11-25-2010, 10:27 PM
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Troy Trojans are 1-3 and in need of a victory, but the opposition isn't going to get any easier on Friday night when they face Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Trojans are reeling and its largely in part to a rash of injuries that has depleted a roster that many thought would be one of the deepest in recent memory. This is a problem the program hasn't dealt with in quite some time.
When the team arrives at Humphrey Coliseum on Friday afternoon, it will only dress six scholarship athletes along with walk-on Steven Cunningham as it prepares to take on the undefeated Bulldogs squad.
“This is a whole next experience for us,” head coach Don Maestri said. “Our athletic trainer, Alyson Gramley, said the other day that we have had more injuries this season than in her previous seven seasons total. I talked to [assistant head coach David] Felix about it and we couldn't remember in our 29 years together ever dealing with this many injuries over a whole season, let alone the first three weeks.
“We can't even practice 5-on-5 because we don't have 10 healthy players. You can't have a normal practice. It is what it is though. You have to keep working hard and keep trying to improve as a team every practice and every game.”
.....
“There are a couple of things [we are doing],” Maestri said. “One, we have to try and play a little more conservatively. Maybe that means shortening the game up by not playing as fast. We don't have as many bodies as we had even last week, so it's hard to run as much as we like to. We are down to only six scholarship players and one walk-on. That limits what we are able to do. That means we have to make a change in how we do things.
.....
For a team that already possessed a large amount of question marks, injuries have just added to the mystery. Three seniors have stepped up in the young season – Vernon Taylor, Levan Patsatsia and Bernard Toombs are all averaging career highs in various categories through four games.
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http://troytrojans.com/news/2010/11/24/M...ath=mbball
The Trojans are reeling and its largely in part to a rash of injuries that has depleted a roster that many thought would be one of the deepest in recent memory. This is a problem the program hasn't dealt with in quite some time.
When the team arrives at Humphrey Coliseum on Friday afternoon, it will only dress six scholarship athletes along with walk-on Steven Cunningham as it prepares to take on the undefeated Bulldogs squad.
“This is a whole next experience for us,” head coach Don Maestri said. “Our athletic trainer, Alyson Gramley, said the other day that we have had more injuries this season than in her previous seven seasons total. I talked to [assistant head coach David] Felix about it and we couldn't remember in our 29 years together ever dealing with this many injuries over a whole season, let alone the first three weeks.
“We can't even practice 5-on-5 because we don't have 10 healthy players. You can't have a normal practice. It is what it is though. You have to keep working hard and keep trying to improve as a team every practice and every game.”
.....
“There are a couple of things [we are doing],” Maestri said. “One, we have to try and play a little more conservatively. Maybe that means shortening the game up by not playing as fast. We don't have as many bodies as we had even last week, so it's hard to run as much as we like to. We are down to only six scholarship players and one walk-on. That limits what we are able to do. That means we have to make a change in how we do things.
.....
For a team that already possessed a large amount of question marks, injuries have just added to the mystery. Three seniors have stepped up in the young season – Vernon Taylor, Levan Patsatsia and Bernard Toombs are all averaging career highs in various categories through four games.
.....
http://troytrojans.com/news/2010/11/24/M...ath=mbball
