Injury news?
- Thread starter Pachyderms
- Start date
Those around the team are staying tight lipped until Oats announces… but expect some relatively good news for both, especially on the Herb front.
One verified source on Twitter:
Yup. Any time injury/health stuff is going out there, sources usually want to exercise more caution due to the nature. But expected return for Herb is sometime next week. I'd expect the Saturday game against MSU, but returning Tuesday in Baton Rouge is possible. Bruner will be out for a bit, but should certainly be back by the SEC Tourney. Probably back for one of the last couple of regular season games.
Awesome news. Eli H is usually very credible. Holding my breath until it's official, but it seems that we dodged some major bullets.
Depends on the stage of the tear. I suspect, though not 100% sure, playing with a torn meniscus may be the path to completing this season.
Believe the standard procedure for the tear is to clean it out to relieve the pain but usually a pretty quick recovery if not torn badly.
Would not say losing Bruner for 10-12 games is “ dodging a bullet”. Pretty brutal loss considering how he has been playing. May alter the season greatly.
Glad Herb will be back shortly.
Well to me, it is dodging a bullet. I certainly feared it was an ACL injury and he would be done for the year. So in my mind, to have him back in any capacity after what I saw last night, is dodging a bullet.
It's clear to me that the team is still able to play at a high level in his absence. The reason that a lot of us would view a ~5 week absence as a dodged bullet is that we know he is very important to postseason hopes. You can afford him to miss some SEC games where we will still compete in all of those games while knowing that you'd get him back for postseason games where he would become vital.
Dr. Cain performed a procedure to repair Bruner's Knee today. It is expected he will return before the end of the season.
I see what you’re saying, but I prefer to look at it in a positive. We easily could have lost him for the whole season.
Update on Herb: initial timeline was a return next week. But he’s feeling good today and is going to try to give it a go on Saturday. Who knows how productive the minutes will be, but you’ve got to respect and appreciate the heart.
In my opinion, if Alex Reese keeps playing this way he is more productive than Bruner. We need Bruner big time from a depth standpoint. Unfortunately his injury means more Rojas and Gary. If Herb’s finger was just dislocated I just don’t see that causing him to miss much. Personally wouldn’t be surprised to see him suited up Saturday.
Herb is a warrior. He proved that last year. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him in the lineup Saturday.
I agree if more rest allows him to fully heal I don’t want him to force it.
You guys may be underestimating Arkansas. They’re more than capable of beating us, even if we’re at full strength. I think it would be pretty difficult to beat them without Bruner and Herb, especially when you consider that JQ may be a little rusty after not having played the last 3 games (that’s assuming that he’ll be back Saturday).
Reese has been playing great lately but give me Bruner over Reese every time man. Don’t get me wrong, Reese has made huge strides this year but he still makes mistakes that I don’t see Bruner make. I love Bruner’s leadership too
I agree, that we will have a hard time beating Arkansas, even with a healthy Herb. Without Herb, it would be much tougher imop. I think the point they are trying to make, which I agree with, is that it is better to risk losing a few games now, than it is to bring back Herb too soon, which would endanger the entire season/post season.
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So where exactly are the strides that have been made by Reese? Or the strong play outside of literally one game (last one vs Kentucky)? Let's take a look at his stats this year. 30.9% FG and 25% from 3 for a whopping 4.5 points per game... under 3 rebounds per game also. He turns the ball over almost every time he comes in the game. He doesn't get to the FT line (4 attempts this year). He's improved no doubt on the defensive end, but he's still incredibly soft for his size and cannot provide much when playing the 5 on defense. I just don't really see much of the positives that many on this board seem to allude to. Especially the comments that he is or could be just as productive as Bruner... that is about as far from the truth as is possible. Bruner is our second best defender behind Herb, maybe our best passer/best vision on the court, and provides an actual 3 point threat unlike Reese (32.4% on the season).
Oh gun to my head I predict we pick up our first L Saturday afternoon. Not underestimating them at all... just saying I’ll take a loss or two and let Herb heal rather than rush him back and let him be gimpy all season.
Bruner is less than worthless on defense... I mean really, really bad. Man, I guess Petty is just in some people’s dog house and won’t get out. He is clearly, without question our second best defender. Ellis right behind him. I do agree Reese is not a good defender, but Bruner is brutal. He’s had some good help blocks, but one on one in the paint he gets chewed up every single time.
I know as Alabama fans we have to be prepared to lose every single game but Arkansas has done nothing to prove that they are a good team. They have played 3 teams with a pulse and have lost all 3. Their OOC schedule is laughable which is where the bulk of their wins have come from. Bama will have to play in a manner in which they haven't played in 3 weeks to let this one slip away. With possibly two guys down these guys will be focused.
Reese has played much better of late. I guess we can look at the season stats, but he's brought a ton of energy lately. He hasn't been exposed on defense. Played much better on offense as a whole. I'd like to have Bruner too. But Bruner isn't our second best defender. Petty can flat out guard.
Bruner has the highest PER on the entire team at 24.7 and it’s not that close (27.4 in conference), Herb is next at 21.2 then it’s a another big step down to Petty at 18...Reese is second to last at 10.2 above only Rojas at 8.1 (skipping some guys that don’t play).
Given the gap between him and his backup, it is arguable that Bruner is the most important player on the team.
***Bruner is 2nd on the team in Defensive Win Share (DWS) behind only Herb...Bruner is highest on the team in Total Win Share as well.
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When in man to man you have to put your tallest guy on Bruner thus opening up the lane for our guards to drive. With Reese you can put your worst defender on him and worry about the other 4. Now the high screen game can allow for some mismatches on Petty but if you can guard Reese at 23 feet you are good. Even when you don't guard him he seldom makes you pay.
I will agree that I’d forgotten Petty in the defensive rankings and would probably put him #2 (because most teams we’ve played have had better guards and weaker bigs), even if the stats maybe say otherwise. But Bruner would not be far behind. I think that because of the rotational factor, he is the most important or second most important player, competing with Herb. The gap between Bruner and Reese is measured in lightyears.
More likely bc he's the least likely to beat their big off the dribble, bc he doesn't post anyone. The tallest player thing isn't the biggest deal.
