A bleak outlook
Auriemma is ‘not too optimistic’ will have enough players to play Friday at Villanova
After a host of COVID-19 issues the past week, No. 11 Uconn women’s basketball may still be a ways off from making its return to the floor.
Coach Geno Auriemma told Bob Joyce on Monday’s “Uconn WBB Coaches Show” that he is “not too optimistic” the team will have the minimum requirement of seven players to play in Friday’s scheduled game at Villanova.
“We have to see if between now and Friday, someone can be ready to go,” Auriemma said. “But the problem that you run into is if someone comes off the [COVID-19] protocols, they still need five days of practice before they’re going to be able to play, so it doesn’t give you much time between today and Friday.”
The Huskies have had their first three games back from the holiday break canceled, the first due to COVID-19 issues in Marquette’s program and the last two (at Depaul Dec. 31 and at Georgetown Jan. 5) due to COVID-19 issues among the Huskies.
Auriemma didn’t specify the exact number of positive COVID19 cases the program is dealing with, but said they had “a couple [test positive] right away” upon showing symptoms when they returned to Storrs on Dec. 26 and then “a couple more a day or two later, and so now the schedule [for returns] is staggered coming back.” He specified that one player tested positive at home and didn’t make the trip back to Storrs on the 26th.
In line with recommendations from the Connecticut Department of Health, individuals who test positive must self-isolate for 10 days, not including the five days of return-to-practice time Auriemma said players need.
He added that Azzi Fudd, Nika Mühl and Aubrey Griffin are not yet ready to make their returns from injury, which coupled with the absence of Paige Bueckers, means that the Huskies are still working with, at a baseline, eight available players. With those numbers, it would only take two positive COVID-19 cases for games to be canceled.
While the program was hoping Fudd and Mühl would be able to return after the holidays,
Auriemma said Monday of those two and Griffin, “Wouldn’t have had those three no matter what. They’re not ready to go.”
If anything, it sounds like Mühl, who has been dealing with a nagging foot injury from last season, could be the farthest ahead in her recovery, as Auriemma said she was out on the floor Monday “doing some small things today and hopefully a little more as each day goes on.”
As they wait to get the injured/ ill players back, the Huskies have been fairly limited in what they can do during practice, focusing on getting shots up, some breakdowns
in and trying to get their conditioning back. Their last game came Dec. 19 against Louisville, at 69-64 loss.
Regardless of when the Huskies get the requisite number of players back, they have a rescheduling dilemma on their hands, as they are now looking at three, and maybe four, games to reschedule. Rescheduling is handled at the discretion of the Big East, which has yet to announce any makeup dates. Part of the complication is that, as of now, the conference does not want teams to play three games per week in consecutive weeks, according to the Ashbury Park Press.
In Auriemma’s eyes, something may have to give.
“There’s two or three games
every week going forward, so I don’t know where you actually find space to put these games in, but who knows what more is going to transpire going forward, how many more openings there’s going to be somewhere down the line?” he said. “But that’s the biggest challenge right now: How do we find spaces for these games that we missed?
“I think as you started looking at, ‘When do we fill in these games?’ you’re going to have to start to make a decision, ‘Well playing three games a week for a couple weeks in a row, that might be the way you have to go.’ I don’t know.”