With Cadougan now out for the season on top of Johnson-Odoms' injury, it's looking like this is going to be a very long and difficult rebuilding year. I have been looking forward to seeing all of these new players in action, but the ranks are getting depleted pretty quickly.

While the injury to Cadougan really hurts the depth, it is anot a life-threatening injury for the team. Dwight Buycks has played PG before, and since Cadougan was not in Milwaukee all summer, Buycks played PG almost all summer long with the current team, so he will fit right in to the PG spot without having to adjust.

One thing is for sure, Marquette can not afford one more single injury to a guard. Can Maymon play 2G? Can Williams play 2G? Can Fulce? Answer to all three is yes, but not exactly what you want to have happen.

Right now I see the depth chart at guard reading:

PG: Buycks, Acker
SG: Johnson-Odom, Cubillan.....................................................................Maymon, Williams, Fulce

A big part of my concern is that with so many new, unproven players, I think you need to have depth to cover up for players who don't pan out, not just those who are injured. Losing Cadougan takes away one of the more promising new players and Johnson-Odom's injury means that he will be behind going into the season.

I think I can also be excused if I get nervous when I hear about these foot injuries because it seems like they so often linger longer than expected, or tend to recur. The depth problem at guard is especially troubling because that should be one of the team's relative strong points. It's not as if they're overloaded with power forwards.

Agree with everything you said, the only thing is that I don't think Johnson-O will be that far behind as he was here all summer playing with the team. Still, missing a month is tough, but he should be good to go by the time practice starts.

Jim Ganzer:

Agree with everything you said, the only thing is that I don't think Johnson-O will be that far behind as he was here all summer playing with the team. Still, missing a month is tough, but he should be good to go by the time practice starts.

I just hope that his injury isn't one of those that lingers or recurs. MU's pattern lately seems to be that once someone gets hurt it takes FOREVER for him to come back at full strength. I didn't realize when Fulce got hurt last fall that he would be out for over a year with no return in sight.

Well, it could be - an achillies ruputre is serious crap. Usually happens to guys like us, who after years of not playing any type of sport, head back out onto the court and go balls out like we did years ago - and pop - down you go.

There are also wear and tear type of achillies injuries which you can make a strong comeback from.

But there are also situations where people have genetically weak, or thin, achillies tendons - that is where it could become a lingering, long lasting problem. Hopefully that is not the case.

Jim Ganzer:

Well, it could be - an achillies ruputre is serious crap. Usually happens to guys like us, who after years of not playing any type of sport, head back out onto the court and go balls out like we did years ago - and pop - down you go.

There are also wear and tear type of achillies injuries which you can make a strong comeback from.

But there are also situations where people have genetically weak, or thin, achillies tendons - that is where it could become a lingering, long lasting problem. Hopefully that is not the case.

I know Cadougan's injury is serious, but I was talking about Johnson-Odom's injury. If we could be sure that he will be back in action and at full strength by the middle of October, I wouldn't be worried about it. But, lately, the injuries to MU players seem to hang around and before you know it they have essentially lost entire seasons or more. I use Fulce, Mbakwe, McMorrow, and Otule as examples.

DJO is on track and should be back at, or shortly after, the first official practice.