Huskies decide to let Tuck rest ailing knee for two weeks
Storrs — When Morgan Tuck played at least 27 minutes in each of the topranked UConn women's basketball team's first 10 games of the season, it was easy to forget how troublesome her surgically- repaired right knee can be.
A week and a half after Tuck was held out of a win at Houston for precautionary reasons, the UConn coaching and medical staff took a more drastic step in order to have Tuck as close to 100 percent for the NCAA tournament by deciding to shut her
down for the next two weeks.
“We've been going back and forth, a day off and then practice, a day off and then practice, then play a game and two days off,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after Tuesday's practice. “We are nickel and diming it so Rosemary (Ragle, UConn's athletic trainer) and Dr. (Robert) Arciero talked about it and (agreed)just give it two weeks and see what it does with rest so she doesn't have to put up with this crap once and for all. We are going to give it a shot and see what happens.”
Auriemma was quick to point out that Tuck's knee hasn't gotten any worse, but it is the constant pain that she has to deal with that led to this move. So Tuck is expected to miss at least the next four games, including today's against Central Florida at the XL Center in Hartford (7 p.m., SNY).
“You always get annoyed because you always want to play, but this is a good time to be out for two weeks so I am glad it is now and not later on in the season,” said Tuck, who is UConn's second-leading scorer with an average of 14.9 points per game. “I can still be a leader on the this team. I can still use my voice as much as when I go out and did before, I am just not out there helping. I know how to still be a part of the team without playing, I have done it enough.”
Tuck's ability to score from various spots on the floor and also be one of three Huskies with more than 50 assists, allows her to take so much pressure off of reigning national player of the year Breanna Stewart.
“Obviously she is a player who is
very important to this team because she does so many things,” Stewart said. “She is our glue, basically, so to have her not on the court with us, it is going to be a new challenge, but it will give other players an opportunity to step up.”
Auriemma said he is leaning toward starting Gabby Williams, who started the first eight games of the season. If that is the case, it would be the seventh different starting lineup used by the Huskies.
“You miss a little bit of everything because she does so much,” Williams said of Tuck's absence. “I think especially (Monday) that first day without her, we really noticed that because she is super vocal, she is the first person to tell you when you need to do something. She is strong around the basket, she gets those rebounds and makes outside shots so it is a little bit of everything.”
Moriah Jefferson also missed Tuesday's practice after banging her head and knee in a recent fall. No decision on her availability will be made until the team's morning or early afternoon shoot-around.
Tuck still plans to be a part of the team's activities even if it is as a spectator in the next couple of weeks.
“I'll do cardio every day, either swimming or bike so it is not pounding (her knee) and still be involved with the team,” Tuck said. “It is not a specific thing you can do (to get healthy). It is more of letting it calm down a little bit.”
Williams, freshman Napheesa Collier and sophomore Natalie Butler are the players who could see the largest increase in playing time while Tuck is sidelined. But Butler, who missed the first 10 games of the season after tearing a ligament in her left thumb, received some good news as she is no longer required to wear a protective splint. Tuesday's practice was the first since she was injured in the preseason that she practiced without her thumb being taped up.