WHEW....
On Wednesday night, Georgetown had its Robbie Hummel moment.
Chris Wright, one of the Hoyas' three do-it-all guards and one of the nation's most crucial players relative to his team's needs, suffered a broken left hand in Wednesday's loss to Cincinnati.
Twitter was immediately abuzz with news of the injury and dire predictions therein, and it's no surprise why: With Wright, Georgetown is a Big East contender and potential Final Four team. Without him, those chances are hugely diminished. Georgetown, like Purdue last year, would still have very good players on the floor, but it would be missing the player who truly makes its guard-heavy Princeton offense work. With the possible exception of Austin Freeman, no Hoyas mean as much to Georgetown as Wright.
Which is why today's news, though still unfortunate, should bring Georgetown fans some measure of relief: According to the following release from John Thompson III, Wright could be back "before the end of the season:"
"Chris Wright, injured in last night's game with Cincinnati, underwent successful surgery this morning for a break in the third metacarpal of his left [non-shooting] hand," Thompson said in a release. "Our medical staff is optimistic, and although we do not have an exact timetable, we expect to have Chris back before the end of the season."
If there was a long, quotable definition of "relatively good news for Georgetown fans," that would be it. The injury itself is bad, but it could have been worse; it could have been Wright's strong (right) hand. Instead, if he heals quickly enough, Wright will probably be able to play with a large splint or cast on his left hand. For example, Indiana's Christian Watford broke his left hand Jan. 30 at Michigan State, but was able to return just three games later with a large, bulky, taped-over cast-type thing on his off hand.
No, the news isn't ideal; Georgetown would much rather have its starting point guard -- not to mention its entire team -- healthy at this point in the season. It is Feb. 24, after all. But given the dire possibilities after last night's game, this might not be so bad after all. In the immortal words of Sterling Archer: Thank God for small miracles, huh?
