Collins Gives Irving Update

Generic Script

After Saturday's 84-47 victory over Saint Louis, associate head coach Chris Collins spoke about Kyrie Irving, Duke's phenom freshman who is currently walking around with a hard cast on his right foot due to a toe injury. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils don't have any additional information on the severity of Irving's injury or a timetable for his return. He won't be rushed back before he is ready.

I’m sure you guys saw, we decided to put him in a hard cast now. The doctors we’ve consulted with feel that, right now, that’s the best course of action while we’re still figuring out what’s going to be the best long-term treatment. I mean he’s in good spirits, and it’s just kind of wait and see. We’re trying to consult some of the top foot guys that have dealt with these injuries in all sports and with athletes, and figure out what’s going to be the best, not for him in the short-term, but in the long-term. I mean he’s 18 years old. You guys know he’s going to play basketball for a long, long time. So we have to think about what’s best for his health and what’s going to be best for him in the long-term.

Collins did give a little bit of insight into how the Blue Devils will keep Irving in as close to playing shape as possible. If Duke is lucky enough to get him back, the hope is that he won't have to waste any additional time working back into shape.

You try to be creative. Certainly he's not running and doing those things, but the way they have now with different forms of cardiovascular things where, with your arm movements with your upper body, you're not using your legs. We have the best medical team and we're so confident in the people we have, so we're going to try to be creative.

When asked about whether he was worried about changing the offense too much and then struggling to reinsert Irving if he returns, Collins put any fears on that topic to rest.

We feel like with Kyrie it's not really hard to integrate his stuff. You give him the ball, set some ball screens, and get out of his way....I don't think he's a guy that's hard to integrate back into the system. We have to move forward with the things we are doing and continue to get really good at that, and if we are fortunate enough at any point, then we can plug him in and certainly play off of what he does well.

In the meantime, both the Duke offense and defense will have to change. Collins said the Blue Devils will decide on a game-by-game basis how much pressure to apply on the ball defensively in an attempt to create turnovers and transition baskets. Irving's absence will force Duke to be more selective about when to apply that pressure, Collins said. Offensively, though, Duke does want to continue playing aggressively, and that will be sparked by seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith stepping up their games.