Al Nolen diagnosed with a broken foot

This is not good. Nobody is sure about if or when he'll return. This is not good.

over 1 year ago GopherNation 12 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Well there’s the kick in the balls I’d been waiting for all morning….

by jimipig on Jan 24, 2011 12:23 PM CST reply actions

major bummer

Looks like we will finish the year with one senior on the active roster. Hope the freshmen are up for the challenge. Any word if Hollins did iindeed have the flu and that is why he did not play much (3 min) agst Michigan

by Texas Gopher on Jan 24, 2011 12:23 PM CST reply actions

This will change everything

I was certainly in the “ranked around #20” camp with a healthy Nolen… If he misses the rest of the Big 10 regular season (which is certainly a possibility with a broken foot requiring surgery), I see us losing at least 2 additional games (one home aganist a top team, one road against a surprise team we end up not being able to defend).

Last week I thought 11-7 (10-8 worst case)… Now I’m squarely in the best-case scenario 9-9 camp with a #6 seed and us trying to pull an upset against the Big 10 tourney #3 seed just to get in to the NCAA tourney. I hope I am wrong on this. I’m a huge Hoffarber fan, and he shoots well, provides some stability and doesn’t turn the ball over, but if he needs to play 25+ minutes at the PG spot, we’re in trouble. And if Ahanmisi can’t step up at PG, that is exactly what we will see (with Armelin/Hollins playing SG more than we want).

This is where the loss of Joseph hurts us – I was glad he was gone (becoming Westbrook Jr. with his me-first attitude) but it left no margin for injuries between Blake and Al. No guard depth to speak of. And Rodney has to step up even more (the game against Michigan was a good start but won’t be enough).

by mraveling on Jan 24, 2011 12:24 PM CST reply actions

I think I mixed up Armelin and Ahanmisi

Doesn’t matter, either way it hurts.

by mraveling on Jan 24, 2011 12:29 PM CST up reply actions

9-9 would have us off the bubble

we might need to get that win in the 6/11 game, but we wouldn’t have to have an upset over the 3-seed. There is a good chance we’ll be one of the “last four in” but I think we’ll be a favorite to get in heading down the stretch. Last year we had a serious uphill climb.

Our RPI and SOS are stronger this year. Our resume wins with UNC, WVU and Pur are stronger than last year and our one “bad loss” isn’t as bad as our Portland and both Michigan losses last year.

We’ll lose more games but the injury factor will be taken into account, especially if Nolen is going to come back by the Tournament.

what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher

by GopherNation on Jan 24, 2011 1:49 PM CST up reply actions

This program is cursed.

Maroon and Gold Headquarters: The Daily Gopher

by PJS on Jan 24, 2011 12:27 PM CST reply actions

If we are cursed, there's only one way to reverse it.

Somebody go punch Luke Witte. Just once, because you don’t want to un-curse then re-curse us.

Everyone fails. The successful learn from their failures. I just wish we'd quit giving ourselves so many learning opportunities.

by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Jan 24, 2011 1:02 PM CST reply actions

Hairline Fractures in the foot

can heal as fast as 3 weeks. He could be back by tournament time (if we make it in). He needs to abstain from smoking and drinking though (that is what the Internet told me).

by Garrick on Jan 24, 2011 1:12 PM CST reply actions

Hart from Purdue

This is the same type of situation he was in. He sat six weeks.

Now, how much of that was medical versus Painter not needing him to be in as soon as he was healthy is up in the air.

by AustinP0027 on Jan 24, 2011 1:30 PM CST up reply actions

ESPN is in denial

The Michigan win is still not being counted as a win in the standings.

by Garrick on Jan 24, 2011 1:44 PM CST reply actions

My rose colored glasses might be affecting me here...

But I am not devastated by this news.

Don’t get me wrong i would rather Nolen not be hurt, but this team was always only going to go as far as there big men could take them. Blake has been our best passer into the post, and if we can get our bigs to play with any kind of consistency they can negate Al’s offense.

His defense on the other hand, uh oh. I think we will see alot more 2-3 zone.

by tc_brent on Jan 24, 2011 3:01 PM CST reply actions

2-3 Zone

We have player our best basketball this year when we are in the 2-3 zone, so I don’t have a problem with seeing a lot more of it. We even rebound well defensively in the zone- bring it on.

by Narby on Jan 25, 2011 2:41 PM CST reply actions