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From Twitter
Bad news: former Arizona forward Ira Lee ruptured his patella tendon (knee) playing pickup and is expected to miss the next 8 months.
Lee transferred from UA to George Washington after the 2021 season.
Last edited by Florida Colonial (8/14/2021 4:10 pm)
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Yikes. Poor IRA.
And we were already short of frontcourt,esp with experience at A10 level,though have plenty of guards.
Wish Ira a speedy recovery.
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Well that sucks. Best to Itra. When are s GW gonna generate some good luck?
Last edited by FredD (8/14/2021 5:35 pm)
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Have to wonder if that last scholarship will be used now on another big
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That is a huge kick in the butt. I hope he was already starting to rub off on Hunter and Noel because they are getting thrown in the deep end.
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Wow that's some bad luck. Prayers up to Ira, hoping for a speedy recovery.
I took a quick look to see what is even left on the transfer wire at this point (if we do decide to use the last scholarship). I did notice Collin Smith and Javier Langarica are still available if they are still planning on using their extra year of eligibility/are interested in returning to GW. As a one year rental, we could do worse and would add depth in the frontcourt. Hope Hunter and Noel have a better feel of JC's system with a year under their belt.
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If true, that takes away the one sliver of unrestrained optimism I had for the 2021-22 season. Now I will have to resort to the "well, they won´t go 1-27 so at least it is better than when I was a student" mantra.
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Unfortunately its true. It was commented on by Moyer and then Lee thanked him
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Wow. That sucks. Ira Lee was a major reason I expected us to take a big step forward this year. That’s a huge blow. Everyone will need to step up.
(And, yes, it would be super cool if Colin Smith came back)
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Yikes. Wishing a speedy recovery
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Godspeed in your recovery Ira
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Pickup game
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While it's probably safe to say that Ira would not have been the team's best player this coming season, it stands to reason that he may very well have been the one player this team could least afford to lose. Depth among the bigs was already an issue. Now, it's an alarming fact.
Wishing Ira a complete recovery.
The Collin Smith mention is intriguing but I'm not sure I see it going anywhere. (That's my contribution towards making this happen.)
Short of another signing, this falls on Hunter Dean and Noel Brown. Hunter will continue to be an energy guy with limitations. I do not foresee Hunter becoming an enforcer in the paint. Noel on the other hand has this potential but will have to gain quickness and stay out of foul trouble. This team should not need much scoring out of the position (although a high shooting percentage would be helpful, even based on a limited number of attempts). It will need defenders who can alter shots and be dependable rebounders. Ira was slated to give this team what it needed. Now, it's on Hunter and Noel.
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While I wish Ira Lee a speedy recovery and hope to see him on the court, in terms of player development, this isn't the worse development. There aren't big expectations this year, so I'd like to see Noel Brown get a lot of playing time to see if he can develop into the quality A-10 center I think we can be. If we don't expect this to be a tournament team, I'd rather minutes toward a young guy than a one year rental. Then, hopefully Ira is able to come back as a super duper senior next year and we have a lot of depth at the position.
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@porter, I think Noel also could benefit more from learning from a quality vet line Lee for the whole season, and playing in advantageous situations, rather than throwing him in. That said he’s a hard working kid and hopefully he’ll be ready for big minutes (could also see more small ball with Lindo, a natural 3, at the 5 along with the 4Bs: Bishop, Brayon, Bamisile, and Brendon).
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BM wrote:
Pickup game
That article says he will play for GW next year. He obviously will be eligible, but it would be cool to know they wrote that just because he’s eligible or because they actually asks if he intends to come back to play for us rather than pursue a pro career or move on to whatever is next for him?
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Without Lee, what do you expect the starting 5, and playing time allocation for starters/bench will look like?
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G Bishop
G Freeman
G Bamisile
F Lindo
C Brown
My best guess on starting 5
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Spahn and Sain and pray for rain, perhaps?