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The biggest question mark surrounding the possible NCAA tournament success for Colorado State is the healthy of starting senior guard Dorian Green. Green injured his ankle in the final week of the season which caused him to sit out the opening round game against Fresno State, and it was closer than expected.
Green did start against UNLV in the Mountain West semifinals, but he was not all that effective. In that game, Green dove into a pile and sat out the game, and the thought was that he injured his ankle worse.
As of this week, Green did not practice on Monday, but he told the media after practice that he will be ready to go against Missouri this Thursday:
"I didn't hurt it anymore," he said. "Obviously it was going to be a little sore the next day and a little stiff. As of today, it's no worse than it was when I played against UNLV."
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"I don't have the pop and explosiveness that I normally have - not saying that that was a lot when I had it - but I think it just comes down to me just getting enough confidence back in it that the soreness is gone and that I can play as close to 100 percent as possible."
The good news is that the injury did not get worse, but the bad news is that it is still as sore as it was against UNLV. In that game he had little lift on his three-point and it was clear he was not himself.
If Colorado State is going to get past Missouri, and then possibly challenge Louisville, they need Green to be a lot more healthy. The Rams struggled pretty bad against Fresno State and also UNLV when Green was less than 100 percent.
Green is spending a lot of time in the training to get ready, so hopefully he can get his ankle as close to full strength this weekend.