Injuries

[BfromCT]

Last week in his presser before the Tennessee game Coach Auriemma addressed the unprecedented run of injuries over the past two years, something about which Boneyarders are acutely aware. A poster a couple of days ago addressed the career ending injuries suffered by highly recruited Keirsten Walters who was part of the class that included Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Ashja Jones, and Tamika Williams who never played very much. We old timers remember the injury of Shea Ralph in the the NCAA regionals in 1997, that of Nykesha Sales near the end of the 1998 season, and those to Svetlana Abrosimova and again Shea Ralph during the 2000-01 season.

What concerns me the most are the disabling injuries that ruin careers. In addition to Walters, there was freshman Nicole Wolff who started at point in her freshman year in November 2002, was injured relatively early in the season, and was never the same. Of course, we remember how a succession of knee injuries ruined the career of Caroline Doty.

What is our situation today? Paige Bueckers is out for the season and having suffered injuries in two of her three years on campus. Both Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme have also been incapacitated for significant periods of time in both their freshman and sophomore seasons. Will any of them ever be 100% for any significant period of time again? We hope that Caroline will be ready to play again soon and that Azzi will be healthy by the time the Big East tournament begins and there are some grounds for optimism. But what about further down the line? Will Bueckers, Ducharme, and Fudd be healthy next season? It may or may not be a coincidence that the Huskies have two McDonalds All American guards coming in next season, guard Allie Ziebell in 2024, and Kellis Fisher already for the following year.

South Carolina appears to be odds on favorite to repeat as national champion this season. Our Huskies do not have a prayer without both Ducharme and Fudd of reaching the championship game.

 

[sun]

Paige's last injury was not related to UConn's official BB program so I don't consider it as being part of the rash of UConn related injuries.
It was reported earlier that Azzi was considering foot surgery after this season to deal with her foot condition. That was basically an injury that she came to UConn with after playing for Team USA.
We don't know the extent of all their previous BB injuries such as concussions and knee & joint injuries.
Since they can be cumulative they're not really part of a rash of injuries, but rather part of the injury history that follow any player or any person throughout their career & lifetime.
I wouldn't make too much out of them affecting their future BB careers because most injured players improve over the long term.
Look at Aubrey's & Dorka's recoveries as examples.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Many of the injuries suffered were torn ACL or other knee injuries. Women, because of there physiology are much more prone to knee injuries. Depending on the study it's anywhere from 2x to 8x more likely to suffer a serious knee injury than men. They have less stability in the knee and their lower center of gravity puts more strain on it.
When you combine this, the stress of head injuries especially concussions and the fact that the elite women recruits are playing year round basically, there will continue to be more news about injuries. It's like the rash of tommy john surgeries in baseball with high schoolers and college players.
The positive is that like tommy john surgery, many injuries that were career enders just 20 years ago, some even 10 years ago, are much more less likely to kill a career now.
I think Geno, like the fans, are just bummed because it would have been something to see a healthy Paige, Azzi and Senechal on the court together.

 

[augustaTC]

I just hope if Caroline comes back someone fits her for a lightweight helmet...soccer players wear 'em.

 

[Bigboote]

Our Huskies do not have a prayer without both Ducharme and Fudd of reaching the championship game.

I disagree. It's a long shot with neither, but it's not "not a prayer." With either a healthy Azzi or Caroline, the odds improve significantly. Many thought this would be a down season when Paige and Ice went down with their injuries, but I didn't. I haven't given up on this team at all this season, and I'm still not.

I'm hoping Azzi and Caroline come back full strength, but if they don't, this team will give their all, which is considerable.

 

[Happydad745]

At this point in time I don't think anyone really knows how well Paige, Azzi, Ice, and Caroline will recover....I'm sure lots of information about them is kept from the public, so we can only hope for the best. Watching the team this year has been extremely exciting, they are real fighters and a joy to watch. Realistically we have a chance to make the final four again, but who knows who will be available.

 

[maple]

South Carolina appears to be odds on favorite to repeat as national champion this season. Our Huskies do not have a prayer without both Ducharme and Fudd of reaching the championship game.

Nothing is guaranteed in March. I distinctly recall in 2016 when UConn ended up in the FF with 3 other teams that most people would have never expected. And then there was 2013 when Baylor, who had all but been crowned repeat champions, lost well ahead of the title game ...

It's just my opinion but I as a fan I am always going to be optimistic that my team can win. I agree that SC is the team to beat, but that doesn't mean that they can't be beaten and/or that UConn can't find a way to get to the title game. People always like to point out that ND won the title game the same year they lost 3 players to ACL injuries ...

 

[RogueDave]

I was at that game too, it was awful for her, it made it easy to Identify the Dad’s with Daughters, we all responded by immediately standing up when Shea went down screaming.

It cut right through everything and initiated a very primal response from the Dad’s. Never experienced anything like that before.

 

[Skeets]

I disagree. It's a long shot with neither, but it's not "not a prayer." With either a healthy Azzi or Caroline, the odds improve significantly. Many thought this would be a down season when Paige and Ice went down with their injuries, but I didn't. I haven't given up on this team at all this season, and I'm still not.

I'm hoping Azzi and Caroline come back full strength, but if they don't, this team will give their all, which is considerable.

I agree 100%. The team that is currently on the floor can make it to the FF where they will have a punchers chance of taking the NC. If they lose (yet again) the grit these kids have, you can rest assured they will go down swinging.

 

[Longtime fan]

Last week in his presser before the Tennessee game Coach Auriemma addressed the unprecedented run of injuries over the past two years, something about which Boneyarders are acutely aware. A poster a couple of days ago addressed the career ending injuries suffered by highly recruited Keirsten Walters who was part of the class that included Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Ashja Jones, and Tamika Williams who never played very much. We old timers remember the injury of Shea Ralph in the the NCAA regionals in 1997, that of Nykesha Sales near the end of the 1998 season, and those to Svetlana Abrosimova and again Shea Ralph during the 2000-01 season.

What concerns me the most are the disabling injuries that ruin careers. In addition to Walters, there was freshman Nicole Wolff who started at point in her freshman year in November 2002, was injured relatively early in the season, and was never the same. Of course, we remember how a succession of knee injuries ruined the career of Caroline Doty.

What is our situation today? Paige Bueckers is out for the season and having suffered injuries in two of her three years on campus. Both Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme have also been incapacitated for significant periods of time in both their freshman and sophomore seasons. Will any of them ever be 100% for any significant period of time again? We hope that Caroline will be ready to play again soon and that Azzi will be healthy by the time the Big East tournament begins and there are some grounds for optimism. But what about further down the line? Will Bueckers, Ducharme, and Fudd be healthy next season? It may or may not be a coincidence that the Huskies have two McDonalds All American guards coming in next season, guard Allie Ziebell in 2024, and Kellis Fisher already for the following year.

South Carolina appears to be odds on favorite to repeat as national champion this season. Our Huskies do not have a prayer without both Ducharme and Fudd of reaching the championship game.

And South Carolina recruits just as well as UCOnn. We have two AAs coming in...so do they.