I don't know if it is speculation or something that was hinted at in the post game press conference, but this quote from Todd Golden of the Terre Haute paper is worrisome:

"If ISU continues to play as it has, it's more than capable of winning at Missouri State and Loyola (who might still be without Milton Doyle when ISU visits Chicago on Feb. 7) as well."

EDIT: It's from the presser. "He's going to continue to be out." Ugh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zP-IhfiCeA

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OK !! Tough break--Milton is out for a while--Earl is hurt as well--They come back , then we will be back. Meanwhile Turk, Montel Christian and KIKI Must step up.

Frankly I worry more about Earl and his toe---Milt's ankle (unless its a high sprain) should cure up by this week-end. With those two back , I like our chances.

Maybe --just maybe Porter , on enemy turf, just might be playing word games--I hope so anyway
Notice we boarded well against a taller team--THAT will keep us close until our guys get back ready to roll. This team will NOT quit as prior teams did.

Injuries have a way of evening up--Book it.

Well, if he is out that long, I'm guessing that we are squarely back in the Thursday night conversation. Ugh.

What was once a promising season is now your typical Loyola season. Are we sure that we aren't cursed?

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Cigarboy sucks!

My thinking is, after this week, the toughest part of the schedule is done. Winning without Doyle will be tough, but better to have him healthy down the stretch than limping through. Outside of Wednesday, we still have a good enough team to pull off a few wins with the remaining schedule and avoid Thursday if things fall right. Then if he's back and healthy for March, all bets are off as to what's possible. A good showing down the stretch is what really matters.

I haven't seen or heard anything (including that postgame video clip, which I watched three times) to indicate that Doyle will be out more than two weeks, which began a week ago. It's an ankle, which he tweaked first against Abilene Christian (Dec. 17), sat out against Southern Utah (Dec. 19), and came back against Texas Tech and Boise State (Dec. 22 and 23, playing 23 and 27 minutes). He tweaked it again against Wichita State (Jan. 11), and tried to play on it against Drake (Jan. 14) and SIU (Jan. 18) with an inability to shoot well. With reduced practice rigor since Jan. 11, and being out completely since Jan. 18, you'd figure he should be ready to give it a go at 75% or more by the Illinois State game (Jan. 31).

The Illinois State game is vitally important. I don't know that we match up all that well with them anyway, but Doyle is the factor that makes it close enough to win a game against them when they're on the road-- even if he's not 100%. The calendar is running out, and we'll be 3-6 when the Redbirds-- most likely at 5-4-- come to town. A win makes us 4-6 and within one game of fifth place, a loss most likely drops us into the gurgling quicksand for best of the Thursday teams.

Since you brought it up JCT, I'll give a quick scouting report on Illinois State since I just saw them today against UNI. They're bigger than last year and still have Reggie Lynch who is a huge post presence, but they're still very guard-oriented (at least that's how they played against UNI). Lots of perimeter movement, although they sometimes worked through Lynch in the post.
At least today, when UNI doubled Lynch he didn't play so well out of the doubles. Forced a couple shots, made a few bad passes. I don't think any of those turned into turnovers, but a few should have been led to open perimeter shots and instead bad passes forced ISU to reset their offense.
UNI turned to a 3-2 zone down double digits in the 2nd half, and that completely changed the game. Unfortunately, if Moser tried that strategy next week, Doyle would probably be the best option to play at the top of a 3-2 zone, and who knows if he'll be healthy by then.

On the coaches teleconference stream today, Moser said that Doyle has been shut down, he's wearing a boot, and he's not playing Wednesday at WSU. No timetable for return was given.

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The definition of insanity:

Cheering for the Ramblers year in and year out and expecting different results.

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Cigarboy sucks!

Well that....that doesn't sound very promising....

It might not sound promising, but it's the right thing to do. Our best chance of rattling off a bunch of wins and getting a decent seed is with a 100% healthy Doyle. I think it's a hard thing for a coach to sit his best player when the team is struggling and the player is telling him he wants to play through injury. Kudos to Porter & staff for making the call - as well as Doyle for being OK with the right decision for his future.