I was thinking about posting this several days ago. But we are one more injury away from another very difficult season.
One More Injury Away
- Thread starter Gallipoli
- Start date
Losing any of the starters hurts. But Grant and Jake are the keys to the team. We’ll miss Nick’s ability to hit a big three but we still have Blake and Jake to knock those down, and now we have Burton’s physical presence for a starter’s minutes instead of 15 minutes a game.
No they’re really not. They’re *two* injuries away. Most teams don’t lose arguably (In my opinion) their best and most important player right before the season
No offense to Sherod, fantastic player. But he is not our best or our most important player. He is probably our 4th best player on the team.
If I were to rank best.
1. Gilly
2. Grant (I would put Grant at number 1 if ranking by most important though because of lack of back-ups.)
3. Francis
4. Sherod
5. Cayo
We will have to agree to disagree here. In my opinion he’s the absolute key guy, the straw that stirs the drink.
I love Nick, and we will miss him, especially his 3 pt shooting, but we still have 4 starters and good reserves returning. Most teams do not, so I would say nearly every team out there is one injury away from being a much lesser team. Think of the numerous teams that only have 1 or 2 starters returning. They are one injury, not 2, away from not only hurting, but being in big time trouble.
But, no doubt about it, this stinks and we will miss Nick. Whether you think he is our most important player, or 3rd or even 4th most important, the bottom line is there would have been plenty of games this year, just like last year, where he was the key to our winning. That is what we will miss more than anything.
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Let's face it, we are all disappointed due to fact we wanted to see an intact team return with a lot more depth. I will miss that sweet, sweet stroke of Nick's that could change a game in a heartbeat. Nick had also a lot of court savvy and that is real hard to replace. Replacing him mentally will be tougher than replacing him physically.
Ok, that is fair. Nick made a lot of really heady plays, particularly end of game. He is gonna be missed for sure. It's on Mooney to make sure he has the team ready to go. Fortunately, he has over a month now to get his line-ups set, so hopefully he is using that time wisely.
I am most concerned about Grant and Blake getting injured. Blake fractured his sternum last season. Grant had the heart scare early on.
this doesn’t align at all with your The Future is Bright schtick. Don’t borrow trouble. Injuries can always happen but I don’t think we’re particularly more vulnerable than anyone else.
Agree but will use IMPORTANT and leave out BEST to qualify.
1) GG - As great as Jacob is, I think this team really needs the Big Man presence
2) Gilly - on a team with good backup big presence, goes from 1A to 1
3) Francis - Might say why over Nick, better backup depth at Nick's spot
4) Nick - Crabtree not lights out shot but gets more time now that seems deserved
5) Cayo - will miss inside offense and rebounding, but Burton would fit in well
With Mooney anything can possibly happen. Being a .500 win coach just about anything can happen.
In this case, the Spiders had 2 injuries that affected this game- Gustafson and Crabtree. They also lost Burton to fouls. This shows how tenuous this team's strength are.
Bonaventure had a guy quit the team a week ago. I don't hear them bitching about it.
Well cancel the season then I guess, we can't be expected to win any games with only four senior starters.
maybe 1.5. Sherod was the loss. Goose would be too for sure if long term. Hurt tonight but good teams overcome those & teams have key guys miss a game or two all the time we just don’t keep up on other teams to that extent.
weir didn’t play a minute & wasn’t expected to be in rotation. Crabtree wasn’t expected to give us too much either due to his prior injury concerns. But he’s the .5 & hurts depth.
On the good side we know Burton would not be getting the minutes he has which would have been a mistake. So his high minutes is helping make up for it.
as Mooney said we were the deepest team in country. True w r not any longer but when u r deepest team in country that means u can deal w the injuries much better. If goose is out long term I’ll revisit but I’ll trust he’s truly day to day and back shortly.
we still have an elite top 6. Of course I wish we were 100% injury free but I think a little overblown personally. It hurts but I do believe the Burton minutes make up for some of it too.
We are not losing games due to depth. We are shooting poorly and defending like we’ve forgotten how to.
Those things would still be true if we had the roster intact. I don’t see the team blaming their woes in the losses to inadequate bench relief.
I agree with this, I was just making a point that we lost more than 1 for this game. I don’t agree with an earlier poster that we weren’t expecting anything from Crabtree, especially after Sherod got hurt. I do think the lack of depth is going to tire them out by the end of the season unless they get Gus back close to 100% and Wilson can start contributing productive minutes.
PA, good point, lack of depth likely biggest impact down the stretch. Hopefully Goose can heal up, but groin has to be a tough one.
Rhody next. Fatts has been terrible this year, but would seem to be due for a good game one of these days. They obviously have a ton of new guys. Sheppard has looked good shooting and handling the ball at the guard spot. Bertrand is eligible but I haven't Checked if he is doing much.
Rhody next. Fatts has been terrible this year, but would seem to be due for a good game one of these days. They obviously have a ton of new guys. Sheppard has looked good shooting and handling the ball at the guard spot. Bertrand is eligible but I haven't Checked if he is doing much.
Would have been the 6th man now. Had a good 3point shot, fit his free throws Two things we desperately need. You can’t have depth if you don’t give bench players some time.....this isn’t all about injuries
But does our lack of depth effect our poor shooting and poor defense. Does fatigue have anything to do with missing shots or bad defense down the stretch? Probably a little bit. And we are not going to shoot lights out every night - but depth can help with that. Yesterday would have been the perfect game for Crabtree to come off the bench and give a spark - maybe hit one or two threes? Or maybe Goose comes up and makes a big stop and gives the team some energy? So we can't say depth has nothing to do with it. How big a factor it will be - we will see. But Bonnies were a very athletic team and I think that wears on you. And Burton getting in foul trouble - that hurt a lot as well.
Bigger picture - Bonnies will be very good next year. Similar to us last year - they have everyone returning.
Bigger picture - Bonnies will be very good next year. Similar to us last year - they have everyone returning.
no goose hurt depth last night. Will continue to hurt as long as he’s out. Seems temporary let’s hope. Long term tho the top 6 eat up heavy minutes on most teams. The rest r filler depth. And our top 6 is elite tho Mooney has them underperforming. Look at Bonnies last night they didn’t play crazy minutes off bench. Get well Goose. Maybe it will force Mooney to play you more now like u deserved.
Yes the Crabtree and Gust injuries hurt but make no excuses, Mooney has to get the job down. IMO still the BEST starting 5 in the A10. Looking at stats Burton has outperformed or worst off is even with Nick's contributions. With agreement to 97's post, I had Nick as the 4th most IMPORTANT piece to lose. With Burton shooting from deep well and Cayo being better defensively, I now could move Cayo 4th above Nick.
And there are two sides to a discussion, so I say FORGET using the Nick injury excuse. Remember if injuries didn't occur for GG and Nick, neither were envisioned to be on the 20-21 squad. Right now I guess it might go back to posters for years saying Mooney didn't do well enough in recruiting the 7, 8, 9th players on the bench that aren't necessary crucial unless injuries occur.
I say those GG and Nick injuries more or less gave Mooney the "perfect storm" in a good way for having the best starting 5 ever but now with Crabtree and hopefully less serious Gust injury, the "perfect storm" is just that, a storm.
And there are two sides to a discussion, so I say FORGET using the Nick injury excuse. Remember if injuries didn't occur for GG and Nick, neither were envisioned to be on the 20-21 squad. Right now I guess it might go back to posters for years saying Mooney didn't do well enough in recruiting the 7, 8, 9th players on the bench that aren't necessary crucial unless injuries occur.
I say those GG and Nick injuries more or less gave Mooney the "perfect storm" in a good way for having the best starting 5 ever but now with Crabtree and hopefully less serious Gust injury, the "perfect storm" is just that, a storm.
we need Goose back desperately.
Sherod and Crabtree aren't suiting up this year. we've got to deal with that. but losing Goose for 2 games is brutal when Burton gets in foul trouble.
I really didn't like most of those calls on Burton but it happens. with Goose out, we played Sal together with Cayo and Grant and our 2 guards. I hate the lineup. maybe if Blake and Jacob are shooting lights out it can work. but they're not. we just don't have enough shooting with that lineup.
Wilson doesn't look ready for extensive minutes offensively. we haven't see Dji. if Goose is out again, I think we have to take a look.
Sherod and Crabtree aren't suiting up this year. we've got to deal with that. but losing Goose for 2 games is brutal when Burton gets in foul trouble.
I really didn't like most of those calls on Burton but it happens. with Goose out, we played Sal together with Cayo and Grant and our 2 guards. I hate the lineup. maybe if Blake and Jacob are shooting lights out it can work. but they're not. we just don't have enough shooting with that lineup.
Wilson doesn't look ready for extensive minutes offensively. we haven't see Dji. if Goose is out again, I think we have to take a look.
I like Wilson. looks quick. but he turned the ball over twice in his first 2 minutes against Davidson and travelled on his first drive against SBU. I'll assume it's nerves. but I can't give him extended minutes to show what he can do if he's turning the ball over like that. not in tight games which all of our have been.
if our upperclassmen do their job and play a complete strong game, we should build a comfortable lead at least once this year. then I'd love to get Isaiah and Dji a good long run to get them more comfortable. and if that goes well then I'll play them in tight games.
if our upperclassmen do their job and play a complete strong game, we should build a comfortable lead at least once this year. then I'd love to get Isaiah and Dji a good long run to get them more comfortable. and if that goes well then I'll play them in tight games.
I'll predict right now that Nelson will start ahead of Wilson next year. Whether Mooney starts them both or not, I have no way of knowing.
Mooney might pull the "he's a year more experienced bs and start Wilson in the beginning of the season, but Nelson will take that job in short order even if this happens. You can tell by watching Nelson that he has top potential. Looking forward to seeing him play, he is the next great small guard at Richmond.
Mooney might pull the "he's a year more experienced bs and start Wilson in the beginning of the season, but Nelson will take that job in short order even if this happens. You can tell by watching Nelson that he has top potential. Looking forward to seeing him play, he is the next great small guard at Richmond.
Not to over feed the hype machine, but I will say it again, Nelson reminds me a lot of Kevin Anderson based on both of their h.s./aau highlights.
You would think.
we're all hoping Nelson is a day 1 star. if so, Wilson can back him up or compete to start along side him. we've certainly had 2 PG lineups that worked.
I'd love to get a little bigger at off guard to help our 3 point defense with guys like Goose, Dji and Dread at the 2, but best players play.
1 - Nelson, Wilson
2 - Gustavson, Bailey, Dread
3 - Crabtree, Randolph
4 - Burton, Noyes
5 - Koureissi, Grace, ?
that's a tall order! I think more likely we add a 5 and a 4 type.You mean...
5 - Koureissi, Grace, ?, ?
but I'd settle for just a good 5!
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