This just in: Ryan Kelly is sidelined indefinitely and will not play Saturday against N.C. State after aggravating a foot injury in the first half of the Duke basketball’s 68-40 win against Clemson on Tuesday.
“We feel very badly for Ryan,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a press release. “He is playing the best basketball of his career and this is a tough setback for him. We’re hoping for a good recovery and we are optimistic about his return.”
Kelly scored 12 points in the first half but was not on the court or on the bench as the second half resumed. A couple of minutes into play he joined the team on the bench in his warmup outfit and did not return to action.
Kelly reinjured his foot at some point during the first half—head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he was not sure when the injury happened. Kelly was even subbed back in for the team’s final possession of the first half.
The foot is the same foot that Kelly aggravated in December after previously missing the ACC and NCAA Tournaments last season.
Kelly, a 6-foot-11 forward, is averaging a career-high 13.4 points per game this season to go along with 5.4 rebounds per game. He has excelled from beyond the arc this season, hitting 52.1% of his 3-pointers.
I am the biggest fan of Duke basketball. I live and breathe this basketball team all year. I do not understand Coach K and his statement recently that it is more important to develop the starters and let the bench be secondary development. This logic has not worked out quite the way envisioned. The three players that will see more minutes do not average as many points combined as Kelly. The team will also suffer in rebounds and blocked shots. The only player that could provide the offense needed would be Murphy, but he has seen the least amount of playing time. I am a big fan of both Jefferson and Hairston and I am positive they can contribute defensively but there offensive production will be limited. I hope that the practice time for these three players will translate into some solid play. However, practice time does not translate into real game situations. Coach K is the best coach ever in college basketball. I hope his supreme knowledge has prepared for this type of situation. It seemed to hurt the team in the tournament when Kelly went down last year.
I agree totally and not just for this year. It is great to have such haughty regular season winning %’s but K never seems to care about building a bench. Michigan State loses games early but almost always ends up being strong in March due to Izzo’s willingness to let players develop other than in practice. Duke always seems to be on their last legs when they get to tournament time. They may have already played the best ball they will all year during that stretch in November. In the meantime, players with obvious athleticism and ability are relegated to the bench while Duke continues to go with its smurf lineup of three guards on the floor the majority of the time. Hairston is the first non-smurf off the bench and as much as I like him, he would never play ahead of Murphy or Jefferson on most teams. With him on the court Duke plays 4 on 5 on the offensive end and he is not really that effective on defense either.