Matt Jones ankle
- Thread starter Laettner
- Start date
Yes. You never know. But, if he were back by the second UNC game, I would be pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's out until the NCAAs. Usually people are able to at least walk gingerly after sprained ankles -- at least until the ankle stiffens up. The fact that Matt didn't seem to be able to put any weight on it is pretty concerning.
We won't be able to make a deep run in March without Amile or Jones. But once they come back, they should both be coming off the bench in my opinion. Our starting five after Jones got hurt last night is the best one we have. Luke has the most refined offensive game on the team and needs to be on the court. Look at the number of times he let the game come to him against Carolina instead of forcing a bad shot. There were at least four plays when he received the ball in the corner, head faked, then dribbled into the teeth of the defense to find an open shot or make an extra pass. He's not a defensive liability either where it's essential that Jones plays over him. If we play OU in the tourney and need someone to man up against Hield, then Jones should receive more minutes. But it should come at the expense of Thornton, not Kennard.
But Duke is obviously also gonna err on the side of caution and put him in a a position where he doesn't put a bit of weight on it until they can have the xrays done, so I wouldn't go by the crutches or whtvr.
With that said, ID say he's out until the ACC tourney.
With that said, ID say he's out until the ACC tourney.
Depends entirely on who we're playing. Matt's by far our best defender against more physical wings. He really bottled up Louisville's leading scorer last week, and made Brogdon work for everything he got. Against teams with great guard / wing play, not having Matt on the court will badly hurt us. It didn't make a big difference against UNC b/c Justin Jackson is not a focal point of their offense, and was basically ignored by UNC in the last 10 minutes of that game. Against Louisville, I do think our best lineup would have included Matt.
While I am ecstatic over the win...I couldn't help but wake up today and wonder, "How do we overcome this long-term?" Jeter is going to be leaned on heavily I would say in the coming weeks.
Or they were just using caution. I say he sits sat and maybe the following game but that's it
Obviously we need to have Matt and Amile healthy to do much of anything in March -- with Matt being an absolute must.
With that said, winning last night has certainly given us a bigger margin for error than we could have ever hoped for a couple weeks ago. If we could somehow close the season 3-2 (e.g., win FSU, @ Pitt, Wake) -- which IMO is clearly possible -- I think we should be in an okay position for something along the lines of a 5 seed. Not outstanding. But, if we can get healthy (a big if), I think we should be able to weather the storm and put ourselves in a position where we'll have a reasonable chance to make some noise.
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Well, it wasn't just that they didn't put him in and had crutches when he left. It's that he literally couldn't put any weight on it as he was leaving the floor, and he never even tried to test it out when he was on the sideline. I've seen a lot of ankle injuries in basketball. I've rarely seen a guy who -- within the first 20-30 minutes of the injury -- was in so much pain that he couldn't even attempt to stand on it or really do anything on it at all. If he had been healthy enough to stand and walk a bit, but they just decided he didn't have enough strength / flexibility in the ankle to play -- that would be one thing. This seemed far, far worse than normal for an ankle injury. Okafor missed 1 game after an ankle injury that he was able to play another 25 minutes on. Obviously, let's hope for the best. You never know. But it would be pretty surprising to me if he's back within a week.
Playing 5 guys for essentially 40 minutes in the ACCT is not feasible. I see an early exit there. 1 day between games in the NCAAT is a little more manageable. But the margin of error is extremely slim.
Shoot I turned my ankle one day playing pick up ball I knew I had broke it and had to get help carried off.. It happens its part of the game and he'll be back sooner rather than later. In less than two weeks we will be back to full strength (barring some unforeseen injury) and entering the tournies strong.
I surely hope you're right! I'd love to see Matt and Amile back with us at full strength come the last home game against the holes.
If this board behaved like THR, I bet we would see something like this:
Didn't Jah twist his ankle last year against UNX? Now Matt. I heard that Roy coaches his team to take out opposing players' ankles. That's disgusting, but so typical for them.
Didn't Jah twist his ankle last year against UNX? Now Matt. I heard that Roy coaches his team to take out opposing players' ankles. That's disgusting, but so typical for them.
Great kid and attitude. Love him and hate to see him hurt.
This also seriously puts our rotation in a bind. K really needs to consider two bigs at once for PT, if just to give one of our guards a chance to breath.
This also seriously puts our rotation in a bind. K really needs to consider two bigs at once for PT, if just to give one of our guards a chance to breath.
I wonder what he'll do if one of our guards gets into foul trouble? The spacing won't be as good with Plumlee-Jeter, but we are seriously hindered for options. Maybe K would even consider playing Justin Robinson this season. I understand he's redshirting, but if Matt's injuries persist a couple weeks, we could seriously use another wing.
According to the rules we can do this, and probably should. Just to give our guys breathers at times. I'm not entirely sure his playing would give us much, if any, production on the points side of things, but he is a wing and another body that we desperately need right now. I'd say playing Jeter, Obi, and Justin maybe necessary right now. Jeter I have confidence in....Obi not so much. Justin Robinson is someone we haven't even seen yet really, so maybe K will take a chance here? Whatever he decides I will be 100% behind, because he is the GOAT.
Time for Chase Jeter to man up. Realize he's had limited chances this year, but needs to show why he was ranked as high as No. 10 in the nation in the Class of 2015. Let's see that jump hook over the left shoulder that scouts raved about. It'll be huge if he can gives us 10 strong mins a game down the stretch.
Chase is going to have to man up in order for this team to be competitive the next couple of weeks waiting for both Amile and Matt to come back if possible. He's going to get the pt. OFC
One of the walk on guards is going to have to play spot minutes or maybe Devon Edwards can play a few games?
Call me crazy but I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Nick Pagliuca to get some burn...
As we were told by one of the drive-by boo-birds who has been a Duke fan his whole life, Pags is on the team so that K can finally develop any connection to the NBA, so yeah, he probably owes the Pagliuca family some PT.
Great point Duke Jay. Everyone seems to forget that Ingram is essintially a guard as well.
I can't believe we didn't make a move before the trade deadline yesterday to add some depth until Amile and Matt get back. 
I sure hope Matt heals up fast. I know he's been a little up and down shooting the ball this year, but I love him on the court. Get back soon young man!
FWIW I love Ingram bringing the ball up the court, and love him at the 2. I know it doesn't fit into our scheme right now with lack of big man depth, but man alive its the mismatch nightmare of all mismatches for other teams.
Alan
FWIW I love Ingram bringing the ball up the court, and love him at the 2. I know it doesn't fit into our scheme right now with lack of big man depth, but man alive its the mismatch nightmare of all mismatches for other teams.
Alan
