No update yet on King's knee injury
MBB: Ryan Miller is hopeful JJ Traynor will be ready to play in next week's season opener
Murray State senior forward Fred King scored six points in ten minutes of action Sunday’s exhibition game against Northern State. Unfortunately for King, his afternoon was cut short when he injured his right knee when going up for a rebound on this play against the Wolves.
King was able to stay in the game for a couple more trips up and down the floor before he checked himself out, and he would not return.
During Monday afternoon’s taping of ‘The Racer Report Live’, Murray State Head Coach Ryan Miller didn’t yet have an update on King’s prognosis.
“It was a unique play I watched on film,” Miller said. “He went up for a rebound, and he kind of got boxed out and he got his leg caught up on a Northern State player’s shoulder. It look like it got hyperextended to a certain degree. The concern is when you have a knee injury that is non-contact. Those are the ones where you get in trouble. It was a contact knee injury, so he’s getting evaluated by (Athletic Trainer Eric Frederick) and some doctors today. We’ll hold him out of practice today, and we’ll see how it goes.”
With King out of the final 27 minutes of Sunday’s game, we got to see a heavy mix of Dylan Anderson and Brock Vice holding down the 5-spot. Anderson scored two points and grabbed five rebounds in 17 minutes of action, while Vice had four points, seven rebounds and blocked a shot in 13 minutes. If King is healthy, that duo won’t be expected to play as much as they did Sunday, but Miller was happy with what he saw from both guys.
“I like the way they competed,” Miller said. “I like the way they tried to execute both offensive and defensive schemes. I liked the way they worked on the glass. We emphasize Gortat screening a lot, which is basically we roll after a pick and roll and seal their 5-men so we can have angle layups or angle posts. They did an incredible job of that, giving our guys, particularly Javon (Jackson), angles to the rim so he can lay it in. We’ll play some JJ Traynor (at the 5-spot) too, once he gets healthy. I would expect Fred King (to get) 25 minutes at the 5-spot, 5-to-10 minutes with JJ, then fill the rest out with Dylan and Brock.”
Traynor didn’t play in either of Murray State’s exhibition games, as Miller held him out for precautionary reasons while Traynor works his way back from a minor shoulder injury. Seven days from the first game of the season, Miller is optimistic we’ll get to see Traynor make his debut against Omaha.
“I believe so,” Miller said when asked if Traynor would play Monday. “We’re going to practice today, Tuesday, Wednesday. We’re going to take off Thursday, then fly to Sioux Falls after practice Friday. I hope to get him in practice. I mean, he’s been in practice the last few days. We’ve limited his contact a little bit, so I expect him to be able to be a full participant by November 3rd.”
The Racers will play Omaha in The Field of 68’s Opening Day Marathon next Monday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 12:30pm CDT. The game will be streamed on The Field of 68’s channel on YouTube and X.