Kolek Out for Remainder of Regular Season (at Least)

[Biggie Clausen]

Or people can not freak out quite yet but I suppose that's a lot to ask.

Why can't you just let people feel how they want to feel without criticizing them?  Every person on this board has been eagerly looking forward to the next couple of weeks for the past year.  To have a setback like this at the most critical point of the season is incredibly frustrating, especially after watching this team fight so hard all year to put themselves in a good position for the tournament.

[Newsdreams]

Why can't you just let people feel how they want to feel without criticizing them?  Every person on this board has been eagerly looking forward to the next couple of weeks for the past year.  To have a setback like this at the most critical point of the season is incredibly frustrating, especially after watching this team fight so hard all year to put themselves in a good position for the tournament.

MU is GOWNE

[DoctorV]

MU needs TK to make any kind of run. There is no way the offense we saw on Saturday goes very far in the tournament.

Next man up, aina?

[Dr. Blackheart]

Dr. B

I'll stick with my eye test on both sides of the ball. The offense took a lot of energy to get difficult shots. I would not be booking S16 tickets counting on that isolation offense.

As for the D, we agree to disagree.

I've booked tickets to the championship. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

Dr. B

I'll stick with my eye test on both sides of the ball. The offense took a lot of energy to get difficult shots. I would not be booking S16 tickets counting on that isolation offense.

As for the D, we agree to disagree.

Rocky has secured a Scoop discount.

[Shark]

Win. Anyway.

[Goose]

Dr. B

Rocky already does enough to make my life better that I would not feel right taking advantage of a scoop discount.

[MU82]

I'm starting to feel good about TK being back for the NCAA tournament. No inside info, just reading between the lines and forming an opinion.

Sucks that we won't have him for this week's games and probably the BET, but it's all about March 21 on for Kolek and the rest of this group.

[HowardsWorld]

I'm starting to feel good about TK being back for the NCAA tournament. No inside info, just reading between the lines and forming an opinion.

Sucks that we won't have him for this week's games and probably the BET, but it's all about March 21 on for Kolek and the rest of this group.

MU -

Here is my take on it. The next two regular season games mean more to the team and resume than the BET. In my opinion if we do not have Kolek 100% for the BET you rest him and go in with the mindset that the BET is a glorified scrimmage on Koleks behalf. This doesn't mean we done send the rest of the team out there to win, more or less the tournament is meaningless for getting a better seed.  If we win the next two our 2 seed is all but cemented. I'm fine with going 1-1 in the BET and resting for the big dance. I would love nothing more than to win the BET again but when it comes to health you need to look at the BET as almost a preseason game. 

[MU82]

MU -

Here is my take on it. The next two regular season games mean more to the team and resume than the BET. In my opinion if we do not have Kolek 100% for the BET you rest him and go in with the mindset that the BET is a glorified scrimmage on Koleks behalf. This doesn't mean we done send the rest of the team out there to win, more or less the tournament is meaningless for getting a better seed.  If we win the next two our 2 seed is all but cemented. I'm fine with going 1-1 in the BET and resting for the big dance. I would love nothing more than to win the BET again but when it comes to health you need to look at the BET as almost a preseason game.

I agree that the BET isn't the main focus this season, nor should it be. I'm glad we got the banner(s) last season, proud of it, and I know that whoever plays in MSG will represent MU well. But when you have a team that has legitimate national title aspirations, that takes precedence over everything else.

As for what I'd be "fine with" record-wise this week and in the BET, it doesn't really matter because it doesn't affect the team at all. But if I really have to choose something I'd be fine with ... I'd be fine with our players suffering no other injuries or illnesses between now and April 9.

[Goose]

82

I'm with you. Get the guys healthy for 4/9.

[MuggsyB]

I'm starting to feel good about TK being back for the NCAA tournament. No inside info, just reading between the lines and forming an opinion.

Sucks that we won't have him for this week's games and probably the BET, but it's all about March 21 on for Kolek and the rest of this group.

I think he'll absolutely give it a go.  That said he would be out about a month in this scenario.  We're in an extremely tenuous situation and it down right sucks.

[The Sultan]

If Marquette's docs say he can play in the BET, and Shaka's on board, I have no problem with Tyler playing in the BET.

[Galway Eagle]

If Marquette's docs say he can play in the BET, and Shaka's on board, I have no problem with Tyler playing in the BET.

It'll probably be more along the lines of "he's good to go but there's X% he'll aggravate it by coming back. Hold him out one more week to the ncaa tournament and that drops to y%"

Hypothetical numbers but if it's 25% chance he aggravates the injury in week 2 (BE tournament) and 15% he aggravates it  by playing in week 3 id prefer he wait till week 3.

[Scoop Snoop]

It'll probably be more along the lines of "he's good to go but there's X% he'll aggravate it by coming back. Hold him out one more week to the ncaa tournament and that drops to y%"

Hypothetical numbers but if it's 25% chance he aggravates the injury in week 2 (BE tournament) and 15% he aggravates it  by playing in week 3 id prefer he wait till week 3.

This is where I am. it sems logical that the risk of reinjury would be greater if plays in the BET. Note that Sultan's post started with "if".
We are all guessing as we do not know the specifics of the injury. It is entirely possible that the physicians know more than we do.   

[MU82]

If Marquette's docs say he can play in the BET, and Shaka's on board, I have no problem with Tyler playing in the BET.

Me too, but he'd really have to be whatever the definition of "fully healed" is for this injury for me to feel good about it.

The BET is a grind. If MU is good enough to advance (and it is, especially with TK), it would have to play, say, Providence, Creighton and UConn within a 50-hour span. That's pretty grueling for a guy coming off an injury serious enough to keep him out of 3 important games.

But you're right in that the only choice all of us have is to trust the medical staff, Shaka and Kolek himself when it comes to TK's playing status. Cuz they ain't gonna ask any of us!

[DoctorV]

Yea clearly all speculative, but to be completely honest unless he's fully healthy I think it would be best to make the 2v15 or 3v14 game his first game back, giving him just enough minutes to get any rust off.

The familiarity with his teammates is there, one of the benefits of a group playing together for so long, so all you'd really need is 15-20 mins to make some passes, play some defense, and get some shots up.

And yes I'm fully confident that Marquette wins their first game with or without him, I'd just like to see him play enough to get some confidence back that he's healthy for the next one.

Marquette can win game 2 without him too, so his minutes in that one would just depend on his he's feeling and game flow.
Then he gets an extra week to heal up for the sweet16 where he becomes a full go.

That would be the ideal scenario imo

[wadesworld]

I've seen enough upsets to think we can just let Kolek get rest until the Sweet 16.  Are we good enough with everyone else healthy that we can get there?  Sure.  But we were healthy outside of Kolek's thumb last year and still didn't make the Sweet 16 as a 2 seed.  Arizona probably thought they'd be in a Sweet 16 game last year.  Same with Purdue.

If the doctors say there's a risk of reaggravation by playing him in the BET, then sit him.  But once it gets to the NCAAT, it's go time.

[fjm]

I've seen enough upsets to think we can just let Kolek get rest until the Sweet 16.  Are we good enough with everyone else healthy that we can get there?  Sure.  But we were healthy outside of Kolek's thumb last year and still didn't make the Sweet 16 as a 2 seed.  Arizona probably thought they'd be in a Sweet 16 game last year.  Same with Purdue.

If the doctors say there's a risk of reaggravation by playing him in the BET, then sit him.  But once it gets to the NCAAT, it's go time.

Gonna need to be.

[MU82]

I've seen enough upsets to think we can just let Kolek get rest until the Sweet 16.  Are we good enough with everyone else healthy that we can get there?  Sure.  But we were healthy outside of Kolek's thumb last year and still didn't make the Sweet 16 as a 2 seed.  Arizona probably thought they'd be in a Sweet 16 game last year.  Same with Purdue.

If the doctors say there's a risk of reaggravation by playing him in the BET, then sit him.  But once it gets to the NCAAT, it's go time.

Totally agree with you, wades.

A team with 3 NBA players, including a Hall of Famer, needed Diener to play out of his mind to avoid losing to Holy Cross as a 3-seed. Our first Big East championship team needed a minor miracle (or maybe a major miracle) to avoid losing to Davidson as a 3-seed. A 1-seed and a 2-seed lost in the first round just last year.

Take nothing for granted in the NCAA Tournament.

Either Kolek is healthy enough to play big minutes and do what he does, or not.

[wadesworld]

Gonna need to be.

We know you think he's done for the year.

[MU82]

Gonna need to be.

I appreciate you sharing source information with us since Kolek got hurt. From what you're now hearing, do you think Shaka was only blowing smoke when he expressed optimism about Kolek's recovery and that he's confident Kolek will play "at some point very soon"?

[VegasWarrior77]

Updates on TK, Oso and Chase from theScore:

https://www.thescore.com/ncaab/news/2860739/marquettes-smart-confident-kolek-plays-again-this-season

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Marquette coach Shaka Smart is optimistic that Tyler Kolek's oblique injury won't knock the 2022-23 Big East player of the year out for the remainder of the season.

Smart acknowledged Tuesday that "barring a miracle," Kolek won't play in the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles' two regular-season games Wednesday against No. 2 UConn (26-3, 16-2 Big East) and Saturday at Xavier (15-14, 9-9). Marquette (22-7, 13-5) had announced Monday that the 6-foot-3 guard wouldn't be available for those games and would be re-evaluated before next week's Big East Tournament in New York.

"We feel very confident that he will be able to play at some point very soon," Smart said Tuesday.

Kolek suffered the injury during a 91-69 victory over Providence on Wednesday. Smart said after the game that Kolek told him he made a pass, twisted his body and felt it. He left the game early in the second half, returned briefly and then left again for good.

The injury caused Kolek to miss Marquette's 89-75 loss at No. 10 Creighton on Saturday. Smart said Tuesday there's a "distinct possibility" that Kolek could return for Marquette's Big East Tournament opener on March 14.

"I'm sure he probably doesn't fully communicate how much it eats him up," Smart said. "He's a guy that, it's hard for him to go a matter of hours without going back to the gym and working on his game. So to go days in a row where he can't really do much is a challenge.

"But at the same time, he verbalized to me that it's good that each day he's able to do a little bit more. He was on the bike yesterday. He lifted weights today. So he's making progress towards coming back, which is awesome."

Kolek has 7.6 assists per game to lead all Division I players, and he also averages 15 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. That follows a 2022-23 season in which Kolek was an Associated Press All-America third-team selection while helping Marquette win the Big East's regular-season and tournament titles.

Smart also indicated Oso Ighodaro should be available for Wednesday's game with UConn after an illness prevented him from playing at Creighton. Ighodaro has a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game and is the Golden Eagles' third-leading scorer with 14 points per game.

"He's feeling much better," Smart said. "He had a really tough flu bug and literally wasn't able to leave the hotel when we got on the bus to go to the Creighton game. But he's doing much better. He practiced yesterday."

Chase Ross, who averages 6.5 points and 20.9 minutes, played against Creighton but also wasn't feeling well that day. Smart said Ross didn't practice Monday but is expected to practice Tuesday.

[oilcan]

Who said it was an oblique injury? I didn't hear any doctor. It was a chest strain. Nobody says anything more than that. Be cautious. Of course we all want to see MU win every game. And we're going to see Uconn on senior night, and Xavier, and then the Big East Tournament.
But don't jeopardize Tyler's play before the real tournament. He's going to be there. You don't need to  panic or give up your hope and say you don't really expect as much anymore.  The team believes and Tyler believes and that's all you should be confident about. Believe in what you see as true. Be confident. Believe in resilience. Yes, I believe. I just know.

[MuggsyB]

Who said it was an oblique injury? I didn't hear any doctor. It was a chest strain. Nobody says anything more than that. Be cautious. Of course we all want to see MU win every game. And we're going to see Uconn on senior night, and Xavier, and then the Big East Tournament.
But don't jeopardize Tyler's play before the real tournament. He's going to be there. You don't need to  panic or give up your hope and say you don't really expect as much anymore.  The team believes and Tyler believes and that's all you should be confident about. Believe in what you see as true. Be confident. Believe in resilience. Yes, I believe. I just know.

Ty oilcan.  I really hope you are correct.