Torn meniscus, out for most of the season. Really tough break for him and the team.

The only breaks we get are to the body. Our best returning player, and our top recruit both out. Still think we'll have a good team, but it sure hurts the depth. I'm really anxious to see how Amir Smith develops. Doubt that we can redshirt him now. If he plays we have eight players for four spots with Drone and Pollard at the post.

Bummer. Would be great if he and Lott can return at 100% for the stretch run and CUSA tournament. CUSA is likely a 1-bid league anyway and it would be huge if those guys can make it back for the tournament.

Ugh. That's big. Two torn meniscus injuries already, hmm. This one is particularly big, as he's our best scorer and possibly best player. I'd be surprised if we can do much better than last season with what we've lost. Marcus Evans needs to be an immediate impact player, I think he can be, we'll see.

(11-12-2015 04:13 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  Ugh. That's big. Two torn meniscus injuries already, hmm. This one is particularly big, as he's our best scorer and possibly best player. I'd be surprised if we can do much better than last season with what we've lost. Marcus Evans needs to be an immediate impact player, I think he can be, we'll see.

Not sure I agree with you here. We discussed this some in the exhibition game thread. Even without Jackson, assuming Koulechov basically replaces Gearhart in terms of total contributions, Rice is still looking at likely upgrades across the depth chart, with the possible exception of SG. But Cashaw and Evans would be picking up Jackson's minutes, and they are well-regarded. Comparison of 2014 roster (guys who played meaningful time) compared to the expected 2015 rotation, with Jackson and Lott both out:

Guercy -->Guercy (slight upgrade as Guercy has another year in Rhoades's system)
Mency -->Mency (upgrade, as Mency has been highlighted by coaching staff as a guy who has taken a step forward)
Drone -->Drone (upgrade, Drone also highlighted by coaching staff)
Gearhart -->Koulechov (unknown, but Koulechov sounds pretty good)
Jackson -->Cashaw (unknown. I would call it a downgrade just to be conservative, since Cashaw is a freshman)
Peera -->Evans (upgrade)
Green -->Letcher-Ellis (upgrade)
Jones/Rivers -->Pollard (unknown, Jones/Rivers played sparingly, though Jones was playing a lot more the last few weeks of the season)
Pollard -->Smith (likely push, Pollard played sparingly last season)

Obviously, I agree that losing Jackson for a big chunk of the season is a huge loss. But I still expect the team to take another step forward.

(11-12-2015 03:56 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Bummer. Would be great if he and Lott can return at 100% for the stretch run and CUSA tournament. CUSA is likely a 1-bid league anyway and it would be huge if those guys can make it back for the tournament.

No sense in burning a year of eligibility by coming back that late. This will just make the 20017-2018 team the real Dance target team.

(11-12-2015 05:13 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(11-12-2015 03:56 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Bummer. Would be great if he and Lott can return at 100% for the stretch run and CUSA tournament. CUSA is likely a 1-bid league anyway and it would be huge if those guys can make it back for the tournament.

No sense in burning a year of eligibility by coming back that late. This will just make the 20017-2018 team the real Dance target team.

Why? I still think next year is the dance target year.

(11-12-2015 05:13 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(11-12-2015 03:56 PM)mrbig Wrote:  Bummer. Would be great if he and Lott can return at 100% for the stretch run and CUSA tournament. CUSA is likely a 1-bid league anyway and it would be huge if those guys can make it back for the tournament.

No sense in burning a year of eligibility by coming back that late. This will just make the 20017-2018 team the real Dance target team.

They would only be burning a year of eligiblity if they planned on staying at Rice for 5 years. Even then, if they came back at 100% 1-2 weeks before the CUSA tournament (so they could be in game shape by the tournament) and Rice was in the top half of CUSA, I really think you take your chances and make a run at the tournament. Winning the CUSA tournament would be monumentally huge for the program, and if Rice is in the top half of the conference without those guys and they get healthy ... just sayin!

(11-12-2015 04:13 PM)Buho00 Wrote:  Ugh. That's big. Two torn meniscus injuries already, hmm. This one is particularly big, as he's our best scorer and possibly best player. I'd be surprised if we can do much better than last season with what we've lost. Marcus Evans needs to be an immediate impact player, I think he can be, we'll see.

I am confident that Rhoades does not feel the same way.

(11-12-2015 05:19 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(11-12-2015 05:13 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  [quote='mrbig' pid='12632837' dateline='1447361813']
Bummer. Would be great if he and Lott can return at 100% for the stretch run and CUSA tournament. CUSA is likely a 1-bid league anyway and it would be huge if those guys can make it back for the tournament.

No sense in burning a year of eligibility by coming back that late. This will just make the 20017-2018 team the real Dance target team.

Why? I still think next year is the dance target year.
[/quote
Rice is taking the approach which is in the best interests of these young men by having the meniscus repaired. It is my understanding that if the meniscus was removed they could be playing quickly.

Completely not the same circumstances, but I had a minor meniscus tear a couple years ago. After an MRI and a visit to a surgeon, it was determined that the tear was too minor to require surgery. I ended up doing 2 months of rehab, but it was 6 months(from the date of the injury) before I felt comfortable working out again.

Removing the meniscus is really only an option if the patient is older..otherwise over a lifetime there is too much wear and tear on the joint. I'm not sure too many surgeons would agree to that approach for an 18-21 year old.

That's the diagnosis I heard after halftime at the exhibition game. You could tell on the coaches faces that they were pretty bummed with the injury.

Big blow BUT if we can somehow stay healthy the rest of the year, we definitely still have more talent right now than we did last year. It will mean the freshmen are going to have to be big contributors from the get go. Any more injuries and I might change my tune. The silver lining is that 2017 and 2018 are absolutely NCAA caliber teams. But again that will assume no injuries and no defections between now and then.

I also would be remiss if I didn't say how sorry I feel for Marcus Jackson. He's worked so hard his first few years at Rice, both on and off the court (he's a great student). Let's hope for a full recovery and bigger and better things from him next year.

The two guys who will have to fill his shoes are Bishop Mency and Connor Cashaw (who I didn't realize could handle the point guard spot so effectively). Neither of those guys started the exhibition game, but they'll both get considerable more PT now.

A real shame for Marcus as one of the team leaders and really tough not being able to play close to home this weekend.

I think we will see Connor and Bishop take his minutes with Evans clearly sharing the point with Max.

Marcus Jackson Named to NABC Honors Court

Man, seeing this thread scared me. Thought he had re-torn his meniscus.

(07-28-2016 06:04 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Man, seeing this threat scared me. Thought he had re-torn his meniscus.

I had a panic attack