Hurt toe leaves Devils worried

DURHAM

Duke’s chances of staying undefeated and possibly winning another NCAA Tournament title hinge right now on Kyrie Irving’s right big toe.

Irving, a freshman point guard, will be out indefinitely until doctors can determine the extent of damage. He injured the toe last Saturday and sat out Wednesday’s home win against Bradley.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that his team, ranked No. 1 in both polls, will face at least some major adjustment even if Irving is out only a few weeks. He also said that Irving might not play again this season.

“Everybody’s game changes, including mine,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s what good players do: when a great player gets hurt and can’t play, it changes everything. It doesn’t mean a wholesale change in what you’re doing, but it changes everything.”

Dr. James Nunley, the chairman of orthopedic surgery at Duke Hospital, will most likely lead Irving’s treatment, but experts across the nation also will be consulted. Krzyzewski expects it to take seven to 10 days to get a full analysis of the injury.

Nunley helped Grant Hill, a former Duke player, recover from a serious ankle injury that threatened his NBA career.

“They (the doctors) just have their network of people,” Krzyzewski said. “They’re actually all going to be at a conference this weekend, so they’ll be able to analyze it without Kyrie being there.”

Irving’s injury is similar to the one suffered by Ty Lawson, a North Carolina point guard, late in the 2009 season. Lawson severely jammed his right big toe but played in the next game, and then had problems with swelling and pain.

Lawson missed three games, two in the ACC Tournament and one in the NCAA Tournament, but returned for the NCAA’s second round, and although slightly bothered by the injury, helped UNC win the title.

Irving’s injury appears more severe. Irving injured the toe against Butler, came out of the game so trainers could attend to the toe, and then returned.

Krzyzewski did not think then that the injury was serious, but the toe swelled after the team returned home, and X-rays and MRI tests haven’t been able to determine what’s wrong.

“An analysis of his foot has got to be made by these doctors, the best ones who also work with pro athletes,” Krzyzewski said. “There aren’t a lot of toe injuries. If you hurt your big toe, that’s what you push off on (as a basketball player).

“It seems like that darn thing shouldn’t be that important, you know? But it is.”

Irving wore a protective boot on his right foot Wednesday and sat on the Duke bench in dress clothes. Senior Nolan Smith moved to point guard, and sophomore Andre Dawkins started at shooting guard.

Dawkins made eight 3-pointers and finished with 28 points. Smith had a tougher night, missing all eight shots from the field and scoring two points, almost 16 below his average. He did have 10 assists and just two turnovers.

Smith said that the change of duties affected his play.

“My mindset coming into the game was without having two playmakers out there, I have to be that guy who makes plays,” Smith said. “I was really trying to get everybody involved, and it kind of threw my shot off with that mindset.

“A lot of my shots were flat-footed. I wasn’t ready to shoot them instead of being in an aggressive mindset.”

Smith knows what his immediate future will be, however.

“There’s no timetable (for Irving’s return),” he said. “So I’m the point guard until further notice.”

Without Irving, Krzyzewski doesn’t think Duke can play the same way. Irving is second on the team in scoring (17.4 ppg) and leads in assists with 41.

“Nolan’s got to play more on the ball, where (before) you could alternate,” Krzyzewski said. “Basically we play with two point guards, and it’s a very difficult offense to defend. It’s a beautiful thing. We’re not gong to be able to do that.”

If Irving doesn’t return, he should be able to apply for a medical redshirt season because he will not have played in 30 percent of Duke’s regular-season games. That would leave him with four seasons of eligibility.

Against Bradley, Duke couldn’t set the fast pace that Irving sets in the first half and had its lowest-scoring half of the season (32 points). The tempo did pick up in the second half, however.

Krzyzewski said that Seth Curry and Tyler Thornton, both in their first seasons in the program, will have to help Smith and Dawkins with Irving out.

“There’s just a period of adjustment that our team has to go through,” Krzyzewski said. “Hopefully, we will get him back, but we don’t know. We have to go on and make these adjustments.”

bcole@wsjournal.com