Azzi :(

[Dove]

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

When I heard the news on Channel 8 Sports at 6pm I was truly sick to my stomach!
I can't imagine what Azzi and her family are feeling tonight!
Every season my only wish for the team is to stay away from illnesses and injuries and let the chips fall where they may!
Having coached for over 30 years till 2002 I feel for the whole program to have the talent to do great things but not have a chance to have a great season and show off your talent! It happened several times with my East Lyme Wrestling teams and it was beyond frustrating!
They can still accomplish their goals but to know what your potential was previously and now is!
HEARTBREAKING!
UCONN's chances are slimmed down to every player has to play their hardest and best mentally and physically every second of every game the rest of the season

 

[Blond D.]

I'm sure you were well meaning, but as close as Azzi and Paige are do you seriously think they wouldn't have talked about all these things? How do you know anything about Azzi's personal life, training routines, her diet, etc., etc., etc.? So what you said was disrespectful and as if you had some inside information that Azzi wasn't taking her knee problems seriously. You don't!

Maybe they talked and maybe they didnt. You have no idea about Azzi's routine or her life or anything either. Why dont you read the article? Maybe you did maybe you didn't but it sounds like you didn't.
The article is ESPN Article by Alexa on Paige's Return. Its currently located on page 4 here in the BONEYARD. After you read the article then let me know what you think.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Azzi needs to get serious about her health like Paige did. Get level and balanced. Do more core exercises, eat healthy, get good sleep...theres a whole list of things Paige did to strengthen her knee and ankles and to put herself in a better place to stay on the court.

What an absurd post. You have no idea how serious Azzi has been about her health.

 

[Gordo]

Maybe they talked and maybe they didnt. You have no idea about Azzi's routine or her life or anything either. Why dont you read the article? Maybe you did maybe you didn't but it sounds like you didn't.
The article is ESPN Article by Alexa on Paige's Return. Its currently located on page 4 here in the BONEYARD. After you read the article then let me know what you think.

The article has no meaning or value to me. Reportedly Paige and Azzi are best friends and both of them have knee problems. It seems most likely that Paige would discuss these things with Azzi. It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever to think otherwise. What we don't know is whether Azzi felt the need to follow Paige's routine, etc., or if she did whether it would have mattered. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

 

[Blond D.]

The article has no meaning or value to me. Reportedly Paige and Azzi are best friends and both of them have knee problems. It seems most likely that Paige would discuss these things with Azzi. It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever to think otherwise. What we don't know is whether Azzi felt the need to follow Paige's routine, etc., or if she did whether it would have mattered. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

So youre saying you didnt read it or care to be more knowledgeable about the subject. Thats ok.
So it SEEMS likely to you that they talked but again you have no real idea if they did or didn't.
From the article it SEEMS to me they didnt go into real depth or Azzi would have been in the article. So we both don't know for sure but you found it imperative to call me out on it.
I was just pointing out there are new ways to prevent knee problems and it might behoove some athletes who have had problems in the past to check them out like Paige did.
And you have a great Thanksgiving as well.

 

[FormerCTrez]

Paige injured her knee early in her sophomore season, misses time. Makes a return in March. Proceeds to tear her ACL prior to her junior season.

Azzi injured her knee early in her sophomore season, misses time. Makes a return in March. Proceeds to tear her ACL at the start of her junior season.

The similarity is eerie. Best wishes to Azzi in recovery. I hope she makes a complete recovery and is able to be better than ever next season.

While I’m sorry to hear about Azzi’s injury, I have a strong belief that the team will survive this season. Go Huskies!!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Such sad news, she just can't catch a break.

 

[Gordo]

So youre saying you didnt read it or care to be more knowledgeable about the subject. Thats ok.
So it SEEMS likely to you that they talked but again you have no real idea if they did or didn't.
From the article it SEEMS to me they didnt go into real depth or Azzi would have been in the article. So we both don't know for sure but you found it imperative to call me out on it.
I was just pointing out there are new ways to prevent knee problems and it might behoove some athletes who have had problems in the past to check them out like Paige did.
And you have a great Thanksgiving as well.

I didn't call you out regarding the article! I don't give two hoots about the article! I also wasn't your harshest critic! I called you out for criticizing Azzi for something you know absolutely nothing about, and you keep going on about it like a 12 year old. Stop already! I'm almost 84 years old and I have read many articles by many different so-called experts who supposedly have cures for this or that. You want to believe that Paige would not discuss with her reported best friend (Azzi) everything she was going through to get herself and her knee stronger. I find that impossible to believe! Most best friends tell each other everything about themselves, and especially if that friend has a similar problem.

Now, I am done with this discussion. Please don't address me regarding it further. Thank you.

 

[HuskyNan]

So youre saying you didnt read it or care to be more knowledgeable about the subject. Thats ok.
So it SEEMS likely to you that they talked but again you have no real idea if they did or didn't.
From the article it SEEMS to me they didnt go into real depth or Azzi would have been in the article. So we both don't know for sure but you found it imperative to call me out on it.
I was just pointing out there are new ways to prevent knee problems and it might behoove some athletes who have had problems in the past to check them out like Paige did.
And you have a great Thanksgiving as well.

Let it go. this thread is for expressions of sympathy for Azzi, not for you to prove how right you think you are

 

[jabstep]

I was shocked yesterday when I saw the post about Azzi. It almost brought me to tears but then I thought about the test all the others will go through like the players on last year's team had to. We fans will have to suck it up and root for who is available to play. I will always be a Husky fan no matter what.
I think we will need the freshmen to help carry us. I think they can.

 

[Linart]

I remember watching a game early in the season of Azzi's freshman year. Repeatedly Paige would pass to Azzi who would put up a three. I remember thinking "This is going to be easy!"

What's that saying, "Man plans, God laughs."

 

[Blond D.]

Let it go. this thread is for expressions of sympathy for Azzi, not for you to prove how right you think you are

I wasn't trying to prove myself right or wrong. I just thought the article was very interesting. It opened my eyes to some new techniques.

 

[willtalk]

The more athletic a players game is, the more they are susceptible to knee and joint injuries. Womens ACL's are not constructed to take the stress that so many athletic females put them under. It
s really a catch 22 situation. Also the ACL's strength varies between person to person, so when you combine a weaker ACL with a player who's athleticism put it under a lot of stress this sort of thing results.

 

[Classof87]

I've seen a lot of commentary on social media about this, with people claiming soooo many things on why this is happening at UConn. It leads me to believe that many people out there have the tinfoil wrapped a little too tightly on their heads, lol. I'm no doctor/physical therapist/atheltic trainer/orthopedist, so I'm not going to try to give some medical explanation... In my opinion, this is just the law of averages catching up to us. We went so many years without a key player getting a season ending injury, it was bound to catch up to us sooner or later. That being said, I believe with Azzi going down, our bill is now paid in full and I think we've pre-paid for a couple of seasons.

The silver lining is now Geno will be forced to play the freshmen a lot more than he would prefer. A team NEEDS to have at minimum a 7 man rotation, preferably 8. If he sticks to a 5.5 to 6 man rotation, we will be dead tired and beat up come March. In this day & age, that is not a recipe for winning a Natty.

 

[hookshot]

with her sweet shot, every team would be willing to sign her, every team.

Most likely a top team with a strong roster already and a little lower drafting position. As you say everyone can use a shooter but some rebuilding teams have specific, immediate needs and are risk adverse

 

[Sifaka]

#1. First and foremost- Sincere concern for Azzi, and heartfelt wishes for a full recovery.
2. Next- See #1, above.

 

[Pharos]

This is too flip by miles... and I wish her an amazing, surprisingly strong recovery and rehab... though can't help picturing her "dead eye" turned to something like Olympic target shooting... Whatever the future, she'll be stronger, for sure, in all the ways that matter...

 

[hoophuskee]

The silver lining is now Geno will be forced to play the freshmen a lot more than he would prefer. A team NEEDS to have at minimum a 7 man rotation, preferably 8. If he sticks to a 5.5 to 6 man rotation, we will be dead tired and beat up come March. In this day & age, that is not a recipe for winning a Natty.

I don't believe there is a silver lining. He was going to play the bench a lot anyway. Because teamed up with Paige, Azzi Fudd would have been "that" good to help generate both a lot of blowouts, and other instances large enough leads during a game he would have given time. He hasn't had this type of luxury in the past several years.

I'm sure everyone in Azzi's "circle" is heartbroken. As a fan, I'm crushed. I've been very vocal on here that Azzi was going to be top ten All-American at least and more like top 5.

She has a quick release, great understanding of movement, great understanding of the game, and great understanding how to get off her shot. And playing with Paige, this would have left her to be a top 5 player imo. I know there were skeptics of her game but I've felt if Paige and Azzi were healthy, they would have eventually gotten on such a roll that it would have been the most efficient combo of scoring perimeter tandem we had ever seen since Bird/DT relative to eras.

We could have seen complete and utter guard/perimeter dominance. The fundamentals of shoot and pass and drive (effectively) would have been off-the-charts. Azzi and Paige would have talked about their success well into their old age and UCONN would have celebrated that. Not only does this hurt Azzi and UCONN, but it is highly probable Azzi would have also spurred on more youth to fashion their game around her too. IMO many more fans would rather watch a game of high skill 79-78 vs a mud fight 54-53. There is no silver lining.

 

[NEforceUConn]

 

[BRS24]

The more athletic a players game is, the more they are susceptible to knee and joint injuries. Womens ACL's are not constructed to take the stress that so many athletic females put them under. It
s really a catch 22 situation. Also the ACL's strength varies between person to person, so when you combine a weaker ACL with a player who's athleticism put it under a lot of stress this sort of thing results.

Here's the thing about ACLs. There is no strength in a ligament compared to muscle strength. A ligament is just that. Knees are one of the most poorly designed joints to do what we ask of them, nevermind college and professional athletes. And if your anatomy from the hip to knee and knee to ankle has an extreme "Q" angle (trust me, I've researched it), it may cause more issues with women than men. And then there is the imbalance of quad to hamstring strength in women. And, the femoral notch in women is narrower than men, so there's less "play" if a knee joint is impacted. My doc went in with a "dremel tool" to widen the notch in my femur before replacing my ACL. Funny thing, the patellar tendon, sometimes used as a replacement for the ACL, is 1.5 to 2 times "stronger" than an ACL. Sadly, I've been thru it 2x and did a ^&*%-ton of research and asked my orthopedic surgeon 100s of questions.

 

[maple]

As someone who suffered from a non-contact ACL tear during sports practice in high school, I have a feeling I understand how devastated Azzi is. Knees are fragile things and even with surgery and the best PT, sometimes they're just going to be an issue no matter what. Those who are able to get back to the level they were before (like Paige) are the lucky ones. I know I never was quite the same. Just such a shame. I agree with the Shea comparison. I hope Azzi can find some sort of positive from this.

 

[Skeets]

I don’t think she has a pro career at this point….

If you mean right here and now, you are 100% correct because she's not a pro, she's a college basketball player with 2+ years (I assume this qualifies as a red shirt year) left in her college career. If you mean after 2+ years she has no pro career, that remains to be seen. It's going to go 1 of 2 ways: Shea Ralph or Sue Bird. I'm not writing Azzi off yet and I hope she doesn't write herself off. 1 year of rehab followed by 2 years of playing is a long time.

 

[Skeets]

Azzi needs to get serious about her health like Paige did. Get level and balanced. Do more core exercises, eat healthy, get good sleep...theres a whole list of things Paige did to strengthen her knee and ankles and to put herself in a better place to stay on the court.

Just want to let you know that, unlike some follow on posts, this didn't offend me. If we were talking about anyone other than a star D1 basketball player it would be excellent advice. But I have to believe that Azzi already has, and will continue to have, of whole squad of experts to help her. Plus she's got some kid names Paige to stay on her case. She didn't get to be where she is without being serious.