Duke freshman Giles ready for more action vs. Elon (Dec 21, 2016)
Now it's a matter for Duke to help make Harry Giles more comfortable.
The freshman's debut is out of the way, coming in less-than-spectacular fashion.
On Wednesday night, he'll play less than a half-hour from home when the fifth-ranked Blue Devils (11-1) meet Elon (7-4) at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
"It's going to be great going near (the) hometown," Giles said. "But it's just another chance to go play."
The 6-foot-10 player had been out with a knee injury, delaying his much-anticipated first college game. On the recruiting trail, he had been rated the No. 1 player nationally in this freshman class.
He was scoreless in four minutes Monday night against Tennessee State, but it was a sign of progress nonetheless.
"I'm just happy to be able to walk off the court healthy. I love the game," he said. "My whole goal was getting back on the court. I didn't know when that was going to be."
The Blue Devils play their final Atlantic Coast Conference tune-up, so Giles doesn't have much time to get up to speed.
"It's just a matter of him being in shape," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He hasn't played in 14 months."
For Giles, playing as a reserve and in limited minutes might take time to get used to.
"Just trying to figure it out, trying to get used to the speed. It was fast, too," he said. "Just trying to figure it out and get a feel for it.
"Frustrating because how it went. ... It was terrible, my performance. I just have to get better. ... That was shaking the rust off, getting the kinks out."
Three Duke freshmen began the season out with injuries. Now they're all back in various roles.
"It can't be about him or (Marques) Bolden or (Jayson) Tatum or whatever," Krzyzewski said. "It has got to be about Duke. Just fit in, and they want to."
Elon is coming off Sunday's 68-53 road victory against St. Peter's, snapping a three-game skid. The Phoenix won despite playing without senior guard Luke Eddy, who was dealing with a knee injury.
"It was a great team victory," Elon coach Matt Matheny said. "Our guys showed a lot of toughness and resiliency in adverse situations. I thought we played really well together."
Eddy had a streak of 42 consecutive starts snapped. He's averaging 11.4 points per game and tops the team with 43 assists.
With a 6-1 record, Elon had been off to its best start in 29 years. Then came a narrow loss at Georgetown followed by setbacks to UNC Asheville and Radford.
This is an Elon home game at the coliseum, which is about 15 miles from its campus and where the Phoenix have played a few high-profile opponents in recent seasons.
Duke owns an 18-5 series lead as the teams will meet for the sixth time in seven seasons. Duke also won in 2013 in Greensboro.
Five Elon players are averaging double-figure scoring, led by forward Brian Dawkins at 12.5 points per game, so the available options are numerous.
"To have multiple guys on the court that can score, even when we make substitutions, I think makes us difficult to guard at times," Matheny said.
