When Duke player Amile Jefferson went down with a foot injury during their game against Boston College over the weekend, freshman forward Harry Giles was optimistic his teammate would quickly recover from the injury and return to the game because Jefferson was only able to play in nine games last year after suffering an injury to the same foot. However Jefferson was unable to return to the game after the injury. If you want to bet on college basketball, check out the US top rated college basketball lines.
Giles knows exactly what Jefferson is going through after suffering two major knee injuries in high school that required surgery. While Giles was able to bounce back from the injuries, he refused to speculate on whether Jefferson could do the same.
Giles told reporters that the only thing he and his teammates could do was to stay positive because sometimes things look worse than they really are.
So far, Duke has had to weather various injuries to their players and coaches. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski recently underwent back surgery and is expected to be out for at least a month. Assistant Jeff Caple is taking over the head coaching duties until Krzyzewski returns to the sidelines.
If Jefferson’s injury forces him to miss some time, the team will find a way to adjust to life without him on the court like they have for other injured players and their head coach.
Giles, who was the top ranked player coming out of high school, believe he has to step his game up in Jefferson’s absence. He told reporters that even though he believe Jefferson is going to be fine, he still needs to step up to help his team achieve their preseason goal, which is to win the NCAA basketball championship.
Due to the knee injuries he suffered in high school, the Blue Devils coaching staff eased Giles into the lineup. In his first game for Duke, the freshman played only four minutes against Tennessee State in December. At the time, Caple said the limited minutes was to help Giles regain his confidence on the court since the last time he played a meaningful game was when he injured his knee in high school.
Giles was scheduled to make his debut much earlier, but he had his knee scoped before the start of the season, which delayed his return to the court by a few weeks.
Since making his collegiate debut, Giles has been gradually eased into the lineup, and his play has led to him getting more minutes from his coaches.
Against Georgia Tech, Giles recorded his first double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Against Boston College, he played a season high 24 minutes, and scored 12 points.
After the game, Boston College coach Jim Christian said he was impressed by Giles’ performance and believes the freshman will make the Blue Devils even tougher to defend as he continues to improve.
While Giles has been receiving praise for his play, he acknowledged that he still has a lot of things he was to work on to get his game to the level he wants. According to Giles, his defense still needs to improve, once it does, he believes everything else will fall into place.
