Gilbert and Diarra Redshirting

[auggie22]

WTF is up with Diarra? Was this ever an issue in high school where he missed extended periods of time? I don't remember ever reading anything about health issues with him.

This is on Chief and his changes to our strength and conditioning program.

I bet they look good on the beach though.

 

[temery]

It's bad news, but it was not unexpected at this point, was it? I've thought for at least a couple weeks those two plus Larrier wer likely out for the season. What am I missing.

 

[hthusky74]

You are probably one of the fans who thought he would play against Okie State, smh. Alterique is going through exactly what Dunn went through at PC. It was absurd talking about him playing a few days later, the shoulder is a ticking time bomb. Surgery and serious rehab is the only avenue, he will come back as good as new or better.

They probably told him that last April when he had the surgery on his shoulder.

 

[King Husky]

The injury bug happens to every team once in a while... it's just part of sports. But now I want to see Ollie make this team thrive and preach the next-man-up mentality. If there is any inkling in the locker room that they have an excuse to be bad, they will be bad. Ollie can prove a lot about himself if he gets these guys to compete at a high level, and I think he will.

 

[nychuskyfan]

I'm sad for Diarra because this could be a career ender for him.

Are you an actual doctor qualified to opine on this, or did you just stay at a Holiday Inn express last night?

 

[RipCity]

This is the karmic sacrifice we're making to develop our young bigs, right?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The injury bug happens to every team once in a while... it's just part of sports. But now I want to see Ollie make this team thrive and preach the next-man-up mentality. If there is any inkling in the locker room that they have an excuse to be bad, they will be bad. Ollie can prove a lot about himself if he gets these guys to compete at a high level, and I think he will.

Ollie's proven before that when the deck is stacked against him, he succeeds. This season suddenly has a lot of parallels to 2012-13 - a depleted roster that has a lot of youth but still some talented players, and suddenly no expectations of success. This time he has a postseason to motivate them for. There will be a lot of growing pains this year that hopefully will pay dividends next year and the year after, but I'm excited to watch these kids learn to play, to grow as a team, hopefully give Amida and Rodney a postseason berth to send them off, and build towards a strong 17-18.

 

[auror]

2017 will be something with the squad we will put on the court. Until then enjoy Amida, Kenton and Rodney all contributors to the Championship.

When you add Ryan Boatright it kinda suxs since our Seniors have been dealt a bad hand for the last couple of seasons.

The good thing is this trend will break since we will have no Seniors next season.

For Gilbert, if he doesn't get draft buzz due to his height (and perhaps injury concerns), it will be very nice to have a 5th year McD starting point guard in '20/'21.

 

[intlzncster]

I hope there is some way to treat Diarra's chronic knee issue, otherwise he could be in for a rough college career.

I'm sad for Diarra because this could be a career ender for him.

Isn't Patellofemoral Syndrome "runner's knee"? If so, that's treatable. things like hip stabilization/flexibility -> changing the way you move, and after a period of rest, overall weight training (lowerbody/core). That's what I thought anyway.

 

[champs99and04]

With Gilbert, this season was redeemable. Not saying we were going to the final four, but we could have turned things around, gotten to the tournament, and planted some hope moving towards next season.

Larrier's injury really sucks, but in a different way. I'm not sure we're worse off with Jackson/Durham at the four, but we'd have been worse off next year or the year after with the kid losing valuable reps.

Now, with only eight scholarship players, we're in tough shape. There is enough talent there where I won't entertain any excuses for continuously poor play, but Adams and Purvis have virtually no margin for error now and any team that presses and/or can expose our lack of ball-handlers is going to be a load for us to deal with.

 

[UCweCONN]

This team reminds me of St. John's from some years back when due to injuries and suspensions they barely had enough players to play and relied heavily on walk-ons. Never has a season with such high hopes been dashed so quickly and completely. What exactly is Diarra's issue?

 

[DAC17]

Random bad luck, but this couldn't happen at a worse time for the school. Given the football disaster, things needed a little pick-up.

 

[Tuna]

Bright side: By the end of the season none of our friends who root for other schools will remember that we had Gilbert and Larrier against Wagner and NE. At least then we can blame those losses on extensive injuries when they make fun of us.

 

[HooperScooper]

What exactly is Diarra's issue?

From the UConn press release.

Freshman forward Mamadou Diarra (Queens, N.Y.) has been diagnosed with significant patellofemoral syndrome, resulting in intense knee discomfort with the stress on the knees that high-level college basketball demands. At this time, surgery is not indicated, but Diarra will redshirt for the 2016-17 season, with the expectation that treatment and rehabilitation during the time off from basketball can improve his knee health to the point where he can continue his college basketball career.

 

[Leebo]

You are probably one of the fans who thought he would play against Okie State, smh. Alterique is going through exactly what Dunn went through at PC. It was absurd talking about him playing a few days later, the shoulder is a ticking time bomb. Surgery and serious rehab is the only avenue, he will come back as good as new or better.

You had no idea what the situation was, despite your conviction, and being a game time decision was never the same as thinking he'd play in Maui.

 

[Mr. French]

With Gilbert, this season was redeemable. Not saying we were going to the final four, but we could have turned things around, gotten to the tournament, and planted some hope moving towards next season.

Larrier's injury really sucks, but in a different way. I'm not sure we're worse off with Jackson/Durham at the four, but we'd have been worse off next year or the year after with the kid losing valuable reps.

Now, with only eight scholarship players, we're in tough shape. There is enough talent there where I won't entertain any excuses for continuously poor play, but Adams and Purvis have virtually no margin for error now and any team that presses and/or can expose our lack of ball-handlers is going to be a load for us to deal with.

Pretty spot on.

Unfortunately we haven't seen evidence it could happen, but how much talent is on this team that it shouldn't be out of the question for a few guys to step up big time and the team gels as a whole.

We're so jaded by our inconsistent and maddening play recently that we forget it's possible.

If the guys on the roster right now played the way Ollie envisions in his head, this team still is fairly loaded... That just hasn't happened yet, far from it.

 

[CL82]

I'm sad for Diarra because this could be a career ender for him.

Doesn't sound like it to me:

What is patellofemoral pain syndrome?

 

[BUConn10]

Doesn't sound like it to me:

What is patellofemoral pain syndrome?

Unfortunately, doctors aren't really exactly able to pinpoint the source of the pain of the condition and that's why surgery seems to be rare. A little research says treatment is physical therapy and anti-inflammatory drugs but it's mainly just keeping off the knee and avoiding activities that aggravate it. This could be the type nagging pain that can really hurt a players confidence on the court. Hope it's not severe like the blog post says.

 

[superjohn]

You had no idea what the situation was, despite your conviction, and being a game time decision was never the same as thinking he'd play in Maui.

I see you're another one of those who believed he would play in Maui, lol.

 

[Burnsbros23]

I think all super john was sayingbis it's a very bad sign when the kid separates his shoulder twice in the Spann of 6 months. I certainly felt like it might be an issue when he went out. The way he was holding looked all bad.

 

[Leebo]

I see you're another one of those who believed he would play in Maui, lol.

Got anything other than trolling? Or can you not read?

 

[kansashusky]

I see you're another one of those who believed he would play in Maui, lol.

Dude, we get it.

 

[ihatepants]

Are you an actual doctor qualified to opine on this, or did you just stay at a Holiday Inn express last night?

I know you're just joking around, but yes I am a medical doctor - just not an orthopedic surgeon or sports medicine.

You can read a prospective study about the injury here if you are interested.

 

[pnow15]

Still enough talent to win the AAC Tournament if we can stay healthy.

 

[Cheddie]

Unfortunately, doctors aren't really exactly able to pinpoint the source of the pain of the condition and that's why surgery seems to be rare. A little research says treatment is physical therapy and anti-inflammatory drugs but it's mainly just keeping off the knee and avoiding activities that aggravate it. This could be the type nagging pain that can really hurt a players confidence on the court. Hope it's not severe like the blog post says.

The between lines part that seems bothersome is avoiding aggravating activity. What happens to the knee(s) when he greatly increases his activity next fall? Hope for his sake that wouldn't be a chronic affliction.