UCLA and Washington Can’t Even Hold Full Practices. But for different reasons. At UCLA, five players (Malcolm Lee, Jerime Anderson, James Keefe, Brendan Lane and Mike Moser) all have had minor injuries that are holding them out of practice. None are serious enough to worry about, but is this a sign of bad luck or Howland toughening up his troops in Westwood? At UW, seven players, including Quincy Pondexter and Venoy Overton, have been out sick with the flu so far this very young season.
Breakable in the Big East. St. John’s star Anthony Mason, Jr., has re-aggravated a hamstring injury that he originally suffered while on a Labor Day trip to Canada, and will miss the next 4-6 weeks, possibly missing their first 3-4 games. The wing player sat all but three games last season after tearing a tendon in his foot, and is expected to play a big role in the Red Storm’s plans for this season. UConn guard Jerome Dyson suffered a less-serious contusion on his left knee over the weekend, the same knee that he tore the ACL in last February. He should be fine, according to Jim Calhoun.
Tennessee’s Emmanuel Negeduunderwent surgery today to have a cardiac defibrillator placed inside his chest to monitor his heart and track any irregularities in its beat. This means he is assuredly out of the lineup for the 2009-10 season, and in all likelihood, his basketball career has ended.
But he has his life. And for what must have seemed like an eternity to people at the scene last Monday, he didn’t have that. After a weightlifting session, Negedu challenged UT guard Bobby Maze to a sprint on the indoor football field at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center on campus. After he won the race, he suddenly fell over when his heart inexplicably stopped beating. Teammate Scotty Hopson sprinted back to the training room, found trainer Chad Newman, who, along with director of sports medicine Jason McVeigh, shocked Negedu’s heart back to life.
He spent the last week undergoing tests both in Knoxville and the Cleveland Clinic, and the apparent schedule of treatment included today’s surgery. After Negedu gets used to the idea that the procedure will help him remain alive, we’re sure that he’ll learn to appreciate this choice even though it may mean his basketball life as a player is over. He wasn’t a major contributor to the UT team last season, but he showed a good amount of promise, and not having roundball in his life will undoubtedly be difficult for him. Negedu has had an eight-day period unlike that many 20-year olds will ever face, so we hope that his family and support network will be there for him when he’s trying to figure out what to do with a significant amount of additional free time on his hands. The good news is that Tennessee will allow him to remain on scholarship to finish his degree, and we commend the university for that. If he’s interested in remaining in basketball in some capacity, we’d love to see him near the UT bench as a student assistant of some sort.
Sidenote: what’s with UT and the serious health issues lately? Two seasons ago, all-american Chris Lofton was playing with cancer and now Negedu has a heart attack at age 20? ACLs and other minor sports-related injuries (i.e., Melvin Goins, today) make sense, but these are serious issues.
Every year around the few weeks prior to formal practice you start to see these types of reports of players getting injured during workouts. You hate to see it, but at least in most of these situations, the player knows that the year is lost and can start thinking about a full year of recovery rather than trying to rush it. Case in point:
Notre Dame Loses Scott Martin
Bad news out of South Bend today – Scott Martin, a 6-8, 219 lb. junior guard who was expected to start for the Irish in 2009-10, will miss the entire season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. Before transferring to Notre Dame, Martin averaged 8.5 points in his freshman year at Purdue, where he played 21.9 minutes per game. Those numbers would have been helpful for Mike Brey’s team this year, as Martin seems to be in the same build as Ryan Ayers, a 6-7, 210 lb. guard who scored 11.1 ppg in 2008-09, his senior season. The injury occurred during preseason workouts yesterday, and an MRI earlier today confirmed the ACL tear.
It remains to be seen who will fill in now that Martin’s Fighting Irish debut will be delayed another year. Besides Luke Harangody, no one on the team grabbed five rebounds a game last year, and now Brey will be forced to fill in with a smaller player (6-3 Ben Hansbrough, also in his first year after a transfer from Mississippi St.) or someone with little to no experience. While none of the incoming freshmen at Notre Dame garnered more than three stars from Rivals.com and Scout.com, they may see the floor more than expected. The Irish were already entering the season with questions as to how they would replace Kyle McAlarney, who was second on the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and first in offensive efficiency. Undoubtedly, Mike Brey expected Scott Martin to help answer some of those questions.
Emmanuel Negedu Medical Update
In Wednesday’s Fast Breaks, we reported that Tennessee sophomore forward Emmanuel Negedu was being held by UT doctors for testing after he collapsed while lifting weights and the team trainers had to revive him before taking him to the hospital. While Negedu’s collapse has yet to be diagnosed, the good news is that he’s been released from the UT Medical Center now. Before his basketball future can be decided, Negedu will be seeing specialists at the Cleveland (OH) Clinic for more tests. Thankfully, UT trainers Chad Newman and Jason McVeigh were on hand last week when Negedu’s collapse occurred, and we wish him all the best with his health (basketball can wait).
Some troubling news came out of SEC country this evening as Mississippi State all-american center Jarvis Varnado was reportedly admitted to the hospital for tests today after becoming nauseous and having some breathing difficulties during a morning practice session. Early reports suggested that Varnado may have been suffering from ‘exhaustion and a bad diet,’ but later clarifications stated that these are merely some of the possibilities doctors are considering. MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said that everything is simply precautionary at this point and that they expect the star player to be out of the hospital Tuesday. This is definitely a story worth tracking as we move forward because often medical matters such as these are rife with unintentional misinformation. Let’s hope that Varnado is ok and back on the court soon.
Buzz: Talk About Breaking Ankles. Ty Lawson must be the fastest guard on earth, as it was reported today that not one, but TWO Michigan State guards have broken right feet as a result of Monday night’s game against the Tar Heels. Korie Lucious and Chris Allen will both have surgery on Friday to repair the injuries, and they are expected to fully recover by next season (you know, when Ty Lawson can no longer inflict damage on them).
Earlier today a report came out that Tennessee junior Wayne Chismplayed against Oklahoma State with a broken thumb. During the game, I noticed that Chism wasn’t as productive as he normally is, but it didn’t seem like there was anything out of the ordinary. Although his line (11 points on 4/14 FG and 6 rebounds) was a little below his typical production it just seemed like an off-day. Still, I’m sure plenty of Volunteer fans will be asking themselves whether Chism’s injury, which was sustained during practice two days before the game, cost them a chance at making a run deeper in the tournament.
May or not be Chism's actual x-ray. . .
Regardless, this would be the 2nd straight year where the Volunteers title hopes were significantly affected by an injury or illness that was not revealed until after the season was over. Although we’re pretty sure Chism was in significant pain, it pales in comparison to what Chris Loftonendured last year.
We just received a report from our sources in Chapel Hill that Ty Lawson had to leave practice early yesterday on crutches after injuring his left big toe. Initial x-rays did not reveal a fracture and UNC still has not announced the diagnosis or extent of Lawson’s injury, but if he isn’t able to play against Duke on Sunday the Tar Heels could be in trouble. If it is anything more serious that hampers the mobility of the Tar Heels lightning quick point guard for a longer period of time (e.g. turf toe) it would be a devastating blow for the Tar Heels’ chances of winning the national title. We’ll keep you updated on this story as it unfolds.
Update: Now we’re hearing that the plan is for Lawson to practice today and play tomorrow unless something changes, but a final decision will probably be made after today’s practice.
RTC Intern Mike Lemaire contributed to tonight’s ATB.
Marquette Loses Their Heart & Soul. Connecticut 93, Marquette 82. Marquette announced at halftime that their senior leader and heart/soul of the team, PG Dominic James, had broken the fifth metatarsal in his left foot and will not play again this season. He hurt it on a seemingly innocuous play just four minutes into the first half, but the x-rays don’t lie, and this is a potentially devastating blow to the Golden Eagles as we approach the postseason. James had re-invented his game this year, becoming less of a scorer and more of a set-up man (#31 nationally in assists and #22 in steals) with the ascent in production from Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. Marquette will need to regroup quickly with games at Louisville, at Pitt and vs. Syracuse in the next ten days. As for this game, AJ Price was the other story – he was simply phenomenal, with 36/6/6 assts, including one ridiculous ankle-breaking move (see below) that crystallized the kind of night he was having. Hasheem Thabeet added 14/15/5 blks and Stanley Robinson contributed 19/10. When UConn is playing like this, they are the best team in the nation – the problem is that we don’t always see this level of effort from the Huskies. McNeal and Matthews combined for 46/9/9 assts to pick up some of the slack from James’ injury, but Maurice Acker (and his 2.2 ppg) will be asked to carry the load that James is leaving behind. No easy task.
Operation ScheyerFace Didn’t Work. Duke 78, Maryland 67. You have to hand it to Maryland – when Grievis Vasquez picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half, you had to wonder where Maryland’s offense would come from. But they showed a lot of heart by matching Duke basket for basket in the second half. In the end there was just too much Gerald Henderson for the Terps to handle. Freshman Sean Mosley did a good job on Henderson man-to-man, but the Blue Devils did a great job of setting screens and getting Henderson free for open looks. Vasquez’s absence finally caught up to the Terps in the final four minutes of the game as the team (with the exception of Landon Milbourne) struggled to get good looks as the Blue Devils clamped down on defense. Maryland was a completely different team from the guys we saw blow big leads in the first half of the season, but Duke showed a lot of grit by stuffing the Maryland momentum coming off their huge upset of UNC. As for Maryland, they have two winnable road games (@ NCSU; @ UVa) and Wake at home – they can still get to 9-7 in the ACC with a strong finish, but their margin of error is thin the rest of the way. Speaking of screens, check out this pick on Nolan Smith that had the sophomore hearing bells the rest of the game.
Some Other Games of Interest.
Northwestern 75, Indiana 53. Northwestern ended 41 years of futility in Bloomington with this win tonight. Tom Crean said his undermanned Hoosiers are running out of steam at this point in the season.
Texas 87, Texas Tech 81. UT got 24 from AJ Abrams and 20/11 from Damion James, but Texas Tech hung around until the final minute in this one behind ten three-pointers.
Utah 70, UNLV 60. Utah continued to pace the Mountain West with another home win to go 11-2 in the conference behind Luke Nevill’s 19/13.
Notre Dame 70, Rutgers 65. ND survived a closer-than-it-shoulda-been game despite Luke Harangody’s 20/15. The Irish’s Saturday game at UConn will be huge for this team.
Davidson 70, UNC-Greensboro 49. Stephen Curry dropped 20/10/5 assts as the Wildcats rebounded from their loss to Butler with a convincing SoCon win.
Rhode Island 93, Dayton 91 (OT). Dayton dropped its second consecutive game due to Marquis Jones’ driving flip layup at the buzzer which pushes UD one game behind Xavier and Temple in the A10 standings.
Virginia Tech 80, Clemson 77. Huge bubble road win for Va Tech behind Malcolm Delaney’s 26/4/6 assts and AD Vassallo’s 21/5. Clemson got double-doubles from Trevor Booker and KC Rivers, but Va Tech made the plays down the stretch in a game that went back and forth all night.
South Carolina 77, Kentucky 59. UK now probably needs to win its last three games to force the Committee to leave them out. SC, on the other hand, probably only needs one more win to become a lock. Sam Muldrow had seven of SC’s school-record sixteen blocks tonight.
Villanova 74, Depaul 72. Depaul got closest to its first Big East win of the year than any other previous loss, but it still wasn’t to be as the Blue Demons moved to 0-15. Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham each had 18 pts for Villanova.
Michigan St. 62, Iowa 54. MSU never really put Iowa away, but Iowa never really threatened either. Tom Izzo didn’t think his Spartans played all that well, but they’re now 1.5 games ahead of Purdue in the Big Ten race anyway.
Missouri 94, Kansas St. 74. Mizzou moved to 17-0 at home behind DeMarre Carroll’s 21/14. The streaking Tigers go to Kansas this weekend and will host Oklahoma in Columbia next Monday.
Tennessee 81, Mississippi St. 76. In this bubblicious game, UT held off the Bulldogs behind Scotty Hopson’s 21 pts. MSU’s bubble is close to bursting, having now lost four of their last five games.
We mentioned last night that Blake Griffin didn’t look good at all as he sat on the Oklahoma bench repeatedly rubbing his eyes and putting his head in his hands as a result of a concussion over the weekend. Today Andy Katz reported that Griffin would likely be back for OU’s Saturday game against Texas Tech, but that report was somewhat contradicted by Griffin’s father, Tommy, who said that his son is a long way from playing basketball again. Given the evidence that shows athletes have slower brain recovery when they return too quickly from a concussion, the OU doctors will certainly take no chances. Nor will his father. From the OKC Oklahoman:
“He’s a little bit better than he was,” Blake’s father, Tommy Griffin said before tipoff of OU’s Big Monday clash. “But he’s nowhere close to being ready to play.”
How Long Until OU Gets Their Star Back?
What were the odds that the top two NPOY candidates in the country would not be playing as we approach the stretch run of the season? Griffin has four more days to get ready for Texas Tech, a game where the Sooners can probably win without him. But there’s no question they’ll need him for the blockbuster game at Missouri next Wednesday. Will he be ready by then? And what about his conditioning and timing – every day he sits out makes it that much harder for the ripped big man to get back into game shape.
Another report that came out today was able to isolate when Griffin actually experienced the concussion. ESPN had been reporting for two days that Griffin suffered the injury as a result of a brush across the nose with UT center Dexter Pittman; however, Texas coach Rick Barnes thinks that it was actually a result of a spin coming off of a screen by guard Dogus Balbay. We can’t find any video evidence of this yet, so if you know of something, please let us know and we’ll put it up.
Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports is reporting that UNC freshman Tyler Zeller will be returning to the Tar Heels lineup most likely in time for tomorrow night’s game against North Carolina State. According to Steve Kirschner, the Associate Director of Athletics for Communications at UNC, “It’s 99 percent that he’ll play tomorrow night.” Zeller, who broke his wrist while being fouled on a breakaway dunk (see below) against Kentucky, played well in his only game of the season as he scored 18 against Penn in the Tar Heels season-opener playing in place of the injured Tyler Hansbrough.
UNC fans were expecting to have a formidible interior with reigning national POY in Hansbrough, junior Deon Thompson, and the two freshman (Zeller and Ed Davis). Hansbrough has been Hansbrough although not as dominant as we expected (more on that in a post later this week), Thompson has played well in stretches, and Davis has been UNC’s best interior defender. However, both Thompson and Davis have had a drop-off in their production recently. Zeller may not add a lot to the Tar Heels interior defense, but he can certainly contribute offensively.
When combined with the announcement yesterday that UConn‘s Jerome Dyson was done for the season, this seems to shift the balance of power over to UNC although Pittsburgh fans may disagree after their performance on the road yesterday. In any case, it definitely makes the Tar Heels a tougher out in the tournament as they now have the strongest inside game in the country to go along with a lightning fast point guard in Ty Lawson and a sharpshooter who has found his range in Wayne Ellington.
