Zoubek breaks foot--again

[jimsumner]

Duke press release


"Duke sophomore center Brian Zoubek will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a fifth metatarsal fracture in his left foot on Monday. The injury is not expected to require surgery.

Zoubek suffered the same injury during a pickup game on July 9 and missed 10 weeks of action after undergoing surgery on July 11.

“This is a setback for Brian and for the team,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “He worked hard to recover from the injury over the summer and was beginning to solidify his role with the team. We have total confidence that Brian will recover from the injury and return as soon as he is physically able.”

The 7-1 Zoubek is averaging 4.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while shooting a team-high 59.5 percent (22-of-37) from the field this season."

[EarlJam]

Duke press release


"Duke sophomore center Brian Zoubek will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a fifth metatarsal fracture in his left foot on Monday. The injury is not expected to require surgery.

Zoubek suffered the same injury during a pickup game on July 9 and missed 10 weeks of action after undergoing surgery on July 11.

“This is a setback for Brian and for the team,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “He worked hard to recover from the injury over the summer and was beginning to solidify his role with the team. We have total confidence that Brian will recover from the injury and return as soon as he is physically able.”

The 7-1 Zoubek is averaging 4.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while shooting a team-high 59.5 percent (22-of-37) from the field this season."

Crangit! That's gonna hurt. Duke needs someone that can eat up some space down low, grab some rebounds and take some hacks at larger opposing teams. He seems kind of like a 2007-08 version of Clay Buckley.

Any 7'-plus walk-on candidates on the Duke campus?

-EarlJam

[ThatDukeFan1]

this is definatly a bummer and a set back. i know zoubek isn't an impact player this year, but if he could stay healthy (which seems impossible for him) at least by time his junior/senior he could of been a force down low, or a solid rebounder.

he has GOT TO stay healthy, thats all their is too it. but for now, lets just worry about duke basketball, and be thankful it wasn't an impact player that this happened too.

[pamtar]

Bummer.

Perhaps this will give Lance and David a chance to step up - something they are both very capable of doing.

[tweeze]

I say start Dave b/c while he doesn't score many points he is the best defender and rebounder out of the possible candidates. He is undersized but we don't have anyone of the size needed anyway. Lance will get most of the time b/c he is the better athelet of the candidates. Bad part is that Lance and Dave are really SF not even PF and defenitely Cs.

[Classof06]

As a Buckeye football fan, this week just keeps getting better and better...

Whether or not Lance Thomas can get it together just became even more important to the welfare of this basketball team.

[Troublemaker]

Man, that's just unfortunate.

1. It sucks for Brian. I was holding out hope that a Jan/Feb version of Z would be an effective center for Duke for 10-15 min/gm, once he had completely re-integrated himself with the team and regained his conditioning following the previous foot break. He might've continued to struggle, or a light could've flipped on for him. I really wanted to find out and I'm sure he did, too.

2. Even if he's back on the court in 2 months or so, he'll have re-lost his conditioning and the team would have developed a rotation without him. I think when he returns, he'll vacillate between no playing time and 5 min/gm at the most.

3. Duke is now down to 9 scholarship players, which means when the team scrimmages, one side will always have a huge advantage because the other side is playing with a walk-on.

4. Coach K commented over the summer that Duke used to hardly ever have injuries, and now it seems like we can't stop having them. We've just had a lot of foot/ankle injuries over the past decade. I just wonder if there has been any change at Duke at all that might have precipitated this change in fortune. A change in the conditioning regiment, a new drill, some new equipment, anything that might've caused added stress to the foot. Maybe I've just been watching too much House, M.D. and I'm looking for a medical mystery, and I'd agree it's more likely that our change in fortune is just coincidental, but I do wonder.

[ThatDukeFan1]

As a Buckeye football fan, this week just keeps getting better and better...

tough loss last night. but just being realistic, ohio state is good, but look at the CONFERENCE they play in... compared to LSU they have 0 experience when it comes to tough games.

[UrinalCake]

I think what we need to do is find a thug from the football team to provide some muscle. I don't mean anything dirty or intending to hurt the other team, I just mean we need to find a big ol' body to fill up the middle, keep other teams honest inside, and most importantly, give us some toughness. This person doesn't need to score, he just needs to intimidate the other team to the extent that they don't feel like they can push Duke around. Julius Peppers filled this role for Carolina a few years back. I suggest we do the same.

[allenmurray]

Vince Oghabaase, six feet, six inches. 310 lbs.

[EarlJam]

I think what we need to do is find a thug from the football team to provide some muscle. I don't mean anything dirty or intending to hurt the other team, I just mean we need to find a big ol' body to fill up the middle, keep other teams honest inside, and most importantly, give us some toughness. This person doesn't need to score, he just needs to intimidate the other team to the extent that they don't feel like they can push Duke around. Julius Peppers filled this role for Carolina a few years back. I suggest we do the same.

WELCOME TO THE BOARDS!........um, Urinal Cake?

-Earinal Jam

[UrinalCake]

4. Coach K commented over the summer that Duke used to hardly ever have injuries, and now it seems like we can't stop having them. We've just had a lot of foot/ankle injuries over the past decade.

I think you're onto something. Elton had a foot injury his sophomore year (I think) and it was initially thought that he would be out the entire year. Boozer also missed significant time with a foot injury. And between Paulus last year, Marty last year and this year, and now Zoubek, that's a lot of foot/knee problems. I wonder if SI will start calling this the "Duke metatarsal curse"?

The good news is that in the case of both Elton and Boozer, their absense allowed other players to develop, and when they came back late in the year it provided a huge boost. Unfortunately, it's probably too late in the year for this to happen for Zoubek.

[Jumbo]

2. Even if he's back on the court in 2 months or so, he'll have re-lost his conditioning and the team would have developed a rotation without him. I think when he returns, he'll vacillate between no playing time and 5 min/gm at the most.

I'm not a doctor. I don't know any specific info about Brian's break yet. I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn last night. But Duke has a pretty good track record in terms of quicker-than-expected foot recoveries. It's obviously a good sign that this doesn't need surgery. That would lead me to believe that the recovery time should automatically be shorter than the 10 weeks Zoubek needed this summer. But then when you look at some of the other recent foot injuries, and how quickly guys recovered, it's not unrealistic to believe Zoubek won't miss THAT much time (depending, again, on the severity of the fracture).

[Jumbo]

I think what we need to do is find a thug from the football team to provide some muscle. I don't mean anything dirty or intending to hurt the other team, I just mean we need to find a big ol' body to fill up the middle, keep other teams honest inside, and most importantly, give us some toughness. This person doesn't need to score, he just needs to intimidate the other team to the extent that they don't feel like they can push Duke around. Julius Peppers filled this role for Carolina a few years back. I suggest we do the same.

Except Peppers, you know, actually had experience as a basketball player.

[hondoheel]

Sorry to hear that for the guy. Was it the same bone in the same foot? If so, might the re-injury have been caused by coming back too soon?

[MulletMan]

Its the Nikes.

[Indoor66]

I think you're onto something. Elton had a foot injury his sophomore year (I think) and it was initially thought that he would be out the entire year. Boozer also missed significant time with a foot injury. And between Paulus last year, Marty last year and this year, and now Zoubek, that's a lot of foot/knee problems. I wonder if SI will start calling this the "Duke metatarsal curse"?

The good news is that in the case of both Elton and Boozer, their absense allowed other players to develop, and when they came back late in the year it provided a huge boost. Unfortunately, it's probably too late in the year for this to happen for Zoubek.

Grant Hill had a high ankle sprain during his career.

[Billy Dat]

I don't know if Zoubek starting last game was more of a message to Lance then a reward to Zoubek but the fact is that we just lost a guy who started last game. At least with Zoubek we had a big guy who could make shorter dominant big men (e.g. PSYCHO T) step out a little bit. Our big men are now skinny 6'8"ers and the rotation drops to 9. TAYLOR KING, THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL, GET READY TO REBOUND, WE'RE GONNA NEED YOU BIG GUY.

[tbyers11]

Its the Nikes.

Didn't NC State have a rash of foot and ankle injuries about 10 years ago that a lot of people attributed to the Adidas shoes that they were wearing at the time?

[EarlJam]

Except Peppers, you know, actually had experience as a basketball player.

Who was that hack the Virginia Tech Hoagies threw out there a few years ago? He was on the football team and hardly ever did anything right on the court - until they played Duke. Then he sort of went off on us.

Who was he?

-EarlJam