Louisville has had plenty of problems this year, everything from an inability to score to an inability to defend without fouling; but the factor that is nearly impossible to control eating away at the Cardinals' roster again this season - the injury bug.
Highly touted freshman Wayne Blackshear has yet to suit up this year, and the coaching staff is pretty pessimistic about his return to the floor following a shoulder injury and poor rehab.
Louisville lost versatile wing scorer Mike Marra for the season with an ACL injury in the first week of the season. Marra felt a pop during Louisville's second game against Lamar and had season-ending surgery in the days that followed.
Next on the list was Stephan Van Treese, the embodiment of hustle from the squad. He has missed the majority of the season with a knee injury of his own. He returned in limited action only to be sidelined again. He hasn't been ruled completely out for this season yet, but with things going the way they are, he might be better off trying for a medical redshirt.
Senior Kyle Kuric, Louisville's leading scorer, rolled an ankle prior to practice at the end of last week, forcing him to miss both the DePaul win and the Marquette loss. Luckily, he returned in time for the Pittsburgh win on Saturday night.
Forward Rakeem Buckles is the latest to take on a devastating knee injury; he tore a ligament in February of 2011 and was able to make a return relatively early this playing season, but this latest injury sustained against Marquette last Monday will cost Buckles not only the rest of this year, but the entirety of 2012-13 as well. It's such a shame for a young man who has worked so hard to rehabilitate and get back on the court to see such a devastating set back. The simple fact is, hoping the best for Rakeem, he reasonably may not suit up as a Cardinal again.
One fool's opinion?
It might be time for Ricky P. to re-evaluate his system, or at least look into a new training crew. Injuries are a fluke thing that you could never hope to prevent entirely; but the way they've piled up in the past three seasons, one can only start to wonder if Pitino and company might be inadvertently doing something detrimental to the players' health. Such a thought would seem insane if the only ailments on the table were say, Blackshear's shoulder or Kuric's rolled ankle; but when a team has nearly a handul of season-ending ACL (or other knee ligament) injuries, then maybe something needs to change.
Here's to a healthy Cardinal 2012 from here out.
Go CARDS!
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