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Posted

FW News-Sentinel

There were moments early last season where Indiana University basketball fans were teased (some would say tortured) by the potential of then-sophomore center De’Ron Davis.  Take the 91-81 loss to then-No. 1 Duke in Bloomington for example.  After being limited to just five minutes of action (due to foul trouble) in the opening half, Davis hit four of his five second-half shots and totaled 12 points in that period, alone.  That amount matched heralded Blue Devil freshman center Marvin Bagley III, who just might be the first player selected in next Thursday’s NBA Draft.

“Clearly having De’Ron as a presence in the second half was a real benefit,” Hoosier coach Archie Miller said following the game.  Davis finished that night having scored 16 points and grabbing five rebounds in just 21 minutes of time and visions of what he could be danced in every Indiana fans’ head, as well as Miller’s, as they slumbered out of Assembly Hall into the chilly November night.  “Being able to play through De’Ron in the second half one-on-one in the post,” Miller explained, “he’s tough to deal with, with that type of spacing, and he delivered for us. He really played well.”

Davis followed that impressive effort up with a four-point, one rebound performance in an Indiana rout at eventual national runner-up Michigan.  The 6-foot-10 athlete missed five of his seven shots against the Wolverines and played just 18 minutes.

Those two games summed up Davis’ second season in a nutshell. It was tantalizing, yet unfulfilling, as he averaged 9.6 points per game and 4.3 rebounds in 15 games.  Davis connected on five of seven shots en route to 14 points and grabbed a season-best seven boards at Louisville a week after the debacle at Michigan. But in his final five games, he never scored in double figures again and eventually had his season ended by injury (Achilles) in a practice following a disappointing effort (by the entire Indiana team) at Wisconsin in early January.

The Hoosier veterans returned to campus a couple of weeks ago to resume training for the 2018-19 season and Miller said that Davis is facing a more challenging journey than his teammates.  “It’s a difficult surgery for anyone to come back from,” Miller said recently. “A guy like De’Ron, who is that size (6-10, 249 pounds), can put on some weight when he’s not allowed to do anything. It makes things just a little more difficult.”

The Indiana players were allowed to go home for a brief period of time in May but Miller said that Davis remained in Bloomington and continued to rehabilitate his injury with Indiana head athletic trainer Tim Garl.  We have taken it really slow (with Davis),” Miller said. “He has done a really nice job here in the last three to four weeks as he has been in summer school by himself, exclusively just working on his rehab. But we are taking it slow.”

Miller has 18 players on his 2018-19 roster, six of whom are new to the program, and he stressed how important it was for those players to build chemistry as a team over the next few months. However, in the case of Davis, he won’t be able to do that, which will be a setback – to a degree – once he is able to compete on the basketball court.

“It’s going to be a slow process,” Miller said. “He’s got to get himself into a situation where he can start to feel comfortable running and then start the conditioning.  “From a contact perspective, a basketball perspective, I don’t think De’Ron will be ready for that this summer. We’ll be pushing it towards our fall program and then moving into November.”

The Hoosiers did pick up a 6-foot-10 graduate transfer in Evan Fitzner from Saint Mary’s, who can provide minutes until Davis is ready to get into games, and Miller also has sophomore Clifton Moore (6-foot-10) at his disposal, as well.

“We have to take it slow,” Miller reiterated, “and we have to be really mindful of how he communicates and how he feels. But talking to Tim Garl here in the last week, De’Ron has really strung together some really good days and I think that he is progressing.”

Posted
FW News-Sentinel
There were moments early last season where Indiana University basketball fans were teased (some would say tortured) by the potential of then-sophomore center De’Ron Davis.  Take the 91-81 loss to then-No. 1 Duke in Bloomington for example.  After being limited to just five minutes of action (due to foul trouble) in the opening half, Davis hit four of his five second-half shots and totaled 12 points in that period, alone.  That amount matched heralded Blue Devil freshman center Marvin Bagley III, who just might be the first player selected in next Thursday’s NBA Draft.
“Clearly having De’Ron as a presence in the second half was a real benefit,” Hoosier coach Archie Miller said following the game.  Davis finished that night having scored 16 points and grabbing five rebounds in just 21 minutes of time and visions of what he could be danced in every Indiana fans’ head, as well as Miller’s, as they slumbered out of Assembly Hall into the chilly November night.  “Being able to play through De’Ron in the second half one-on-one in the post,” Miller explained, “he’s tough to deal with, with that type of spacing, and he delivered for us. He really played well.”
Davis followed that impressive effort up with a four-point, one rebound performance in an Indiana rout at eventual national runner-up Michigan.  The 6-foot-10 athlete missed five of his seven shots against the Wolverines and played just 18 minutes.
Those two games summed up Davis’ second season in a nutshell. It was tantalizing, yet unfulfilling, as he averaged 9.6 points per game and 4.3 rebounds in 15 games.  Davis connected on five of seven shots en route to 14 points and grabbed a season-best seven boards at Louisville a week after the debacle at Michigan. But in his final five games, he never scored in double figures again and eventually had his season ended by injury (Achilles) in a practice following a disappointing effort (by the entire Indiana team) at Wisconsin in early January.
The Hoosier veterans returned to campus a couple of weeks ago to resume training for the 2018-19 season and Miller said that Davis is facing a more challenging journey than his teammates.  “It’s a difficult surgery for anyone to come back from,” Miller said recently. “A guy like De’Ron, who is that size (6-10, 249 pounds), can put on some weight when he’s not allowed to do anything. It makes things just a little more difficult.”
The Indiana players were allowed to go home for a brief period of time in May but Miller said that Davis remained in Bloomington and continued to rehabilitate his injury with Indiana head athletic trainer Tim Garl.  We have taken it really slow (with Davis),” Miller said. “He has done a really nice job here in the last three to four weeks as he has been in summer school by himself, exclusively just working on his rehab. But we are taking it slow.”
Miller has 18 players on his 2018-19 roster, six of whom are new to the program, and he stressed how important it was for those players to build chemistry as a team over the next few months. However, in the case of Davis, he won’t be able to do that, which will be a setback – to a degree – once he is able to compete on the basketball court.
“It’s going to be a slow process,” Miller said. “He’s got to get himself into a situation where he can start to feel comfortable running and then start the conditioning.  “From a contact perspective, a basketball perspective, I don’t think De’Ron will be ready for that this summer. We’ll be pushing it towards our fall program and then moving into November.”
The Hoosiers did pick up a 6-foot-10 graduate transfer in Evan Fitzner from Saint Mary’s, who can provide minutes until Davis is ready to get into games, and Miller also has sophomore Clifton Moore (6-foot-10) at his disposal, as well.
“We have to take it slow,” Miller reiterated, “and we have to be really mindful of how he communicates and how he feels. But talking to Tim Garl here in the last week, De’Ron has really strung together some really good days and I think that he is progressing.”

Don’t forget Deron was ranked #1 as a freshman in high school. He has potential and I believe he will shine.


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Posted
4 minutes ago, Tak42 said:


Don’t forget Deron was ranked #1 as a freshman in high school. He has potential and I believe he will shine.


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I’m of the opposite opinion. I like De’ron as a person, but I don’t ever see him excelling here. 

Archie’s style of play from his big men (above the rim, athletic types) seems to be the exact opposite of Davis. His injury will only hamper his movement moving forward as well. 

Again, really like Davis, but I just don’t see it working out for him at IU.

Posted
1 hour ago, VO5 said:

I’m of the opposite opinion. I like De’ron as a person, but I don’t ever see him excelling here. 

Archie’s style of play from his big men (above the rim, athletic types) seems to be the exact opposite of Davis. His injury will only hamper his movement moving forward as well. 

Again, really like Davis, but I just don’t see it working out for him at IU.

Archie seemed to like what he was able to do against Duke, and the idea of being able to play though the big man. Juwan doesn't fit the above the rim, athletic mold either. I think DD will have some opportunities to shine. If he's not ready to roll come Nov 1, he could be a likely candidate for a red shirt.

Posted

It has a 21 June 2018 publication date, but there's nothing really new or revealing that we didn't already know.

HoosierSportsReport-

Archie Miller is taking it slow with his big man this summer.

After De’Ron Davis missed the final 16 games of the season with an Achilles injury, Indiana is in no rush to push its junior forward back onto the floor. Summer workouts are in full swing in Bloomington, but it could be until the preseason before Davis is ready to resume basketball activities with his teammates.

“From a contact perspective and a basketball perspective, I don’t think De’Ron will be ready for that this summer,” Miller said. “We’ll be pushing toward our fall program, then (seeing where he is) moving into November. But we have to take it slow and be really mindful of how he communicates and how he feels.”

Davis is coming off a hot and cold half season, during which he flashed his potential during November, scoring in double figures in eight of his first 10 games, before fizzling out across his final month of action.

His season peaked with an impressive 16-point, five-rebound performance against No. 1 Duke on Nov. 29, and he averaged 11.5 points and 4.4 rebounds during his first 10 games of the campaign.

But Davis struggled as his season developed, averaging merely 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds across his final five games

Struggles at the free throw line throughout his sophomore campaign also marred his second season, with Davis shooting just 50 percent at the stripe after making 75 percent of his free throws as a freshman.

“If I had to grade it, my season was probably a D season coming off last year, which was like an F season,” Davis said in February. “Not too much improvement besides my conditioning.”

Davis earned praise from IU’s new coaching staff last summer after he slimmed his 6-foot-10 body, dropping 21 pounds through a transformative workout regime. He also added eight inches to his vertical jump.

Maintaining — and building upon — his conditioning is now the tricky part of Davis’ rehabilitation process.

“It’s a difficult surgery for anyone to come back from, (especially) a guy like De’Ron who is that size, who can put on some weight when he’s not allowed to do anything,” Miller said. “It makes it just a little bit more difficult.”

As they wait through Davis’ recovery timeline, the Hoosiers do enjoy a favorable degree of post depth, however unproven.

IU will be counting on the development of sophomore Clifton Moore and redshirt freshman Race Thompson. The team will also receive help in defending the post from Evan Fitzner, a 6-foot-10 Saint Mary’s graduate transfer. Incoming freshman Jake Forrester may also be ready to lend a hand.

In the meantime, Miller is content to help Davis heal on his own time.

“I think it’s going to be a slow process where he’s got to get himself into a situation where he can start to feel comfortable running, then start the conditioning,” Miller said. … “I think De’Ron has strung together some really good days and I think he’s progressing.”

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
10 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Word on another site is that Deron will be ready to play to start the season but on a minutes restriction

 

Saw that and it's probably worth noting. I guess the operative words are "ready to play. Post DeMarcus Cousins trade I found a really good article on post-Achilles tear performance and recovery time. The primary takeaway from the article? A guy can get back on the court within a year of the injury, but with greatly diminished impact forever more. 

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/1/27/16940178/demarcus-cousins-achilles-injury-golden-state-warriors-this-is-the-worst

Archie runs a meritocracy, and I can't imagine a post-injury Davis competing for minutes with Fitzner, Forrester, Thompson, and Moore.

 

 

Posted
22 minutes ago, HinnyHoosier said:

 

 


De'Ron getting some on-court workouts going. They must be feeling fairly confident in his progress thus far.


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Are we sure that they showed CURRENT workouts?

It’s implied, but not stated.

 

Posted


I also wondered that. But then I realized there wouldn't really be a purpose in making or sharing the video.


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Yes fairly confident that is current workout but also didn't show much. I am one of the few who feel he will be ready and a impact player from the start. Imo minutes will be less but mainly because he has backup and never should have been a 20 plus minutes a game player yet anyhow

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Posted
13 hours ago, Hardwood83 said:

I agree with that, but could that actually "help" him? I mean, he didn't depend on athleticism anyway, so might not be as negative an impact if he was a high flyer? I dunno, that article is pretty sobering about the outlook. NBA caliber athletes with (you assume) top notch treatment don't have a great track record of full recovery. 

That's how I'm thinking about it as well. That he might not have "lost" something that was what separated him from other good basketball players.  He  didn't just out jump and out run the competition.  He has offensive moves, decent footwork and was a top 50 recruit despite his athletic limitations. 

He's not going to try to windmill dunk from the free throw line and have an immediate revelation that, that part of his game is gone. That strength and dipsy-do stuff should still be there.

Posted
On 7/9/2018 at 7:17 PM, coonhounds said:

Yes fairly confident that is current workout but also didn't show much. I am one of the few who feel he will be ready and a impact player from the start. Imo minutes will be less but mainly because he has backup and never should have been a 20 plus minutes a game player yet anyhow

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Sorry folks but i think you will be disappointed if you are thinking he will be an impact player coming back from this. 

Just to put it into perspective DeMarcus Cousins (similar build but an NBA star) is likely to be out until February 2019 with his ruptured achilles. He tore his in February 2018. I believe De'Ron tore his in January 2018....maybe he starts to turn a corner in the BIG season in January if he does indeed come back in November but im not optimistic. 

 I'm still recovering from this injury myself playing basketball and doctors have told me its a 2 year injury. It's about 1 year from the injury to where you can finally go 100% and another year until you are really back to where you were from an athletic/competition standpoint. De'Ron obviously has the best trainers to help with this so I can't compare myself to him and  he's probably a little accelerated in that regard. I actually tore mine a month after his and am still not able to jog or run yet. I have learned a lot from my doctors and the athletes i have read about that have had this injury and attempted to come back the year after. The result is they just weren't as good as before. Many can get back to that level they were at, it just takes patience and time. It's a debilitating injury (sorry for the downer post but it's based on my experience and what I have researched/been told about it). 

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