CLEMSON BASKETBALL

Playing Through the Pain: PJ Hall
Hall has put up solid numbers despite the injury.

Playing Through the Pain: PJ Hall "most improved player on the planet" despite injury


by - Senior Writer -

CLEMSON – Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski thinks that Clemson center PJ Hall is one of the best big men in the country, and he’s right. The fact that Hall is playing as well as he is while dealing with a painful injury makes the feat even more impressive.

Hall has put up stellar numbers through the Tigers’ first 20 games, averaging 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field. And he’s done all of that while dealing with a sore left foot, a stress reaction that flared up six games into the season and became worse after the tenth game, a win over Drake in Atlanta.

“It’s some inflammation between the fourth and fifth metatarsals,” Hall said Monday. “I had a stress reaction. I didn’t have any fractures in high school, but that’s kind of the same area that’s been flaring up. … There’s been some inflammation and some stress build-up.”

Hall said the pain “comes and goes” but doesn’t bother him too much once the game starts.

“Once I get on the court, I’ve got so much adrenaline going through my body that I don’t really feel it in the first half,” Hall said. “At halftime, once you get cooled down a little bit, you feel it. But I try not to think about it. Every now and then, I’ll have a play where it might flare up and have some pain in my foot, but it’s not as bad as it may seem.

“Play through it whenever it hurts bad. If it gets too bad, then rest it a little bit the next day. But in the game, I try not to think about it.”

Krzyzewski has seen Hall in film and in person in the Blue Devils’ win over the Tigers last week and came away impressed, sore foot and all.

“Hall is the most improved player on the planet,” Krzyzewski said. “He played nine minutes a game last year, and he’s one of the better big guys in the country.”

He even thinks Hall has a future at the next level.

“He’s a pro, really, because he can shoot,” Krzyzewski said. “He can go out and he’s mobile.”

Hall said an MRI didn’t show any serious damage and that surgery isn’t an option at this point. For now, he simply has to manage the pain while getting ready for games. That oftentimes means that Hall can participate in shooting and passing drills but has to ride a stationary bike once the team portion of practice begins.

“Trust me, the stuff they have me do on the sideline, I actually probably get more conditioning in than at practice,” Hall said. “It’s brutal. I would much rather be practicing than the stuff I do on the sidelines. I’m fine at the end of games.”

A reporter once asked New York Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio why he played so hard, and DiMaggio answered that someone might be in the stands that had never seen him play. Hall won’t take time off for the same reason, continuing Wednesday at home against Florida State (7 p.m./ACC Network).

“Whenever people come to games, I know someone is out there coming to watch me,” Hall said. “So I go out there, I give it my best and give it my all because I don’t want someone to go home disappointed. And also I’m going out there and playing for the guy beside me.

“Whenever you’re hurting, you’ve got to fight through it. And if you can’t play and can’t contribute, then contribute on the bench and contribute with your voice.”

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