Everyone around the country is assuming Yeguete won't return

[pinecrestgator]

The Espn guys were just saying not having yeguete kills our final four chances. He's only out 4-6 weeks. He's supposed to return.....ins't he?

someone on this board said Donovan's assessment during the call-in show on thurs was positive. What exactly did Donovan say?

[jjenkins5]

Yeguete may be cleared to return 4-6 weeks post-op, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to pick up where he left off before being sidelined. I think that's why the national media is concluding he's done for the year effectively. It's probably accurate to conclude even if he plays some minutes in the tourney he won't be in optimum form, which could logically cause some to conclude our chances of making the Final Four are significantly reduced. The unknown, of course, is how the coaching staff and the rest of our team respond to Yeguete being out. I'm not counting the Gators out!

[regurgigator]

I'm surprised the national guys realize how important Yeguete is when you consider that his statistical impact is not that great.

I am hopeful he'll be back to contribute. He may feel energized if there is a great decrease in the knee pain - post surgery/rehab.

[tommyuf21]

Will has been kind of a hit or miss guy for us this year due to the tendinitis. There's no guarantee that he would have made it through the season injury free at the rate he was going.

[akaGatorhoops]

I wrote a column about it, but yes... Donovan provided a more optimistic answer to my question about Will's injury, rehab and timeline.
He stated that he will have 2-3 weeks of rehab exercise and will hopefully be running and cutting in three weeks. Donovan stated that he was hopeful he could return for the final regular season game.

[rounds]

Will had some loose cartilage particles removed and trimmed. Should be back for KY there or before.

[GatorPlanet]

National media guys that have covered Gator games realize how much Yeguete affects a game, even though it might not show up in stats. Between Wilbekin, Boynton, and Yeguete, we just get teams rattled.

I'm more optimistic now...sounds like he might actually make a return for the final regular season game, which means he might have, what, a week and a half to shake the rust off before the NCAA tourney? And rust usually shows in a guy's offense more than anything else...and offense is not the value Will brings to the table anyway.

In the meantime, Prather and Frazier showed today that they can get the job done in Will's absence.

[Gator40]

The national media is clueless about UF. They only cover us when we lose and a player is hurt.

[rounds]

It actually helps Prather & Frazier get ready for tourney time.

[rserina]

I am less concerned about him being back for UK than I am about him working his way into shape during SEC tourney week. Assuming we have a bye on Thursday, that is a couple of extra days worth of practice he can use to get going, then hopefully two or three games in as many days to ease his way back into game flow. If Frazier and Prather have made use of the intervening time to get improve with expanded minutes, then I would put our top eight against any in the nation come tournament time.

[gatorbogey]

yes. even if WY is 'ready' for the UK game, i'd rather he continue to 'rehab' and get into game shape incrementally. get him ready for the ncaa's. i'd rather him be 80% for the ncaa run than 60% for UK and/or the SEC-T

[BLING]

If the estimate is 4-6 weeks, I like his chances of being back.

Don't rush him back of course, but I'm sure he himself wants to be back for the NCAA's more than anything. So even if he is held out of the SECT for precautionary reasons, the 1st round of the NCAAT could be his "warmup" game and then he can get up to full speed from there.

That wouldn't be a bad idea at all, or at least maybe rest him 1 game in the SECT (i.e. if UF gets all the way to the final, not sure having him play 3 games in 3 days would be a great idea as his first game action). If he is expected back for the SECT, it might not be a bad idea to have him play a little Friday, sit out Saturday, then play more minutes again Sunday (if we get there). To at least save his knee a little bit and see how it holds up. Most likely it will be fine once he gets back, but why risk it?

[phatGator]

I wrote a column about it, but yes...

Where are your columns? I've always appreciated your insights.

[GatorPlanet]

The national media is clueless about UF. They only cover us when we lose and a player is hurt.

Actually, we've gotten great TV coverage and national media coverage this season. Most of 'em have had us in the Final Four for many weeks now.

[akaGatorhoops]

Where are your columns? I've always appreciated your insights.

I appreciate that!
I think they are subscription columns . . .

http://www.gatorcountry.com/author/akaGatorhoops/

[phatGator]

I appreciate that!
I think they are subscription columns . . .

http://www.gatorcountry.com/author/akaGatorhoops/

Excellent. Didn't know where they were. Thanks!

[themistocles]

Everything right now is: "If, then else..." conditional probability.

IF - he is ready to play in Lexington, then he should be able to contribute somewhat in the SEC tournament and be pretty much fully back up to speed by the NCAA tournament.

IF - he is not ready to play until the NCAA tournament, then things become more conditional. The Gators, assuming they don't end up being a 5 or lower seed due to several losses, should be able to get through round 1 with Yeguete only contributing a little, and that extra week should allow him to get back up to speed, so, for the Sweet 16, he should be close to full-speed.

IF - he returns for the SEC tourney, then he should be pretty much up to snuff by NCAA time.

On a neutral court, this year's team could well win the SEC tournament without him, but it would not be easy.

[oneatatime]

It will be interesting to see if he is back for the SEC tournament, whether Will could go on back to back days. The NCAA tournament is less taxing, so if we can get 10-12 minutes out of him at that time, I think we'll be in good shape if Prather and Frazier improve over the last month

[missourigator]

I think with Wil out we lose three more games in the SEC. But as long as we make the dance which we will and having him back for that with the experience our team will gain, I like our chances to go far.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

The national media is clueless about UF. They only cover us when we lose and a player is hurt.

lol, no. Come on, guys.

[swampgas44]

The national media is clueless about UF. They only cover us when we lose and a player is hurt.

They cover us when our current game is on the 4 letter network. :angry:

[orangeblueorangeblue]

They also cover us, oh, all the time.

[tilly]

I've heard MANY ESPN analysts say we may be the best team on the country. I've seen many studio conversations about our defense.

The media does not hate/ignore UF nearly as much as some may wish/think.

[Go2gtr]

His knee was scoped right? Recovery time is minimized with that procedure. I feel good about a dedicated guy like Will making it back in time for the post season.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

I had my knee scoped, too. Was playing baseball again within about 3, 4 weeks. Admittedly basketball is much different on the knees than is baseball.

[InstiGATOR1]

I had my knee scoped, too. Was playing baseball again within about 3, 4 weeks. Admittedly basketball is much different on the knees than is baseball.

If you were swinging a bat, it is different but still baseball puts plenty of torque on the legs.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Eh. I played through high school, on scholly at a different school and a little bit longer than that.

It's still very stressful on the knees, but the actions are so much different in basketball. All of the pivoting and jumping in basketball is unrivaled in baseball unless you're catching.

[108]

i do actually think it could help us in grooming Frazier and getting Prather back into the fold....hopefully come the end of the season, he can help out a little

[dadx4]

As long as he is hood to go come tourney tome I wiil be good with that.

[DuPontGator]

As long as he is good to go come tourney time I wiil be good with that.
.

[ufgator4ever]

If you were betting, the safer bet would be he's shut down until next season.
I really believe the gators spin of post-season availability is to keep the seeding committee from factoring his absence into our seed. They do that and it really make it a much tougher road. And less likely for sweet 16 round, where I think he would be slightly more likely to be available again.

[pinecrestgator]

If you were betting, the safer bet would be he's shut down until next season.
I really believe the gators spin of post-season availability is to keep the seeding committee from factoring his absence into our seed. They do that and it really make it a much tougher road. And less likely for sweet 16 round, where I think he would be slightly more likely to be available again.

You keep saying this. You said this on another thread. The committee isn't going to knock our seed because Yugeute is out especially if they have a month to see what we do without Yeguete. If we were to lose a player like boyton, Young or Murphy near the end of the regular season or the SEC tourney, then I could see the committee knocking our seed(Like they did Cincinnati in 2000 when they lost Kenyan Martin ). They won't do it because we lose a role player in early Feb.

For the seasons above, I don't think BD is trying to play games with the committee. He is saying this because Yeguete wants to get back on the floor and the prognosis says he could be back.

[ThePlayer]

Will had some loose cartilage particles removed and trimmed. Should be back for KY there or before.

Isn't this just the equivalent of an arthroscopic surgery?
I always thought this was a quick "bounce-back" procedure.
Why wouldn't he be ready in a couple of quick weeks?