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ACCBBallFan
09-23-2007, 04:04 PM
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/index.php?title=pack_s_gonzalez_suffers_thumb_inju ry&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Pack's Gonzalez suffers thumb injury

N.C. State freshman point guard Javier Gonzales underwent surgery on Saturday to repair a ligament in his right thumb. Gonzales will be in a cast for six weeks and will be out of action for a total of 10-12 weeks, the school announced Sunday.

Gonzalez, who shoots right-handed, suffered the injury on Friday during a skills workout when he dove for a loose ball.

"This is a tough thing for Javi to have to go through so early in his career," NCSU coach Sidney Lowe said in a statement. "But we will look forward to his return early in the season and know that he will be able to contribute to our team this year."

Gonzalez averaged 20.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5 assists last year as a senior at Miami's Krop High and was Florida's Class 6-A player of the year.

JasonEvans
09-24-2007, 12:12 PM
10-12 weeks from now puts him back on the court some time between the first week of December and the middle of the month. Obviously, this means he will be back in time to play against all ACC opponent. NC State's early season schedule is relatively easy but tehy have a few contests where this injury could prove tough to overcome.

Around Thanksgiving they play in the Old Spice Classic, a made for ESPN event with a few decent teams. The start with Rider and then get the winner of South Carolina and Penn State. If they make the finals, and they should, they'll likely face George Mason, Kansas State, or Villanova. NC State also has a tough matchup with Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten challenge on Nov 28th.

Still, Gonzalez will be able to stay in shape while he recovers from this injury (unless he is used to running on his hands) so I doubt it will impact their team much once they get into ACC play. The biggest impact may come from Gonzalez not getting to know his teammates during pre-season practice. So much of being a good PG is knowing where and when your scorers want the ball. We'll see how quickly Gonzalez picks up that part of the PG role when he comes back.

--Jason "I have no idea now who NC State will play at PG... they litterally have no one who has even high school experience at it that I can tell" Evans

riverside6
09-24-2007, 01:41 PM
Being his right thumb, and Gonzalez being right-handed it could certainly impact his shooting and/or ball handling.

Clipsfan
09-24-2007, 04:20 PM
Not only could it affect his shooting etc, but given that we've seen the lingering effects that injuries can have it is very possible that he will never be back to full speed this year. I realize that Paulus' injury was to his foot, but very few people think that just because he had been playing for a while in January that he was not still dealing with issues related to the injury.

ACCBBallFan
09-24-2007, 06:40 PM
Though NC State's OOC is just average, Gonzales will be missing out on the ones he would learn the most from:

Michigan State
Villanova or K-State in a Thanksgiving tournament
Davidson

throatybeard
09-24-2007, 09:10 PM
Around Thanksgiving they play in the Old Spice Classic, a made for ESPN event with a few decent teams.


And people ask me why I don't care about college BB until after Dr King's Bday.

captmojo
09-24-2007, 11:07 PM
Isn't the Mennen Skin Bracer Great Eight played out in Guam sometime around Dr. King's Birthday?:D

throatybeard
09-24-2007, 11:15 PM
Isn't the Mennen Skin Bracer Great Eight played out in Guam sometime around Dr. King's Birthday?:D

BYYYYY, Mennen


(Cooooostanza)

Ramblin' Man
09-25-2007, 09:34 AM
From everything I've heard, Farnold Degand (Iowa St. transfer) probably would have started the season at point, even before Gonzalez's injury, and Marques Johnson (UT transfer) will play there too once he's eligible in December. I think the 'pack will manage.

jimsumner
09-25-2007, 09:48 AM
Lowe has an interesting dilemma. His five best players probably are Costner, McCauley, Hickson, Fells, and Grant. Now that would be one seriously big starting lineup. But none of these guys are points. They tried Grant at the point here and there last year, without notable success. So they're probably going to have to try one of lesser lights and bring one of their top five off the bench.

My guess would be Degand starts and Fells becomes the sixth man but I suspect there will be lots of sorting out in practice and once the season starts. BTW, if this scenario plays out, Costner would be a 3. Talk-about your match up nightmares. Reminds me a bit of '83 when Thurl Bailey was a 6'11" 3. And yes, he was a matchup nightmare.

riverside6
09-25-2007, 11:00 AM
I'm going have to disagree with this. Costner would be really out of position at the 3, and while he is a versatile power forward he would really struggle defensively at the small forward. Doing this would completely take the Pack out of the position to run which is the style that Lowe wanted to use when he came to NC State.

In my mind, State's predicted starting lineup will be...

Farnold Degand (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=farnold degand)
Courtney Fells (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=courtney fells)
Gavin Grant (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=gavin grant)
Brandon Costner (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=brandon costner)
Ben McCauley (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=ben mccauley)

Sure, JJ Hickson (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=JJ Hickson) is good, but he's still a freshman and Lowe will get a chance to expose him slowly throughout the ACC. One thing is for sure, Costner and McCauley will not have to play 40 minutes per game like they were at the end of the season last year.

I think it's fairly obvious that the two transfers, Degand and Marques Johnson (http://www.scacchoops.com/forms/players.asp?search=marques johnson), will determine the Pack's fate this year. NC State would have been one very interesting team had Lowe kept the Chris Wright (http://georgetown.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=38589&sport=2) (PG at Georgetown) commitment.

Ramblin' Man
09-25-2007, 02:05 PM
Rivals' preview seems to agree with you as far as projected starters:
http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=717950