My opinion is that Adreian Payne should return to action as a "second-half only player" beginning this Saturday against Michigan.
In this plan, he would never play during the first half, thereby limiting the stress on his foot to only one session per game. The now-normal player-rotation on the front-line would continue to be used in the first half, allowing some of those players to play more aggressively, knowing that Payne could be playing in the second half. Gauna or Schilling or even Costello could pick up two or three fouls without creating a problem (other than team fouls).
Payne would warm-up for the second half, and if the Spartans lead by 10 or more at halftime, he can continue to rest. If it's a single-digit lead or a deficit, he gets to play along with everybody else.
This decision doesn't have to be a "all-or-nothing" scenario. It's possible that Payne could play in this limited approach for a game or two or three, then take another game or two off if needed. It's possible that "totally curing" the problem by taking a month off may not prevent it from coming back as soon as he starts to play again, effectively wasting the second half of his senior season.
My recommendation is to MANAGE THE INJURY rather than trying to CURE IT. If Payne starts a game but cannot finish, it may prove debilitating to everybody involved. If he doesn't start, but comes in at the end, it could be rejuvenating to the team.
BOTTOM LINE: The plantar-fascitis may be a chronic injury that requires long-term management. If so, developing a viable injury-management strategy is critical to the professional viability of Payne. It benefits everyone to follow this approach.
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Damn, that's an interesting perspective. it goes against the Willis Reed Standard; that is bringing your star out at the beginning to set the tone. Now more to your point/perspective, the NY game was in the finals, I believe a closeout game or game 7, so there was no motivation to preserve Reed for subsequent games. In your perspective, we have a lot more basketball to play, so the two approaches have different sub texts. I like holding him out in the fact that if the team is being successful with the first half rotation, you may not have to put him in until later or maybe not at all. In that way, he's sort of a safety valve and less of an option. But you get to make that decision based upon how the game is going. Sort of a as needed basis.
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