If Gilbert is out for the year again...

[businesslawyer]

I think the overall moral of the story is that no matter what, we'd only have 4 guards. A 5th guard was never at play. There was no room.

Eh. We didn't need Williams. With one spot being used by the redshirt, 7 frontcourt and 5 guards would have made more sense.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Didn't Larrier tear his other ACL in high school? I know Diarra had previous knee issues.

Durham yes, Larrier no.

Diarra's knee issue came as a surprise to the fanbase, but it's hard to believe the staff had no idea (or maybe it's not so hard to believe).

Regardless, KO resorting to damaged goods and sloppy seconds in recruiting has hurt this program big-time.

 

[shizzle787]

Okay.

Stop eating paint.

It’s bad for your brain.

Okie dokie.

 

[businesslawyer]

Are you stupid?

He had his second injury in the McD’s game.

You think we should have dropped him?

Is your first question rhetorical?

 

[LIuconn]

The brace thing was a huge red flag to me, even after he was 'cleared for 100-% basketball activity.' They still trotted him out.

It's messed up to play him if he wasn't ready, and it seems like he wasn't.

 

[Walker11]

Any team in the country not named Duke or Kentucky would have taken Durham.

Doubtful but I have no problem with taking a chance on him and I am on your side in this argument.

 

[shizzle787]

Is your first question rhetorical?

Yes.

 

[upstater]

Bad workout preparation can lead to a higher chance of a recurrence of injuries or new injuries.

The kid hurt his shoulder badly, and then a week into the season he got hurt again. I can't even imagine how S&C at UConn would be to blame for that.

 

[methodology]

Nothing UConn could do about this. buddy of mine has same issue and had to retire from playing hockey proprofessionally. Had 4 surgeries and said didn't make a difference he was still having it popping out when taking slap shots and just the rigors of hockey. Said he would take handfuls of pain meds before and after games then decided he had enough and left the sport.

Shoulders aren't elbows or knees different animal and everyone different. Can't fault the staff on this one.

Hopefully it's not another lost season and he can rehab and come back later this year. Really feel for the kid. Love his game from the little I've seen. Wish him the best no matter what the outcome

 

[BaZZnBOAT]

Eh. We didn't need Williams. With one spot being used by the redshirt, 7 frontcourt and 5 guards would have made more sense.

You're right. We basically went and got KW after that Italian kid chose Texas Tech.

 

[king conn]

Kris Dunn had shoulder issues for 2 straight years at Providence and then played on to the NBA like it never happened.
Does anyone have any insight as to how they solved his problem?

 

[AdamaNation]

KO screwed up big time by not retaining MAL and not getting another stud PG in Waters who would have been more than an adequate replacement.

If they were scared off by a guy with shaky medical history who may not play more than a handful of games in his entire career, that is abysmal program management by the coaches.

Stop stop stop. For the millionth time. Waters was NEVER coming to UCONN. Read any post. It was not happening EVER!!

 

[AdamaNation]

Wait.

No.

He hurt it twice before he got here and then he hurt it about a week into the season.

This has zero to do with UConn and everything to do with God giving Alterique a crappy shoulder.

Agree see Greg oden and Brandon Roy for knees

 

[AdamaNation]

The kid hurt his shoulder badly, and then a week into the season he got hurt again. I can't even imagine how S&C at UConn would be to blame for that.

That’s why Carlos left so fast. IT WAS HIM!!!

 

[Horatio]

You're right. We basically went and got KW after that Italian kid chose Texas Tech.

We have two kids (KW and DO) in which we get nothing out of. Nothing. And their both 27 years old . We could've used another guard and at least a 1-2star 7ft African rim protector. It's just misfortune. Oh well. Are there any second semester kids available ? Smh

 

[UCDaveD]

I tweeted out yesterday that I was hearing AG could be out for the rest of the season. Was hoping it wasn't true. We'll see, but nothing I've heard makes me optimistic.

 

[JimHurley]

We have two kids (KW and DO) in which we get nothing out of. Nothing. And their both 27 years old . We could've used another guard and at least a 1-2star 7ft African rim protector. It's just misfortune. Oh well. Are there any second semester kids available ? Smh

We’ll basically be playing with nine guys now. Likely starters will be Anderson, Adams, Vital, Larrier, and Cobb (once healthy). Mamadou first off the bench. Polley to give the guards a breather. Carlton to back up Cobb. Whaley will be an energy guy giving us 10 minutes a night. I hope AA, JA, CV, and TL are all ready for 30+ minutes a night. Also hope MD and Tyler Phommachanh are ready to step up with some bench scoring.

 

[intlzncster]

We have two kids (KW and DO) in which we get nothing out of. Nothing. And their both 27 years old . We could've used another guard and at least a 1-2star 7ft African rim protector. It's just misfortune. Oh well. Are there any second semester kids available ? Smh

hahaha love this.

 

[Horatio]

We’ll basically be playing with nine guys now. Likely starters will be Anderson, Adams, Vital, Larrier, and Cobb (once healthy). Mamadou first off the bench. Polley to give the guards a breather. Carlton to back up Cobb. Whaley will be an energy guy giving us 10 minutes a night. I hope AA, JA, CV, and TL are all ready for 30+ minutes a night. Also hope MD and Tyler Phommachanh xare ready to step up with some bench scoring.

Yep. Polley is gonna have to step up. Once Cobb is healthy we should be fine with the bigs. Under regular circumstances I think
Whaley would be a redshirt and probably wouldn't be here if Sid just came to Uconn in the first place. There's just too many plot twists.

 

[JimHurley]

Yep. Polley is gonna have to step up. Once Cobb is healthy we should be fine with the bigs. Under regular circumstances I think
Whaley would be a redshirt and probably wouldn't be here if Sid just came to Uconn in the first place. There's just too many plot twists.

Polley is by no means a guard but him playing decent minutes at the 3 will give our guards some rest in the 3-guard lineup. He might be the most crucial part from here on out. If he doesn't perform AA, JA, and CV will all be played 35+ a night. And that's just calling for fatigue and injury. If Tyler Phommachanh gives us 20 minutes a night with 5 pts/5 rebs and some good defense, I'll be happy.

 

[August_West]

Y’all got shizzle’d

 

[temery]

The idea Ollie will get a pass if Gilbert is out is absurd. The idea many gave him a pass last year, with multiple injuries, is absurd.

“Oz and others” seem to the type hoping for a crappy season so Ollie would be fired.

As Oz and others are speculating, it gives KO another pass for this year.

It's hard for any team to become a cohesive winning unit with your all-American lead PG going down a few games in back-to-back years. This is especially so when you consider the offense that UConn runs.

UConn PGs have historically been an extension of the coach on the floor, and we'd preferably have 2 PGs on the floor at once. It's looking like Adams might have to shoulder the load on his own for back to back years with no backup, and no 2-PG lineups.

I know many will disagree with giving KO mulligans with the injuries. But with all things considered, not having Gilbert in back to back years is just a killer, and you can't have a fair evaluation of anyone as a result. No, it's not a cop-out... UConn isn't a recruiting giant like UK, Duke, etc. that can still compete after losing an all-American PG. Expections need to be tempered another year and we need to recruit 2 PGs next year to compensate.

 

[nychuskyfan]

Fault and responsibility are not the same thing. It is clearly KO's responsibility that we only had 4 guards where one had a shoulder issue with a strong possibility of recurrence. That doesn't make MAL's decommit his fault. Neither you nor I have any idea if KO had any fault in that.

That’s not how it works when you’re making 3 bucks a year as a D1 coach. He deserves the credit when they win and the fault for losses and personnel.

It’s especially true for the MAL decommit which was not a one-off and came shortly after the 3 existing players left. Not hard to read the tea leaves here - that’s a referendum on the program and by extension KO. Something was (is?) very wrong.

 

[Kitaman]

My goodness. MAL would've had so much playing time and most likely started. Horrible turn of events to add to last year.
We're down to three guards people. Smh

And none on the bench with this current lineup.

 

[whaler11]

You guys do know that Durham is at Notre Dame right?

And that Diarra is starting to look pretty good?

Can we be fair? Gilbert’s shoulder may keep him from contributing but what the heck was Ollie supposed to do about that?