Does Duke really need Kyrie Irving back?

Kyrie Irving's toe injury has no doubt been a frustration for both Irving and the Duke program.

Irving has had to spend the last month sitting on the bench, while the Duke coaching staff gets the honor of seeing him in street clothes every time they go to make a substitution. I'm sure that is anything but pleasant.

Its also been frustrating for Duke fans. Not because it has hurt their team -- Duke is winning every game by 30 without Irving, they are doing just fine -- but because there is no timetable. There are no answers. It sucks as a fan if a player suffers a season-ending injury, but you know that player is done. You hope for a full recovery and proceed to cheer on the team that's still on the floor. If he's out for a month, you can circle that date on your calender and figure out who you will be shorthanded against.


With Irving, there have been no dates or timetables. Just speculation.

Thanks to Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer, at least we now know why we have no answers -- because there aren't any (get ready for a massive blockquote):

"It's a combination of things," Collins said. "There's a ligament and some bone in there that have been damaged. And from what we’ve seen, it’s a very unique injury. It’s a form of turf toe but it’s a little more severe than that. It’s been hard to explain in layman's terms. But because it’s in the ball of his foot, that’s a really dicey area. That’s where you do all your cutting and your jumping. And that’s where you do all of your pushing off from. That’s what’s made this all the more delicate. I don’t know that the injury has an exact label. If it has a name, I don’t know what it is. But it’s something that we need to make sure gets healed correctly before Kyrie even thinks about playing. Because otherwise he could have more problems down the road.”

As for the timetable for Irving’s return? If surgery were ever deemed necessary, the freshman point guard’s season would be over. No ifs, ands or buts about it. But since Irving has shown progress with his healing without surgery and has been doing well with his right foot in a cast for the past four weeks, the Duke coaches feel good about continuing treatment as is.

So what’s the best-case scenario for Irving?

“If we can avoid surgery, that’s the best-case scenario,” Collins said. “But what that means as far as a timetable for his return is hard to say. It’s such a delicate thing and it’s not an injury that’s very common and that we’ve seen before. It’s not like where if you break your foot, you can say ‘OK, we know in six-to-eight weeks, he’ll be back.’ This is truly a unique case where you have to go by feel. And that’s made it hard to say, ‘Hey, if all goes perfectly, he’s back in a month or six weeks.’ We just don’t know. That’s why we’re always talking about having the toe reevaluated. Every week we’re checking it out, seeing what the progress is. And the main thing right now is that we’re on a course that’s non-surgical. And as long as we see good progression, we’ll stay with that.”

So it looks like Irving won't need surgery, but it also doesn't look like he will be back anytime soon.

If I'm a Duke fan, I write him off. If I'm Coach K, I strongly consider ending Irving's season right now. Even without surgery, it doesn't sound like Irving will be coming back any time soon. And even if he is able to return for, say the last four ACC regular season games (which seems like a longshot), the ACC Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament, are you really expecting him to be in game shape? And do you really want to risk the chemistry that this group will surely develop for a player that has been on the shelf for three months?

Duke's issue isn't in the back court.

Nolan Smith has shot up Player of the Year rankings since Irving's injury. Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry have both lived up to their hype. Throw Kyle Singler into the perimeter mix, and the Blue Devils are in good shape on their perimeter.

Duke's issue is that they don't have Brian Zoubek anymore. They don't have a bruiser in the paint. That likely won't be a problem in ACC play (with or without Irving, I think Duke has a very good shot of going undefeated in the ACC), but if Duke runs into a team with a quality big man and good supporting cast (i.e. an Ohio State), they will run into trouble.

To be completely honest, I think that Josh Harrellson would be more valuable to this Duke team than Kyrie Irving.

I can't believe I said it, either. But I think its true.