Lou has some "support" now on her right knee she aggravated in the last game. Her wonderful smile tells me she is good to go. She is a tough basketball player!
Good point.They, and by they I mean the 5 starters, know as well as we do that if any of them get injured that there is no real replacement.
Given a bench of Patterson, Ines and Deberry, if we had to lose one starter for a couple of games, which would be least damaging to the chances UConn would still be able to win? Hum....AE? No. Dorka? No. Aubrey? No. Lou? No. Nika? No. I quess if I had to choose I'd go with Nika being replaced by Ines, although I wouldn't have much hope that that would work out.
I thought for a second the season might essentially be over when Muhl went down last night. I think they could possibly survive anyone else being hurt, but not Muhl.They, and by they I mean the 5 starters, know as well as we do that if any of them get injured that there is no real replacement.
Given a bench of Patterson, Ines and Deberry, if we had to lose one starter for a couple of games, which would be least damaging to the chances UConn would still be able to win? Hum....AE? No. Dorka? No. Aubrey? No. Lou? No. Nika? No. I quess if I had to choose I'd go with Nika being replaced by Ines, although I wouldn't have much hope that that would work out.
How soon they forget. Nika wasn't NIKA until she learned Uconn. Ines is learning Uconn. She's intelligent, tougher than her light frame may suggest. When IF she is needed, when she is IT, no back up. My money is on Ines. It too is on Patterson and DeBerry, especially DeBerry. You see these 3 developing before your eyes.I thought for a second the season might essentially be over when Muhl went down last night. I think they could possibly survive anyone else being hurt, but not Muhl.
They, and by they I mean the 5 starters, know as well as we do that if any of them get injured that there is no real replacement.
Given a bench of Patterson, Ines and Deberry, if we had to lose one starter for a couple of games, which would be least damaging to the chances UConn would still be able to win? Hum....AE? No. Dorka? No. Aubrey? No. Lou? No. Nika? No. I quess if I had to choose I'd go with Nika being replaced by Ines, although I wouldn't have much hope that that would work out.
Nika is the one you couldn't play without. She is the leader and without her this team would struggle mightily. It really depends on who Geno would put in as the next starter without a clear winner. I think Deberry in a full game would give you points, rebounds, blocks and turnovers. Patterson would give you a defender, rebounder but not too many points.Good point.
@veryolddog I take it you think these gals would make good Marines.Nika and Lou are in a special category by themselves. They have a mission and they will not be deterred by any physical action that has the potential to limit their performance. They are on the court and they will do anything and everything to accomplish their mission. No matter the cost.


That ankle brace might have saved Nika from a few weeks off! She twisted it pretty good - almost 90-degrees.Lou has been beat up and beat up and beat up and she just keeps on Ticking.
Nika is stronger than whiskey and tougher than nails. When she hurt her ankle at a critical point in the game yesterday, she walked off the court, sat down, took her shoe off, cinched up that thick ankle brace and went right back into the fray. She's a AAA badass toughie!
Simply put, I think all five of our starters AND our available bench players are toughing it out the best they can.
Well, at least Caroline was for the first time in uniform (not with the grey sweats) and participated in the pregame warmups…We just need one of Caroline or Azzi, preferably both, as soon as possible. One other scorer besides Lou (and Aubrey to some extent) who will prevent defense from swarming on Lou, and who will give some minutes of rest to another starter. It isn't anyone's fault but I am a basket-case hearing Caroline is close etc. etc but not able to get in the game yet. I'm not blaming her, we all know concussions are serious and impossible to know when someone can play again- but I want her to play so badly. Same with Azzi! Sorry fans but I am just so frustrated! One day they are almost ready, then the next day we should get used to this for a while. Arggh!
Lou has some "support" now on her right knee she aggravated in the last game. Her wonderful smile tells me she is good to go. She is a tough basketball player!
Well, at least Caroline was for the first time in uniform (not with the grey sweats) and participated in the pregame warmups…
She could just prefer to wear earplugs on the bench after needing to wear them for her concussion. I'm not sure there is enough evidence to support she actually needs them vs prefers to watch games that way now.Question, can Caroline play with the ear plugs in her ears? We don't know how much noise is actually muted by the plugs she is wearing now, and if they allow enough noise to come through for her to hear enough from her teammates, she may be able to play with them in. I know I am reaching here, but, what the hell. Desperation leads to some weird thoughts. Maybe there is a rule about that, but as I said, who knows.
They've got Creighton on Wednesday.I forgot the team is off until Saturday- they need this time to build back their energy reserves & to heal
Oops! Knew it was too good to be trueThey've got Creighton on Wednesday.
From experience, the only braces that really work are the titanium ones. They're super lightweight, but you know they're there just by the size of them, and I would imagine you've hit the nail on the head -- for an elite athlete, anything you can feel likely throws you off your game.Makes you wonder why Azzi has never even worn a knee brace while playing - especially with her history of knee problems.......you see a fair number of women wearing and playing full throttle with them even tho they look to be "cumbersome"