Spartan men still sorting out injuries

EAST LANSING - Injuries are nothing new to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. This many injuries so early in the season, however, would shock any coach.

Already without Chris Allen and Raymar Morgan for their exhibition opener, the Spartans lost sophomore big-man Delvon Roe in the 76-45 win over Northwood.

Allen suffered a groin injury coming off a screen in practice last week, while Morgan sat out with a bad ankle sprain.

Allen was able to go through a full practice Wednesday, but Roe and Morgan both sat out.

Additionally, Korie Lucious did not practice Wednesday after spraining his ankle earlier in the week. Lucious' sprain was on the same foot he broke in the national championship game last season, but the injuries are not related.

"It's ridiculous," Izzo said regarding the string of preseason injuries.

"I've never been through this many quality guys down so it's hard to look at the team. (Tuesday) you had Chris, Korie, Delvon and Raymar out. That's four of our top six guys."

Of the four, only Allen looks like a sure thing to play in MSU's next exhibition game Monday against Grand Valley State.

He was cleared to resume shooting Monday and was limited in practice Tuesday.

"This is just one of those injuries that's like, you've been doing so good and then it just happened - it was freakish," said Allen, who also suffered a broken foot in the national championship game.

"The day they cleared me to start shooting I was in here at 7 o'clock in the morning ... I'm a shooter so after a couple days you're not gonna lose it, it's just rhythm and timing."

Izzo also described Morgan's ankle sprain as a freakish injury, which occurred while Morgan was running up the floor in practice - Morgan still had a boot on his foot Wednesday.

Izzo said it's one of the worst ankle sprains he's ever seen and that Morgan has almost no chance of playing Monday.

Roe is day-to-day with a concussion, and Izzo said he didn't see a lot of hope for him to return Monday either.

"When (Roe) asked why Raymar and Chris weren't starting, why they didn't start the second half, it was a little concerning because they were in street clothes," Izzo said.

Izzo added Roe was doing much better, and will undergo further testing today to evaluate a possible return date.

Even star point guard Kalin Lucas jammed his finger this week and was about "half-go" for Wednesday's practice.

On the bright side, the injuries allow Izzo to experiment with some different combinations, like playing freshmen centers Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman at the same time. Additionally, Izzo said the team doesn't have time at this point to stop and feel sorry for themselves.

"I've been really pleased there's been no complaining from them," Izzo said.

"There's no complaining from me right now, just because I've got a lot of stuff to get done and get in.