Not that they should need him to beat Chaminade.
Hansbrough appears to be pain free so far but there is a worry that the stress reaction will become an issue again. This has Roy in an ongoing debate with the staff as to how much playing time he should get in Maui.
“I don’t think it will be a game-time decision, but I really don’t know what I’m going to do,’’ Williams said. “I really wanted to play him 20 minutes, and he kept bugging the dickens out of me on the bench, and the only way I could get rid of him was to put him in the game so I ended up playing him 25.
“We did not practice yesterday, we got to the LAX Marriott about midnight Friday night and then came here. So we’re going to practice this morning and see how he feels. I’m extremely concerned about going three straight days but nobody really knows – the only person that gives you the kind of input you have to have is Tyler. Is there any pain there? If there’s pain there, we stop. And he’s feeling great.
“Also, I love him to death, but I’m not sure he would be 100 percent honest with me, so I have to keep asking him.”
These “rest them” injuries are a tough breed because you can never be sure if it is healed or not. All you are left with is slowly bringing the player back and hoping the symptoms do not recur. After a certain period of time you are comfortable cutting the player loose but that point has yet to come. The problem here is UNC is at the Maui Invitational which calls for three games in three days. If their schedule with individual games coming 3-5 days apart this would be an easier process. At present UNC is looking at three games to start the week, UNC Asheville on Sundy followed by a trip to Detroit for Michigan State the following Wednesday. After that UNC has 10 days off for exams which we can assume could afford Hansbrough the chance to rest it and hopefully put this thing to bed. The hard part is getting there and if it were up to me and be thankful it is not because I am probably wrong I would do it this way.
vs Chaminade: Do Not Play
vs Oregon/Alabama: 20-25 minutes
vs Next opponent: 25-30 minutes with discretion for more if there is no pain
vs UNCA: 20-25 minutes
vs MSU: Normal rotation
If there is no pain after the MSU game and after the 10 days off then Hansbrough should be back on normal rotation.
Another issue Roy has is the fact Hansbrough is like a caged tiger and apparently bugging him to death about playing. Hansbrough squeezed five more minutes than Roy intended out of the game by pestering his coach. Given the way Hansbrough has played over three years it is not surprise he is itching to get back into it. Interestingly enough, according to the N&O this has happened before to Hansbrough:
Said Hansbrough’s father, Gene: “Roy came over to his house and said, ‘Do you remember how you started your senior season in high school?’ And Tyler said, ‘Yeah, I was on the bench for the first five games [with an Achilles tendon injury].’ And Roy said, ‘Do you remember how that turned out?’ And Tyler said, ‘Well, it turned out pretty well.’ “
So well that Poplar Bluff (Mo.) High won the state championship that season, Hansbrough fully healed and leading the way.
Which is a reminder of why Williams also wants to continue to be cautious now, and Hansbrough knows he needs to be, even if he doesn’t really want to.
If that is the case then I am all for history repeating itself right down to winning the championship at the end of the season.
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I’d play him tonight, then hold him out tomorrow. Playing back-to-back, against upper-echelon competition is no better, IMO. The most important thing that can come out of these 3 games is keeping Tyler healthy and getting him back into the groove. Winning the tourney is secondary.
I say very limited minutes in all 3 games. Of course the problem there is the fact that knowing his minutes are going to be marginal, does he try to do everything while he is out there? If I were Roy, I would tell my team that this year’s success is going to have a lot to do with how well Tyler is able to play down the stretch. He will only be able to be fully productive if we can manage to play our best basketball right now and afford him the time to do what he needs to recuperate. We know that he will reward our hard effort now with his hard effort later.
I think Hansbrough should sit beside Roy until someone gets in foul trouble or we need a spark. All this is reminding me of Sean May and his stress fracture. When we finally had him at full strength in ‘05, we won a championship.
That’s how I feel YJGH. Make him available each game, but only play him when necessary.
That is not going to happen because the havoc it plays with the offensive chemistry was well as the guys on the floor not knowing if he is in and what they need to do complicates matters. And what determines “when you need him?” UNC down by 10 in the first half? Late game situations? If he is simply being inserted because the team is struggling I am not sure that is a boost since the team needs to work through having him back and at peak form versus the rustiness we saw Friday. If Roy knew for sure the injury was completely healed, then Roy puts him back in and they get the readjusting over with in 2-3 games. Because it is still a mystery things get dicey lineup wise.
The guy lives to play basketball, and life is too unpredictable to try to calibrate playing time too finely. He could aggravate the injury or get a fracture in ten seconds if he twists the wrong way. On the other hand, he could go 30 minutes with no problem. There is just no way to tell.
It’s all a matter of probabilities, and ones that cannot even be estimated with any great confidence. That being the case, each suggestion here has merit, but also has the defects of it prudence-laden virtues.
He’s rusty. He says he’s fine. Let him play 15-20 minutes tonight, about the same tomorrow night, and whatever is needed in the championship game (assuming we’re in it).
After that, I’d go back to business as usual. As I said once before, we’ll all be holding our breath the entire season, but my money is on Tyler. With his youth, unmatched strength and overall superb health, Roy should let him take the chances — chances that cannot be avoided in any event.
I though this quote from Roy was telling:
Question: He looked so upset to be sitting out of games – have you ever had a player so visibly upset at having to sit?
Roy Williams: “Probably not. And a lot of his is because he’s felt so good for so long. If we had played for a national championship, I think everyone would have agreed that he could have played eight or nine days earlier, but it’s just that we want to be really conservative with him and we thought that was for the best.”
For the poll, I vote, “Game 1 yes, games 2 and 3 to be determined.” I think the only way to play this is game by game as there is is no way to determine, a priori, how he will respond after each game.