The Toronto Raptors have lost three of their last four games since starting the season 5-0 and a big reason for that has been the absence of DeMarre Carroll. Carroll has missed the team's last three games with plantar fasciitis but he may be able to return on Friday night. Head coach Dwane Casey thinks the reason for Carroll's foot injury is the fact that he changed the shoes he wears during games in training camp, according to Sportsnet.
"When he changed shoes for some odd reason after training camp, his foot just kept getting sorer and sorer and developed the plantar fasciitis," said Casey.
Casey did not say why Carroll decided to change his shoes during training camp but this is definitely a different reason for a player missing games. Carroll has already missed three games, two of which the Raptors lost, but they hope he will be back for their game on Friday night. Carroll was a game-time decision on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers but they decided to hold him out for at least one more game as they figured they could beat the winless 76ers without him and they did.
In the long run though, the Raptors need Carroll to be fully healthy as they have called him the key to their defense. Carroll signed a four year $60 million deal with the Raptors this past summer and they have said he has outperformed expectations while on the court.
"Yes, he is better than we thought. His knowledge of the game; his intellect, as far as what other teams are trying to do, what you should do; his quiet talk to the players out on the court. He's not a demonstrative guy, he's quiet. But he's a quiet, tough leader and he is better than advertised," said Casey.
It is no mistake that the Raptors are 5-1 with Carroll on the court and 1-2 with him off the court as he is the type of player that impacts the game in so many different ways. Carroll has yet to shoot the ball well this season as he is just at 34 percent from the field but he is averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while also providing solid wing defense. It doesn't seem like Carroll will miss too much more time but that sneaker situation is definitely something he will want to figure out moving forward.
