Dunking in Maples happening ahead of Belibi's arrival

Healthy or not, having this season to get her self stronger ( or healthy ) will do her a world of good. I remember reading an article about her when she was first brought to the USA some years ago. It revealed that coming from a poverty stricken environment that she seldom got enough of or the proper foods to eat. She was very weak and could not even do one pushup. She still probably has a way to go in respect to catching up health and strength wise. Until she was taken in by the Morris's her living conditions were not ideal even once she got to the USA.

From what I have seen of her, she still has amazing potential. Despite her lack of experience she has a skill set that is vastly superior to most players her height. She also showed a superior court vision and BBIQ especially for someone with her background. Her lack of basketball experience might actually have worked in her favor, since she did not develop many of the usual bad habits that develop when you are physically superior to the players your play against. Some of which take years to get rid of once you are in college.

We should remember that if she develops as expected she could end up being the top pick in the draft if she comes out with her original class. It was a weak year, not only for posts, but players in general. Considering her circumstances it would not be a surprise if she came out with her class. She might not chose to take advantage of her red shirt year. If they are good enough and in demand players often pass up that extra year. Posts and PG are the most in demand and it was a weak year for both.

One question is-- if she is she practicing with the team?

More specifically, is she practicing with the team in contact drills? That was the prohibition earlier. Some people seem to be forgetting that it was clearly stated, before the boot was on the foot, that she had an "undisclosed health issue" and could not participate in contact drills. There are many things that can result in that situation. Based upon everything I've heard, the most likely situation is a heart arrhythmia, which can result in being on anti-coagulants and not being able to participate in contact drills. I just saw an article today that said that often such conditions can be resolved over time with a change in diet, so perhaps that is what the redshirt year is accomplishing... a waiting period to see if that or some similar condition resolved. This is just my speculation/best-guess based upon what I've heard and what research I've done into what can result in athletes not being able to participate in contact drills. I'm rooting for her like everyone but we can't get our hopes up too much... she really may not play next year.  

Now you're speculating on a heart ailment.  What an a**hole.

Hell, maybe she she's fighting extradition on a undisclosed criminal charge.  I mean, if we're guessing let's get our money's worth and make it as dramatic as possible, right?

In  a previous post you made the claim (not speculation) that Andrea is healthy. The fact that she is dunking is NOT evidence supporting your claim because that is NOT A CONTACT DRILL. If the motivation for her redshirting was the boot on her foot, dunking in warmups might be evidence to support your claim. However, the redshirt came before the boot was on her foot. Eggers article is the last hard evidence we had of what was going on, in which he said it was an undisclosed health issue that prevented her from participating in contact drills. That is all we know for sure right now. To reasonably claim anything more requires evidence consistent with all of the facts. Your claim that she is healthy was not reasonable. I made no claims of certainty. I only offered my opinion based upon what I know. That fact that it disagrees with your claim and disappoints you arouses your emotions and leads to you lashing out at me. There was nothing malicious in what I posted, nor has there ever been anything malicious in any of my prior posts. Malicious behavior might justify the descriptor you gave me. Reasonable speculation does not.   

So you think it likely that Eggers, and extremely good journalist, would publish that without facts from his interview to back it up? Nothing can be proven here, but we can assess what is most likely. I'd say that goes in favor of Eggers being correct. 

You are the one suggesting that her condition might be "life threatening"... not me. As Thickhead said, arrythmia's very often not life-threatening and, as I pointed out, people can recover from them. I pointed out that the health issue could be many things that would keep her out of contact drills and simply suggested one that I think would be a reasonable explanation... while making it very clear that it was speculation. The point was... there is no reason to believe, as, you claimed, that she is healthy. There are reasonable explanations as to why she might not be healthy, one of which was the one I offered. 


To support my previous point, posts on this board verify that Andrea first appeared in a boot at the Duke game, Dec. 20. The Eggers article was dated well before that .... Dec. 2.  She was not in boot Dec. 9th, against Santa Clara (a game I attended). 

Correction: Steve Gress in the Gazette times, announced Aquino's redshirt in a Nov. 27 article. Eggers article was dated Jan. 21'st and stated "The answer could have been Andrea Aquino, the 6-9 freshman string bean from Paraguay with great hands, a soft shooting touch and an undisclosed medical condition that has caused her to redshirt this season."