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UPDATE: Isaac Haas will NOT be playing today, as his brace was not approved by the NCAA. Even if it was, I doubt the coaching staff would let him play.
Isaac Haas will NOT be playing today. He wanted to, but ultimately the brace he would have to wear was NOT cleared by the NCAA. @BoilerBall @CBSSports
— Allie LaForce (@ALaForce) March 18, 2018
I think we have what qualifies as an upgrade:
Haas will be a game time decision the team confirmed with me. We tip at 12:10 ET on @CBSSports and I’ll let you know final decision before that hopefully.
— Allie LaForce (@ALaForce) March 18, 2018
It has certainly been an interesting 48 hours or so. At first Isaac Haas was shaking it off and, in his own words, fine. Then he was out for the season and required surgery. Yesterday, there was talk of getting a brace approved by the NCAA and that he practiced, but coach Painter was pretty adamant that it was mostly for his piece of mind and that he would almost certainly not play.
Being upgraded to “a game-time decision” is progress.
Of course, that is what coach Painter must weigh here. Is an Isaac Haas at 50% effectiveness still good enough to play? What if he can’t shoot free throws and Butler develops a Hack-a-Haas strategy knowing he’s going to miss? If he can only go 10 minutes and gives us 4-5 baskets in the post that might be enough.
I do think we can still win without him, but with him (if he can be effective) we have an even better shot.
We did get some shots of the brace. however:
