Tillie Injury Not as Bad as Feared
Forward Kim Tillie played well for the Utes during their exhibition tour of Australia last month, averaging 7.3 points and 8.8 rebounds and convincing new coach Jim Boylen that he can be a consistent "double-double" guy in the Mountain West Conference.
One problem.
The 6-foot-9 sophomore was bothered the whole trip by a sore big toe on his left foot. And though Tillie played on it and did not have too much trouble once he warmed up, he and the coaches started to worry that the toe was broken.
Boylen was relieved to learn that it's not -- doctors performed a magnetic-resonance imaging exam on the toe three days ago -- but said he plans to temporarily hold Tillie out of the limited individual work the Utes will begin Tuesday in order to allow him to heal completely.
"He'll be OK," Boylen said, "but we'll bring him back kind of slow."
That way, not only will Tillie have more time to heal, Boylen said -- Tillie is expected to join the individual workouts Sept. 15 -- but he will be able to get accustomed to an orthotic device that he will wear in his shoe to help manage the injury.
Boylen also figures Tillie's time off will give him more time to work with freshman Morgan Grim, a fellow power forward for whom the coach has less of a feel at this point.
Incidentally, here's a report on how Tillie performed playing for his native France at the U-19 World Championships earlier this summer. In short, it says he has shown "intriguing abilities," but "doesn't particularly stand out with his basketball IQ and feel for the game." He "seems to be a hard worker," however.
One problem.
The 6-foot-9 sophomore was bothered the whole trip by a sore big toe on his left foot. And though Tillie played on it and did not have too much trouble once he warmed up, he and the coaches started to worry that the toe was broken.
Boylen was relieved to learn that it's not -- doctors performed a magnetic-resonance imaging exam on the toe three days ago -- but said he plans to temporarily hold Tillie out of the limited individual work the Utes will begin Tuesday in order to allow him to heal completely.
"He'll be OK," Boylen said, "but we'll bring him back kind of slow."
That way, not only will Tillie have more time to heal, Boylen said -- Tillie is expected to join the individual workouts Sept. 15 -- but he will be able to get accustomed to an orthotic device that he will wear in his shoe to help manage the injury.
Boylen also figures Tillie's time off will give him more time to work with freshman Morgan Grim, a fellow power forward for whom the coach has less of a feel at this point.
Incidentally, here's a report on how Tillie performed playing for his native France at the U-19 World Championships earlier this summer. In short, it says he has shown "intriguing abilities," but "doesn't particularly stand out with his basketball IQ and feel for the game." He "seems to be a hard worker," however.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 5:36 AM |
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