Virtually two months in the past, UConn ladies’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma discovered himself so vexed by accidents that he may hardly describe the sensation.
“I get to the purpose the place I don’t have phrases. … It simply sucks yearly to look down and never see who’s taking part in. It’s gotten overbearing. I imply, I can’t even clarify it,” Auriemma advised reporters at a match in November. “A few of these youngsters, man, that’s all they know. They don’t know something about taking part in with a full workforce.”
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It was troublesome to argue with him. This system had been hit exhausting over the past two seasons. Final yr’s UConn workforce was so riddled with accidents and sickness that it needed to postpone a sport as a result of it couldn’t meet the required minimal of seven gamers. That squad in the end misplaced within the Candy 16—UConn’s earliest match exit since 2005. However this season was presupposed to be a reset. The Huskies’ core was anticipated to be wholesome. This, lastly, was meant to be an opportunity for this proficient group to jell and unlock its potential collectively.
However that summery optimism felt distant by the point Auriemma made these feedback in November. And it feels much more so now.
The No. 13 Huskies have seen 4 gamers go down this yr with season-ending accidents. Freshman Jana El Alfy ruptured her Achilles tendon on the FIBA U-19 World Cup. Electrical junior guard and former No. 1 recruit Azzi Fudd tore her ACL and meniscus throughout apply in November—excruciating information for a participant who’d recovered from a torn ACL and MCL in highschool and had periodically been sidelined by different knee accidents all through her time in Storrs. Sophomore ahead Ayanna Patterson spent the early a part of the season recovering from surgical procedure and discovered in December that she can be out for the yr. And simply this week, UConn introduced that fifth-year participant Aubrey Griffin had torn her ACL, ending the season for a key veteran presence.
Even this checklist doesn’t absolutely seize the toll of accidents on this workforce. Junior guard Caroline Ducharme has been sidelined with neck spasms since November with no timetable for her return. Which means of UConn’s six main scorers from final season, only one is now out there for the workforce, with three of the remaining 5 being injured and two having graduated. It’s frankly outstanding the Huskies have managed to be as aggressive this season as they’ve.
However the information of Griffin’s torn ACL this week stands out even on this crowded area of damage bulletins. It’s one other severe blow to a program that might sick afford yet one more. And it seems like a possible breaking level.
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Griffin was a starter final yr who averaged profession highs in factors (11.3) and rebounds (4.2). Her function shifted this season, nevertheless, and he or she embraced being the Huskies’ high reserve. Griffin was nonetheless averaging greater than 25 minutes per sport and projected as a possible WNBA draft decide. However her coming off the bench gave the workforce extra flexibility as freshmen eased into beginning roles. UConn has gained eight video games in a row after beginning the season 4–3. The primary sport of that profitable streak was the primary sport the place Griffin had moved again to the bench. For a squad that has already seen its choices compromised so dramatically this yr, Griffin supplied essential versatility and veteran management. (To say nothing of her sturdy perimeter protection.) She has one season of eligibility remaining—the extra yr granted to athletes throughout COVID-19—ought to she select to take it. For now, nevertheless, Griffin’s damage has UConn working from a contingency plan but once more.
There may be nonetheless loads of expertise right here. There’s Paige Bueckers, after all, the previous Nationwide Participant of the Yr who’s lastly again after being sidelined for a lot of the final two seasons and looking out much more deadly than she did as a freshman. She’s joined by a pair of seniors who’ve been a gradual presence by a lot of this system’s injury-inflicted instability over the past three years: inside pressure Aaliyah Edwards and defense-minded guard Nika Mühl. In the meantime, freshmen guards Ashlynn Shade and KK Arnold have capably stepped into beginning roles, and there’s now a chance for extra gamers to do the identical. (UConn’s subsequent sport towards a ranked opponent is versus No. 18 Notre Dame on Jan. 27.) However this leaves the Huskies with simply 9 wholesome gamers. Their margin for error is gone; this workforce stays proficient, a possible menace in March, however they’ll’t afford to soak up any extra blows.
There are legitimate questions on what this implies for this system this yr, subsequent yr, whether or not all that is abnormal (or extraordinary) dangerous luck or an indication of one thing amiss with damage prevention or energy and conditioning. However there’s some extent the place it’s exhausting to transcend what Auriemma stated in November. It’s gotten overbearing. He can’t clarify it. And it simply sucks.
