D-Lo Shoulder Injury

[Avon Barksdale]

@KieranDarcy: Steve Lavin says D'Angelo Harrison has shoulder injury, in addition to calf. But Harrison made no excuses, said he's 100 percent. #sjubb

Not sure if this has been discussed but any news on this?

 

[montyaloofah]

This was mentioned during pre-game press conference by Lavin. Said D Lo had an ice pack on his shoulder as he passed him earlier that day

 

[montyaloofah]

but no particular color on it

 

[ccnobz]

He is short with a lot of shots he normally hits. Tough to watch him struggle

 

[MarkRedman]

This kid has tremendous heart
He gives 110% on the floor at all times
I'll admit he was far from my favorite player a couple of years ago
But he has made great strides and I now have a lot of respect for him

 

[monte]

He is short with a lot of shots he normally hits. Tough to watch him struggle

Wasn't cutting, no quick first step on drive, no elevation. etc. Body language was that of someone who was hurting. Clearly not himself.

 

[MarkRedman]

He is short with a lot of shots he normally hits. Tough to watch him struggle

Wasn't cutting, no quick first step on drive, no elevation. etc. Body language was that of someone who was hurting. Clearly not himself.

The reality is that he probably shouldn't be playing
Or, at the very least, playing reduced minutes
Due to a combination of his grit and lack of depth, he is playing more than he should
My fear is that continued wear and tear makes him more susceptible to a long term injury

 

[ccnobz]

He is short with a lot of shots he normally hits. Tough to watch him struggle

Wasn't cutting, no quick first step on drive, no elevation. etc. Body language was that of someone who was hurting. Clearly not himself.

Indeed, not himself. He is such a warrior hope he gets better quick he has to play in the Ncaa's once in his career. If he makes a few of the shots he normally does, this is a W today.

 

[Jack Williams]

We needed him to play today, but I think he should sit out VS Creighton. Give him the week off and let him come back for providence.

If we lose to Creighton without him then I don't think we deserve to make the tournament anyway. The way rysheed played today should be a sign we could win without DLo, especially with how physically and athletically superior we are to them.

But it is always nice to have a leader on a tough road game. But I still say sit him against Creighton

 

[Class of 72]

We needed him to play today, but I think he should sit out VS Creighton. Give him the week off and let him come back for providence.

If we lose to Creighton without him then I don't think we deserve to make the tournament anyway. The way rysheed played today should be a sign we could win without DLo, especially with how physically and athletically superior we are to them.

But it is always nice to have a leader on a tough road game. But I still say sit him against Creighton

I would agree with you Jack except I would limit his play rather than not play him at all but the staff obviously thinks he is capable of playing more than the 20 minutes he likely should be playing because of pain which is having an effect on his game. If he is given 35 minutes while hurt and suffers a season ending injury it is on the entire staff. In that case a critical observer may be convinced they hurt their own player to protect their job. I am hoping no one on the staff is that callous.

 

[ghostzapper]

Minute distribution has been very odd since D'Angelo's injury. In the three games since the injury he has averaged 38 minutes a game. During that same three game span Branch has averaged 13 minutes a game (11 less MPG than his season average), Stewart 0 minutes a game and Balamou 1 minute a game.

I believe Harrison's extended minutes cost us the DePaul game and easily could have cost us the Marquette game. Today he was better than in those two games but certainly no where near 100 percent. Even if Stewart and Balamou never hit the floor, I don't have any clue why Branch's minutes have dropped since Harrison's injury.

D'Angelo is a wonderful player and gutsy as hell for being out there while banged up, but I am at a loss why the Coach is not adjusting his rotation minutes to compensate for Harrison's injury.

 

[Class of 72]

Minute distribution has been very odd since D'Angelo's injury. In the three games since the injury he has averaged 38 minutes a game. During that same three game span Branch has averaged 13 minutes a game (11 less MPG than his season average), Stewart 0 minutes a game and Balamou 1 minute a game.

I believe Harrison's extended minutes cost us the DePaul game and easily could have cost us the Marquette game. Today he was better than in those two games but certainly no where near 100 percent. Even if Stewart and Balamou never hit the floor, I don't have any clue why Branch's minutes have dropped since Harrison's injury.

D'Angelo is a wonderful player and gutsy as hell for being out there while banged up, but I am at a loss why the Coach is not adjusting his rotation minutes to compensate for Harrison's injury.

Why is this game any different than any other game going back to last year's inability to find a rotation with the deepest team he has had here? I agree with you 100% since we have 5 guards. Ironically Felix Balamou is the guard called up from red shirt to replace Jordan in a huge game last year that started a slide to the NIT.

 

[beast of the east]

Minute distribution has been very odd since D'Angelo's injury. In the three games since the injury he has averaged 38 minutes a game. During that same three game span Branch has averaged 13 minutes a game (11 less MPG than his season average), Stewart 0 minutes a game and Balamou 1 minute a game.

I believe Harrison's extended minutes cost us the DePaul game and easily could have cost us the Marquette game. Today he was better than in those two games but certainly no where near 100 percent. Even if Stewart and Balamou never hit the floor, I don't have any clue why Branch's minutes have dropped since Harrison's injury.

D'Angelo is a wonderful player and gutsy as hell for being out there while banged up, but I am at a loss why the Coach is not adjusting his rotation minutes to compensate for Harrison's injury.

Simple answer is that it's easy to look at his boxscore over the past few games and be an armchair quarterback, but the conventional thinking looking at the way he's moved is that Harrison on one leg is better than Branch on two. We are, after all, talking about a guy who was nominated for the Wooden award and was playing at that level prior to the injury

 

[paultzman]

I

Minute distribution has been very odd since D'Angelo's injury. In the three games since the injury he has averaged 38 minutes a game. During that same three game span Branch has averaged 13 minutes a game (11 less MPG than his season average), Stewart 0 minutes a game and Balamou 1 minute a game.

I believe Harrison's extended minutes cost us the DePaul game and easily could have cost us the Marquette game. Today he was better than in those two games but certainly no where near 100 percent. Even if Stewart and Balamou never hit the floor, I don't have any clue why Branch's minutes have dropped since Harrison's injury.

D'Angelo is a wonderful player and gutsy as hell for being out there while banged up, but I am at a loss why the Coach is not adjusting his rotation minutes to compensate for Harrison's injury.

Simple answer is that it's easy to look at his boxscore over the past few games and be an armchair quarterback, but the conventional thinking looking at the way he's moved is that Harrison on one leg is better than Branch on two. We are, after all, talking about a guy who was nominated for the Wooden award and was playing at that level prior to the injury

Branch offers nothing on scoring end. His jumper has never been great, but has completely disappeared. Not a knock, just facing the music. I do appreciate he has decent PG skills setting up, etc.

 

[ghostzapper]

Beast of the East wrote:
Simple answer is that it's easy to look at his boxscore over the past few games and be an armchair quarterback, but the conventional thinking looking at the way he's moved is that Harrison on one leg is better than Branch on two. We are, after all, talking about a guy who was nominated for the Wooden award and was playing at that level prior to the injury

The simple answer you refer to makes no sense. Even if the Coach believes Harrison is better on one leg than Branch is on two, no one could argue Harrison is better on one leg than Harrison is on two. The one legged Harrison does not warrant playing 38 minutes a game and you don't need a box score to know that. That comes from watching the games.

In addition to that it does not explain why Branch's minutes have been cut nearly in half during this stretch of games. The Marquette game was turned around during the four minute stretch in the final ten minutes of the second half when Harrison sat and Branch played. During that time St. John's went on a 10 to 3 run that turned a likely loss into a victory.

Harrison is a very deserving Wooden award nominee and has a huge heart, but if you have watched the last three games he has not been anywhere close to that player. Additionally Branch in the forty minutes, he did play, has been steady with seven assists and only one turnover while playing solid defense.

I hope D'Angelo returns to 100 % ASAP. We are in serious trouble if he does not get better soon. That being said, I also hope that some common sense approach is applied by our Coaches about how the minutes are allocated when any player (even our star) is well below his best.

 

[beast of the east]

Beast of the East wrote:
Simple answer is that it's easy to look at his boxscore over the past few games and be an armchair quarterback, but the conventional thinking looking at the way he's moved is that Harrison on one leg is better than Branch on two. We are, after all, talking about a guy who was nominated for the Wooden award and was playing at that level prior to the injury

The simple answer you refer to makes no sense. Even if the Coach believes Harrison is better on one leg than Branch is on two, no one could argue Harrison is better on one leg than Harrison is on two. The one legged Harrison does not warrant playing 38 minutes a game and you don't need a box score to know that. That comes from watching the games.

In addition to that it does not explain why Branch's minutes have been cut nearly in half during this stretch of games. The Marquette game was turned around during the four minute stretch in the final ten minutes of the second half when Harrison sat and Branch played. During that time St. John's went on a 10 to 3 run that turned a likely loss into a victory.

Harrison is a very deserving Wooden award nominee and has a huge heart, but if you have watched the last three games he has not been anywhere close to that player. Additionally Branch in the forty minutes, he did play, has been steady with seven assists and only one turnover while playing solid defense.

I hope D'Angelo returns to 100 % ASAP. We are in serious trouble if he does not get better soon. That being said, I also hope that some common sense approach is applied by our Coaches about how the minutes are allocated when any player (even our star) is well below his best.

Like I said, your entire argument is looking backwards, and the results justify your argument. But when you have a guy who was putting up a string of 20-30 point games, isn't limping, and is your best player, you put him out there. I agree that the injury could be affecting his jumper, but he hasn't exactly been a big liability on defense. The team simply did not appear poised to replace those 20-30 points per game with Branch, who contributes little. As I mentioned in prior posts, the pleasant surprise is how much of that load Jordan has taken on, and looks entirely comfortable right now.

 

[Class of 72]

Beast of the East wrote:
Simple answer is that it's easy to look at his boxscore over the past few games and be an armchair quarterback, but the conventional thinking looking at the way he's moved is that Harrison on one leg is better than Branch on two. We are, after all, talking about a guy who was nominated for the Wooden award and was playing at that level prior to the injury

The simple answer you refer to makes no sense. Even if the Coach believes Harrison is better on one leg than Branch is on two, no one could argue Harrison is better on one leg than Harrison is on two. The one legged Harrison does not warrant playing 38 minutes a game and you don't need a box score to know that. That comes from watching the games.

In addition to that it does not explain why Branch's minutes have been cut nearly in half during this stretch of games. The Marquette game was turned around during the four minute stretch in the final ten minutes of the second half when Harrison sat and Branch played. During that time St. John's went on a 10 to 3 run that turned a likely loss into a victory.

Harrison is a very deserving Wooden award nominee and has a huge heart, but if you have watched the last three games he has not been anywhere close to that player. Additionally Branch in the forty minutes, he did play, has been steady with seven assists and only one turnover while playing solid defense.

I hope D'Angelo returns to 100 % ASAP. We are in serious trouble if he does not get better soon. That being said, I also hope that some common sense approach is applied by our Coaches about how the minutes are allocated when any player (even our star) is well below his best.

Like I said, your entire argument is looking backwards, and the results justify your argument. But when you have a guy who was putting up a string of 20-30 point games, isn't limping, and is your best player, you put him out there. I agree that the injury could be affecting his jumper, but he hasn't exactly been a big liability on defense. The team simply did not appear poised to replace those 20-30 points per game with Branch, who contributes little. As I mentioned in prior posts, the pleasant surprise is how much of that load Jordan has taken on, and looks entirely comfortable right now.

Beast, you are giving Lavin way too much credit for the use of both Rysheed and Harrison.
With Steve Lavin necessity is the mother of invention. Rysheed only regained his starting job and associated minutes when Jamal tried to commit Hari Kari and needed stitches. Before that Lavin was content to have Rysheed come off the bench while dividing their minutes while Rysheed was miserable watching a less talented player steal his minutes.
While Harrison was putting up big numbers before his physical issues, the two games prior to Duke showed him to be mostly ineffective offensively. Hence, his importance had to shift to any defense he could provide against a quick and sharp shooting Duke backcourt. In my opinion he was a non-factor in that department as well. Committing critical fouls against a near perfect foul shooting Duke backcourt was not part of Lavin's strategy as we watched Harrison foul out but it was a consequence of not utilizing Branch and Balamou in those key minutes in the last quarter of the game. Bench management has never been Steve's strength nor the strength of any of our coaches for that matter going back to Carnesecca himself.

 

[ghostzapper]

Despite the terrible loss tonight it was good to see Harrison moving much better. We will need him to bounce back completely in order to have any chance at all to get this thing turned around.

That being said he is still struggling in certain ways. Mostly it seems to me that he does not have the same lift when shooting closer to the basket. His midrange game and his ability to take guys off the dribble and go to the hole seems very compromised right now.

He was 0-6 from the field on two point shots tonight and over the last four games since the calf injury he has been 6 for 31 (19%) on two point field goal attempts. This was a strength for him before the injury. Up until four games ago he was 69 for 134 (51%) on two point field goal attempts this season.

Hopefully the spring in his legs returns completely. It was encouraging to see him make that off balance three late. This is the type of shot he has been unable to make recently. It was also encouraging that he played the full forty minutes and seemed to get better late in the game.

 

[Class of 72]

Despite the terrible loss tonight it was good to see Harrison moving much better. We will need him to bounce back completely in order to have any chance at all to get this thing turned around.

That being said he is still struggling in certain ways. Mostly it seems to me that he does not have the same lift when shooting closer to the basket. His midrange game and his ability to take guys off the dribble and go to the hole seems very compromised right now.

He was 0-6 from the field on two point shots tonight and over the last four games since the calf injury he has been 6 for 31 (19%) on two point field goal attempts. This was a strength for him before the injury. Up until four games ago he was 69 for 134 (51%) on two point field goal attempts this season.

Hopefully the spring in his legs returns completely. It was encouraging to see him make that off balance three late. This is the type of shot he has been unable to make recently. It was also encouraging that he played the full forty minutes and seemed to get better late in the game.

Ghostzapper, I don't buy the "spring in his legs" excuse. Please read your contradictory note again,
" It was also encouraging that he played the full forty minutes and seemed to get better late in the game." Take away those 3's near the end and he was shooting under 20%. I suggest Alibegovich or Stewart can do that regularly if they take 15 shots per game. Harrison has had slumps like this in many important games, most famously in the NIT where he was just awful offensively. Had Branch not picked up some scoring slack this game could have been a blowout. The team had no clue how to play defensively in the first half and Lavin needed Keady and his notes at halftime to figure it out. By then we were already in a 10 point hole. This was a very bad loss and likely a morale breaking one.

 

[usguard]

When we opened 0-6 you new we were in trouble