Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Duke F Ryan Kelly Out???
This topic contains 4 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by lfnadmin 12 years, 11 months ago.
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March 14, 2012 at 4:06 am #5420
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/BKC-DUKE_7508682/BKC-DUKE_7508682/
The Blue Devils hope to regain the services of Ryan Kelly. The junior forward missed the ACC tournament with a sprained right foot. Krzyzewski said during the ACC tournament that he was encouraged by Kelly’s progress.
“We feel he has a chance to be ready, if we play Friday, to give us some help,” Krzyzewski said before the pairings were announced.
Duke’s first full day of NCAA Tournament preparation included continuing to deal with the loss of a key player.
Junior forward Ryan Kelly, who missed the ACC Tournament with a sprained right foot, did not practice Monday as Duke began working toward Friday’s NCAA South Regional game with Lehigh (7:15 p.m., WRAL).
While Kelly continues to progress, the medical staff has not cleared him for full activities, Duke associate head coach Chris Collins said Monday night.
Kelly, a top rebounder who averages 11ish ppg and is a very good 3 pt shooter to boot, seems like he may not play on Friday and may not be 100% if he does come in. Short of the Plumlee brothers leaving the country, it could be a boost for Lehigh’s chances.
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This topic was modified 12 years, 11 months ago by
lfnadmin.
March 14, 2012 at 9:39 am #5424Wow that would be huge on many fronts. 1. Cause kelly is a very good player. 2. Lowers their depth in front court, leaving them with three bigs, the two plums and hairston. If its closely called from foul perspective they got one less guy b igger then us.
Love it
March 14, 2012 at 2:24 pm #5426Duke, probably figures they don’t need him this weekend. They think they can get to Sweet 16 without him, and two easy “home” wins vs. Lehigh and ND/Xavier winner. That would give him another week to get ready. I don’t think there is any way you see him on Friday. Perhaps, Sunday, but no way Friday.
Another thought for the game. Xavier/ND fans come into the arena at 7 and are sort of forced to watch the opener. I have to think everyone of those fans is rooting for Lehigh in the opener. Number 1, every non-Dookie, hates Duke, and Number 2, easier road for ND/Xavier winner to the Sweet 16. Maybe we will have more supporters than we realize.
March 14, 2012 at 4:37 pm #5430I posted this in the Duke thread as part of my extra long post on the matchup so it may have gotten overlooked so here it is again: Apparently earlier today (Monday), Wojo (asst. coach) said in a radio interview: “If we take care of business, we hope to get Ryan back”. Maybe he slipped up, but sounds like he won’t be 100%. And if he is back, he may be rusty. Also, many of the posters on the Duke board seem very worried about his status.
Clearly impacts their height, if they had wanted to put Kelly and both Plumlees on the court to dominate us inside. Without Kelly, reserve F Josh Hairston, 6’7″ has played 21 and 17 minutes the last two games, compared to 6 combined the previous 4 games. In those 38 minutes, he had 8 points and 4 boards, so nothing spectacular. I’d expect them to use their 3 guards more than Hairston though, but we’ll see.
Besides height, what else do they lose if Kelly is out? About 12ppg, 5.5 boards. More importantly I think, he is their #1 3 point shooter by % at 41%. He also has taken the 3rd highest # of free throws on their team. Quite frankly, I think he would have been a matchup nightmare. No other big on their team can spread the floor like Kelly, which opens up so many lanes for the guards, not to mention the shots he hits himself.
March 15, 2012 at 10:11 pm #5442“There’s steady progress,’’ coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “but not good enough as of this morning where I would have confidence in putting him in a game, except maybe to shoot the free throw, to handle maybe a possession or two in an end-of-game situation.”
Kelly, a 6-11 junior forward, was the third-leading scorer for Duke, averaging 11.8 points per game, and gave Duke size on the perimeter.
A big break for Lehigh. Looks like he’ll play sparingly, if at all.
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