help. I wonder what this does to the 1-3-1 K has been running from time to time. Who mans the defense down low?

Matt Jones

[Indoor66]

Every one of these guys were recruited for their ability to play basketball. We lose experience for a period of time. We lose Amile's leadership for a time. We gain experience for other players - each of whom has a skill set the coaching staff admired enough to offer a scholarship. We will be fine. Different, but fine.

[elvis14]

Every one of these guys were recruited for their ability to play basketball. We lose experience for a period of time. We lose Amile's leadership for a time. We gain experience for other players - each of whom has a skill set the coaching staff admired enough to offer a scholarship. We will be fine. Different, but fine.

I'm really hoping that Chase is able to step up to the challenge and help fill the void. The silver lining in this could be the that Jeter and Thornton play more and grow into their expanded roles. If we do happen to get Amile back we end up with a senior leader capable of averaging a double-double and two freshman with solid game experience and we finish the season strong.

Of course, like everyone else, I'm waiting to hear more about Amile.

[MChambers]

It's over.

You guys are really slipping if I get to say this so late in a thread.

Seriously, I feel very badly for Amile. Terrible thing to happen when he's emerged as one of our most valuable players on a very good team. Hope he heals quickly and is back by February.

Chance for Jeter, Ingram, Kennard and Thornton to play bigger roles.

[CDu]

It's over.

You guys are really slipping if I get to say this so late in a thread.

You probably should refer back to post #5 by devildeac.

[brevity]

Damn Nike shoes/floors.

It's probably less money, but Coach K needs to switch to a shoe contract with Dr. Comfort. It may hurt Duke recruiting at the AAU level, but the AARP circuit will more than make up for it.

In all seriousness, Amile Jefferson is my favorite active Duke player and he has been since his freshman year. Strange as this sounds, I'm a bigger fan of him than I am of this squad. If a conflict of interest arose and I had to choose, you don't want to hear my answer.

Let's just say that regular season games and especially weekly polls just took a huge backseat to the individual healing process. If he is healthy by March, fine. If he is healthy by May, that's fine too.

[tux]

I am curious to see if this means more minutes for Luke or Thornton. I think Chase obviously gets a boost, but I think most of our minutes will be played with either Chase or Marshall, not both. Does Luke or Derryck slide into the starting lineup? Derryck is the obvious choice with Luke backing up all perimeter positions, but it wouldn't shock me to see Luke start.

I agree with your take here. I think all the guys who were firmly in the rotation will get a boost in minutes, with the slack taken up by Jeter. Jeter was the closest to getting real minutes before the injury, and is the most natural replacement for Amile. It's a great opportunity for Chase to get more comfortable out there. My gut tells me Thornton will move into the starting lineup and Matt, Grayson, and Brandon will slide down. That lineup should be really good defensively (at least on paper). We'll miss Amile's contribution for sure, but it's nice to have a couple non-conference games to adjust before the ACC grind begins.

[MCFinARL]

Yep, this is what I expect. Luke plays all the backup minutes for the 3 perimeter positions. Chase now has a big role as the first big off the bench. Maybe Vrank/Obi will pitch in, but I can envision Coach K going "Seven is Sufficient."

This sounds right to me too. We will most likely see Vrank and/or Obi in limited minutes where there is a foul trouble situation--either both Marshall and Chase in some foul trouble or Marshall in trouble and a situation where, at least briefly, it seems important to have a big player with some bulk on the floor.

As others have noted, there is a chance Luke may start instead of Derryck, but if that happens I suspect it will be because of practice performance, as Derryck provides point guard skills that may be even more important without a team leader like Amile on the court, and he has defensive abilities as well. On the other hand, as others have also stated, Coach K is a master at thinking up entirely new approaches when necessary, and he may see things differently.

Sending very best wishes to Amile, who is my favorite player on this team. Get better quickly if you can, but get better thoroughly for sure.

[RepoMan]

Obviously, this sucks for Amile. And the team. And the fans. At the same time:

1. It is almost impossible to go injury free, and, as far as timing, this is about as good as it gets.

2. We won the National Championship last year!

3. There is a chance this development gives us a better chance to win another championship this year. IF Jeter or someone else takes advantage of the opportunity and develops, we gain more experienced depth.


In any event, it will be interesting to see this already young team develop.

[Clay Feet POF]

Starter no but someone has to rebound. Not sure Plumlee can play 35 minutes

Army Strong!

[Li_Duke]

For sanity sake, I'm going to assume he's done for the year.

At least I can now daydream of our monster 2016-17 squad with redshirt senior Amile Jefferson.

[Ichabod Drain]

For sanity sake, I'm going to assume he's done for the year.

At least I can now daydream of our monster 2016-17 squad with redshirt senior Amile Jefferson.

It's hard to choose between that and daydreaming about him being back playing for this team in a month. I think I would choose the latter.

[arnie]

Obviously, this sucks for Amile. And the team. And the fans. At the same time:

1. It is almost impossible to go injury free, and, as far as timing, this is about as good as it gets.

2. We won the National Championship last year!

3. There is a chance this development gives us a better chance to win another championship this year. IF Jeter or someone else takes advantage of the opportunity and develops, we gain more experienced depth.


In any event, it will be interesting to see this already young team develop.

No. 2 has a shelf life of at least 365 days (leap year) and coupled with the impending 40-0 2016/2017 campaign, all is good on the land of Duke.

[Troublemaker]

Obviously, this sucks for Amile. And the team. And the fans. At the same time:

1. It is almost impossible to go injury free, and, as far as timing, this is about as good as it gets.

So as not to anger them, I will prostrate myself before the Injury Gods and point out that:

(1) It's possible for the team to suffer additional injuries. Amile's foot doesn't fill a quota.
(2) We don't know that Amile is coming back. The timing of this injury isn't all that great if it's a 4-month injury, for example.

[freshmanjs]

So as not to anger them, I will prostrate myself before the Injury Gods and point out that:

(1) It's possible for the team to suffer additional injuries. Amile's foot doesn't fill a quota.
(2) We don't know that Amile is coming back. The timing of this injury isn't all that great if it's a 4-month injury, for example.

we have now had 4 of the last 6 seasons significantly derailed by injury. i'm not sure what is typical, but it feels like a lot.

[CDu]

Army Strong!

I'm not at all concerned with Plumlee's physical ability to withstand 35 minutes of basketball. I AM concerned with Plumlee's ability to play effective basketball for 35 minutes without fouling out. He's currently averaging 4.44 fouls per 40 minutes, and that is a career-best (not counting his 50 total minutes in mop-up duty as a frosh).

[flyingdutchdevil]

So as not to anger them, I will prostrate myself before the Injury Gods and point out that:

(1) It's possible for the team to suffer additional injuries. Amile's foot doesn't fill a quota.
(2) We don't know that Amile is coming back. The timing of this injury isn't all that great if it's a 4-month injury, for example.

Any idea on the type of injury? Foot injury is about as generic as "I'll have a cocktail" when ordering a drink at a bar.

I'm sure we'll get clarity on the injury during tonight's game (and Coach K's presser), but wanted to see if there was anything new.

[kAzE]

Any idea on the type of injury? Foot injury is about as generic as "I'll have a cocktail" when ordering a drink at a bar.

I'm sure we'll get clarity on the injury during tonight's game (and Coach K's presser), but wanted to see if there was anything new.

I'm guessing it's a fracture. Usually when it's a toe, it's actually called a toe injury, and if it was a sprain or a strain, I don't think people would be talking about it as seriously. It's kind of useless to speculate, though. Any way you look at it, it sucks for Amile and the team. If he could be back by March, would you rather he come back this year or just wait till next year?

On the one hand, with Amile, we would have the horses to make a serious run at defending the national title this year, on the other, we could have one of the greatest front courts in Duke history next year with Amile, Harry, and Jayson. Such a tough call.

[uh_no]

we have now had 4 of the last 6 seasons significantly derailed by injury. i'm not sure what is typical, but it feels like a lot.

Kyrie Ryan amile and???

[NYBri]

I'm guessing it's a fracture. Usually when it's a toe, it's actually called a toe injury, and if it was a sprain or a strain, I don't think people would be talking about it as seriously. It's kind of useless to speculate, though. Any way you look at it, it sucks for Amile and the team. If he could be back by March, would you rather he come back this year or just wait till next year? Such a tough call.

I agree that it's probably a fracture...and one that needs surgery. Usually when it's a clean break that can be set and put in a cast to heal, there is a pretty good time line for recovery...when it comes to surgery, the term "indefinitely" comes to mind. It's all just guessing though.