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February 22, 2008

Sittin' & Waitin'; Hanke has broken finger

KEVIN McNAMARA

Stranded at TF Green Airport waiting for a flight to Pittsburgh...What glamour. Anyone want to go to Morgantown?

We have a bit of news for Friar fans watching the snow fall outside this Friday and, as usual, it `aint good. Randall Hanke has broken a finger on his left (shooting) hand. He is expected to try to play tomorrow night against West Virginia but this isn't good news.

Obviously the Friars (and Tim Welsh) cannot catch a break. With one final, two-week window to make a push for the Big East Tournament (and a post-season tourney) at hand, the Friars suffer yet another injury. So we have Hanke, point guard Dwain Williams' ankle and Jeff Xavier's foot. Williams can be termed doubtful for the WVU game but is likely to dress. Xavier is simply tough as nails. Only reason he's playing with an (almost) broken foot.

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A few different media outlets are chiming in on the Welsh situation. Obviously the PC coach is on extremely thin ice here. Reports in The Journal over the last few months have made that pretty clear. Barring a run to get into the Big East tourney and the NIT, Welsh is likely to be replaced at the end of the season.

We're not going to be fleshing out candidates for the job until the school makes a decision on the 10-year coach.

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It only takes a bit of research but here's the story on PC and the Big East tourney. The Friars have to hope that St. John's and DePaul don't win another game. That's highly probable looking at schedules. Then the Friars have to win one of their final four games. The probability on that one is anyone's guess.

If PC finishes in a tie with DePaul, the Friars would win and move into the top 12 and MSGarden. The two teams split and PC owns the best win (UConn) of the two teams. However, all sorts of ties could develop and the Friars don't fare well right now with either Seton Hall or St. John's, both of whom beat PC head-2-head. PC has yet to face Villanova, which is also in the same `pod' in the Big East standings.

There are games to be played - the most important of the year. Who actually takes the floor for the Friars over that period remains to be seen

Posted by Kevin  at 12:42 PM | Permalink