Illinois Rayvonte Rice out with broken hand

[Da Coach]

Illinois' leading scorer Rayvonte Rice will miss 5-6 weeks with a broken left hand he suffered in practice. It is likely he will require surgery-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24938860/illinois-rayvonte-rice-suffers-serious-injury-in-practice

This is tough news as the Illini have just started Big Ten play and are 0-2 already. They will need a couple of their younger guards or their transfer guards to step up, but I don't see that happening.

[tornado]

Tough luck - likely gonna affect him all the way 'til March...

Illini are so guard-dependent....
Their stats show a huge pct of their scoring comes from their guards...
Only Egwu (7.5 pts, 3.5 reb) and Black ( 4.0 pts, 3.0 rebs) give them anything from the frontcourt...and neither are consistent.

and yet in their first two games in the Big Ten - they simply cannot compete against their opponents' big men...
Against Ohio State - Egwu & Black combined for 9 pts/3 rebs
while the starting frontcourt of Ohio State had 26 pts/10 rebs

They could use Marcus Arnold right now

[tornado]

Here's kind of a bizarre story...
Both Rayvonte Rice and Aaron Cosby are out with injuries...

But head coach John Groce steps to the mike and announces that he's being tough with discipline and he's suspending them both for violations of team rules...
even though neither would be playing now anyway because of their injuries.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25012935/illinois-indefinitely-suspends-starters-rayvonte-rice-and-aaron-cosby

[Chico]

Here's kind of a bizarre story...
Both Rayvonte Rice and Aaron Cosby are out with injuries...

But head coach John Groce steps to the mike and announces that he's being tough with discipline and he's suspending them both for violations of team rules...
even though neither would be playing now anyway because of their injuries.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...nd-aaron-cosby

Just goes to show kids nowadays have no respect for team or any kind of rules.

[tornado]

as expected - both Aaron Cosby and Rayvonte Rice have had their "suspensions" lifted even before they would have played a game anyway.

[BUspartan]

as expected - both Aaron Cosby and Rayvonte Rice have had their "suspensions" lifted even before they would have played a game anyway.

Are they back tomorrow versus MSU, or are they still injured? Sorry if posted already, i haven't heard.

[tornado]

I have no inside info but based on the most recent news it appears the head coach is intentionally being vague and not really saying...
But then a lot of coaches aren't always crystal clear on their injuries so they can frustrate their opponents' plans for game preparation and perhaps gain an advantage...

One comment on one of the Illini message boards quotes Groce this morning on a radio interview saying both players..
"Groce: Both Rice and Cosby have been full-go in practice, both are on track physically. Look great medically.

Groce: We'll address roles with the team when those guys come back."


....would not elaborate on if they will play at MSU"


but the majority opinion on their message boards is...
that Illinois still has a shot at an at large bid...they have RPI in the 50's & SOS in the 60's and believe it or not sit (5-5) JUST TWO games behind 2nd place (7-3), with a lot of the teams ahead of them (Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State) struggling!!

SO - close to 100% of Illini fans think this is all blowing smoke & a flimsy, poor excuse for a bluff by Groce to make their upcoming opponents think Rice & Cosby are NOT playing and then Illinois will have them pull a Willis Reed and surprise them.

[BUspartan]

I have no inside info but based on the most recent news it appears the head coach is intentionally being vague and not really saying...
But then a lot of coaches aren't always crystal clear on their injuries so they can frustrate their opponents' plans for game preparation and perhaps gain an advantage...

One comment on one of the Illini message boards quotes Groce this morning on a radio interview saying both players..
"Groce: Both Rice and Cosby have been full-go in practice, both are on track physically. Look great medically.

Groce: We'll address roles with the team when those guys come back."


....would not elaborate on if they will play at MSU"


but the majority opinion on their message boards is...
that Illinois still has a shot at an at large bid...they have RPI in the 50's & SOS in the 60's and believe it or not sit (5-5) JUST TWO games behind 2nd place (7-3), with a lot of the teams ahead of them (Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State) struggling!!

SO - close to 100% of Illini fans think this is all blowing smoke & a flimsy, poor excuse for a bluff by Groce to make their upcoming opponents think Rice & Cosby are NOT playing and then Illinois will have them pull a Willis Reed and surprise them.

Thanks for clarifying. Odd situation.

Word on the MSU board is that both Rice and Cosby are in street clothes during warmups/shootaround. Would be big.

[tornado]

You are right - it's an hour before game time and people at the arena are tweeting that Cosby & Rice are in street clothes and not going through warmups.

https://twitter.com/BMolineWDWS/status/564084398786478081

and so is Champaign News-Gazette writer Marcus Jackson

https://twitter.com/IlliniHQ/status/564084734934802432

http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/mens-basketball/2015-02-07/live-michigan-state.html

[tornado]

Rayvonte Rice's senior season not going the way he had hoped

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4sQlgtjQ1DoJ:https://illinois.rivals.com/content.asp%3FCID%3D1740975+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=de

"Illinois is worse with Rayvonte Rice on the court. There's no arguing that. At this point, it's a fact."