Rutgers B-ball Injury News
Potentially some big news for our game against Rutgers on Thursday. Looks as though they’re likely to be without reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Caleb McConnell. He’s avenging almost 10 points, 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals a game.
Sounds as though he has a back issue that started during warmups against Wisconsin on Saturday.
Hope Caleb is better for the Big Dance.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:30 PM ^
Hope he is feeling better by this weekend! Godspeed.
February 21st, 2023 at 9:05 AM ^
AW WR#3 CB#3 :)
JD comin'
1179
cheers
February 21st, 2023 at 9:15 AM ^
JD coming would be welcome news. It would be nice to have a 5* QB step up and lead the 24 recruiting class.
AW going both ways would be exciting for what it would say about his ability. It would surprise me if he is starting both ways.
1179?
February 21st, 2023 at 9:44 AM ^
1179, days since osu beat Michigan.
February 21st, 2023 at 10:51 AM ^
Is McBurrows CB2?
February 21st, 2023 at 11:30 AM ^
Or do you consider Sainrstil CB2/nickel?
February 21st, 2023 at 3:32 PM ^
I would think Mike has got to be the #2 CB. I mean, he is close to the #1 CB so no way he would be the #4 CB.
The welcoming news is that McBurrows was projected to be our #3 guy, so if Walker is #3 that is welcoming news that he is just that athletically gifted.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
Despite possible rooting interest, I don't like seeing a player miss games.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:53 PM ^
I have no problem with him missing the game against us. No one else is going to feel sorry for us if we are down a player. After us I hope he is fully recovered
February 20th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
I agree with Blue Vet. A player's injury is nothing to celebrate - especially back injuries which can be tricky to heal. We've beaten Rutger before with McConnell on the floor and I would have liked to see the kid play one more time.
February 20th, 2023 at 7:44 PM ^
Just want to make sure from my original post, I was simply reporting the injury. No celebrating it or anything.
February 20th, 2023 at 8:30 PM ^
Yeah, I understood that. It was clear.
February 20th, 2023 at 8:16 PM ^
Who’s celebrating assmunch?!
Injuries are part of sport, and we need wins. He didn’t wish anything on the injured player or celebrate an injury in any way.
He relayed accurate information that can reasonably be expected to impact the outcome of an upcoming game.
That is all. Continue virtue signaling elsewhere.
February 21st, 2023 at 4:06 AM ^
Is munching ass the new overtaking ass?
assking for a friend.
February 21st, 2023 at 7:33 AM ^
I think I just wrapped a couple days of the norovirus. My ass has overtaken me.
February 20th, 2023 at 9:13 PM ^
And they’re already down Mag. Another tough break.
February 21st, 2023 at 9:59 AM ^
Hope Jett can play and is not too limited. Missing him for Purdue was huge.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
This is not great for them.
Took a quick glance at their team stats.
Looks like they really go only seven deep...based on the number of minutes each player is getting.
Now they're without two of those seven.
They also look to be pretty weak on three-pointers. Only shooting 32.4% for the season. Gotta keep their big guy from having a big game.
Offense is #128 on Kenpom. Defense is #4.
It's looking to be very winnable at this point.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:51 PM ^
I agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, the depth piece may apply to us. We only go about 7-8 deep and could be without TWill and Jett Thursday. I haven't heard an update on either, but Jett never came back after rolling his ankle Saturday and appeared to be in pain.
February 20th, 2023 at 6:57 PM ^
Honestly, neither of them are crucial losses though.
Jett has tremendous upside but his defense is so bad that I'm not sure he's any better as a college player right now than Baker. There's a reason Michigan didn't miss Jett when he went out Saturday and that was despite Baker also shooting poorly.
And Williams is obviously replaceable. And for the record, I had been defending him and the coaches when everyone (ant wright, sam webb, etc) was talking about Tschetters plus/minus compared to T Will's. Williams is better than Tschetter but not by much and it seems like Reed at the four is the teams best frontcourt.
The guys Michigan wouldn't be able to afford losing are:
1) Bufkin - best all around player on the team by far and no backup
2) Dickinson - great player obviously but I don't think there's a huge dropoff overall to Reed
3) Dug - no backup
February 20th, 2023 at 7:10 PM ^
The big issue, if we're down both of those two, is that we'll have to hope the refs let 'em play, because our bench will be functionally down to one player (Baker).
February 21st, 2023 at 1:16 AM ^
Baker will start for Jett, right? With just Will T coming off the bench (or Reed depending on who starts at the four). Then Jace probably playing 8-10 min to spell Baker.
So there's still decent depth in the front court and the impact is that Baker will play ~22 more min than usual, Jace ~8 more and that's what will replace Jett's 30 min.
February 20th, 2023 at 9:37 PM ^
Gigantic drop off from Dickinson to Reed. Nobody is going to double Reed. If he’s hot, they can play hack-a-Reed, and he could end up fouling out.
February 21st, 2023 at 1:18 AM ^
Offensively yes, but Reed is WAAAAY better on defense so it nets out to not a huge dropoff (sizeable but not huge).
February 21st, 2023 at 12:21 AM ^
Whoa, save it for the hot take section man. Jett is second on the team at 14.4 points, made more 3's than anyone else save one has attempted, and oh yeah is also 3rd on the team in assists.
The starter in his place would be.....Jace? Gregg Glenn? He's not a great defender, but if you think our O will be fine on the road at Rutgers where our main options are HD who will be matched up with Omoryui and whoever they bring to double, and Kobe..then I'm not sure what to tell you.
February 21st, 2023 at 1:24 AM ^
Haha, you're gonna spew some counting stats (cmon man, it's not the 90s anymore, we have much better metrics) and also not even know who will start for Jett before making a comment like this.
Joey Baker will start in place of Jett. He's shooting a higher % from three than Jett, is a better rebounder (14% DREB% compared to Jett's awful 8.5%) and knows where to be on defense. Jett has sky high potential but it's not a big dropoff right now to Baker.
We've already seen what a lineup looks like without Jett against Purdue and Michigan played...pretty good. Better than average on the season. Their game score in that one was an 80 on Torvik, significantly better than their season average of about 68 (out of 100).
February 21st, 2023 at 8:16 AM ^
Agree. Jett's now had at least two sub-par games in a row (before his injury), and while nobody's suggesting we're a better team without him, we're simply not able to get him very many of the open shots from the wing he loves ... which, often, results in him feeling the need to dribble around and heave up a heavily contested shot.
I hope he's healthy, and it would be wonderful to see him take the court against Rutgers. But we certainly can win without him. C'mon, Baker, now's your time to shine!
February 21st, 2023 at 11:05 AM ^
This is a wild take. Jett has had a few poor shooting games that has decreased his 3 point % a little. Even so, Jett has taken over 100 more threes than Baker - including many that are higher in difficulty.
In Big Ten play, Jett uses 23.7% of possessions compared to 17.4% for Baker. Where does that usage go? Probably not to players as efficient as Jett.
Defensively, Jett is a negative. But it's really hard to argue Baker is anything more than neutral at best. Definitely not a positive. He was so bad in that Wisco game, I'm not sure he played in the second half. Scoreless on offense, too.
Then there's the depth piece. Assuming Baker gets starter minutes, we are filling about 20 minutes a game with probably Jace and Barnes? Now you're looking at the downgrade from Baker's efficiency to Jace and Barnes which is....vast.
February 21st, 2023 at 10:03 AM ^
I really appreciate Tschetter's energy and hustle, but he is just missing an athletic gear on both ends. T-Will has not been great, but he is a better athelete and can hang a little better. It is particularly noticeable on the defense side.
February 20th, 2023 at 8:19 PM ^
Jesus we never learn. The minute you typed 32.4%, you virtually assured that Rutgers will go 80% from 3 and 100% at the line.
#michigantrauma
February 20th, 2023 at 5:43 PM ^
Back issues suck. Chronic back issues suck more. I hope he gets better soon, but maybe not too soon. Rutgers is more than one player, but it's a tough blow if he misses time.
February 20th, 2023 at 6:52 PM ^
Agree, plagued myself and the wife just had L4-L5 fused last week.
but I can’t help how this reminded me of an old Abbott and Costello bit:
”How long have you had a weak back?”
“Oh, about a week back”
February 20th, 2023 at 8:21 PM ^
I don’t understand why people continue to go through fusion (maybe that’s all the insurance will pay for) when replacement disk technology is so superior in outcome, resurgery rates, and recovery time.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:52 PM ^
Definitely need to not use our mulligan on this game. Have got to have it. Then beat Wisconsin on our home floor. At that point Illinois is a completely different team than the team we’ve struggled to beat in recent years though of course game is at their place and then have got Indians who we have matched up well against though again game is at their place. There’s a path forward, a difficult one, but a path nonetheless. Our team can prove they’re the second best in the Big Ten with their performance down the stretch or they won’t. Can only have the opportunity.
February 20th, 2023 at 5:57 PM ^
At Indiana is the toughest game left IMO. The rest are tough but manageable of the team shows up.
February 20th, 2023 at 6:34 PM ^
At that point Illinois is a completely different team than the team we’ve struggled to beat in recent years though of course game is at their place and then have got Indians who we have matched up well against though again game is at their place
I was so confused about this until I realized you meant to write "Indiana" lol
Agree that we've matched up well against Indiana. I think both games are winnable, although IU is the toughest one remaining on the schedule.
February 20th, 2023 at 6:53 PM ^
Confirmed that should be Indiana.
February 20th, 2023 at 8:39 PM ^
“Mulligan” = 3 off the tee!
February 20th, 2023 at 6:00 PM ^
Is Rutgers to the NCAA that sure of a thing? I know they have the win over Purdue, and I know injuries are considered too. But it seems like they are sliding a bit and no matter what the NCAA says, I think they do consider the number of teams they take from each conference. 8 or 9 teams from one conference is a lot.
Even with saturdays win at Wisconsin, it feels like they are the 8th best from the B1G right now (Purdue, Indiana, NW, Illinois, Maryland, Iowa, Michigan State the top 7). Ahead of the next tier of teams (Wisconsin 9th in conference and then Michigan and PSU off the bubble now but each can edge back into the conversation if they go at least 3-1 down the stretch).
if Rutgers goes 0-2 this week dropping games against both Michigan and PSU, seems like they’d be square on the bubble.
February 20th, 2023 at 6:32 PM ^
They're 29th in the NET rankings so they're solidly in the tournament right now. I don't think that makes them a sure thing but they'd have to implode somewhat to not make the tourney.
February 20th, 2023 at 7:23 PM ^
Rutgers might need one more win to be totally safe, as if they lose out they'll be 9-11 in league play. Fortunately for them, they've got a game against Minnesota.
February 20th, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^
He is an ailing Avenger?
February 20th, 2023 at 7:21 PM ^
Any news on Jett?
February 20th, 2023 at 8:48 PM ^
I noticed that as soon as the game ended on Saturday he was up off the bench celebrating with the team. So hopefully that was a good sign. They didn’t have him in the locker room for treatment or anything like that.
February 20th, 2023 at 8:42 PM ^
I hope he’s back to 100% on Friday…
February 20th, 2023 at 10:24 PM ^
Our team is unpredictable. We will beat a solid team and lay an egg vs a nobody. They can field the women's team and its still a toss up.
February 21st, 2023 at 6:30 AM ^
That really hasn’t been true since B1G play started. Regardless, Rutgers is a good team.
February 21st, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
That was a nice win vs MSU... Nothing about that win makes me think we are going on a run to squeak into the tournament. I have seen growth been saying it on this very board for weeks now. Dugie is coming, Bufkin is starting to be a bucket getter, Reed is a building piece for the future but without Jett for any of these games I'm not sure how we win. I do realize he has had two consecutive bad games but thinking he's not playing 100%. We need to finish strong let the chips drop where they will and get these 3 guys back next season and our mini rebuild will be heading in a strong direction. I will be elated if we make the tourney I do not expect it.