Hurley press availability

[Marat]

I have some confidence that Stewart can elevate his play for extended minutes. He's got talent, gives opportunity to show it for an extended period.

I wonder if Liam is out 4 to to 6 weeks, any chance he considers returning ?

 

[RuffRuff]

100 percent. People don’t want to accept that this has the potential to derail a promising season.

Go ahead and hit the laugh button all day but it’s the truth.

Went into the season touting depth as a strength - now is the time for it to show up. This may ding out chance to win the BE reg season, yes. Was hoping for a max 1 loss in the next 7 before we go to Marquette. We just may pick up a couple more. It shouldn’t impact March all that much. Guys have to step up - it’s what separates good from great teams.

 

[RuffRuff]

They can be even longer than that, it depends on the severity. Let's pray he's a quick healer and it's not too severe.

Guess it’s on the less than severe side given the earliest report was that he’d likely be ok in a game or two. 19 year old kid. I’m optimistic.

 

[Slick]

High ankle sprains can be 6 weeks. Ugh.

Depends could be grade 1 high ankle sprain. That’s 2 to 3 weeks. Grade 2 ankle sprain can be 4 to 6 weeks

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Did we know about Bouk and a skateboard?

 

[Waquoit]

Keep repeating yourself. A big injury to one of our best players may hurt the season...wow.

Yeah, what good does it do? I'm thinking it's time for the sophomores to make a leap. Here's their chance.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

We will have 8-9 more shots to spread around. I expect AK will need to be much more aggressive until Liam is back.

 

[uh-no]

time for ross and stewart to saddle up and ride..,

 

[Hunt for 7]

Well I was afraid it was a high ankle sprain. At least it is not bad enough to require surgery. But it was classic case of what a high ankle sprain is. His ankle bent out away from torso. A tough kid like McNelley new right away it was different than the tens of times he has rolled his ankle playing ball.

They hurt like heck when they happen almost like you are walking on a broken ankle when it first happens.

I had a feeling we were going to be playing January without our best player. Let’s just hope it does not linger.

If you want to see what a severe high ankle sprain can do see: Cooper Kupp….. read through his issues with this injury.

But Liam is young he will be doing daily rehab and it is a good sign that surgery was not required to strengthen the ligament that gets stretched.

 

[mauconnfan]

Neither Stewart or Ross bring what McNeeley does especially on the offensive side this is gonna hurt across the board. He’s our playmaker off the ball so Diarra is gonna get pressured hard. Teams know Ball doesn’t make plays off the dribble this will force a different offense hopefully give Reed a chance to get the ball more on the block. Also need everyone to rebound a bit more.

This is a tough one, may see Abraham get some chances to play. I’d like for that to happen. .500 for a month will be welcomed. Hang on tight!

 

[Hunt for 7]

They can be even longer than that, it depends on the severity. Let's pray he's a quick healer and it's not too severe.

Only Patrick Mahomes can play on high ankle sprains right away so either he is a freak of nature or maybe they are not high ankle sprains. The only good thing is that it was more the fall than some one landing on it and bending it out more so hopefully it is less severe. Either way they have to make sure he does not come back to fast because it is easier to get re-injured if he comes back too quickly.

I would be happy with one month and a full recovery. Gives us time to get him back in the mix for a month.

I did not think the hug from Johnson that Borges shared was a hug of joy.

Next man up.

 

[Seamus84]

time for ross and stewart to saddle up and ride..,

…..and shoot, drive, pass and rebound like Liam. Tall task.

 

[superjohn]

Only Patrick Mahomes can play on high ankle sprains right away so either he is a freak of nature or maybe they are not high ankle sprains. The only good thing is that it was more the fall than some one landing on it and bending it out more so hopefully it is less severe. Either way they have to make sure he does not come back to fast because it is easier to get re-injured if he comes back too quickly.

I would be happy with one month and a full recovery. Gives us time to get him back in the mix for a month.

I did not think the hug from Johnson that Borges shared was a hug of joy.

Next man up.

Ha, my buddy texted me that Mahomes plays on a high ankle sprain. My response was Mahomes isn't normal. A lot NFL players aren't normal.

Ronnie Lott had his finger chopped off so he could play. Jack Youngblood played through the playoffs and the Superbowl on a broken leg.

 

[gsmooth]

100 percent. People don’t want to accept that this has the potential to derail a promising season.

Go ahead and hit the laugh button all day but it’s the truth.

Yup it can derail the season for sure. No other choice but for Stewart, Ross, and maybe Abraham to step it up.
This is why I felt lousy after the DePaul game..

 

[ec33]

100 percent. People don’t want to accept that this has the potential to derail a promising season.

Go ahead and hit the laugh button all day but it’s the truth.

Or it has the potential to make the season better. This team has to find a way to not rely so heavily on a freshman (a very talented one, but the inconsistency is there and he very likely will be negated at some point during the tournament).

The team is now going to have to find a way win without him. Run through the offense on a more consistent basis outside of relying of McNeeley to create out of sheer talent (something they are perfectly capable during stretches -- especially late in games). This means Ball and Karaban are going to have to step up to be offensive weapons throughout the game -- not just picking moments.

Ross, Stewart, and Mahaney are all going to have more opportunities at the 2 and 3. Ross needs the experience. Stewart needs more playing time to get into the flow. Mahaney needs more time on the court off the ball to perhaps gain more confidence.

Obviously if this proves to be 8-10 weeks it becomes more problematic but we are not at the point of catastrophizing quite yet (well, I don't think we should be, but apparently you disagree as you now have UConn as a bubble team after 3 weeks without Liam).

 

[Kembacity]

This is what I expected, 3 weeks at a minimum. I’m not scared, we might lose a game here or there but I strongly believe in JStew. He’s had a few games where he only played a little but still had an impact. I’m ready for Donnie’s cousin!

 

[gmc1055]

Next man up

 

[HailUConn]

Hurley read the yard: in Hurley we trust!

 

[Hunt for 7]

Ha, my buddy texted me that Mahomes plays on a high ankle sprain. My response was Mahomes isn't normal. A lot NFL players aren't normal.

Ronnie Lott had his finger chopped off so he could play. Jack Youngblood played through the playoffs and the Superbowl on a broken leg.

I have my doubts that Mahomes plays with high ankle sprains but the night his knee was dislocated on that QB sneak and that injury was gruesome yet I think he almost came back in that game or only missed one or two games so maybe he is super human.

Not sure what Youngblood (I am a Rams fan and he was one of my hero’s as a boy) was given for pain to play on the broken leg.

But those NFL players I think have the advantage of a toradol shots before the game and at half time. That shot can hide a lot of pain.

Can’t mess with Liam’s career. He is going to have to be 100% before we see him. This sucks but to be honest not surprising. After I saw the replay I was fairly certain we would be hearing high ankle sprain.

I had it happen to me once when a golf cart ran over my ankle. I knew right away it was a lot worse than the other rolled ankles I had dealt with, but at 23 I never even went to a doctor. I was not able to play any basketball for a good two months and then it lingered into the winter. It took four month to fully recover. Of course that is without the medical care that Liam will receive.

Even with mild high ankle sprains I think the ligament/tendon does pull off the bone a bit and that is what takes so long for them to heal. The surgery they now do to correct it places a band around the ligament to accelerate the healing process. If it is worse there is a more invasive surgery with screws but that is six month recovery time.

The only concern I have is that sometimes they do not heal on their own unfortunately, it takes about three weeks to see if it is healing if they get that far into the injury and the healing is not progressing surgery is the best option.

Not trying to be a Debbie downer but this a serious injury. And timelines with this injury are always wild as$$ guesses at first.

 

[UCfor3]

Puts even more pressure on Hassan. Liam was the guy other than Hassan that can initiate the offense or take the ball to the hoop off the bounce. Ball movement and off ball movement will be key to keep the offense from bogging down too much.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm holding off adjusting expectations for his return until some 50+ year old BY'ers tell us about their high ankle sprng from 1997 while playing beer league softball.

 

[Palatine]

If Stew could play defense like Ross he would be a great player.
If Ross could play offense like Stew he would be a great player.

Hurley will have to figure out game situations and sub accordingly. This, obviously, isn't optimum. But it will accelerate development of some of the younger dudes. It will be interesting to see who is in games in the last five minutes. That will reveal a lot.

 

[fatlucy]

100 percent. People don’t want to accept that this has the potential to derail a promising season.

Go ahead and hit the laugh button all day but it’s the truth.

OMG, you’re such a downer. We’ll be fine.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Good thing is our BE schedule is back loaded.

First thing I checked when I saw how gingerly he was walking

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Could be an amazing opportunity for Ahmad.