Entries Tagged 'Injuries' ↓

UK Coach Billy Gillispie noted how injured guard Jodie Meeks is improving. Gillispie said he was “hopeful” about Meeks playing in the SEC Tournament later this week.

“He looked better,” Gillispie said. “But he’s still not practicing. I’m hopeful. Just his presence makes a difference because you have to guard him.”

Gillispie noted the two baskets Meeks made at LSU, a game the Cats won by four.

“Every little bit helps,” Gillispie said. “Every basket is huge.”

Elsewhere on the injury front, Michael Porter had a “fantastic” practice on Tuesday while his injured shoulder remained taped.

A MRI has moved doctors to believe Kentucky big man Patrick Patterson will need surgery to repair the stress fracture in his left ankle, Coach Billy Gillispie said at a Friday news conference.

Only a week ago, a X-ray revealed the stress fracture, which will sideline Patterson for the rest of the season.

Such a surgery is considered routine and would require a recovery period of six to eight weeks, doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York have said.

Patterson’s injury was considered a season-killer. But UK has played well without Patterson. The Cats played then No. 1 Tennessee to the last possession before losing 63-60. Then UK won 71-63 at South Carolina on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in injury news, guard Jodie Meeks continues to miss practice as he covers from a groin pull, Gillispie said.

The Billy Gillispie medical update (a.k.a. the regular day-before-a-game news conference) noted that Patrick Patterson could learn soon if he’ll need surgery to repair the stress fracture in his left ankle.

Gillispie said on Tuesday that Patterson underwent a MRI exam that morning to determine if the diagnosis of a stress fracture was valid and if surgery — not just rest — would be needed.

The results could be known within the next few days, Gillispie said.

Steven Weinfeld, a foot and ankle specialist at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York said such surgeries are routine and require a recovery period of six to eight weeks.

As for other injured UK players, Jodie Meeks had made “a little progress” in his recovery from a groin pull, Gillispie said. Meeks has not returned to practice.

Joe Crawford (plantar fasciitis) and Derrick Jasper (microfracture knee surgery) are playing relatively pain free, Gillispie said.

As if Kentucky hasn’t had to handle enough medical problems, Jasper has developed a bunion on his left foot.

Although his team learned of a third stress fracture this season, Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie rejected the notion that he’s pushed too hard.

Patrick Patterson learned on Friday that he’d sustained a stress fracture in his left foot. That followed stress fractures earlier this season to Jodie Meeks (pelvis) and Ramon Harris (foot).

[[ Watch an audio slideshow of Patterson's season, and hear comments from Billy Gillispie, Ramel Bradley and Perry Stevenson. ]]

Patterson, who sprained ankles at Houston and then against Georgia earlier this season, was leading the Southeastern Conference in minutes played with 38.9, on average.

“I push all the time,” said Gillispie, who has noted in the past that his earlier teams did not suffer stress fractures. “If I had Patrick last year, he’d have played 38, 39 minutes, and we had a pretty good team.

“Next year, he’ll play 38 or 39 minutes. You play your best players as much as you can.”

To the thought of pushing too hard, Gillispie said, “Absolutely not.

“We never put a player in jeopardy. He was never in jeopardy.”

He noted another factor: the roster he inherited that was short on talent, necessitating more minutes for the better players. Ramel Bradley (37.5) and Joe Crawford (36.5) rank third and fifth in minutes played in league games.

“A lot of teams have injuries,” Gillispie said. “We need to be better equipped in the future to handle whatever injuries come our way.”

When Patrick Patterson hobbled into the training room on crutches Friday, his teammates thought (hoped? prayed?) it was a joke.

“Joe’s face dropped,” Patterson said of teammate Joe Crawford. “He said, ‘Stop playing. It’s not April Fool’s yet.’ ”

[[ Watch an audio slideshow of Patterson's season, and hear comments from Billy Gillispie, Ramel Bradley and Perry Stevenson. ]]

It was no joke. An X-ray of Patterson’s sore left ankle on Friday revealed a stress fracture. UK’s star freshman will not play again this season.

On the plus side, Patterson committed himself again to returning to Kentucky next season rather than enter this year’s NBA draft.

“I know I’m not ready,” he said. “There’s no possible way I’m going.”

UK Coach Billy Gillispie put on a brave face. He noted his team’s toughness in overcoming injury earlier this season. He noted how the Cats overcame a 6-7 start to get in position to play at No.1 Tennessee on Sunday for a share of the lead in the Southeastern Conference regular-season race.

But Gillispie did not dismiss the new obstacle that seems too much to overcome.

“It’s going to get a lot tougher,” he said. “But it’s not impossible. This team has played a special way of basketball. We’ll just have to play a little more special.”

Patterson acknowledged his shock at having a stress fracture. He said he woke up Tuesday morning with pain in the ankle. He played 37 minutes against Ole Miss on Wednesday night.and felt fine on Thursday.

But when he woke up on Friday, the ankle hurt. UK trainers recommended an X-ray, which revealed the fracture.

“I started crying when I found out I couldn’t play the rest of the season,” Patterson said. “Because I couldn’t play anymore I felt I let down my teammates.”

Patterson is UK’s second-leading scorer (16.4 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (7.7 rpg). He’s the team’s sole presence around the basket. He also leads the SEC in minutes played at 38.9, on average.

“I have not been around a freshman who was asked to do more or done more for a team,” Gillispie said.

Patterson, who has had ankle problems (sprains and “tweaks”) since high school, said he would be playing through the pain at Tennessee if the X-ray had not been taken.

“But the doctors said if I continue to play, it’ll tear on through,” he said. “It’d be 20 times worse. If I play, the likelihood of playing next year would not be good.”

Teammates Ramel Bradley and Perry Stevenson spoke bravely of carrying on.

When asked what he’d tell fans who believe the injury ruined UK’s chances of success the rest of the way, Stevenson said, “All I can do is tell them, watch. Look and see. I think we’ll be all right.”

Gillispie took a more sober-minded view while accentuating the positive.

“It’s easy to say we’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s a devastating blow.”

Gillispie likened the injury to a setback in life. The UK coach pointed out again that the key will be how the Cats respond.

Gillispie voiced his confidence that the Cats will compete. He did not see drastic changes in how UK plays. It’s too late in the season to orchestrate an overhaul, he said.

UK spokesman Scott Stricklin just called to say Patrick Patterson is out for the season.

The star freshman has sustained a stress fracture in his left ankle. X-rays on Friday revealed the break. Patterson will need about eight weeks to recover, Stricklin said.

Patterson and UK Coach Billy Gillispie will  be at a news conference later Friday afternoon to discuss the injury and its effect on Kentucky’s season.

The injury is the latest in a string of medical problems to haunt Kentucky this season. Earlier such players as Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper were sidelined.

Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie did not sound optimistic about Jodie Meeks playing against Arkansas on Saturday.

Meeks, who has played in 11 games this season, had participated in practice on a “very, very limited” basis, Gillispie said after Friday’s practice.

“He’s trying his hardest,” said Gillispie, who added that Meeks was “questionable.” [Hear Gillispie's Friday news conference.]

For the first time all season, Kentucky is at full strength.

UK Coach Billy Gillispie noted how Jodie Meeks has been practicing. Meeks played six minutes at Vanderbilt on Tuesday as he tries to recover from a strained hip flexor injury.

“He’s practicing like a guy that hasn’t been out there for a while,” Gillispie said. [Hear Gillispie's Friday press conference.]

Meeks needs the practice time to return to full form. “You don’t get in shape in two days (of practice) and six minutes of a game,” the UK coach said.

Alabama’s best player, forward Richard Hendrix, will not play against Kentucky on Saturday.

Becky Hoft, a spokeswoman for the program, said Hendrix had the flu. Hendrix made the trip, but the Alabama team left him at the team hotel.

Hendrix leads the Southeastern Conference in double-doubles this season with 12. He leads the Tide in scoring and rebounding.

The illness robs the game of its marquee matchup: Hendrix against UK freshman big man Patrick Patterson.

A smiling Ramel Bradley suggested that he’s close enough to full health to play against Alabama on Saturday.

“I’m usually 150 percent,” he said. “So I’m probably more like 100 percent now.”

The combination of a viral infection and a concussion caused Bradley to miss Kentucky’s game at Auburn on Wednesday and the bulk of the game at Georgia last weekend.

Bradley had been as close to indispensable as a player can be, playing 254 of a possible 255 minutes in UK’s January games.

UK Coach Billy Gillispie noted Bradley’s absence as a factor in the team’s season-high 24 turnovers at Auburn. When asked about the importance of having Bradley play, Gillispie said, “We had 24 turnovers when he didn’t play.”

Concern about Alabama led Gillispie to make an unprompted plea for fan involvement in Saturday’s game.

“We need them as 6th man because we still hobbled,” the UK coach said. “We need more help from them (against Alabama) than ever.”

When asked why UK needed more help against the Tide than, say, against No. 3 Tennessee on Jan. 22, Gillispie said of Alabama, “As far as physical size, physical play and overall athletic ability, I think they have a major advantage over us.”

Bradley is one of Kentucky’s better athletes. But he’s had trouble functioning since becoming sick two weeks ago. He noted a sore throat that made it difficult to eat. Migrane headaches compounded the problem.

Then Bradley sustained a concussion when a foul by Georgia’s Dave Bliss sent the UK player chin-first to the floor.

“It looked bad,” Bradley said of watching the replay. “It looked really bad. I was in the air. I couldn’t catch myself at all.”

UK fans have been in an uproar because Bliss was not called for an intentional foul. The Georgia player fouled from behind as Bradley raced toward a breakaway layup.

In a similar circumstance less than two weeks earlier, UK’s Derrick Jasper was called for an intentional foul against Tennessee.

“While I don’t think he did it intentionally,” Bradley said of Bliss, “I felt if that would have been us, they would have definitely called it intentional.”

Bradley mostly rested since the Georgia game. Of the many symptoms, the worst for the out-going UK player might have been the difficulty he had in talking.

“Everybody doubted my (New York) Giants,” he said. “I couldn’t scream (during the Super Bowl). Everybody says we don’t do football in my city. We have the Lombardi Trophy.”

The hit from Bliss came three days before Bradley’s 23red birthday.

Being sick and still woozy made for a less-than-happy birthday.