Nelson's Injury Adds Another Question Mark

There were almost no questions about DeMarcus Nelson when Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski met with reporters in his annual summer news conference in June.,

After all, there were plenty of other issues involving the Blue Devils after a disappointing 22-11 season.

Nelson, the team’s sole rising senior, was considered a given.

Not anymore.

On Tuesday, Duke announced Nelson will be out eight to 10 weeks after surgery to repair a fracture in his left wrist.

Nelson had averaged 14.1 points, a team high, last season and also contributed 5.0 rebounds. As a junior, he seemed to finally overcome the injuries that had slowed him earlier in his career. He missed 12 games as a sophomore with ankle injuries and finished with 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds.

Not bad, but not what the athletic wing appeared capable of contributing when he arrived at Duke. After all, Nelson scored a state-record 3,462 points in high school in California.

The timetable Duke announced Tuesday appears to give Nelson time to recover before preseason drills begin in mid-October. But the injury is clearly a setback and comes a week after 7-foot-1 sophomore center Brian Zoubek had surgery on his left foot. Zoubek is also expected to miss eight to 10 weeks.

All this comes a year after Duke guard Greg Paulus broke a bone in his left foot on the second day of practice last year. Paulus returned but had a hard time recovering his form.

In a statement Tuesday, Krzyzewski said Duke looks forward to having Nelson back “at 100 percent for the season.”

But how the injuries to Nelson and Zoubek will affect Duke is difficult to predict.

In Duke’s favor is the fact that Duke should be much deeper this year than a year ago.

Paulus and Jon Scheyer return in the backcourt, as does sophomore guard Gerald Henderson. Zoubek, sophomore Lance Thomas and junior David McClure will compete for time up front.

But the injuries, especially if they linger, could shift attention to the freshman class, where Duke has talent, but no clear post players.

The best of the freshmen is expected to be 6-8 Kyle Singler, a versatile player who drew praise from Krzyzewski.

“Singler is just a special player. He gets it. He has a great feel for the game,” Krzyzewski said.

Guard Nolan Smith, who is 6-2 and can play either guard position, and 6-7 Taylor King will contribute.

Krzyzewski said in June that his 2006-07 team was always on the brink of winning or losing.

This year, he said confidently, “We have the makings of a very good basketball team.”

Perhaps.