Indiana Basketball: Devonte Green out for Season Opener Tuesday

Indiana's leading returning scorer is still bothering a hamstring injury and won't play in Tuesday night's season opener against Western Illinois.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana will open its regular season on Tuesday without senior guard Devonte Green, and start its November nonconference schedule with concerns about depth at the guard spots.

Green, a senior shooting guard, has a hamstring injury that has kept him off the practice court for most of October. When the season begins against Western Illinois at 7 p.m., Green won't be dressed.

"Devonte is still out for a time to be determined with a hamstring,'' Indiana coach Archie Miller said Monday. "He's going to take it day by day. There is no rush. The big thing with him is to make sure when he does come back he's able to fully engage and we don't have any setbacks.''

And it's not just Green. Sophomore point guard Rob Phinisee is still dealing with a lingering lower abdominal injury, and even though he is expected to play Tuesday night, his minutes might be limited. He played 13 minutes in the exhibition, which was something of a surprise, but he still had to deal with issues in the past week, Miller said.

"Rob got an opportunity to play a little bit the other day, and I think it was widely described as his first real opportunity to play five-on-five, which is accurate,'' he said. "Postgame, we evaluated him again. He's taken some time and our medical team has done some things to try to make him more comfortable. I think he's as comfortable as he's been. As we enter (Monday), he's a part of our plan in terms of practice, which is good to see.''

Junior guard Al Durham missed last Tuesday's exhibition game against Gannon, but that was more of a precaution. He injured his knee in a closed scrimmage against Marquette a week early, but now says he's "100 percent and ready to go'' now that the season is ready to begin. 

"We've all been healthy at one point, been on the floor together, so we've kind of gotten a niche going for all of us together,'' Durham said of the October workouts. "Injuries happen to everyone, so everybody has to step up and turn it up a notch now that we're short a couple guys. 

"We've all learned, all helped each other learn different positions, learn different things in the offensive and defense. Those guys missing is most definitely a big part of our team, but everybody has to step up and do their job and go out there and play.''

Playing without a full roster has been a challenge, but at least there is time in November to find its way. The Hoosiers play seven straight games at home, all against unranked teams.

"It's definitely been a challenge, the backcourt not being together. Our chemistry has been affected because that's our most experienced group of people playing together that haven't been a part of it. So that's been a challenge.''

True freshman Armaan Franklin has had to step in sooner than expected, and he's handled it well. He will be tested a lot throughout November as well.

"Armaan will play a heavy role here in November. We have a lot of confidence in him,'' Miller said."