Azzi out for 2 weeks minimum

[Heytherego]

 

[oldude]

Ugh…

Better now than at the end of the season I guess, so long as she is able to come back at 100%.

 

[Bama fan]

Unfortunate for her and the team, but perhaps they can prevent a more serious situation down the road. Meanwhile, others need to step up and help.

 

[Carnac]

I gave a like for posting this information and for the decision to shut her down now and not risk further injury.

 

[Vowelguy]

 

[EricLA]

Ugh…

Better now than at the end of the season I guess, so long as she is able to come back at 100%.

She's been injured at least since her stint with Team USA over the summer. Seems like it's been lingering for a few months at least. Hopeful with complete rest, she's able to heal and not aggravate it - potentially putting her season in jeopardy.

An injury that has been around that long can be a serious concern.

Having said that, possibly silver lining for Caroline and Mir in that they could get extended PT which will bode well for the team once Azzi comes back at full strength... Hopefully Aubrey is available soon as well so we can see what she can do this year...

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

Perhaps this explains why every person she guarded got around her so easily. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!

 

[UConnCat]

Geno hinted last week this was coming.

“Azzi is not 100 percent healthy,” Auriemma said. “She’s playing on a bad foot so we’ve got to address that. If she’s healthy, that changes a lot about our offense. She can’t move as well as she needs to move. That’s an issue we’re going to be addressing this week.”

 

[Nolefan]

And a few folks on here already thought she was gonna be a flop smh … hard to move on 1 foot

 

[Alydar]

I had a stress fracture once. It would be fine for months sometimes and then I would just move the foot even once while sitting and it felt like a nail going through the top of my foot. I'd limp some for a couple days and then be fine again. Hasn't happened in 15 years now.

 

[Alydar]

The Louisville game is the 19th.

 

[UConnCat]

And a few folks on here already thought she was gonna be a flop smh … hard to move on 1 foot

A flop? Who said that?

 

[Bigboote]

We're doomed! And with Seton Hall in two days!

Time for Nika (I hope she's close to 100% now) and Caroline to step up. Being pressed into action may be the best thing for Caroline. Also hope to get Aubrey back soon. The great thing about a deep team is they can withstand a loss or two like this. I hope the coaching/training/medical staff have a good handle on it and can keep her out as long as need be.

 

[Nolefan]

A flop? Who said that?

Look at the game threads there was a few

 

[Bonpland]

I join with others in hoping that this will be just a break in her schedule and that she will receive the kind of medical attention that she needs to return full strength and develop into the player we all hope that she can be.

But when I heard this today I couldn't help but to think of Nicole Wolff and what she went through in her time here. I've always been disappointed on her behalf in what became of her college basketball career.

She was much heralded and her arrival was greatly anticipated and in her first game she scored 18 points went 4-5 from three and if you watch the video you come away thinking that she was about to become another Uconn great.

But she developed stress fractures in her feet and that first game was the highlight of her career. Medical care is much improved today and I'm sure that Azzi will return and light things up again so I don't mean this to in some way to compare the two.

I've just never gotten over what happened to Nicole and hearing about Azzi forced me to revisit the memory. It's almost twenty years ago now but I always wonder what those post Taurasi teams might have been able to achieve if they had the Nicole Wolff that we saw in that first game.

By the time she was a senior she was an afterthought and didn't see much playing time but when she and Ann Strother arrived in Storrs a lot of us thought we were in for another run of championships.

We can all make a list of players whom we have seen suffer through career altering injuries but Nicole's experience was more of the "what might have been" variety. She didn't go down like Shea or Svetlana; stars who had established their pedigrees before a devastating injury cur short their careers.

Let's hope to see Azzi become the first team All-American that we feel she can be, Nicole never really got that chance.

 

[LoboDays]

What’s with all this “time to step up” stuff on the Azzi out for 2 weeks” thread? Did she leave some kind of a hole that I missed that others must fill? And if her injury occurred prior to the season and the quality of her play was a result from that injury, why did they wait till December 1st to rest her? And where is that director of sports performance and holistic psycho babble they hired to take care of these things. These flexible Happy Hours are killing me.

 

[ballerfan]

Sad news, but given previous reports of her injury, not surprising. With this kind of problem, it might take longer than two weeks.

People here are often 1) Azzi is overrated or 2) Azzi is the greatest. She isn’t overrated. I think we can take the word of Steph Curry. But from what I’ve read, she needs time to adapt to the college game. Her problem is not just the foot.

My concern is that UConn needs her in March. That means she needs time to heal and then time to improve before it really matters. The longer she’s out, the faster she has to improve. She’s a generational talent, so I’m going to remain optimistic.

In the meantime, Nika can now show people on the BY that she’s like a honey badger taking on a bear, as oldude said. That image will never leave my head.

 

[JellyBean]

Just hoping for the best for Azzi.

 

[cohenzone]

Perhaps this explains why every person she guarded got around her so easily. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!

She has seemed much slower than I expected. I wondered if she was healthy. Looks like she isn’t.

 

[D J B]

I had a stress fracture once. It would be fine for months sometimes and then I would just move the foot even once while sitting and it felt like a nail going through the top of my foot. I'd limp some for a couple days and then be fine again. Hasn't happened in 15 years now.

So, you're available off the bench then?

 

[Biff]

With this kind of problem, it might take longer than two weeks.

A lot of people seem to be not catching on to that point.

 

[D J B]

A flop? Who said that?

Some folks have other folks in their heads running around bumping into each other and mumbling among themselves.

 

[JoePgh]

I join with others in hoping that this will be just a break in her schedule and that she will receive the kind of medical attention that she needs to return full strength and develop into the player we all hope that she can be.

But when I heard this today I couldn't help but to think of Nicole Wolff and what she went through in her time here. I've always been disappointed on her behalf in what became of her college basketball career.

She was much heralded and her arrival was greatly anticipated and in her first game she scored 18 points went 4-5 from three and if you watch the video you come away thinking that she was about to become another Uconn great.

But she developed stress fractures in her feet and that first game was the highlight of her career. Medical care is much improved today and I'm sure that Azzi will return and light things up again so I don't mean this to in some way to compare the two.

I've just never gotten over what happened to Nicole and hearing about Azzi forced me to revisit the memory. It's almost twenty years ago now but I always wonder what those post Taurasi teams might have been able to achieve if they had the Nicole Wolff that we saw in that first game.

By the time she was a senior she was an afterthought and didn't see much playing time but when she and Ann Strother arrived in Storrs a lot of us thought we were in for another run of championships.

We can all make a list of players whom we have seen suffer through career altering injuries but Nicole's experience was more of the "what might have been" variety. She didn't go down like Shea or Svetlana; stars who had established their pedigrees before a devastating injury cur short their careers.

Let's hope to see Azzi become the first team All-American that we feel she can be, Nicole never really got that chance.

Much of what you say is very accurate, but not all of it (per my recollection). Nicole Wolff did indeed suffer a stress fracture in her freshman year, and that kept her out of serious action until her junior year.

In both her junior and senior years, she was physically healthy by all accounts, showed outstanding effort in practice and led the team in fitness measures. But at that point (for reasons that remain unclear) she suffered from "above the shoulders" issues and couldn't translate her outstanding practice performance into game performance. Geno gave her every opportunity. He made her team captain and also made her a starter in both years (as I recall). She did well defensively (except when she tried to guard Seimone Augustus and the small quick guard from North Carolina whose name I have forgotten). But she never got untracked at the offensive end, so Geno couldn't give her major minutes.

Her issues in her junior and senior years seemed to me to be similar to those of Molly Bent in a later era -- mostly not of a physical nature. I hope it isn't endemic to players from southeastern Massachusetts, or (if it is) that it doesn't affect Caroline Ducharme.

Although Azzi can be harshly self-critical, I don't think she is the kind of person who is likely to have disabling non-physical issues. If that is true, then the precedents of Nicole and Molly shouldn't be expected to apply to her.

 

[gold2323]

She is injured prone not saying this to be negative but she has had several bad injuries….hopefully this will pass sooner than later….she has utmost upside as a player but expecting her to be Paige is not realistic….Paige is Paige no one like her.

 

[Vowelguy]

Wolffs problems went waaaay beyond a stress fracture. She had an ACL her 2nd year. And think she may have had mono too at some point.

Swin Cash had a stress fracture her frosh year. While that was a bad year for UConn (98-99), she healed just fine.