I still think there is a decent chance Andrej plays one of the games on the WC trip.
Worse case, they will rest him and he will be back for Michigan.
Worse case, they will rest him and he will be back for Michigan.
We played at UCLA in '63, '65 and '97. Lost them all. We played at USC in '66, '72 and '75. Lost them all.The comments were ridiculous, though this is one of those things where you need to be practical and realistic about it.
The nature of a high ankle sprain like that is that Stojakovic COULD play, he's a tough kid, he could gut it out, and yeah, your Trent Fraziers or DaMonte Williams' probably would have. But if you keep playing on it, it's just not going to get any better (leaving aside the elevated risk of re-injury) and you're condemning yourself to playing at a lower level of explosiveness the whole rest of the year dragging around a gimpy leg.
Playing with 6 guys wasn't an option, I wish we were finding a way to play with more than 7 now, but I think Andrej and Brad are thinking about this in a way that makes sense, a fully healthy Stojakovic for the stretch run is worth a lot more than a gimpy Stojakovic right now.
And with that decision seemingly made, don't even put him on the plane to California. Rehab rehab rehab.
I'll be darned if I can remember us ever playing at USC before, or at UCLA for that matter.
We beat USC in Maui in Groce's first year.
Just looking at it game by game....I still think there is a decent chance Andrej plays one of the games on the WC trip.
Worse case, they will rest him and he will be back for Michigan.
Already there according to Torvik. Hope we end up top ten.Once Andrej and Boswell are fully back, I see no reason this team can’t be a top 25 defense. Albeit probably closer to 25 than even 15, we’re pretty much the best offensive team in the country.
Would love for Andrej to be back for the west coast trip, tune up as a full squad before Michigan.
Gonna be a fun ending to this season, really trying to soak in this team. They’re special.

I can distinctly recall the Kevin Turner game vs UCLA in 1997. That was the game KT emerged from nowhere to suddenly become a dead-eye long range shooter.The comments were ridiculous, though this is one of those things where you need to be practical and realistic about it.
The nature of a high ankle sprain like that is that Stojakovic COULD play, he's a tough kid, he could gut it out, and yeah, your Trent Fraziers or DaMonte Williams' probably would have. But if you keep playing on it, it's just not going to get any better (leaving aside the elevated risk of re-injury) and you're condemning yourself to playing at a lower level of explosiveness the whole rest of the year dragging around a gimpy leg.
Playing with 6 guys wasn't an option, I wish we were finding a way to play with more than 7 now, but I think Andrej and Brad are thinking about this in a way that makes sense, a fully healthy Stojakovic for the stretch run is worth a lot more than a gimpy Stojakovic right now.
And with that decision seemingly made, don't even put him on the plane to California. Rehab rehab rehab.
I'll be darned if I can remember us ever playing at USC before, or at UCLA for that matter.
We beat USC in Maui in Groce's first year.
8 weeks are for nightmare high ankle sprains, he's already doing basketball stuff at practice. He's not far away.Just looking at it game by game....
Wednesday, no way. They probably have one prep/practice for the game. Assuming the majority of tomorrow is a travel day, their run through is on Tuesday, game on Wednesday.
The thought of enough physical improvement happening before Saturday seems unlikely as well. Going from "out" to available in 6 days, with that specific type of injury, with no legitimate practice time...it's extremely unlikely.
What makes this injury so tough is that everyone reacts differently to treatment and you just have to wait until the swelling goes down. Until that happens, you're not going to get very far in rehab.
How far away is the Michigan game? 10 days? Even that's a stretch. Let's say the swelling has gone down and he can resume basketball related activities next weekend. He wouldn't have played a live game in 2 1/2 weeks. There's going to be a conditioning aspect to this.
During Brad's interview, he specifically said IF and when he gets back, then followed it up with deciding if he should even go on the trip That's probably the right answer, but telling the kid he can't go on this trip back West, where there's a ton of family....that would be rough.
Brad's right in playing the long game here. Let him heal, get it right and hopefully be ready for the stretch run in March. It's just a crummy, extremely painful injury that has its own timeframe. Could be 2 weeks, could be 8 weeks. Impossible the tell with any remote level of accuracy.
I wouldn't put any expectations on the timeline. Just hope that it's closer to 2 weeks and not 8.
That's good news. Him doing things at practice is great, thanks for sharing. If he's on that trajectory, I'd say Michigan can be a great target.8 weeks are for nightmare high ankle sprains, he's already doing basketball stuff at practice. He's not far away.
Where's the pre-game bar?I'll be there as well. Hope to see a lot of orange!
Predicted to rain all week in So Cal. Oh well.
Predicted to rain all week in So Cal. Oh well.
Excellent points. With Bam healthy, we need to squeeze 5 minutes from Brandon Lee and Petro, then we can run pretty safely with a 7 man rotation and our size on the floor. Huge difference in offensive kickout and fewer defensive switches with Boswell on the floor. But he can't play 40 mins... yet.Just looking at it game by game....
Wednesday, no way. They probably have one prep/practice for the game. Assuming the majority of tomorrow is a travel day, their run through is on Tuesday, game on Wednesday.
The thought of enough physical improvement happening before Saturday seems unlikely as well. Going from "out" to available in 6 days, with that specific type of injury, with no legitimate practice time...it's extremely unlikely.
What makes this injury so tough is that everyone reacts differently to treatment and you just have to wait until the swelling goes down. Until that happens, you're not going to get very far in rehab.
How far away is the Michigan game? 10 days? Even that's a stretch. Let's say the swelling has gone down and he can resume basketball related activities next weekend. He wouldn't have played a live game in 2 1/2 weeks. There's going to be a conditioning aspect to this.
During Brad's interview, he specifically said IF and when he gets back, then followed it up with deciding if he should even go on the trip That's probably the right answer, but telling the kid he can't go on this trip back West, where there's a ton of family....that would be rough.
Brad's right in playing the long game here. Let him heal, get it right and hopefully be ready for the stretch run in March. It's just a crummy, extremely painful injury that has its own timeframe. Could be 2 weeks, could be 8 weeks. Impossible the tell with any remote level of accuracy.
I wouldn't put any expectations on the timeline. Just hope that it's closer to 2 weeks and not 8.
CA is a big state. The distance from UCLA/USC to his home near Sacramento is a bit less than the distance from CU to MN....
During Brad's interview, he specifically said IF and when he gets back, then followed it up with deciding if he should even go on the trip That's probably the right answer, but telling the kid he can't go on this trip back West, where there's a ton of family....that would be rough.
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Almost 25% of their points come from FTs and they average 37 rebounds / game but only get 11.5 O - rebounds game.Of USC's 7 conference wins, only one was by greater than six points. They have had close shaves against the bottom feeders in the conference and have been pulverized by the top teams. We should do the same here.